Springbank - 13. Spring Ch 13

“Hello son, how are things up at Cobblers?” Dad asked when he answered the call, “A few minor problems but it is all sorted. I discovered that Andrew Frazer from high school is now a police officer and is based at Toodyay, we caught up for a chat and drink yesterday afternoon after he had finished work, and I think we will be staying in touch now that we work in the same region.

Anyway, the main reason I called is I had a thought today about my cousins, which I wanted to run by you,” I said to my Dad. “I am visiting them in Canberra now, hang on a moment and I will put them on the phone,” Dad announced, “Before you do, I wanted to suggest that maybe they could live on the estate, which is fairly secure, and there is a cottage close to Davies place that is vacant where they can live,” I suggested. “Have you spoken to Davies and Leah about this?” Dad asked me.

“Yes, just yesterday afternoon actually, and they are fine with the idea and happy to feed them. Reuben can work on the estate, and Roderick can go to the local District Highschool in Toodyay, to finish his education,” I replied. “Let me think about it, and I will get back to you, but for now don’t say anything to them about it, ok. Now I will go and get them so you can have a chat with them,” Dad said to me.

During the chat with my cousins, I learnt that Reuben is studying at TAFE college online, while Roderick is continuing his High school studies also online, while they remain in residence at the Canadian High Commission. It was after that conversation that I wanted to persuade Dad to get them both to Western Australia, so they be close to family. This finally happened a few weeks later in early October, when they arrived in Perth late at night, and Dad drove them up to the estate and spent a few days with them helping them to get settled into their new home. At the end of the week, I planned to travel up to the estate and spend all weekend there getting to know them better.

When Friday lunchtime arrived, I was out of my last lecture faster than a horse on heat, and since I had packed everything that I needed for the weekend before breakfast, all I had to do was to call in at home to collect my luggage and speak to Mum briefly, before I headed off towards the estate, arriving just 1 ½ hours later, after a brief stop at the shops in Toodyay to get food supplies for the weekend, and I would be staying at the Watch Tower this time, which was like my second home now, with some additional items from home in the main bedroom, and also a sound system, some paint prints and a large floor rug in the upper living area.

As I finished putting away my groceries, my mobile rang and the caller ID was Jasper. “Hey mate, it seems I missed you again today, or did you not go to your last lecture?” Jasper said when I answered the call, “I was there, I just let straight after, as I wanted to get to the estate as soon as I could,” I replied. “Oh damn, I was hoping to go up with you, it gets a bit boring on weekends when my folks are not in town,” Jasper responded. “Sorry mate, but I would have said no anyway, I have plans for the whole weekend, which at that moment I can’t say anything,” I said.

“Oh, ok, I guess I will have to find my own form of weekend entertainment, have a good weekend and see you when you get back,” Jasper said before he ended the call, before I could say anything else. I headed back outside making sure the Watch Tower was locked, which it wasn’t when I arrived, I jumped into my vehicle and followed the farm track towards the main machinery shed, and I dialled Davies’s mobile number.

“Hello boss, are you on the estate?” Davies said when he answered the call, “Yes, I have just settled into my quarters at the Watch Tower and I am heading for the machinery shed now,” I replied. “Ok, well we are at the shearing shed at the moment, as we have been crutching sheep all day,” Davies replied. “Are both my cousins there too?” I asked, “Yes, both of them are here lending a hand, and they are not afraid to get down and dirty, which is good to see,” Davies replied. “Ok, see you in a short while, bye,” I said before ending the call.

I was getting a little nervous about meeting my cousins for the first time, and when I arrived, I was not expecting to see Davies standing between the lads Kurt and Joe and the strangers, who I believed to be my cousins, and the looks on their faces made me realise that an unexpected complication had raised its angry head out of the sand. “Oh, Bugga! This is not good,” I said to myself, as I stopped my vehicle close by and jumped out, dialling Dad’s mobile number as I walked towards the group.

“Reuben and Roderick, if this current situation is what I think it is, you had better straighten up your views, because I will not hesitate, to organise to send you back to Canberra, immediately,” I said without any form of welcome or greeting. “So you are our cousin Cooper… You do not have a say on where we go, it is up to Uncle Ethan to decide that, and why do you have poofs working on this property,” Reuben said to me.

“I have news for you cousin, I too am gay, and as it happens this property is mine, inherited via my mother’s side of the family, and it was me that suggested that you two come here to live and work so you are closer to family, but I can see now that I had misjudged you both,” I said angrily, “Not me cousin, that is ok by me,” Roderick said, “Shut up squirt, I make the decisions about us, so you will do as I say,” Reuben snapped at his brother, and we all heard a loud whistle coming from my mobile that I was holding by my side, and I held it up to show everyone gathered.

“Did you hear all of that Dad?” I asked, “Yes son, loud and clearly, we will discuss your announcement at a later time, but for now… Roderick, am I correct that you don’t have any concerns about Cooper and two of his staff being gay?” Dad asked, “No sir, I don’t, as I have friends at home in BC who are gay and they are awesome friends, so no I have no issues at all Uncle,” Roderick replied, as I watched Reuben who was glaring at his brother, who moved further away from him and closer to me.

“Reuben, you had better smarten up, or you will find yourself separated from your brother and the rest of the family if you don’t change your views very smartly,” Dad said to my cousin. “But Uncle, it is wrong what they do, it is a sin to do stuff like that,” Reuben complained, as Roderick was now standing close to me, on seeing his brother get very angry. “I understand that you have those views nephew, but we are more tolerant of people in the LGBTQ+ community, and as my son has stated on arrival, if you are not going to be accepting them as they are, then I will have to make alternative arrangements, as I have no say on how the estate is run, so whatever Cooper decides, there is nothing I can do to change it,” Dad informed my cousin.

“Very well, send us back to Canada, we will find a way to survive back home, I am not going to be putting up with all this bull dung all the time,” Reuben announced. “What about the people who killed you folks, they may be looking for you, and wanting to kill you too?” Dad said to my cousin. “They were killed? Not in a car accident?” I asked in shock at hearing this for the first time.”

“Yes son, their vehicle had its brake lines cut, I received news of this just this morning,” Dad informed us. “I miss home, why did it have to happen?” Reuben said, as he sounded miserable, “Look mate, we are here for you and your brother, just give us some time for everyone to adjust,” I suggested to my cousin, who now had his head down and it was difficult to tell if he was crying or just feeling horrible.

“Yeah, I guess I can do that,” Reuben eventually said to me, “That is good because I like it here on the farm,” Roderick said sounding happy with his brother’s decision. “Good, now, would it be too difficult for us to start from the beginning… Hello, I am Cooper, your Aussie cousin,” I said holding out my hand, and Roderick turned and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Hello, I am Roderick Mitchell Hudson, but we have been using our mother’s maiden name more recently,” Roderick said to me, “Which is?” I asked, “Butterworth… Hello I am Reuben Xavier Hudson,” my other cousin said as he stepped towards me and shook my hand, before taking a step back and frowning at his brother who was still hugging me, and I bent down to break the hold and smiled at Roderick, “What is your favourite thing on the farm Roddy?” I asked, “The cows, they make a funny noise, but they do smell when you get too close to them,” Roderick replied, which had me smiling and Reuben chuckled.

“What are you studying at TAFE College?” I asked Reuben, “Diploma in Business Management,” my cousin replied, “Are you at college too?” Reuben asked me, “No mate, I attend University near the city, and I am doing a double degree in Agriculture Business and Science, and I already have a Diploma in Paramedicine,” I replied. “What is Para watsit?” Rodderick asked me, “Paramedicine, means I ride in an Ambulance and help people who need emergency help until we can get them to hospital,” I replied.

“You’re a Paramedic? You look too young to be one of those,” Reuben commented, “Yeah, I know I seem too young, but I finished high school a year earlier than usual and I did exceptionally well in all my grades, so I managed to get through the course and training very easily,” I answered. “So, you only live on the farm on weekends? Where do you stay?” Reuben asked me, “Yes on weekends, but only when I am not rostered to work, and I stay at the Watch Tower at the other end of the farm,” I replied.

“We saw that place yesterday, that is quite an impressive building, but I don’t remember seeing any bedrooms?” Reuben stated, “Upstairs, there are two bedrooms a bathroom and the upper lounge area, which is mostly my space now that I am here regularly,” I replied. “Where do you live in Perth?” Rodderick asked me, “In South Perth, our family has a house there, which is close to the private school that my brothers and I used to attend,” I replied.

After the phone call with Dad ended, I asked Davies about the Watch Tower being unlocked, and he looked towards my cousins, “Err, we were there late yesterday afternoon, and I must have accidentally left it unlocked,” Reuben said, “I gave them the keys to go inside, and I didn’t remind them that it has to remain locked when not in use, sorry boss,” Giles added. “Ok, well nothing appears to be missing or broken from the brief look around that I did, so no harm so far,” I responded.

I helped with the stock work in the sheds for the rest of the morning, and I was asked to join his family for lunch by Davies, which I accepted, and I learnt that my cousins have their lunch and dinners with the Carter family. In the afternoon, I helped with moving stock and checking watering points around the farm, while my cousins were kept busy in the shearing shed all afternoon.

When Davies invited me to dinner, I politely declined as I wanted to have an evening and night on my own at the Watch Tower, and when I arrived back at the tower, I heard some noises inside, and rushed inside to find the sliding door to the front verandah wide open, but no sign of anyone around. After a quick look around downstairs, I headed to the upper level, where there were signs of someone sleeping in the spare room, and the door to the back verandah was also open, where stepping out to the verandah I saw a person sprinting towards the bushland close by and to the east of the tower.

Back inside, I took off the sheets on the single bed that had been used and headed down to the laundry, where I found a small bag of clothing partially hidden, so I placed them all in the washing machine, added laundry powder and pressed start and I headed down to the kitchen where I found that there was less food in the pantry than usual, and grabbing a pen and paper, I made a list of what needed to be purchased.

Once I had done that, I wrote a note which I left on the kitchen bench, before locking up the main door and heading to my vehicle, where I headed into town to do some shopping. I had purposely left the back verandah door into the spare room unlocked and partially open, in case my unknown visitor returned while I was out and hopefully, he would see the note that I had left for him. “Dear Guest, you are welcome to stay, I will only be here for the weekend before returning to the city. Your washing is in the machine in the laundry, I have gone into town to buy some more food for us to eat. Regards Cooper Hudson (Owner).

While in the supermarket, I thought about what else the young man would want, so I bought some hair shampoo, two different brands of deodorant, some body wash soap, a shaver with three extra blades, a hair comb, toothbrush and toothpaste, and some mouthwash. After I had placed my shopping in the vehicle, I decided to do a bit of clothes shopping, as the clothes in the washing machine looked fairly worn, and briefly seeing his shirt and shorts sizes, which were identical to my size, I headed to the nearby thrift store and bought some shorts, shirts and a jacket, and then to the department store, where I bought three pairs of size 8-10 socks and some two pairs of boxer shorts.

Before leaving town I texted Davies to let him know that I was in town and asked if he needed anything, and a few moments later I received a message to say thanks but no thanks as Leah was in town. As I drove down the driveway approaching the machinery shed, I spotted Davies Ute there, so I headed in that direction. “Hey boss, find anything interesting in town?” Davies asked as I walked towards him, “No, but I did spot something at the Watch Tower… I think that I have a guest currently staying there, he dashed off when I went inside to see who was around. Found a small bag of clothes and nothing else, and they looked fairly worn out.

I have invited him to stay if he wants to. I have bought additional food for him, as well as some second-hand clothes as well. If you or any of the staff are heading to the Watch Tower, can I ask that you toot your horn well before arriving, to give him some warning, just to give the timid fellow some time to get clear of the place, as I think he doesn’t want to be seen staying there. I have left him a note to say that he is welcome to stay there, so please either stay clear or just give him plenty of warning that you are approaching,” I said to Davies.

“Are you sure you want to let him stay there boss?” Davies asked me, “Yes, I do, as I think he is homeless and down on his luck at the moment. I will come back next weekend and if he is still here, I will see if I can have a chat with him,” I replied. “Very well, you are the boss, so I will ask everyone to stay clear of the Watch Tower from now on, until further notice,” Davies said to me.

“On another note, I had a thought about adding some additional space below the main level, just from the stairs to the verandah, which would mean extending the stairs downwards, also I would want to have a raised garden bed, with a retaining rock wall about four metres in front of the front wall, with no door outside, just windows about a metre off the ground, just in case the wall isn't high enough for major flooding,” I suggested.