All Alone - 5. Alo Chapter 5

Since he didn’t bother to close the door I stood up and closed it, before taking my seat again, just as the ‘On Hold’ music stopped, “James Nicholson here, have you arrived at the station?” I heard my boss say on the loud speaker, “I have sir, and you are on loud speaker in the conference room, with the satellite work supervisor, Hugh Carter in attendance” I responded, “I see, ok, go ahead then Lloyd” the boss said.

This is when I looked directly at the work supervisor, “Mr Carter, my name is Lloyd Templeton, I am the Administration Manager of Nicholson, Harcourt and Jones, Law Firm in Perth, I am also the Hospitality Manager for this place, Coral Coast Station, the gentleman on the phone is Mr James Nicholson, a senior partner of the law firm in Perth, which you are doing this job for” I said just as there was a door knock and Angela walked in and sat down next to me.

“Mr Carter, I presume you know Mrs Angela Dalworth, one of the owners of this station… now it has come to my attention, just minutes after arriving here, after a long two-day journey, that two of your men,have homophobically abused one of the station workers on this station, are you aware of this incident and what are your views on this incident?” I added.

“Well Sir and Ma’am, I do find it inappropriate, now that it has become a formal complaint, but the guys were only joking and having some fun?” the supervisor replied, “Mrs Dalworth, if you wish to take this any further, we will happily take the case pro-bono” Mr Nicholson stated, which surprised all of us in the room, and I looked at Angela, and smiled, “we will discuss it later and get back to you, thanks sir” I responded.

Taking a moment to think of the next move, I cleared my throat, “Now Mr Carter, on behalf of the law firm and this cattle station, this is what is going to happen. The two men responsible for the homophobic abuse, have exactly 30 minutes to pack and get off this station, I also expect a written apology by you, as the supervisor to the station worker affected by this incident, when you have completed your work with the installation, we asked you and the remaining crew, to pack and leave the station, and you can tell your bosses back in Geraldton, that both the station and the law firm will not be using your company ever again.

That is all thank you Mr Carter, you can leave now” I said as I stood up and opened the door for him to leave, and directed him to the front reception area, before returning to the conference room, where Angela was discussing the legal matter with my boss. “I am back sir” I said when there was a pause in the conversation, just as I heard a yelp from Angus, and I dashed out of the room back to the reception.

Where I found Angus in a corner growling at Mr Carter, who had a walking stick raised over his head, that is from the display of goods for sale, “Mr Carter, you will give me that walking stick, and you will get your whole crew off this station immediately, I don’t care if the work is not completed, and expect a charge of animal cruelty to be made against you, now get out of here and get off this station” I shouted, and Mr Carter dropped the stick on the floor and left the building, just as Angus came rushing towards me, and I picked him up and cuddled him, as I walked back to the conference room.

“Is Angus ok?” Angela asked concerned, “I think so, I am not sure if Carter struck Angus with the walking stick or his boot” I replied as I sat down, with Angus settling into my lap, “That can easily be checked, as we have security cameras in that area, and both of us heard your voice clearly, at what you said to Mr Carter” Angela said. It was only then that I suddenly realised the name Carter, the same as his late wife, but I thought there must be lots of people around Australia with the surname of Carter, so I dismissed the idea.

“Well Lloyd, it sounds like you have everything sorted now, get back to me tomorrow, to let me know what else is left to finish the satellite installation, and I will start work on the animal cruelty case as well, it’s been nice speaking with you Angela, have a nice day, bye” my boss said and he ended the call.

I sighed loudly and Angela chuckled, “not a good way to start your first day on the station” she said to me, “No, but these things are just part of life these days, how is young Greg?” I replied. “He should be ok, I gave him the rest of the day off, now let me help you get settled in” Angela said to me.

When Angus saw the outdoor veranda, he explored every inch of it before coming back inside, where it was much cooler, and he lay on the tiled floors and went to sleep, while Angela and I unpacked the car and trailer, often having to walk around Angus.

When we had finished, we walked up the passage to the hospitality office, and I sat down at my desk, “Welcome to the station, I hope you and Angus enjoy your time here with us” Angela said, before she headed off to do something else.

A few minutes later, “Jem to hospitality office, are you there Ange, over” I heard on the two-way radio, and I picked up the mic, beside my deck, on a side table, “Hi Jem, Angela headed off about four minutes ago, over” I replied, “Oh hi Lloyd, I didn’t know you had arrived, I just saw the satellite installers leaving, have they finished the work? Over” Jem said. “it’s a long story, I will explain it when you have some spare time, and Angela has given Greg the rest of the day off, which is part of the long story, over” I replied. “Understood, over and out” Jem said.

Checking that there are no customers in the centre, I headed to my apartment to make some lunch, and Angus was happily dozing on the floor, so I left him there, and prepared my lunch and watched a little bit of the Cricket on television, before heading back to my new office to start work, on future plans for the station.

When Angus appeared in my office, about half an hour later, I stopped work, and took him outside for a toilet break, and after he had finished, I picked him up and put him in the buggy.

Ten minutes later, we were on the beach, and Angus went for a paddle in the shallows, which he absolutely loved, as I stood on the water’sedge and watched him. I heard a vehicle approaching, but I didn’t look to see who it was, until he stood next to me a few moments later. He looked an exact younger version of his brother – Matt. “Hello Greg, I am Lloyd Templeton” I said as I faced him and stuck out my hand, which he shook.

“I wanted to thank you for what you did for me today, Angela told me a few moments ago what you had done, so thanks” Greg said to me, “that is fine mate, if you ever need to chat or have any more issues, just come to me right away, and we can chat about it, oh and that is my dog - Angus” I replied with a smile.

We stood there silently for a while, watching Angus playing with the waves, as he tried to catch them, and after a while I gave a short loud whistle, and Angus came rushing up to us and shook all the water off his coat, all over Greg and me, which I wasn’t too thrilled about, but Greg just laughed, as he bent down to pat Angus. “Come on you, time for a short wash to get the sand off you, and I have to get back to work” I said to Angus, who barked and wagged his tail happily, before making his way to the buggy and jumping up.

“I will see you later Greg, and let Matt know that I have arrived back, if he doesn’t already know” I said as I climbed into the buggy, “Yes sure, and thanks again, see ya” Greg said giving a small wave as we left the beach. Angus slept on the floor in my office, while I worked for the rest of the day, and he remained in the office, if I needed to attend to customers out the front.

It was nearly 6pm, when I heard the front door open, so I stood up and entered the reception area to see Angela and Jeremy waiting. “We have come to give you a welcome barbeque dinner at your place, I brought the beers” Jeremy said, “and I have brought the meat and salads, the other two will be here shortly” Angela added, and on hearing Angela’s voice, Angus came out to greet her, but stopped short when he saw Jeremy.

“Angus this is the boss man, Jeremy, so you be nice to him ok?” I said to my dog, and Angus stepped forward and smelt Jeremy, before wagging his tail happily, making both bosses start to laugh. The same process took place when Matt arrived, and after that everyone was happy, as we relaxed to enjoy a nice evening around the BBQ. “It looks like that just the information download has not been completed, so apart from that, the Satellite dish is ready to go” I informed Jeremy and Angela, “Your boss will be pleased about that” Angela replied.

“Tomorrow, I would like Angela to be at the visitor centre, while Matt and Greg take you on a tour of the camping sites along the coast, so you have an idea what is available to our guests, this will also give you a chance to assess our facilities, so you can make some recommendations for improvements” Jeremy announced to us, “Fantastic, we can be tour guides and take lots of swims” Matt said with a cheeky grin.

“Maybe some swims, but not lots. From what I have seen of the station map, there is a lot to see” I replied, “Fair enough, worth a try” Matt replied, and we all laughed at this. The next morning, after an early breakfast, I made sure that Angus had plenty of food and water, before heading outside, where Matt and Greg had just arrived, with an esky and a large water container in hand, which they loaded into the jeep.

“We will be out most of the day, so I prepared some food for us, and my lazy brother prepared the water” Matt announced, which made me laugh, and Greg to complain. With Matt driving, we set off, heading south, to check the south end of the station, stopping at the number of camping sites along the way, and the boys went for a couple of swims to cool off.

On the way back, we passed the homestead paddock and headed north, and I picked up the radio mic, “Jeep to visitor centre, do you copy Angela, over?” I called, “Yes receiving you Lloyd, over” came a quick reply, “Just letting you know we have just passed you, after checking out the southern end of the station, and we are now heading north, over” I announced, “Received that Lloyd, thanks for letting me know, over” Angela replied.

Half an hour later, at the next camping ground, we stopped for lunch, of sandwiches and thermos of hot tea. After the half hour stop, we continued, once again stopping at each camping ground, till we arrived at the northern boundary, where we stopped for a short rest, and the boys went for a swim.

We arrived back at the homestead in the late afternoon, and the boys headed to their living quarters, while I walked around to the front of the visitor centre, were Angela was serving a new visitor, and I gave her a smile as I walked around to the door and went down to the apartment, to check on Angus, who was very pleased to see me.

Taking Angus out for a long walk around the homestead paddock, leaving the side door of the apartment unlocked, and we returned just before sunset, and I found a note on the dining table. “Lloyd, I have stocked up your fridge and pantry, to keep you fed for a week, unfortunately we don’t have any dog food. Regards Jem and Angela”. I smiled when I read it, knowing that I had plenty of food for Angus.

Once I had eaten and I had fed Angus, I headed to my office to check on any emails, and I jotted down some ideas that I had been thinking about most of the day. After an hour in the office, I returned to the apartment, where I found Angas sleeping on the tiled floors, and I made myself a cup of tea and put a CD into the sound system and sat down to enjoy the soft music and the hot cup of tea.

Angus interrupted my relaxing evening, when he wanted to go outside, so I led him outside, where we went for a small walk, and once back in the apartment, I had a shower and went to bed.

Monday February 5th

The next morning, I was up at 6am, and after taking Angus out for a toilet break, we both had some breakfast, before I went to check on the front of the visitor centre, and I saw that some of the shelving was a little bare of stock, so I headed to the storeroom, to see what we had available.

I had several boxes on the shop floor, near where the stock is on the shelves, and I was restocking the shelves, when I heard the front door unlock and open about an hour after I had started. “Good morning Lloyd, did you have a good night’s rest?” Angela asked me, as she closed the door, to keep the cool air inside. “Yes, thanks boss, all is good here, I am just restocking the shelves” I replied happily.

“I just came to let you know that we have a cyclone approaching, so we need to start making preparations, this is the third one in five years, all thou only one has come directly over the top of us, and that caused a lot of damage” Angela informed me. “How long do we have, and where is it?” I asked.

“Just over 705 kilometres north-west of Exmouth, heading in a south-south-east direction at 15 kilometres per hour, at the last report, which is about 800 kilometres from here” Angela replied. “That gives us a bit over two days, if it keeps on that course, I guess we need to alert the visitors that are already here, and stop any new arrivals coming in, do you have any signage to stop visitors entering” I commented.

“Yes, I had Matt paint some signs after the last cyclone, while we were cleaning up from damage, one for the north end entrance, and one for the main entrance. I will get Matt to get them out, and put them up at each entry” Angela said, “I will get Greg, and we will go to the south end to notify the visitors, while Matt can contact the visitors in the north end, while he is up there with the sign” I added.

I went into the office and on the radio, I called Matt and Greg to come to the visitor centre, once I had done that, I headed to the apartment, to check on Angus, who wanted to go out for a toilet break, and going out via the patio, we went for a bit of a walk.