Beyond Frontier - 23. BF Chapter 23

Once the meeting was over I went home to check on Emma, who was having a snooze in the cardboard box that I had turned into a bed for her, with part of one end cut out, to allow her easy access. I set out some more water and food for her, and set off again, this time around to the other side of the harbour where there are a number of businesses, one being the transport company that transports the freshly caught cray fish down to Perth for processing.

“Good morning,” I said to the man who was working on preparing the water storage tanks that hold the cray temporarily till the last fishing boat comes in with this daily catch.

“G’day. How can I help you?” the man who was in his 60’s said to me.

“My name is Anton. I was wondering how many cray boats are permanently based here in Jurien Bay, and are they doing ok or struggling?” I asked the man.

“Well, I am Mike, and we have just five fishing boats based here now. Two left last year, and another two the year before that,” he replied to me.

“I see. I am the owner of Hamilton Coastal Charters. I was wondering if you would mind mentioning to any of the cray boat owners that might be considering selling up, that if they will sell their boats to me, I will retain them and their crew to continue cray fishing in this region,” I replied.

“Yes, I thought you were the young lad that owns those fancy yachts. Ok, I will mention it to them, but I am pretty sure that they will say no,” Mike said to me.

“That is fine. Thanks for your time,” I said to Mike as I handed him my business card and walked back to my vehicle, and drove back home to the cottage.

With Roey at my side we went for a walk around my property to check the on the trees, the orchard and vineyard, which were all doing very well. Once we returned to the cottage I found Emma waiting for me at the door. As soon as I opened the door she rolled onto her back. I kneeled down beside her and opened the gauze and saw that it was slightly inflamed. So, I put some more iodine on the wound, gave her another antibiotic injection, and covered the wound with a fresh dressing before turning her the right way up again. She immediately scuttled off to her box.

Once I had given Roey and Emma some food, I made some lunch for myself with what food had been delivered to the cottage. Then I opened up my computer to do some more research on furnishing for the house and the administration building. A notification of an email made me stop at what I was doing. “Mr Hamilton, we thank-you for the opportunity to produce the steel framework for your two buildings.

I have looked at the architectural plans provided to us, and starting from today, I am confident that we can get the all the frame work completed in just five weeks, including the steel central staircase. A further six weeks will be needed to complete the second building. The project managers have spoken to me this morning, and informed me of your request for the taller building to be closer to the harbour, and for there be a 40 metres gap between the two buildings, with a covered upper and lower walkway between each building.”

I was pleased that things were starting to take shape, and I decided to make up a notice in search of more crew which I would send to the Director of the Oceans Institute, plus I decided to do a search on some of the sailing crew websites and post a list of positions available. “Steward & Deckhand – 2 Positions, on a 48-metre yacht, based on the Australian West Coast, Non-smokers, any form of discrimination is not tolerated, chance for work on other company yachts and vessels” was the first posting I made. “Steward & Deckhand – 1 Position, on a 41.5-metre yacht, based on the Australian West Coast, Non-smoker, any form of discrimination is not tolerated, chance for work on other company yachts and vessels” was the second posting.

I had decided to put off looking for crew for the research vessel until the new crew were settled on the other two vessels. On completing the two postings, I closed down the computer and decided to have a small rest, as I was a little tired still from all the travelling over the past few days.

I woke up to the sound of Roey yapping from beside the bed, and looking at the clock I saw I had been asleep for about three hours. I went to the bathroom, and walked into the lounge where I found Roey lying next to Emma’s box whining. Emma was not moving, and I quickly raced to her box. I could see that she was barely breathing. Rolling her onto her back, and removing the gauze revealed a nasty red colour that I did not like the looks of.

Doing a quick search on my phone I found the nearest vet that deals with wildlife, and I decided that the South Perth Zoo was the best option to contact. Once I was put through to the right person, I explained that I was a zoologist and found the injured echidna about five days ago. I told them what Emma had gone through, that she had been receiving daily antibiotic injections, and a change of gauze dressing twice a day, and that she was eating and drinking well with the food the vet up north provided.

The zoology assistant at the zoo suggested that I get the echidna down to them as soon as possible for her to have any chance of surviving. After hanging up, I picked up the box and put it into my vehicle. Then carrying Roey, I put her into the vehicle back seat, and threw in my still unpacked suitcase, along with my laptop computer, and raced off down the drive way and down the highway. Two and a half hours later I arrived at the South Perth Zoo.

Attaching a lead onto Roey’s collar, I lowered her onto the ground and picking up the box, I raced to the front gate of the Zoo just as it was approaching closing time. “Hello, my name is Anton Hamilton. I am a zoologist with a sick echidna. I spoke to an assistant of Dr Martin’s by phone just over two hours ago, and she said to bring the echidna directly to the zoo,” I explained. The front counter lady picked up the phone and a few minutes later she said to me that Dr Martin was on her way.

I was permitted inside as they prepared to close the gates for the day. I placed the box carefully on the ground, and carefully picked Emma up. “Come on, little one. Stay strong for a bit longer. Help is on its way,” I said as I carefully held her, barely breathing. I stroked her softly under the chin, trying to encourage her to keep fighting. When a buggy arrived and a young lady approached I had a feeling that I had met her before.

“Hello, Anton. It’s good to see you again,” she said to me and I realised that I knew her from university when studying Zoology.

“Hello. It’s Rachel, isn’t it?” I replied.

“Yes, Martin is my married name, but I’m divorced now. So you have a sick echidna. Let’s have a look at her,” Rachel said as she kneeled down to have a look.

“I did everything that the vet told me to do. She has been eating and drinking well. I gave her antibiotics every day, and changed the dressing twice a day. All was looking good until late yesterday when it became inflamed, so I was checking it more regularly and applying iodine onto the wound,” I explained.

“Ok, jump into the buggy. You carry the box and we will go to my office. Is the pup yours?” Rachel said to me.

“Yes, and she is very well behaved,” I replied as I put Roey in the buggy, picked up the box and climbed on board. Over the next hour, Rachel carefully examined the echidna, changed the type of antibiotics, put her on a drip, and put a fresh gauze on the wound.

“So, she is pregnant as well and soon to give birth. We need to keep the echidna alive if the babies have any chance of surviving. She is very weak, but I think we have treated her just in the nick of time,” Rachel said to me.

“I found her on the side of the road up north, and it was nearly a day later before I could get to the nearest vet,” I explained.

“Well, I will stay with her overnight. Do you have a place to stay?” Rachel said to me.

“Yes, thanks. We have a company apartment in East Perth. I will come by tomorrow late morning to see how she is coping,” I replied, and Rachel showed me to a side exit door for staff. With Roey beside me we returned to the vehicle and I drove to East Perth. The apartment had been empty for some time, so I opened it up to air it out. I unpacked my suitcase, and put all my dirty clothes into the washing machine, while Roey explored all of the apartment.

I made a quick call to Jasper to let him know that I was in Perth, trying to get Emma well again, and that I would be in Perth for a few days, until Emma improved. After the call I grabbed my wallet and headed down to the local store to get some food for myself and Roey. I had decided to leave her at the apartment. When I returned, Roey wanted to go outside, so I grabbed the lead and attached it to her collar, and I took her for a walk down to the nearby park to give her some exercise.

On returning to the apartment I put out some food and water for Roey before I began to prepare some dinner for myself. I watched a little television before retiring for the night, which was a very restless night. I woke up just after dawn and took Roey for a walk in the park, before returning to the apartment to prepare some breakfast. Worried about Emma, and with it being too early to call the zoo, I opened my laptop and started it up. I found a number of emails waiting for me in response to the job positions.

I looked at each response carefully and after some more thought I decided to cancel looking for crew, as I wanted to look into other options for the research vessel. I stepped out onto the balcony and looked around the area. An occasional riverboat would cruise past, heading further up the Swan river. The sun was shining over the new sports stadium on the other side of the river.

After a while, I sighed loudly and looked at my watch. Seeing that it was time to call the zoo, I went inside to retrieve my mobile and dialled the number, asking for Dr Rachel Martin. “Zoology hospital. Dr Martin speaking,” I heard a familiar voice.

“Did you get any sleep at all?” was the first thing I said to Rachel, who gave a short laugh.

“Good morning to you too, Anton,” she replied with a smile in her voice.

“So, how is Emma going? Is she still alive?” I asked anxiously.

“She is alive and a new mum of 4 new puggle eggs that should hatch in about ten days’ time. Her wound seems to be improving from the new treatment and she has been eating,” Rachel announced to me.

“That is great news. Thank-you for everything you have done for her,” I replied happily.

“Will you be coming in to see her?” Rachel asked.

“You bet I will be. As soon as I have got my pup settled, then I will be on my way in,” I replied.

Although I didn’t want to leave Roey alone in the apartment, I knew I couldn’t take her with me, when the zoo was open. So, once I had taken her to the park for a good long walk, I brought her back to the apartment. I put out lots of water and food and gave her a long cuddle before I set off back to the zoo. When I arrived the same lady I saw at the gate the previous day smiled when she saw me approach, and she let me through the side gate, to let me go directly to Rachel’s office.

I knocked on the external door and a few moments later the door opened. A young assistant stood there. “Dr Hamilton, I presume,” she said with a smile, stepping to one side to allow me to enter. I walked down the hallway and into the hospital where I last saw Emma. Moments after I had opened the door and entered the hospital, I heard a scratching noise, then I heard some muttering noises.

“Where do you think you are going, young lady?” I heard Rachel say and moments later I saw Emma racing towards me. Rachel came around the corner in chase. I smiled as I squatted down and held out my hand. Emma came up to me stopping on my flat hands and I tickled her under her chin. Rachel laughed. “Well I never! I have never seen anything like that ever before,” Rachel commented, as she walked towards me.

“Ok. Well wait till you see this. Emma – change of dressing time,” I said, and Emma stepped off my hands and rolled onto her back. I rubbed her chin again.

“Wow, that is incredible,” Rachel said to me, and I took a peep at her wound.

“That is definitely looking a lot better,” I commented.

“I was wondering - how would you like to be a Wildlife Carer for your region? You live in Jurien Bay, right?” Rachel said to me.

‘Yes, I do, but I am not sure that I am set up to do any of that sort of stuff. Plus, I will be getting very busy soon, as I am having a new home and administration centre built,” I replied.

“Well I will be happy to provide all the support that you need, and get the necessary supplies to you at cost,” Rachel responded.

“I will think about it over the next few days,” I answered.

‘Well, it is a way to legally keep Emma with you. I am sure that she won’t be able to go out into the wild any more, especially after what I have just witnessed,” Rachel said.

Picking up Emma, I carried her back to the box and placed her inside. She burrowed down under the blanket. I thanked Rachel once again for all she had done, and she promised to let me know when Emma would be well enough to go home with me, which she guessed would be about two weeks. “I will be heading home in that case, and I will come back to collect her when she is ready,” I announced as I prepared to leave.

“So, how are things going at home with your partner - Mathew isn’t it?” Rachel said to me, as I started to head out the door.

“We broke up. I caught him with another guy,” I said bitterly. “Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. You appeared to be a perfect couple. I would love to come up and check out where you live one weekend if that is possible,” Rachel said to me. “Ok, maybe you can bring Emma up for me in two weekends time,” I suggested.