Country Retreat - 12. Retreat Chapter 12

“Woo! Now! All is cool guys, this is my former roommate from my old school – Hugh Oakly,” I explained to my friends, before offering a hand to Hugh, so he could stand up, and turning to my friends to indicate that all was ok, before turning to face Hugh again. “Hey buddy, good to see you again, I guess you know the story about what happened with our former UK friend?” I said to Hugh.

“No, not really, all we know is that he was expelled for some reason, and his parents sent him off to a private school in Switzerland and that you never came back to school after that. We have no idea why, and no idea where you went,” Hugh replied, still looking a bit shocked. “Well… it’s a bit of a long story, but to make it short, all I can say for now is that I was assaulted, and I ended up in the hospital for quite some time.

It was jointly decided by my family – grandparents included, that I have a total change of scenery, and I was given two options, to go back to my hometown and attend the local District High school there, or go and stay with my grandparents, and attend an independent Christian school located not far away from their place, which is the option I took,” I explained.

“Assaulted, how? And by whom? Surely it wasn’t our former UK friend… is it?” Hugh asked, and I remained silent when asked this as I was feeling very unsettled discussing it. “I think we should drop the subject for now, as you can see, he feels very uncomfortable about this, and we don’t want to trigger off another… Well, let's just drop the subject, ok?” Jarrad said to Hugh.

“Trigger off another what? This is not helping fill in the gaps mate?” Hugh said, “I suggest that you shut your mouth right now buster unless you want to be responsible for what may happen,” Rebecca said to Hugh standing very close to him, just as I was starting to feel dizzy, “Too late, let's get him sitting down,” Jarrad said, as he steered me to the bench seats, and sat me down, and started to guide me through my breathing exercises.

“Time you move on Hugh or whatever your name is, you are not wanted here,” Rebecca said to Hugh in an angry tone and gently pushed him further away from our table. “But, I just want to find out what happened, that’s all?” Hugh said as he was moved further away, by Rebecca and Giles, before coming back to check on me.

“What is going on here, step aside, let us assess the situation,” we heard a booming voice say, and I looked up to see who was speaking, only to see my three friends form a barrier between me and the two men attempting to see what was happening. “It is fine gentlemen, we have the situation under control, and no one is hurt or injured, so you can leave us be,” Rebecca said.

“I said let us through, we need to know what is happening,” the second voice said, and this time, the barrier between me and them, suddenly increased by two. “As I said, it is a small matter that is under control, so please move on, and let us be,” Rebecca said again more forcefully, as I tried to stand up, but a hand on my shoulder kept me seated. “Look, young lady, unless you let us through, we will have to ask you to leave,” the gentleman said.

“We will happily do that as soon as you leave us alone, and if you try any form of force to get past us, I must warn you, that you will end up on your arse on the ground,” Jessica warned, and I heard a snicker coming from near her, “I would do as your told Mr, I know from experience what she is capable of as I have a very bruised backside to prove it,” we heard a response.

I realised that it was Hugh, who had become part of the protection around me, and there was one other, and when I realised who it was, I smiled. “ Koen, hello mate,” I said softly, and he smiled back, as I noticed Jarrad talking to someone on the phone. “It has happened again… can you come and pick us up please,” I heard Jarrad say… “Yes he is ok now, but the park staff are making it into a big issue, so we need to get out of here… ok here he is,” Jarrad added before passing his mobile to me, and whispered Gramps to me.

“Hello? Gramps?” I said sounding a little shakey, “Hey Grandson, are you ok? I am on my way to collect you all, but it will be about 45 minutes before I can get there,” I heard Gramps say, “45 minutes? That’s a long time. I am getting quite sleepy again Gramps,” I replied, as I saw Koen indicate to me, that he wanted to talk.

“Sir, this is Koen Alkins, one of Oscar’s former roommates from the old school. Sir, My aunt is here, and I am sure that we can get Oscar and his friends safely out of the park and in a safe place while you are on your way to collect them,” Koen said, “You’re the Canadian friend of his, yes, I remember you, we have met once. That would be great if you could assist. It sounds like Oscar has had another panic attack and he gets very tired and sleepy after an attack.

Let Jarrad and Rebecca handle looking after him, as they have dealt with this a few times before. Just tell me where you will be, and I will be there in about 45 minutes or so” I heard my grandfather say, and Koen gave him an address in the upper-middle-class suburb of Attadale, on the south side of the river, before ending the call. “Let me through you baffoons, that is my nephew there helping his friend,” I heard a woman’s voice say.

“Aunty, do you remember Oscar Kingston, he was at my school earlier in the year, then disappeared,” I heard Koen say to the woman, “Yes, I remember you young man, now are you well enough to stand so we can get out of this jungle,” we heard her say, and I heard Koen chuckle, as the others smiled. “Thank you, Ma’am, I’ve had another…”I began to say, “Never mind the situation, let’s get out of here,” she interrupted me.

“Sorry, I don’t know your names, I’m guessing you are Oscar’s friends?” Koen said to my friends, “Yes, I am Rebecca, and that is Jarrad and Giles,” Rebecca replied, “Hi, I am Koen Alkins, and you can probably guess that I am from Canada, and my friend here is Hugh Oakley from NZ,” Koen responded.

“Ok, I don’t have room for everyone, one will have to make their separate way home,” Koen’s aunt announced to our group, “That is fine, I can do that, there are buses that can get me back to my accommodation,” Hugh responded, as we gathered our gear and headed towards the lockers, with Jarrad and Giles on either side of me.

I must have fallen asleep soon after climbing into the vehicle, as I was shaken awake and assisted out of the vehicle, and into a house, where I lay down and fell asleep again. When I woke up the next time, I was in the back seat of Gramp's vehicle, with Giles and Jarrad beside me and Rebecca in the front passenger seat, and as I looked around, I could see that we were not that far away from home.

Once I was settled onto the lounge, I thanked my friends for a great time and apologised for spoiling the wonderful day at the theme park, they said that I hadn’t spoiled the day and that the morning was awesome fun before they left the house. I relaxed in the lounge room for the rest of the day, and Gramps informed me that Jarrad was taking care of the horses for the next few days, so I was to take it easy.

After a few days stuck in the house, I was getting bored of being cooped up so after lunch on the third day. I went for a walk to go and see the horses, where I found Rebecca, Giles and Jarrad standing on the outside of the paddock fence watching the horses grazing, and occasionally going for a gallop around the paddock.

“Hey guys, thanks for taking good care of them for me, while I have been out of action,” I said to them as I approached, “Hey, great to see you up and about again buddy. Do you want me to get the horses ready for a ride?” Jarrad asked me, and I shook my head no.

“Still not feeling up to it just yet, maybe in a day or two,” I responded. “Do you remember the other day? Seeing two of your friends from your old school?” Rebecca asked me cautiously, and I could see she was on the lookout for any signs that I may have another attack, as I smiled. “Yes, I remember seeing Hugh and Koen, they are two good friends. Did you get to speak to them after I went into snooze mode?” I asked.

My friends laughed at this comment, “Good way of putting it mate, and yes, we had a chat, and we explained that you have had several panic attacks and that it has something to do with what happened while on holiday with one of your other friends and that you ended up in hospital. Since that is all we know, we could tell them anything else,” Jarrad replied to me.

I sighed, as I thought about if I should tell them the full story but I was scared that I would have another attack, then I sighed again. “One of my other so-called friends came up to spend some time at my grandparents' former country home, and after a few days, we were on the quad bike, where he suddenly started to feel my junk, and I told him to stop and get off the bike. I was so surprised in shock, I ended up going for a long ride to try and work out what happened.

I ended up down at the river and dozed for a few hours before Gran came looking for me, and I learnt that Rizen had requested to be taken back to the school, which Gramps did. For the next few days, I was in a bit of a daze, doing what needed to be done during the day, and spending the rest of the time in my bedroom. Anyway, my Dad turned up and demanded to know what was happening, and not long after I had my first major panic attack.

I ended up at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Ward at the hospital for a few weeks to deal with the panic attacks and the main cause for them. I am getting better, I just try not to think about what happened, to not have another attack,” I explained to my friends. “What a bastard!” Giles said in response, and the others nodded their heads in agreement.