Shadows Dancing in the Sun - 10. Shad Chapter 10

“There is a balcony from the music room, and extra wide sliding doors, could it be craned up to there, and while they are doing that maybe they can crane some mature trees and shrubs up as well,” I suggested, “Good thinking nephew, I will get onto it first thing in the morning,” Uncle Mitch said.

The next morning, with my bike still located at school, Uncle Mitch drove me there, and Kyle was sitting nearby, when I arrived. “Good morning, how are we this fine Autumn morning,” Kyle said to me, “It is winter now silly, can’t you tell will the chill in the air, and I am good thank you. What about you?” I replied.

“I had a great afternoon yesterday, even though you dashed off so fast,” Kyle said, “Oh, and what the good mood, did something happen?” I asked, “You could say that, I rode place your family home yesterday, and your stepfather was out on the front trying to cut down damaged tree branches and raking up the leaves, and he was grumbling the whole time,” Kyle informed me, smiling broadly, and all I could do was laugh out loud.

“About time the bastard did some property work around the house,” I commented, as we headed up toward our lockers in the senior school. “Garrison, if I can have a moment of your time please?” the headmaster asked when he suddenly appeared, and it caught both of us off guard.

“It is ok, I think I know what it is about, I will see you a bit later,” I said to reassure Kyle, who nodded his head and walked off. “Sorry to interrupt your conversation with… Anyway, the School council had an extra ordinary meeting last night, and they are looking at accepting your uncle’s proposal, but what they want to know first is if the building is available for later this year to hold all examinations for years 11 & 12?” the Headmaster asked.

“Uncle Mitch has only just dropped me off, let me see if I can reach him by phone,” I responded, as I pulled out my phone and pressed the redial number. “Garrison, give me that phone, you know that… Oh headmaster, sorry, I was unaware that it was you standing here with Mr Garrison,” one of the teachers said as he approached.

“This is school business Mr Taylor, you can go thank you,” the headmaster responded, just as Uncle Mitch picked up. “Uncle, I am with the headmaster, he wants to ask you something,” I said right away, “I am still close by, as I am caught up in a traffic accident at the lights, tell him I will meet him at his office in five minutes,” Uncle Mitch replied before ending the call.

“I guess I better return to my office then, thankyou Mr Garrison, and don’t forget to turn that off and put it away,” the headmaster said before leaving, and I quickly made the short distance to the lockers, just as the first bell sounded. “What was all that about?” Kyle asked, who had waited for me to turn up at the lockers.

“Unfortunately, I cannot say, only that it is school business between my Uncle and the school council, that is all I can say for now,” I replied. “Ok, so we have three more days till the weekend, what are you plans?” Kyle asked, “Packing, like I said before, Uncle Mitch and Xavier have separated, and we are moving to a slightly smaller place, which is closer to work for Uncle Mitch but further away for me, in Nedlands,” I responded.

“Oh, that sucks, do you want any help with packing this weekend?” Kyle responded, “I usually would, but I would like to concentrate on getting it done without any distractions, as I have Hockey Academy starting the following Saturday,” I replied, Oh yeah, I totally forgot all about that, Tobias Garrison, the new Australian superstar in field hockey” Kyle said placing his hands in the air and far apart to emphasise the point, as if there was a big sign there, and I just laughed.

“We better get going or we will be late, see ya later,” I said as I grabbed the books I needed, slammed shut the locker door, and raced off down the corridor at a fast walk, so as not to be sprung for running in the corridors, then I came to an abrupt held, when I remembered that today was morning assembly in the chapel for all middle and senior students, and I saw Kyle smiling and pointed the direction that I should have been going.

“Good morning, I will hand over the assembly to the School Council chairman today, as he has some very interesting news…” the headmaster announced. “Good morning teachers, staff and boys, I am very pleased to announce that the school has received an offer, that is too good to not take, so as of first term next year, the school will have a second campus, located directly across the road from the University of WA in Crawley.

This brand-new facility consists of two groups of four octagonal buildings, that has everything including a chapel, gymnasium, fitness rooms, and everything else that we need, apart from sporting fields, which we will have to work out over the next few months. The distance between the two campuses is 24 kilometres, and because of that, the top three forms of years 11 & 12, who are most likely to be continuing onto University studies, when they have graduated, will be attending the new campus.

This new facility also has student accommodation, with 50 individual bedsit rooms to accommodate country students who wish to study at the new campus next year. In the meantime, there will be three events happening at the new campus in coming months. “First will be an open day that will take place during the mid-year school holidays in mid-July, and all of this year’s 10 & 11 students and your parents, are encouraged to attend, as it will give you your first look at the new campus, which the school council and the headmaster had a chance to inspect late yesterday

Secondly, the consecration of the new chapel into the Anglican Church of Australia, with it to be named St Lawrence and will take place on the feast day of Saturday, August 10th, which all year 10, 11 & 12 students and your parents are encouraged to attend.

Lastly, the end of year exams for all year 11 and 12 students will be held in early November, at the new campus, so as to cause less distraction on you the exam takers, and the rest of the school community who have to be quiet as mice during your exams,” the Council chairman said, which brought some laughter amongst the students, as the headmaster stepped up to the podium.

“Thank you, now that the announcements are over, have a good day of studies, you can go to your first class, thank you,” the headmaster said dismissing us from assembly. “Well, that was short and sweet. Does this announcement have anything to do with…”? I placed a finger on Kyle’s lips, to get him to stop talking and placed a finger on my lips and said “Shhh. All will be revealed soon, my padawan student,” I said to Kyle, who just laughed and shook his head in amusement.

“As you wish, R2D2, my wise leader,” Kyle responded, which had me laughing, as we exited the chapel, and headed to our classes, in different locations, which is because I am in Year 11 Form A, while Kyle was in Year 11 Form C, with there being five class forms, and just under 140 students in each year.

“You are a worry, little grasshopper,” I said to Kyle when he sat down next to me for lunch, and Kyle looked confused by my statement, and I just laughed, “Have you not seen the tv show of Kung Fu, it is a real classic from the 1970’s,” I said to Kyle, who looked just as confused, “Never mind. How was your morning?” I added.

“We chatted as we ate our lunch, and I said that I would ask my uncle if Kyle could stay over this weekend, to help us with packing, which brightened his mood greatly. When I arrived home after school, I found a stack of boxes just inside the front door, all against one wall.

“Hey uncle, I am home,” I called out, “Good, get changed please, and help me with moving those boxes into the back of my vehicle, I think it will be easier, if we just do the moving ourselves, you will find a trolley in the garage to help you move the boxes,” Uncle Mitch called back, from the study.

After getting out of my school uniform, I found the trolley and began to move the first lot of boxes, and I discovered the back seat of the 4x4 was already stacked high with boxes, so I opened the back area, and began to load them up. “Don’t forget to leave room for the trolley, as we need to take that with us,” Uncle Mitch said from behind, me, which made me jump in fright.

“Ok, and please can you not do that, you scared the hell out of me just now,” I responded, “Sorry,” Uncle Mitch replied as he handed me another box to load into the vehicle, and an hour later, we arrived at our new home, where a large crane was parked across the driveway, about halfway in, so we had to stop just inside the gate.

“As you can see, we have used your brilliant idea to get the piano into the third floor music room, and I spent a fair amount of time this morning, shopping for mature trees and shrubs for the outdoor areas, plus a few other things as well,” Uncle Mitch said to me, and we stepped out of the vehicle.

“Mr Garrison, we have installed the piano, and all of the plants and extras are on the fourth floor open area, but we didn’t know where you wanted to place them so we left it for you to do,” one of the workers said to my uncle. “Thank you for all of your hard work today, it is much appreciated, and I will be sure to spread the word around of your good work,” Uncle Mitch replied, as he climbed back into the ute and reversed out, so as to allow the crane to leave.

“I have a piano tuner coming tomorrow to re-tune it, now that it is in its permanent home,” Uncle Mitch said to me after the crane had left and we had parked next to the elevator in the building two, South carpark.

After 45 minutes of carting tons of boxes up to the lower level of the penthouse, and into the correct area, I was exhausted, and I collapsed into a dining chair.

“What’s for dinner, I would like double of whatever you are ordering,” I said to my uncle when he came in with the last of three boxes, which he placed in the kitchen. When we finish doing this tomorrow, we will have most of our stuff over here. I will be bringing all the cooking and eating stuff to here, and buying new gear for that house, so that it looks nice for guests who are staying. So, I guess tomorrow night will be our first night here,” Uncle Mitchell announced.

After a short break, I staggered to my feet and walked into the music room, where the piano took centre place, and it looked perfect in this location, which made me happy. “I hope this to be our home for many years to come, it is a good spot to be, and I hope you will be happy here,” Uncle Mitch said to me softly.

“I will, and I am sorry for swearing at you the other night,” I replied, “That has been long forgotten, as you are my priority now nephew, and I will be making a few changes with work, so I can be home when you get home from school each day, as there is a large office space on the north side of this level, that would make a great home base for my architecture work,” Uncle Mitch said to me.

“That stuff you said before about my father’s will, did you manage to work it all out?” I asked.