Frontier - 20. FR Chapter 20

I excuse myself from the table, explaining that I had responsibilities to deal with a sleepy younger brother. I handed Gramps the company credit card, to pay for the meal, before ordering a taxi, and carrying Jedd on my back outside to wait for the taxi. When I had Jedd safely tucked in bed, he was asleep almost straight away, and I quietly made my way upstairs to the fly bridge, where I noticed a local police car do a quick cruise around the carpark, before disappearing into the night.

Once it had gone, I glanced over to the other side of the marina, where the large motor yacht was moored, and saw that there were still plenty of lights on. Now with a near full moon showing a clear sky, I took out the binoculars and had a look at the hardware situated at the very top of the yacht. I guessed it to be a satellite navigation system. There were two other simular domes slightly lower, which I presumed were either to do with navigation or communications.

As I moved the binoculars lower to the top deck, I was shocked to see someone standing there also with a set of binoculars looking straight at me. He smiled and gave a small wave, and I gave a little smile and waved back.

“Permission to come aboard,” came a voice from below, that made me jump with fright, and it took me a few moments to recover, before I could look over the side to see who was speaking.

“Skipper of the motor yacht Mary Julia. Sorry to scare you like that,” the voice said as I saw him standing on the jetty near the closed pontoon.

“Permission granted, Sir. 1^st mate of the Last Frontier. Welcome aboard,” I eventually replied to him, as I put the binoculars away, and headed down stairs, where a middle-aged gentleman stood, dressed in slacks, over collared shirt and jacket.

“My name is Anton Hamilton, 1^st mate and part owner of this trimaran,” I said as I shook the man’s hand.

“Glad to meet you, young man. Giles Kingsley from Newport, USA. You seem a little too young to own such a magnificent yacht like this,” Mr Kingsley said to me with a smile.

“Well, Sir, that is a long story, and it was a matter of pure luck really. My grandfather and I jointly own this trimaran and the catamaran next door. Please come inside and let’s have a drink,” I said to the gentleman, and I led him into the saloon and further in to the formal lounge.

“What will you have to drink?” I asked him as he took a seat.

“Well, since you are probably too young to serve alcohol, a cup of coffee will do fine please,” he replied.

“Please excuse me for a moment. All the crew are out for dinner, so I will have to get it myself,” I said as I dashed into the office and down the stairs to the galley.

Although I hated the taste of coffee, I had seen Simon brewing it, and I knew that he had freshly ground some coffee, before we went out for dinner, and put the percolator on for when they return from dinner. The coffee had finished brewing and was now keeping warm. I turned on the kettle before finding the matching china coffee jug, milk jug and sugar bowl. I placed them on a serving tray, along with two cups with saucers, two tea spoons, and I poured some milk into the milk jug.

Once I had poured hot water into one cup, and placed an Earl Grey teabag on the saucer, I placed the coffee pot onto the tray and I made my way upstairs. I placed the tray on the coffee table.

“Well, that is what I call service,” Mr Kingsley commented.

“I was lucky. The cook had put the coffee on brew before we went out to dinner,” I commented with a smile, as I served his coffee, and allowed him to deal with the milk and sugar.

“So, tell me more on how you got to own this trimaran,” Mr Kingsley asked me.

“My grandfather bought the catamaran when I was fairly young. It was slightly damaged, and I helped him to restore it during the weekends and holidays. He would also take me out fishing in it, and he taught me all he knew about sailing. Due to a difficult family situation we didn’t see each other for many years until earlier this year, and since then we have been sailing the catamaran up the coast and over to Christmas Island, in the northern Indian ocean.

It was during our time there, that we met a Canadian couple who were desperately trying to find a solution to a problem they had. They were the owners of this trimaran, and they had a family emergency where they had to return home fast, but they didn’t want to disappoint their two crew members. They offered us the lease of the trimaran, with an option to buy, as long as we kept the current crew on board, and we accepted the offer.

My grandfather sold his home, and a small hobby farm, for which he received a bigger price than expected, which meant he didn’t have to sell the catamaran. So now he lives on the catamaran, along with my mother and two half-brothers, while I live on board the trimaran, with my best friend Simon, who is our cook, his older first cousin, who is our skipper, and our two Canadian crew members,” I replied.

“Well that is a very interesting story, and I agree with you, being lucky to be able to purchase this trimaran. It so happens that I know about these Blue Coast Yachts. There are only a few of these that have been built, and I have been looking for one to buy for some time now,” Mr Kingsley said to me which I was not expecting.

“Well, that is quite unexpected. I am not sure if we are willing to sell this yacht, as we have just established a chartering business here on weekends and holidays, while Simon and I finish our final year in high school,” I replied.

“Well just think about it, is all I ask. We will be here for another day, then we are heading up the coast to Exmouth, before we come back down the west coast. We will stop by here, on our way down to Fremantle, before heading further down the coast and east to Tasmania,” Mr Kingsley said with a smile.

“I will have a chat with my grandfather, and we will have a reply by the time you return,” I responded.

About twenty minutes after Mr Kingsley had left, the crew arrived back at the marina, with a few of them a lot happier having drunk more than usual, which I didn’t mind. Once everyone had made their way to their cabins, I switched off all the lights and headed to my cabin, checking on Jedd first. I set my alarm for 7am, remembering that the next day was a school day.

When I arrived upstairs for breakfast, Jasper and the lads were not looking at all well. I chuckled a little.

“Self-inflicted, Lads. You get no sympathy from me,” I said to them with a smile.

“What’s ‘self-inflicted’ mean?” Jedd asked me in his usual loud voice, which resulted in groans from Jasper and the lads, as they covered their ears, to block out the noise.

“It means that they drank to much alcohol last night, and they have what’s called hangovers, which means loud noises, makes their head hurt,” I responded.

“Oh does it? How loud does it have to be to hurt?” Jedd asked in a very loud voice, which brought more groans, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Eat up, Bro. We have school to get to,” I said to Jedd, who continued to eat his breakfast.

Just before 8am, Jedd and I arrived at the Junior school, where I gave Jedd a hug and wished him a good day at school, before I started to make my way over to the senior school. I was heading down the main corridor towards the senior lockers, when I was suddenly shoved heavily against the wall. As I stood up straight and recovered, I was shoved against the wall again. I saw in front of me, three large stocky guys, all slightly younger, and they looked mean.

“I hope you have a good reason for doing that to me, and that you are prepared for the consequences of your actions?” I asked the bigger of the three boys.

“What is it to you, Homo? Are you going to make me stop, Homo?” the largest boy said to me, and the other two were openly laughing at me. I spotted Finn and Toby approaching me, and with a slight move of my hand, I signalled them to stop, as other students started to gather around.

“Firstly, my name is not, Homo. It is Anton. Can I ask what your names are, and why are you pushing your weight around unnecessarily?” I replied to him.

“No, we will not tell you our names, Homo. I can do whatever I like,” the older boy responded.

Finn, Toby and now Simon, were at the very front of the group of students that had gathered, and I soon spotted Sam, Mike and a number of others in the leadership team.

“I presume because you don’t know who I am, and that I haven’t seen you here before, that you guys are new here,” I said.

“Yes, so what has that got to do with here and now,” the middle size boy said for the first time.

“Well, if you had been here for a while, you would know that Anton here, along with myself, and a lot of others in amongst this crowd, are members of the school leadership team, and we do not tolerate discrimination or bullying in this school,” Toby announced to the trio. There was a murmur of agreement from the others.

“So what if you don’t tolerate. We will do whatever we want to,” the middle boy responded.

“Hang on, I know you. How come you are out of detention so fast. You were sentenced to two months in detention for what you did at Leeming,” I said, when I suddenly realised that I was facing the ringleader, who had bashed my two brothers.

“Ha, ha, ha! That was easy. We got a good lawyer, and I got out early on good behaviour” the boy replied with a smug look on his face.

On hearing this, the senior leadership team moved forward and completely surrounded the boy. Quite un-expectantly he punched me quite hard in the stomach, which resulted in me collapsing to my knees, as the wind was forced out of me.

Meanwhile my friends all restrained the offender, and gently pushed him against the wall, and held him there, two holding his shoulders, and another two holding his arms, so he couldn’t punch anyone else.

“What is going on here? Break it up everyone,” came the voice of Mr Langton.

The students made way for his arrival, and he smiled when he saw the team members holding the bully, but his expression changed when he saw me on the floor, holding my stomach.

“Sir, may I speak to you in private,” I asked him, as I staggered to my feet, while Simon grabbed hold of me to steady me a little.

“Leadership team, can you escort these three culprits to the conference room. I will be with you shortly,” Mr Langton said to the senior leadership team.

“It will be our pleasure, Sir,” Finn replied with a smile.

As they were being led away, and the crowd of students thinned out, Mr Langton and I stepped into a nearby classroom.

“Sir the older of those three boys is the ringleader bully that injured my brothers two weeks ago, causing the damage that resulted in Neale having two lots of surgery. Can I please call the police and have him arrested? He is meant to be in detention for a few months. I have no idea why he is released,” I said to Mr Langton.

After a brief call to the local police station, I followed Mr Langton to the administration building, where I found my five friends gathered in the reception office. They smiled when they saw me, and together we explained to Mr Langton exactly what happened in the hallway. By the time that we had finished explaining, Anita Cartwright arrived in the building in police uniform, with another police officer.

“Hello, Anton. You’ve been causing more trouble at school have you?” she said to me.

I looked shocked at what she said before she broke into a big smile.

“Don’t scare me like that please, Officer Anita,” I responded, and she gave a short laugh.

I explained to Anita and her colleague what had happened in the hallway, and that the main culprit was supposed to-be serving a three-month sentence in detention, with no parole.

“I see. Well, we will take them back to the station and check on that. If that is the case he has just broken his parole in any case, so he will be heading back inside. Are you ok, Anton? Has he caused any serious injuries?” Anita asked me.

“Only my stomach hurts a little where he punched me hard,” I said as I lifted the front of my shirt, where a large bruise was developing.

“You better get that checked out as soon as you can. In the meantime he will be charged with assault on you,” Anita said to me as she said goodbye. She went to collect the three culprits and headed towards their police car.

Soon after, the school nurse arrived and examined my stomach, and she said that it appeared to be severe bruising, and that it should clear in a few days’ time. She also suggested that I take the rest of the day off school and rest. I thanked the nurse, and I asked Mr Langton to contact Simon, and arrange for him to collect Jedd from Junior school at the end of the school day. Then I carefully rode back home to the marina.

When Jasper saw me arriving, he came rushing to the side of the yacht, looking concerned.

“The only reason you are here must be that you are sick or injured. So which is it?” Jasper said to me as he assisted me back onto the yacht. I gave a slight smile.

“Injured. I was caught unaware by a bully, who happens to be the same guy who bullied and bashed my brothers, even though he is supposed to be in detention for three months,” I replied, as Jasper got me settled onto the formal lounge. He grabbed a blanket to keep me warm.

I woke up suddenly, when I heard a noise, and I realised that I had fallen asleep. Looking at my watch, I saw it read 13.16pm. Jasper arrived with a tray of soup and toast. After I had eaten, I must have fallen asleep again, as I was woken up again, when Simon and Jedd arrived back from school.

“Hey, Buddy. How are you feeling,” Simon asked me as I sat up, feeling a little groggy from sleeping.

“Still a little sore in the stomach,” I replied, and I gave a slight smile.

“Hey, Guys. How was school today?” Jasper asked Simon and Jedd.

“Yes, it was good, although, everyone kept asking where Anton was,” Simon replied.

“I received a call from Anita just after lunch time. She wanted to let you know Anton, that the three boys appeared before the magistrate just before noon. The two younger boys were let off with a warning, and told to stay out of trouble, while the leader of the trio was sentenced to a further four months in detention, with no parole, after he has completed his previous full sentence, meaning he has to stay in detention for 6 months,” Jasper said.

“I went to the marine store this morning, and I received a quote to fit a security alarm system and security cameras on the yacht. I was thinking that we should seriously consider installing it,” Jasper said to me.

“Let me discuss it with Gramps, then we will make a decision regarding that,” I replied.

I saw Kirk and Leon arriving at the marina with bags of shopping, and when they arrived on the yacht, I decided to let everyone know about last night’s offer from Mr Kingsley.

“Jasper can you go and get Gramps? I need to speak to everyone about something important,” I asked with a smile.

Moments later, Gramps and Jasper arrived, and everyone sat down.

“When I brought Jedd back home last night, I was doing some binocular gazing of our neighbour, and was caught unawares by the owner, who had walked over in the dark, and we had a bit of a chat. During that time, the yacht owner, Mr Kingsley, mentioned to me that he was familiar with our trimaran yacht model, and that he has been looking for one that he can purchase.

“He asked me to consider selling it to him, although no price was mentioned. If they have left, that’s because they are on their way up to Exmouth for a few days, and they will be coming back, before heading east to Tasmania,” I said to everyone.

“Well, it is up to you I guess. I am happy with what you decide, but of course I don’t need to remind you that if you do sell, that it will affect not just the family, but other crew members as well,” Gramps said to me.

“Yes, I am aware of that. It is something that I need to think about a bit more. I just wanted to let you know about the offer,” I said to everyone.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. I continued to rest, with a bit of study thrown in, as Simon had brought some homework back for me to do. We managed to get most of our studies completed before dinner time.

“You know, I think we should temporarily shut down our website, until a decision has been made,” I said to Simon.

“I will get onto it right away, and just to let you know, I will support you no matter what you decide,” Simon replied with a smile.

“Thanks, Buddy. That is good to know,” I responded, and Simon headed to the office to log onto the website, to make the changes that I suggested.

When dinner was over, I arranged for Jedd to go and have a shower, before bedtime time. Once I had tucked Jedd into bed, I went up to the fly bridge, where I took off my shorts and shirt and climbed into the Jacuzzi in just boxer shorts.

Sometime later, Jasper appeared and sat down on the lounge nearby.

“So, what are your thoughts about the offer to buy this yacht?” Jasper said to me.

“Well we could go back to having just the catamaran, but it will be a little cramped for crew accommodation,” I replied.

“Or you could sell that one as well and get a bigger boat of some kind,” Jasper suggested.

“Ok. Well, let’s just think about it some more, and we can discuss it again after school tomorrow,” I said. I climbed out of the Jacuzzi and dried off before heading to my cabin to go to bed.