NB - A New Chapter - 2. ANC Chapter 2

Nothing had changed on the island, all the buildings and surrounds were the same, as we looked out the window of the taxi that was transporting us into town from the airport.

When we arrived at our accommodation, both Eric and Mary came out to greet us with hugs from both of them, which caught my brothers by surprise a little, as we were ushered inside, to get out of the cold air, and give a cup of tea. Eric and Mary informed us that the grandmother and her grandson were thrilled to hear that they had other relatives and were looking forward to meeting us.

I informed them that the DNA test results came back with a positive match to the boy being Huon’s son, and that the twins and I had decided to assist the grandmother, to have a very comfortable, long and restful retirement, and that we hope that she will allow us to take care of the boy.

Mary said that she had enjoyed two morning tea sessions with Alexander and his grandmother – Josephine O’Malley, who appears to be aged in her early 50’s, and that she was a very sturdy and sharp-tongued lady that will take no nonsense from anyone, and that poor Alexander had received a few stern warnings from his grandmother for bad table manners, and also talking with his mouth full.

“Well I guess I better organise a meeting with her as soon as possible then” I said to our hosts, “Not before you get some rest from your long journey you don’t mister, now go and unpack, and have a short rest, we will wake you up when it is time for dinner, oh and Tom and Margaret will be joining us for dinner tonight” Mary said, and she sent us off to have some rest.

Dinner time was a wonderful reunion of our friends, and I was glad that my brothers had suggested the idea of returning to the Falklands. “The Southern Explorer has completed its final delivery, and is now on its way here to Stanley, due to arrive Monday afternoon.

We continue to will stay here, but I will be spending my days onboard, as I have some business to deal with” I announced, and we agreed to attend church on Sunday morning, as part of our pilgrimage in memory of our cousin.

The following morning, my brothers and I went for a walk around Stanley, to have a good look around to see if there are any changes, and I was a little shocked when I spotted a familiar vehicle parked outside the main store, and we stared at the vehicle for a few moments till a middle-aged lady and a boy stepped out of the store and climbed into the vehicle.

“Err, excuse me, do you own this Landrover?” Louis asked, with isEuropean accent strongly noticeable. “No, it is own loan, thanks to Mr Tom, I think he owns it” the lady replied, “I see, thanks for that, have a nice day” Joachim responded, making sure to show his accent also, and the twins followed me inside, where I stopped and took a few deep breaths, to try and stop me from crying, and as soon as the twins wrapped me in a hug, the tears started to flow.

“I think that was Josephine and her grandson” Louis commented, “I agree with you brother” Joachim added, as we watched from the window, as the vehicle drove away. About half an hour later, we returned to the accommodation, where Eric and Mary were having morning tea with Tom and Margaret.

“Hello everyone”, I said as we joined them, and we were given a cup of tea each. “Tom did you lend Huon’s vehicle to Mrs O’Malley?” I asked after taking a sip of tea to calm me a little, “Yes Sebastian, I hope that is ok, and it is your vehicle now, I am just looking after it for you” Tom replied.

I was stunned at what Tom had just told us, as I had no idea that the vehicle was now mine, as I thought that it belonged to the farm. “We saw the vehicle parked outside the main store, and Mrs O’Malley and her grandson came out of the store and climbed into it, before we asked them if they about it” Louis said to our hosts, “I see, I guess it was a bit of a shock for to you dear, I hope it wasn’t too distressing” Mary said.

“Its fine thanks Mary, I guess this whole trip is a little unsettling, since it is the first time back since Huon’s funeral” I replied, “We better get a move on, if we are going to get to the airport to collect Reverend Davies and Kyle” Eric mentioned. A few minutes later Eric, the twins and I were in the mini bus heading to the airport, arriving just as we watched the plane landing.

“Hey guys, it’s great to see you again” Kyle said as he appeared and wrapped me in a tight hug, then hugged the twins together, while I shook Annette’s hand.

“Hello Annette, did you have a good journey?” I asked, “Tiring, but the 24 - hour stopover in Wellington helped a little” she replied with a smile, as I took over carrying her luggage, and leading the way out of the building, where Eric was waiting for us in the mini bus.

During the trip back into Stanley, I informed Annette and Kyle that the Southern Explorer has now completed its contract commitments, and that it is on it’s way back to Stanley, due to arrive on Monday afternoon, and also about Huon’s expected son, who is on the island with his grandmother. “Holy sh… ouch” Kyle started to say before receiving a clip over the back of his head from his mother, which made us chuckle.

“Sorry mum” Kyle said. “Well, this is a big surprise, have you met them yet?” Annette asked, “No, not officially, we passed them in the street, Tom has loaned them the Landrover, which I didn’t know was in town. The twins struck up a short conversation with them, putting on a strong Swiss accent, I was still a little shocked about the Landrover and seeing them up close for the first time” I replied.

When we arrived at the accommodation, we let Annette and Kyle to spend some time settling in, and when they reappeared Mary announced that she had booked a table for 9 at the local restaurant for lunch, and since it was a fine day, we chose to walk into town.

As we were about to step out Margaret put her hand on my arm. “Sebastian dear, I thought you and the twins may want to stop next door for a short visit” she said to me, as she handed me a bouquet of flowers, and as I accepted them some tears fell down my cheek, as I dropped my head to my chest to try and hide the tears. The twins immediately wrapped me in a group hug, and together we walked out of the accommodation, and down the driveway, to the main street.

Like nearly 6 years earlier, we walked up the path through the cemetery, knowing where Huon was buried, and when we arrived at his grave, there was just the twins and I standing there, as the others had dropped back to give us a little privacy. Slowly we squatted down and I place the flowers on the grave, which has a large slab of slate over the top of the grave, as well as at the head of it.

“Huon Alexander Devonport, loving son of Mathew and Julia Devonport (Deceased) and loving first cousin of Sebastian, Louis and Joachim, and best mate of Kyle. Gone to soon, aged 24 years. Rest in Peace, you are in pain no more”.

On a small plaque attached below the writing, it said – “Loving father of Alexander Hugh Devonport, I am sorry I didn’t get to know you dad, Rest in Peace”.

The twins and I were in tears now, it has been the first time to see the grave complete with a head stone and grave slab on it, and it was beautiful. Eventually Annette and Kyle joined us, and we stayed there for some time, before we realised that there were two more people with us – Mrs O’Malley and Alexander, and Annette was the first to notice them.

“Hello you must be Mrs O’Malley and Alexander? I am Reverend Annette Davies, and this is my son, Kyle” she said softly to them, and we all looked up when we heard Annette say this, and I saw them standing there, and I stood up and wiped away my tears.

“Mrs O’Malley, and Alexander, we are Huon’s first cousins, my name is Sebastian and these are my twin brothers Louis and Joachim” I said to them, shaking the ladies hand, before Alexander rushed to me and wrapped his arms around my waist and burst out crying.

I looked up at the boy’s grandmother, and she smiled. “Come and join us for lunch, we are going to the local restaurant” I said to them and Mrs O’Malley nodded her head in acceptance, of the offer, as we turned and walked away. Once we were seated at our table, with two extra place settings quickly added, we ordered some cool drinks, before everyone went silent.

“Mrs O’Malley, I am not sure what you know about the twins and I butlet me say that you and your grandson are most welcome to our family. Huon’s mum and our mum were sisters, and Huon didn’t know about us until I eventually tracked him down, when he was 17 years old. It took some time to convince him that we were related, as he was mourning the loss of his parents still when I finally met him for the first time.

We grew up in very different worlds, Huon as the son of a farmer in Toodyay, Western Australia, and the twins and I from a very wealthy businessman in Switzerland, that is why they had the accents you heard earlier.

For seven wonderful years, we spent most of the time together as a family, going to many places around the world, and here in the Falkland Islands was one of them.

Unfortunately, Huon had a number of accidents, which caused continue health problems for him for all of his adult life, and he passed away very suddenly, the one time the twins and I were away from him on a trip.

Kyle here, who was at high school with him, was the first to discover his body, with his mum, Annette, close by. We miss him very dearly, and it has been a mixture of feelings and emotions for us, knowing that he has a son, at the time that we came back to remember him.

As I said before, we are very wealthy, so we are very happy to look after you, during your visit here to the island and beyond. All of your accommodation fees and flights have been reimbursed to you. Mrs O’Malley, please excuse me for doing this, but I have been doing some checking, I know that you own a small cottage in Douglas on the Isle of Mann, funnily enough, that was the name of the farm where Huon worked here each summer, on the Falkland Islands, which was owned by Tom and Margaret here till they retired and sold up.

The Landrover, you are using is actually Huon’s vehicle, he bought it on his first trip here and had it fixed up, and it belongs to me now, you are welcome to use it for the rest of your stay. I want to ask you what your plans are for you and young Alexander here?” I said to the lady opposite me, who’s expressions changed regularly as I talked.

“Well, I was hoping to find the boys father, and hand him over to him, as I am too old to be bring up a young boy” Mrs O’Malley said to us, and there was a long period of silence as I thought about this.

“Mrs O’Malley, I am sure that my big brother and twin will agree with me, that it is our desire and hope that you let us look after you in your retiring years, if you want to go back home to the Isle of Mann, we will assist you with getting you back home, we will also want to make sure that you enjoy your retirement in comfort” Louis said, before I could say anything.

“That’s right, we will be making regular payments to your bank account, so that you will have nothing to worry about for the rest of your long life, and we hope to come and visit you often” Joachim added, and Mrs O’Malley looked at the three of us as we smiled and nodded our heads in agreement.

“If you want us to look after your grandson, we are more than willing to do that, and he will enjoy only the best in life. We will make sure that he is in regular contact with you, and he will come and visit regularly” I said to her, seeing that she had tears building in her eyes.

“Oh, this news makes me so happy, I thank you, for taking care of Alexander, he is a good boy, I am just not in a position to take good care of him anymore, and there is no need to spoil me, as I have all that I need, even if it appears to be very little” Mrs O’Malley replied.

“By the way Sebastian, I have been asked to jointly officiate tomorrows service, part of it will be a memorial service for Huon” Annette announced, which caught me by surprise, and Kyle gave me a little nudge with his shoulder, “I am contributing too, as my way of being thankful for having a great best friend” Kyle added, and I looked at him for a few moments, as he smiled at me, and I could tell he wasn’t going to give me any more details.

Lunch at the restaurant was a very emotional on for everyone, and when it was over, Mrs O’Malley pulled me to one side, as we were leaving. “Can you and I, have a private chat sometime, please” she asked me, “Yes ma’am, that is fine with me, as you are aware, there is only one flight in and out of the Falklands each week, so we have plenty of time” I replied smiling.

After saying goodbye to Alexander and Mrs O’Malley, we headed back to the accommodation, and soon after we arrived back, the telephone rang, which Eric answered. “… I see, ok I will send Sebastian over right away, bye for now” we heard him say, after he had listened for a short while, then ended the call after he had responded.

“That was Mrs O’Malley, apparently Alexander is very upset and scared that you are going away, and he will never see you again” Eric explained, and I dashed out the door, and ran all the way into town.

When I knocked on the door of the family suite that they were staying in, I could hear faint crying coming from inside, as Mrs O’Malley opened the door and stepped to one side to let me in. When Alexander saw me, he came rushing towards me, and I bent down to pick him up and hug him.

“Shh now cousin, we are family, and I will not be leaving you behind, how about I get the suite next door, so I am close by, does that sound ok by you” I said to Alexander, just as I heard a loud horn blast come from the main jetty, and I smiled.

“What on earth was that noise” Mrs O’Malley asked. “That my dear lady, is my main transport which has arrived just under two days early, come and let’s go and see, and I will give you a tour” I replied, smiling broadly, just as I felt my mobile vibrate.