Outback Corporation - 16. OBC Chapter 16

“We are waiting till it is dark, then we will slip out through the farmers back entrance, onto Gibson road and back onto the highway” Jo explained to me, “Ok, well lets just make sure you are not followed, so don’t come directly back to the farm, dad had a snooze in the back, while I spent a good twenty minutes driving all over the town, we are just sitting at a lookout over the pink lakes at the moment” I said to Joe.

“Righto, I will do something the same, we should be back at the farm by 9pm” Joe said and he ended the call. When I heard the vehicle arrive, we all came outside to greet Declan and the boys, who I am sure a very tired now, from all of today’s drama’s. As we were unloading all of the luggage, which seemed a lot for just a short stay, I gave a loud whistle to Joe, who had gone off somewhere, as son as they had arrived.

Shortly after the whistle, which caught everyone by surprise, some strong lights were turned on a little distance away, to reveal the new Bunk house. “That is your accommodation, Dad and Grovedale family” I announced to everyone, as we all grabbed some luggage, and made our way to the bunkhouse, where Joe was waiting, and he opened the doors to let dad and his family enter.

“Holy cow” Harcourt said loudly, as he walked in and dropped his luggage in the middle of the room, and turned around to look at everything on ground floor and the upper floor. I had it built so as to accommodate all of the family and guests when they come to visit.

The upper area above the kitchen, laundry and bathroom, is for you, dad and Declan, while this upper area above the entry, is for the boys, two rooms, with six beds and two bathrooms” I announced to the guests, and the Declan’s boys all raced upstairs to check out their rooms.

“This is awesome dad” the twins shouted from upstairs, which echoed around the bunkhouse, “No need to shout boys, we can hear you quite clearly” Dad said in reply, “Sorry Pa” came an unexpected reply, which had Dad freeze where he was standing, and soon tears were flowing down his face.

“What is it dad, what is wrong” I asked concerned, and I saw Declan smiling as he comforted dad. “That is the first time, we have heard any of the boys call your dad anything apart from Uncle Bas” Declan explained, as dad wiped away the tears, as we all sat down in the lounge area. “This is a wonderful surprise Kes, thankyou for doing this for us” Dad said to me.

“So is there any reason why you have brought so much extra luggage, unless it contains lots of presents for my boys” I asked dad, which made him chuckle, “Well, Declan and I are planning to retire early, since we have more than enough money, and we are hoping that you will allow us to come and retire hear in Western Australia, I thought maybe on one of the stations, but if this is available, that would be better” Dad announced, which caught me by surprise.

“You know you are always welcome here, and it would be awesome to have you back home in WA, so yes if you want to make the bunkhouse your home, that is fine with me, but what about Declan’s boys?” I replied.

“That is already organised Kes, after Christmas, Harcourt will fly back to Vancouver and Kamloops, so as to return to his university studies, Noel and Jock have been running the farming business for a few years now, so they are capable of continuing that, we will leave the accommodation shut down for now, till we decide what to do with it” Declan explained.

“With the other three boys, I have already spoken to your former headmaster at the Grammar school in Albany, and he is happy to accept Emmanuel and Gresley for their final year of studies, and Carter for his final three years of studies, so your step brothers will be living here, when not at boarding school” Dad continued.

“That is fantastic, I will have lots of help to mind the kids now, I think Joe and Hanna, have been struggling a bit lately, with all the responsibilities of minding six rug rats” I said with a smile and Joe nodded his head in agreement to my statement.

Christmas was a wonderful time, with my boys enjoying having their Gramps around, they were not sure about the extra strangers around, but soon grew accustomed to having them around. It was a sad day, when it was time for Harcourt to leave, Joe drove Declan and Harcourt to the Esperance airport, as Declan would travel to Perth with his second oldest son, and see him off at Perth Airport, for his long journey home to Canada, before flying back in a couple of days’ time.

This time, there was no sign of any media at the Esperance or Perth airport to hound them for any information about Bryce, and once he had seen his son off at Perth, Declan checked into the pre-booked hotel in Perth, for two nights, before he would fly back to Esperance.

While Declan was away, Dad and I talked a lot about the huge family business, and wondered what to do with such a huge fortune that we had accumulated, and we discussed a few options, and decided to discuss it some more in the future, in the meantime, Dad was feeling glad to be back home in Western Australia, even if it isn’t on the station, and Declan’s three youngest boys had settled in well on the farm.

When Declan had returned, he and Dad helped me around the farm, which was great as I had missed working with Dad, and while we worked, we discussed some more about the future, and we came up with some interesting ideas, for future projects, we also discussed the idea of selling some of the cattle stations, as Dad suggested that it was getting too big to handle, and there was no guarantee that things will continue to prosper, with each season being so different.

A few nights later, we had a conference call with all of the relatives scattered around all the stations, and with some stations having poor seasons, it was decided to sell up all of the over twelve million acres in Murchison Pastoral Investments, consisting of all the stations in the Murchison, Pilbara, and the Northern Territory.

We also decided to sell all of the Western Desert Pastoral Company, with over fifteen million acres to be sold, and just 12 million acres to remain with the company, keeping all of the Murchison Pastoral stations, and we would also be selling the roadhouses.

Two weeks later, I drove into town with my three step brothers, to take them to Albany and to their new school. Dad and Declan decided to remain home where they will remain out of sight of the media, and so they made their farewells at home. Joe had driven us to Esperance airport, where we flew to Perth and stayed a night there, before flying south to Albany the following morning, where a taxi collected us, and took us to the Grammar School.

When we arrived, I led my step brothers to the administration building. “My word, if it isn’t Kyle Silverton, my how you have grown into a wonderful young man” the receptionist lady said as we entered, and I smiled, “Hello Ms Livingston, it is wonderful to see you again, may I see the headmaster please” I replied. Less than five minutes later, we entered the headmaster’s office.

“Ah Silverton, have you come here to receive your punishment” the headmaster said, which resulted in a shocked expression from my step brothers, and when I saw that, I burst out laughing, “The headmaster is just kidding, he is strict but fair, so don’t worry you will enjoy your time at the school” I replied with a big smile, and I introduced my step brothers to the headmaster.

Two days later, I arrived back at home, where I found Dad and Declan were having morning tea in the main house, and were in deep discussion about something, and I sat down, where I spotted the state newspaper, with the front page having large headlines.

“Silverton Properties on the market”, and I smiled, “So the news is out I see, have there been any calls to Pondana” I said, “Yes, Chris is getting a little annoyed with having to repeat no comment” Dad replied, and I just chuckled at this.