Tough Times - 8. Tough Chapter 8

When it was daylight, I woke up early as usual, and before stepping out of the homestead, I stopped at the door and listened carefully for any signs of Jack being up and about, before heading off for a walk.

I was a little disappointed to see that I had two front flat tyres on my vehicle, when I walked past it, and I wasn’t sure if they had been slashed or the air just let down, and I decided to wait until the boss returns before I see to that, and I stayed well clear of the workers cottage and the cottage.

When I returned to the homestead, I found Angela was awake and busy preparing a cooked breakfast for all of us, and this included a tray for Jack and Billy, which she left covered and on the table in the workers dining room, along with the usual jug of fruit juice and the urn was turned on for tea and coffee, as usual too, before the door was locked once more.

Heading into the lounge room, I rolled up my swag, and placed it on the floor near the door, while Syd was in the bathroom, and we swapped over when he came out of there, before we sat down in the kitchen for some breakfast. “So, what is on everyone’s agenda for our day off?” Syd asked us when he sat down.

“I was going to suggest that we go for a drive somewhere, but during my walk, I noticed that my tyres have had the air let down or they have been slashed,” I commented, “oh, that is not good, we need to tell the boss about this. You do realise that I have noticed all the cow pads, that have been thrown all over your vehicle for the past week, and I have a good idea who is responsible for it,” Angela said to me.

“Yeah, I noticed that too, I have no idea what his problem is, but he needs to grow up,” Syd responded, and I chuckled at this comment, “Interesting comment there bud, especially when you are in your mid 20’s and he is around the 40’s,” I stated, and we all laughed about that.

“I have some laundry washing to catch up on, so how about you guys take Angela’s car and go for a drive along the Trans Australian line, or something like that,” Syd suggested, “Yes, that would be nice, just to get away from the homestead for a while,” Angela agreed, and she started busying herself with preparing another picnic basket of food and drinks.

After doing a quick clean-up of the living areas of the homestead, and Syd asking for my vehicle keys so he could give it a good wash, Angela and I set off northwards, then west along the Trans Australian Railway line, and we stopped when we reached the turnoff to the neighbouring Mount Monger Station, and we parked a short distance away from the railway line, and a little while later, we watched as trains passed by, one from each direction, about half an hour apart.

When the second train passed, we noticed that there was a vehicle parked near to us, that we hadn’t heard approach due to the noise of the train, and realised that it was the bosses vehicle. “Hello there, you two, enjoying your day off with some train spotting?” Carol said as she and Mike stepped out of their vehicle.

“Yes, you could say that, we just wanted to have a drive around away from the homestead, that is all,” Angela replied, “How was your social evening with the neighbours?” I asked, “Very enjoyable thanks, we actually had three of our neighbours gathered, with Binneringie and Madoonia joining us,” Mike stated.

“That sounds good, we are glad that you had a relaxing time,” Anger responded, “Yes, now how are things at home, everything in order I hope,” Mike asked us, and Angela and I glanced at each other, “Well it is now, Syd and Devlin camped out in the homestead lounge last night, as the other two were on a bit of a booze bender, and after breakfast we cleaned everything up, ready for your return,” Angela admitted to the bosses.

“I see, well I am glad that you were able to have a bit of a social night too, and that is fine that you camped out in the homestead, in a way we are glad, as it meant that you were not in the homestead alone Angela,” Mike said to us, and Carol nodded her head in agreement.

“Care for some morning tea, before heading back to the station?” Angela asked, “Yes, why not, I guess a short delay wont be a problem,” Mike responded, and Angela got to work laying out the morning tea. “So, Devlin, what are your plans for the future?” Carol asked me unexpectantly.

“Not really sure, I have been taking it one week at a time for a while now. I lost my parents in an accident, while they were away on holidays, when I was 17, and my older siblings don’t want to know me, so I have been fairly independent since then,” I replied.

“Well, you are a very good worker, you have done wonders to the grounds around the homestead, and fixing the few bits of furniture for us as well, and we have been wanting to speak to you, about doing a trip into Kalgoorlie for us, to collect a heap of trees and shrubs to expand on the gardens,” Mike said to me.

“I thankyou for your confidence in me, and my work, but I will be leaving here soon,” I announced, which I had not planned on doing so soon, but after last night’s dramas, I had made up my mind to move on. “Oh, that is a shame, could you tell us why you are leaving us so soon?” Carol asked.

“Lets just say that your other staff are more important to have on the station that me, and that it is best for me to leave, before things get worse,” I replied. “Get worse, what on earth are you going on about?” Mike said angrily in a raised voice, and Carol put a hand on his arm, to calm him down.

“Does this have anything to do with the tensions between you and Jack?” Carol asked, “And the black eye,” Angela added,” and reluctantly I nodded my head, that it was, and Angela shuffled over and put her arms around me and whispered, please don’t go, I like having you here with us,” she said to me.

“I think that it is time that we have a serious talk with Jack, I do not approve of what has happened, I am guessing he caused the black eye that you received on your first day here, and you spending a lot of time and eating your meals in the kitchen?” Mike asked.

“It is, but you need a mechanic more than you need a gardener and carpenter, so I think it is best that I pack up and leave,” I responded, and Mike sighed as he glanced over at his wife, “Look we do appreciate all of your hard work, and if conditions change, in regards to staffing, we would really like for you to come back to us,” Carols aid to me, “Thank you, I will consider it, but for now, I think I will pack up and leave first thing tomorrow morning… or when I have got my vehicle fixed,” I replied.

“Fixed? What is wrong with it?” Mike asked, “A couple of unexplained punctures, but I will get Syd to help me repair them when we get back,” I answered, “I noticed that your vehicle has been quite dirty a few times too, have you been going out on some rough tracks around the station?” Carol asked, “No, that is part of the same problem, and it isn’t dirt, it is cow pads,” Angela said.

“This Jack’s doing again? The tyres and the cow pads?” Mike asked, “I don’t know, as I haven’t seen it been done, just afterwards,” I replied honestly, “Ok, I will be having a very serious word with him tomorrow, make sure you come by the office later this afternoon, so I can finalise your wages before you leave, and make sure you fill up your fuel tank with petrol before you leave also,” Mike said to me, “Ok, thank you,” I replied.

Angela and I arrived back at the homestead about an hour after the bosses had headed back, and I was surprised to see my vehicle parked at the front of the homestead, spotlessly clean with all the tyres in working order, and Syd was leaning against the jeep, as we pulled up beside it.

“All fixed and clean for you, I even gave the inside a bit of a quick vac too,” Syd announced to me, as he handed over the keys. “Thanks mate, you didn’t really need to do that, but it is appreciated, as I accepted my keys and glanced through the window, to see my suitcase, swag and car fridge safely stored in the back storage area. “Not a problem mate, I needed to do something, while waiting for my laundry to be done,” Syd said as he indicated to the washing clothes line where his laundry was drying.

“What has happened with the other two?” Angela asked, “The bosses came back and seeing the mess they created, told them to clean it up, then sent them off to do a water run, which they were not too pleased about,” Syd replied smiling, and Angela and I chuckled at this bit of news.

I spend the afternoon, doing a load of washing, and I had it all completed and dried before the end of the day, and I packed it all away in my suitcase in the back of my jeep. When I had finished, I headed to the office to see the boss, who was busy doing book work, when I knocked on the door.

“I have you wages here, and I have added an extra week of pay for you. Did you fill up your vehicle?” Mike said to me from his deck, “Yes, and Syd fixed up the tyres and cleaned my vehicle while we were out, so I am all ready to go, and I was thinking of leaving this afternoon, as I want to be into Boulder before nightfall,” I replied. “Oh, that early, well I wish you all the best, and hopefully we will see you back here in the future,” Mike said to me, as he handed over a bulky envelope, containing cash.

“Thankyou for this, I appreciate that you gave me some work, especially when I arrived with just a short telephone interview with Carol,” I responded, “Yes, well she is good with judging character, and unfortunately I ignored her advice when I hired the mechanic, as we were desperate to find one,” Mike said to me as we shook hands.

I found Syd and Angela in the garden sitting on a garden bench that I had made, and they smiled as they saw me approach, but Angela’s smile turned into sadness. “You are leaving us now, aren’t you,” she said to me, “Yes, I am, I have come to say goodbye and to thankyou both for been good supportive friends, and that I would like to keep in touch,” I replied.

We exchanged email addresses, since I don’t have a working mobile phone, and I promised to let them know where I am once I have got settled, and after a long group hug, I climbed into my Jeep and drove off out of the station, with my destination to be Boulder for now.

A bit over an hour later, as the sun was about to set, I checked into a cabin in the tourist park, and I ordered pizza for dinner, as I watched a bit of television, firstly the news, then a movie, before retiring for the night. Just before I turned off the lights, I glanced through the information folder and found information about the coastal town of Esperance.

This caught my attention, and I glanced at the information about the town, and the more I read, the more I was interested in visiting the town, and I decided that Esperance is where I was going to be heading, as I turned off the light and was soon fast asleep.

The following morning, I checked out the motel early and I found a café to buy some breakfast, before setting off south towards Esperance, which is a good 4 ½ hours of driving away, and I planned to stop at the town of Norseman, which is almost half way.

Arriving in Esperance soon after 1pm in the afternoon, I checked into a motel, and I decided to rest for the remainder of the afternoon, after the long drive, but I became a little restless after just an hour, so I headed towards the beach to take a long walk.

The first interesting item I came across on my walk, was the Tanker Jetty, which looked to be at least 500 metres long, and I continued walking along the foreshore, in an easterly direction where the beach is very clean and the water is quite a clear deep blue colour.

After about 3 ½ kilometres, the walk path and the road ended along the beach, but I decided to continue to walk along the beach for another kilometre, until I came across the entrance to a boat harbour, and I turned inland, and 500 metres in, I came across the boat jetty, that has a number of charter fishing boats, and some private boats also, while near by is the Angling Club building.

Across the other side of the harbour, I could see a number of commercial fishing boats, and a number of large buildings, and I could also see a way to walk around to that location, and I began walking the nearly one kilometre to that location.

I was happy to see a fish and chip store that was open, and I called in to buy a small serving of chips and a cool drink, and I sat down on the low limestone wall, to relax and watch what was happening in the harbour. “Hey you sitting on the wall… do you have any fishing or boat experience? Do you want a job?” a voice called out, and it took me a moment to see a man who looked like a fisherman looking at me from a short distance from the jetty.

“Err, yes a little bit, but only on a charter yacht, where I was a deckhand and steward,” I replied, caught totally surprise by the question, “Good, how about coming and working for me, I am very short handed, and could do with a deck hand on my fishing boat,” the man said to me as he approached.

“Hello, I am Sam Hutchins, and my fishing boat is the “Sea Breeze”. She is 19.8 metres long, 5.9 metres wide, has a cruising speed of 18 knots, and although it has 7 berths, I usually have just a crew of four, but at the moment I have just two, so I would be very pleased if you could join my team,” the man said to me before shaking my hand and smiling.

“Hi, I’m Devin Alpike, and as I said, I have just had a little bit of experience on a small charter yacht, based in Fremantle, which is owned by an old school mate of mine and his family. I have only been out with them a few times, and only twice as a crew member,” I replied.

“Well, that is better than nothing… so you have no problems with motion sickness?” Sam asked me, “No skipper, that isn’t an issue for me,” I responded, “Good, and can you cook?” Sam responded, “Only a little bit, and mostly on a BBQ grill, and making a variety of salads, which is fairly basic, I am afraid,” I replied.

“Ok, that’s not a problem. What are you doing in Esperance?’ Sam asked me, “Err, just looking for work I guess, I just arrived this afternoon, I am staying in a motel for a week, until I can find a place to live,” I replied.