BUY BOOK ONE AND TWO
With nothing falling into place, not much time passed before Don’s
parents, Rene more-so than Ted, became disillusioned and started to seriously
contemplate whether their decision to voyage to Australia was an
extravagance acted upon under false beliefs and desperate times. Ted was near
breaking point for a couple of reasons, one was due to not being able to find
gainful employment, and the other was because of Rene’s negativity and constant
whining; she had not yet forgave him for taking her and the family away from
her mother; although not termagant in nature like her mother, she was still
homesick for England and its
memories.
Inclusive in the contract involving the ‘Assisted Passage Scheme’ was an
obligation to remain in Australia for
two years. If one chose to travel back to Britain it could be very
costly, but there was an escape clause permitting those who could not, or did
not satisfy their needs in Australia to embark on a safe return to England at an agreed rate.
Ted gave serious thought to their options. They could not afford to wait any
longer. With their emergency savings virtually exhausted there was barely
enough left to pay the meagre fare home, and yet if they stayed the
amount in the bank was not enough to support them for any length of time. He
knew deep in his heart a decision to return to England would not only
mean the end of his marriage it would mean his heinous old mother-in-law would
take great satisfactions in saying to Rene; ‘I
told you so’.
Ted was not one to quit easily and fortuitously, for once, fate was on
his side. Just as all seemed a hopeless waste of time and effort Rene was on
one of her daily jaunts to the ‘Hostel’ canteen for companionship and a game of
‘Housie’. On her way she called into the post office. As per normal the clerk
in the post office was sitting behind his desk trying to sanction his authority
with a stern appearance behind a small round pair of glasses and a peaked
visor, she approached him for mail with all the usual pleasantries and was
handed a couple of letters from England and one from the ‘Hostel’s’
administration. Her mother was still writing spiteful letters seeking to win
her back, and it was these she generally opened first, but on this occasion
they were left to last. She was excited because some weeks ago a friend who was
employed as a cook at the canteen told her the boss was looking for extra staff
and she promised to put in a good word for her. She did and an interview was
organised (those days an interview simply meant meeting the supervisor and
answering a few basic questions to see if you were sane). The meeting went well
she thought, and was told they would contact her if needed. Rene thought no
more of it due to the weeks passing without notice and gave it away as a bad
joke, but one of these letters was from administration and it aroused her
expectations in hope of good news. She wanted to rip open the envelope but
hesitated. Her eagerness to read it gave pause as doubt and the fear of
rejection intensified. She opened it with awe inspiring anticipation and slowly
read its contents. It said:
‘Dear Mrs Scotsdon, We wish to inform you of your successful
application as ‘Kitchen Hand’ in the Hostel Canteen and advise you to contact
the supervisor, Mr Doddle, before Friday…….,’ etc.
With celebratory jubilance and great astonishment to the clerk, she bent
over the desk and kissed him firmly on the cheek dislodging his visor and
glasses. When she realised her spur-of-the-moment reaction she blushed and
immediately withdrew with a fake and unusual hoyden laugh followed by a swift
departure.
BUY BOOKS: http://www.amazon.com/author/dennisdurant
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