Fictitious Facts I; CH5 conclusion....
The time came to leave this beautiful place, it seemed the stay was as
short as the drive home was to be long, and the thought of leaving induced a
feeling of great sorrow shared by all. On packing the camping gear and thanking
Pollie and Ernie for their hospitality, Ted and Rene expressed their desire to
live in such a wonderful place.
“It’s beautiful here. It
would be good to live somewhere like this, wouldn’t it Ted?” He acknowledged
with wishful hopes;
“Hmmm. It sure would.”
“Yes it’s so peaceful,” said
Ernie. “We’ve been here for ten years now and have often thought about selling
and going travelling.” He stretches out his arm and points towards an old
caravan at the back of the property and nostalgically expresses his
disappointment; “We’ve got that old van up the back there and haven’t even used
it yet, not for travel anyway.” Ted and Rene glanced at each other, after an
encouraging moment of silence Rene with gauche and inquisitiveness in approach
blurted out;
“How much?” Ted was
astounded, not because of her candour but due the fact she wanted to know.
Without any hesitation whatsoever Pollie replied;
“Three thousand pounds.”
“Can we ‘ave it dad, can we?
Are we gonna live ‘ere?” pestered Don. Rene replied with sarcasm to conceal her
real aspirations;
“Yes of course Don, we’ll
buy two, one for Saturday and one for Sunday.” Everyone laughed but Don, he was
too young to understand ridicule. Ted and Rene took the conversation with ‘a
grain of salt’ because they realised raising such a hefty sum of money was a
pipedream; it was three thousand pounds more than they could afford, so once
again they politely expressed their gratitude, said their goodbyes and made
ready for the drive home.
A very happy holiday was now near its end. On the drive home the prospect
of ownership of their own business planted a seed in their minds causing the
trip back to be a little melancholy. A deliberation of a visionary future
innocently implanted by Pollie and Ernie’s conversation of sale stirred their
inner cravings. The entrepreneurial opportunity was exactly what Ted was
looking for in lifestyle and security.
Back to the normal routine of ‘Hostel’ life made the time pass slowly.
The holiday had taken the opposite effect to its purpose and they were now more
disgruntled with their present situation than they were before being taunted by
implausible opportunities and beautiful places. The drudgery of a repetitive
daily toil and the need to progress onto a more satisfying existence continued
to torment, they could not free their minds of the experiences encountered. It
nagged them so much they discussed the possibilities of buying the business
night after night after night. This went on incessantly for about three months
after returning home; it drove them balmy. They could not obviate objections
any longer and had to make an attempt to satisfy their curiosity. One morning
Ted made an appointment with a bank manager to explore his prospects regarding
a loan to buy the business. The first visit was promising, leading to further
enquiry, then official procedures began, and finally formal legalities took
place which brought beneficial outcomes.
Difficulties arose in negotiations due to the distance of about one
hundred and ten miles between Sydney
and the Wirrageen station. Ted was
required to meet Pollie and Ernie on a few occasions to discuss the intended
agreement, and although he was his usual resilient self, each obligatory trip
completed in his old car would generate lots of stories surrounding the
countless mechanical breakdowns. The car never once betrayed its right to have
some type of operational failure in the middle of nowhere. If not for his
mechanical dexterity, neither he, nor the car would have completed the
journeys. He normally worked Saturday mornings and usually set out from Sydney straight after work; stay the
night at Wirrageen and return home on
Sunday afternoon. It was a stressful but exciting time for him, and the travel
was crucial in finalisation of ownership; to his joy the deal had been done,
the Scotsdon’s were now to all intents and purposes the proud owners of a
service station, café (restaurant), and house, combined with acreage and had in
their sights a prosperous future.
The last few months of Hostel living was a long-drawn-out period as is
always the case when someone is anticipating something they deem to be
worthwhile. In one way the wait was beneficial because it allocated time to get
specifics in order and prepare for farewells to friends. On the other hand, as
the interval allowed thought towards the reality of the task ahead it had the
danger of provoking quarrels in the family. The time given and plausible
negativity from ‘cold feet’ had the ability to substitute enthusiasm with
trepidation. And to make worse their final preparation was the job of informing
the children of the news of certainty in relocation; not an enviable position
to be in. Although the job of easing this news should be classed as a labour of
love, it was not going to be an easy liaison because as much as they enjoyed
the holiday away from the ‘Hostel’, moving away permanently from their friends
was another matter already tested in the past and received poorly. They had
been displaced from friends, relatives, schools and familiar surroundings in England and only begun to settle within
their new environment in Sydney.
Don’s feelings were of no consequence to his parents, before or now because he
was too young to remember or have an opinion, and being unfledged in years
meant he would make friends quickly no matter where he moved to. The concern
was more-so for Tim and Zoe. Zoe had grown very close to Bing and would dread
the thought of being separated from him. The kids knew prior of their parents
plans and grumbled a little about the possibility of moving but never thought
it would come to fruition so remained relatively passive up to now. Ted and
Rene knew the moment of truth was better done as soon as possible before they
found out from other sources; they sat them down and explained the specifics of
their plan.
Don was happy with the news because he thought it was just another
holiday and could get to see all the great places again. Tim was not perturbed
one way or the other and took the news with a ‘grain of salt’, but when Zoe was
told she was deeply antagonised by the ruling and rebelled with tears and
uttered sentiments in protest before running out of the unit screaming like a
banshee;
“It’s not fair, it’s not
fair. I’m not going. You’ve already dragged me away from my real friends at
home and now you want to do it again, I’m not going.” The selfish side of Zoe’s
immaturity neglected to take into account the gamble and risks involved by her
parent’s undertaking such a risky enterprise. They are once again putting
‘everything on the line’ in a venture and a dream of fortuity and will again
have to adapt, feed and provide a stable environment for themselves and their
children; not an easy grind without money. But in reality, whatever the
children’s cogitative faculties perceived to be correct was irrelevant because
their parents signed the contract and were now compelled by a covenant to move
and make the deal binding. Zoe knew she had to abide by her parents wishes, but
saying goodbye to Bing was to be a poignant reminder of her feelings for him
and before the final move they spent as many a precious hour together as they
could. Ted was sad for her emotional state, yet on the other hand he was
relieved the distance to be formed between her and Bing, who had to stay due to
his army commitments, would see an end to their relationship; so he thought.
In hindsight, when Don was old enough to form a process of rational
inference in relation to his own upbringing, he realized he had a great
admiration for his parents. To leave England
and tackle a mystifying land was one huge risk, then to once again mount the
courage to undertake another such move involving living in the bush with no
support, no money, no doctors and miles from any main town, took a lot of
audacity, spirit, perception and trust in each other. In his own mind Don could
justify the decision if it was only husband and wife but with three children in
tow he imagined the vision, acumen, and grit for such a daring exploit could
not be obvious to anyone but themselves.
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