Benworden (23 page)

I asked everybody what they had planned for the summer break and Bungles replied, “Roo and Talbert have made the finals with the Ballarat Bandits and I'm going to be their mascot and dress up as an outlaw, then we're heading to Lakes Entrance for some fishing and swimming. The best part of all is this time there won't be any secrets kept from Talbert now that he's a Bull Ant as well.”

Carla put her arm around Brian and pulled him close to her and said, “My little adopted brother here has asked me to attend a fashion show that his father is exhibiting in and then we're considering visiting some very special friends of mine in Hollywood.”

She put her free arm around Greg and pulled him close. “Just to top it off, Greg and his family are going to meet us in the Big Apple after that.”

Bonnie smiled and said,” You guys are so lucky!”

Greg was still a little red after Carla's hugs but he had something special to tell everyone and nothing was going to stop him. He looked around the table and said, “Dad came
home last weekend and told me how he had missed me and what a fool he had been by avoiding me because I looked so much like Mum. We sat together and watched all the movies Mum had made for both of us. We cried and laughed and hugged and Dad said he wished he had watched them earlier because the journey he had travelled had been a painful one.

“Anyway, Dad wants me to spend the holidays with him in New York. Oh, by the way Bonnie, Dad asked me if I would like to bring someone along and seeing you're at loose ends I was wondering...”

Before Greg could finish Bonnie had jumped out of her seat and raced around the table screaming. She threw her arms around Greg and said, “Thank you Greg, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Greg had gone from a pale red to a deep blush but still managed a timid smile. As usual, Gerry was quick to take the attention away from someone who felt uncomfortable and said, “What about you Sean, what are you going to be doing?”

Sean replied, “I must tell you I'm also very excited. There just happens to be a wonderful science exhibition in Melbourne and after that I'll be working on some new ideas for the club as well.”

Gerry looked over at Isabel and said, “Have you got any plans you'd like to share?”

“I certainly do,” she replied. “Kate, Sophie and I are also attending Brian's father's fashion show and after that the girls have asked me to fly to England with them to visit their parents. I'd also like to say how sorry I am for all the trouble I've caused each and every one of you, and want to thank you for making me feel like I'm part of something special.”

Harry said, “We're all part of something special. I guess we've all found something deep within ourselves that we never realised we had and that's an emotional bond – one that'll never be broken.

“As for me, I'm going back to China for the holidays and for the first time in my life I will walk down the streets of my neighbourhood with my head held high. And I won't be just walking for me – I'll be carrying my great, great, great grandparent in my heart knowing his spirit will fill me with pride and honour and the cloud of disrespect will no longer linger over my family.”

Everyone was silent as we all shared that pride and honour with Harry.

Gerry and I looked at each other and smiled and I said, “Ok you guys, it's our turn. Firstly we have an announcement to make. We have started dating.”

Bonnie said, “It's about time! We were wondering how long it would take for you guys to finally see that you had a thing happening.”

Now it was my turn to blush. I had no idea that the others knew how I felt.

Bonnie continued, “So what's going to happen when you're at different unis?”

Gerry jumped in, “Well, that's the other good news. We've both applied to Melbourne University and have been successful. Dylan wants to study agriculture and I'll study law.”

Carla cut in. “I thought you didn't want to follow in your father's footsteps?”

Gerry replied, “I'm not. I want to become a prosecutor. Dad
and I have worked things out and he's just glad that I'll carry on the family tradition of law. He said he'll help me any way he can. He also said he looks forward to the challenge of coming up against me in the courts, and I guess I do too.”

There was one more thing I needed to take care of before we closed my last ever meeting. I had been thinking about my relationship with Gerry and how long it had taken for us to start dating even though both of us had had feelings for one another since year 7. I could see the parallels between us and Mr Neals and Miss James. Everyone knew they were interested in each other but like us neither had taken the first step to do anything about it. It was clear by their body language and nervousness whenever they were together that it was inevitable they would end up in a relationship sooner or later, and before I left Benworden I wanted to make sure it was going to be sooner.

Mr Neals had done so much for me, now it was time to return the favour. I looked around the room and thanked every member for their support over the past year and asked them if they would be interested in one final project before Gerry and I departed. When I explained what I wanted to do there was no hesitation from any member and suggestions came instantaneously.

Carla came up with the first thought and said excitedly, “We could arrange a date for them at the fanciest restaurant in town, The Golden Clover.”

Brian could sense Carla's excitement and said, “Great idea, and how about them being picked up in one of those fancy white carriages they have in town? You know, the one those two beautiful white horses pull.”

The twins began jumping up and down and said in unison, “Oh yes, and Miss James should have a brand new dress to
wear, and we mustn't forget a makeover!”

Isabel, who was new to this sort of thing, began to feel the buzz that was going around the room and couldn't help herself getting involved. She said, “What about Mr Neals? He'll need a new suit, won't he?”

These were all fantastic ideas but there was a bit of a hurdle to overcome first. I replied, “So how do we get them to cooperate?”

Gerry was as eager as I was to make it happen and said, “ That's easy, Dylan, you need to do your thing and ring the manager of the Golden Clover and book a table for two on Saturday night. Make sure it's in a quiet secluded spot and tell the manager he is to spare no expense on them. We'll pay for everything on the club's credit card. Then we must contact Milani Men's Wear and Salina's Styles in town to notify them that at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon an adult will enter their stores, accompanied by a youth sporting a gold ring with a Bull Ant on it. When the attendant sees this ring they must inform the adult that they've just won the store's lucky customer competition and they can any outfit in the store to the cost of one thousand dollars.

“We'll pay the store owners in cash and also give them a hefty tip for their services.”

Gerry paused for a moment to think and then said, “This will be where Carla and Brian can play a part. Carla, what do you think about asking Miss James if you can come over on Saturday afternoon to try out some new make-up you've just received from the United States? You can also tell Miss James that you have no one to help pick out a dress for the valedictory, and would she mind helping you.”

She turned to Brian and said, “And could you do the same thing with Mr Neals? Apart from the make-up, of course.”

Everyone burst into laughter. I was so proud of Gerry and her plan I said, “Brilliant, just brilliant.”

Gerry was on a roll and my comments served to spur her on even further and she continued, “Bonnie, how about you helping me design and print up some ‘secret admirer' invitation cards? And Dylan, can you organise the horse-drawn carriage as well please?”

Both Bonnie and I replied in unison, “Sure.”

Everyone had their jobs to do and there was no time to waste. It was already Wednesday and everything needed to be in place before Saturday.

24

M
AKING
I
T
H
APPEN

T
here was a horse and carriage business in town called “Romantic Journeys” that catered for weddings and events such as this one. Putting on my deepest voice I rang and ordered one for Saturday night. I told them which address they needed to go to first and the time of arrivals.

The restaurant was much more difficult; Saturday nights were always their busiest and all the regulars would be there. The manager told me he couldn't fit another two people in and although I told him I would pay whatever extra it would cost plus there would be a big tip in it for him, this was all to no avail. He was adamant he had no more tables. There was only one thing left to do and I needed to put my new plan into action immediately.

I spoke to Carla and asked her how difficult it would be to make me look 20 years older. She told me it wouldn't be a problem but it may take a couple of hours. Then I spoke to Harry about making me up some fake credentials.

“No worries,” he said. “I'll have them for you in an hour.”

School was winding down for me. I had finished all my exams and most of my time now was spent hanging out at the boarding house or in the club rooms making calls and organising things I needed to do leading up to the valedictory. It was now Thursday and I sent an email to Miss Fickle stating that I was Carla's grandmother and that I would be in town over the next couple of hours; I asked if it be ok for Carla to
take a break from school for a short while to have lunch with me. If so, I would pick her up at 11.30 this morning.

Miss Fickle had no hesitation in speaking to Mr Gowdy about the request and she managed to obtain his approval with very little fuss. What Miss Fickle and the school never knew was that we had the ability in our monitoring room to intercept incoming and outgoing emails from the headmaster's and the head of boarding's offices, so as soon as Miss Fickle gave the ok I replied with “Thank you,” on behalf of Carla's grandmother. Miss Fickle also sent an email to the head of boarding letting him know that the school had given permission and the time Carla would be leaving the boarding house, and Mr Ervine rang Carla's supervisor, Miss Fresnel, to let her know.

I headed downstairs and told Cyril I was going into town and would be back around dinner time. Cyril had no problems with this so I took my car and headed up the drive and stopped at an obscure place not far from the gates.

As soon as Carla returned from school she headed to her room to change and give me a call, then she came back down and informed Miss Fresnel she was going to wait outside until her grandmother arrived. No one bothered to check when I picked her up because it had been so well arranged and they were busy doing other things, so we drove out to the old mine shaft entrance and took the mule back up the tunnel.

Carla worked for two solid hours and by the time she finished I could have been a younger version of my own father. I grabbed a navy blue suit from our club's costume wardrobe and drove Carla back to the boarding house and then drove into town to the Golden Clover. I had rung the manager earlier to make an appointment and he had no hesitation in seeing me.

This was my first time inside the restaurant and I could now
understand why it was so expensive. A small balding man in a tailor-made suit approached and held out his hand and said, “Mr Kinsella, how are you? I'm Lucas Porto and I was quite surprised when you told me you were coming today.”

I shook his hand and said, “Call me Brad. I'm sorry about the short notice but it's a new policy and between you and me there may be more of these snap inspections in the future.”

Mr Porto looked at me inquisitively and said, “I normally see Mr Paige. Has he left the agency?”

I put on the most influential voice I could muster and replied, “No, not at all, and I would prefer if we kept this visit confidential, if you don't mind. There are two reasons we do snap inspections. The first one is to do the inspection on a day when we are least expected, and the second one is to ensure our regular inspectors are doing their job properly.”

Mr Porto nodded humbly and replied, “I assure you our kitchen and restaurant are cleaned efficiently and hygienically every day. Now, I feel a little awkward asking this, but could I see some form of identification please?”

I frowned and said in a nonchalant manner, “If you must.” I reached inside my jacket and pulled out a black wallet which I handed to him. It identified me as an Executive Health Inspector and his face went as white as a snowflake on a wedding dress. He said meekly, “Sorry. I had to check. I hope you understand.”

I knew I had him on the back foot and replied, “Sure, sure, whatever. Now can I see your kitchen please?”

We left the reception area and strolled through the dining room towards the two swinging doors that led to the kitchen. The kitchen was absolutely spotless and I could see it was going to be very difficult to pick fault with it, so I pulled a pair
of white gloves from my jacket pocket and put them on like a surgeon about to operate. I glanced at Mr Porto in a smug manner and proceeded to rub my index finger over the tops of the benches and into every nook and cranny, trying to find the smallest speck of grime, but there was none to be found.