by Dave Corrick
Chapter 13
A Job to Be Done on the Other Side.
It is getting on towards the end of winter now.
Louie, Lulu and Pearl Baker-Moth have been through the quartz numerous times to gain experience, confidence and become totally familiar with the concept. It had now become second nature to the insects.
Although transforming through the quartz was a fascinating experience, it palled a little after awhile. The insects quite frankly liked to remain in the comfort of their own environment and did so unless something arose requiring their attention on the ‘other side’.
Things had been fairly quiet in the village. Nothing had warranted the insects taking any action to preserve their own environment or assist the villagers with any issues. In fact everyone has been getting on with their lives in peace and harmony.
Louie and Lulu had set a date for their wedding at the end of spring. They had chosen the end of spring because it would be a bit warmer. Louie wanted to take Lulu on a honeymoon to the cave over looking the sea where Virgil had taken him with Pearl and the Ten Ants a couple of years earlier. They had asked Pearl Baker-Moth to marry them. Pearl was of course only too glad to do this.
A venue for the wedding had also been set. Pearl had offered the Country Club but Louie and Lulu thought that the Nest Café might be better. However after finalising the guest list the Nest Café had ended up being too small to take all the guests that Louie and Lulu wanted to invite. In the end Virgil’s hangar was opted for. The Nest Café had been asked to do the catering and Virgil’s wasps would fly the food in on the day. Virgil and Virginia were only too glad to assist in any way that they could, having recently been married themselves.
Even with Virgil’s hangar there was still a problem with fitting everybody in. Virgil suggested that they could use the roof of the hangar to take additional guests. The roof was quite a good place as Virgil had adapted it as a facility for his wasps to come and go from. There was plenty of room.
On this basis Louie and Lulu divided the guest list into close friends and not so close friends. The close friends could be inside the hangar with them and the not so close friends outside on the roof. The former list was headed up as the “hangar’s in” list and the latter as the “hangar’s on” list!
Yes things were just ticking along nicely. Even Pearl had sorted out the differences she had with Sir Cada and Lady Bird over the failure of the tunnel project. They were all good friends again.
In fact one Tuesday morning, Pearl was preening herself and getting ready to join Sir Cada and Lady Bird at the Country Club for lunch. She was about to leave when she had a call from her Cabinet Minister B1.
‘Good morning Mam, B1 reporting in’.
‘Good morning B1, I hope everything is alright’, said Pearl.
‘Don’t know Mam’, said B1. ‘South of McFarland’s house the council from the village seems to be carrying out some work that may affect the stream bank community. Don’t know yet but there is a bulldozer cutting a path from the road to the stream, there are a couple of workman’s vehicles on site and two or three workmen’.
B1 went on to say that. ‘I know the village council does maintenance work now and then but what attracted the attention of one of our Flight Sergeants was that there was a group of villagers with placards protesting against whatever it is the council is doing’.
‘Good work B1’, said Pearl. ‘Thanks for that keep in touch and let me know any more details as they come to hand’.
‘Don’t like the sound of it’, said Pearl to herself after talking to B1. ‘Hmmm don’t like it at all. What is the council up to?’
Pearl phoned Louie to tell him of what she had learned. Of course Louie didn’t know where Pearl had got the information from. No the K.G.B had to remain secret to be an effective security tool for the insect community.
Louie was at the Factory when Pearl had phoned. The Factory was working a couple of days this week on some of Virgil’s wasps. Most of Virgil’s wasps had a clean and polish once a fortnight. Lulu was with Louie as usual working in the office.
‘Louie’, said Pearl after explaining what was happening south of Mr McFarland’s place. ‘I think tomorrow morning first thing we should go through the quartz to the village and see if we can glean any information from the community notice board. After that we can head down to the site and have a look for ourselves. I don’t like the sound of what is going on, it would be good to determine if there is a threat to our community’.
‘Right’, said Louie quite excited that there might be something constructive to do with their new found ability. ‘Lulu and I will come up to your place at 8.00 a.m. if that suits you Pearl’.
‘Excellent’, said Pearl. ‘See you then’.
Pearl would have gone to check out the community notice board today if it hadn’t been for the luncheon at the Country Club. She dare not cancel the luncheon with Sir Cada and Lady Bird having just cleared up the rift that existed because of the tunnel project.
Next morning was quite a good day. There was a strong northerly wind blowing which slowed Louie and Lulu’s progress up to Pearl’s apartment, however the weather was fine.
The three of them headed off to the tunnel and through the quartz. The community notice board was in the grassed square near the cake shop.
Pearl, Louie and Lulu studied the notice board, being careful not to touch the people around them or make a sound if anyone was close by.
There were all sorts of notices about coming events, council meetings, church groups, workshops, a fair, and library opening hours. There seemed to be everything but what they were looking for.
Lulu thought she had found something and said ‘This might be it, look at this, something about a water pipe’.
Sure enough, there was a council notice advising that a large water pipe was to be constructed starting from south of Mr McFarland’s property
It appeared the intention of the council was to run the pipe along the west bank of the stream to the village. The water pipe was to be installed above ground supported by concrete stands at appropriate intervals. Apparently due to the expansion of the village population the project had become necessary to keep the village supplied with water in future years.
The notice advised the public to keep clear of the area from a certain date as there was to be some rock blasting where the pipeline was obstructed by rocky outcrops at a couple of points.
There was also a map showing exactly where the pipeline would run in relation to the stream. It was frightening to the three insects; it would wipe out Virgil’s operation, Louie’s house, the Nest Café, supermarket and the Reserve Bank; all the things that were so important in their lives.
‘This really is serious’, said Pearl.
‘Oh no!’ said Lulu just about in tears and dying to touch and hold Louie. (Of course she couldn’t while being on the other side of the quartz).
Louie just went silent with the dread of what could happen. His home and happiness would be gone if something wasn’t done.
Pearl who was also deeply shocked said. ‘Look at this, the villagers have signed a petition to say they don’t want the pipeline along the stream. That’s what they have been down at the site protesting about’.
Pearl was angry about what they had found.
‘It really amazes me’, said Pearl. ‘In the human world the people elect politicians to serve them, yet the politicians in complete arrogance do exactly what they want!’
Pearl thought for a moment then said. ‘Well team I think this might be our first job to help the people. Let’s go up to the site and see what is going on’.
Pearl, Louie and Lulu took off and headed up the stream.
They arrived at about half past eight. There was a large group of citizens with placards blocking the progress of a bulldozer. The insects could see that the bulldozer was there to remove bush and trees to clear a path for the pipeline.
The citizens were chanting ‘Don’t spoil our
stream with your bloody pipe dream!’ over and over again.
The trio glided in and landed right beside where all the action was taking place. Of course none of the people around could see the blue “nymph like” forms that had just arrived. In front with the protesters was Mr McFarland with a placard saying ‘Don’t spoil my property, put the pipe somewhere else’. Poor Mr McFarland.
Confronting the protesters was a bull necked contractor with a couple of cronies a little further back.
“Bull Neck” had just about reached the end of his patience with the protestors who had been on site since 7.00 a.m. Bull Neck with a hand held loud speaker shouted ‘You have been warned; unless you leave the site we will turn the hose on you’.
The protesters stood their ground, and kept on chanting. ‘Don’t spoil our stream with your bloody pipe dream!’ Feelings were running high. Bull Neck was getting mad; his face was red with anger.
‘Right’, said Bull Neck hardly able to contain his rage. ‘Thirty seconds, you have been bloody well warned you lot. Fred, point the hose at them!’
The hose, normally used to clean equipment, was connected to a powerful pump drawing water from the stream.
The protesters still stood their ground and kept on chanting.
After thirty seconds had passed, Bull Neck ordered the hose on. The blast knocked quite a few senior citizens including Mr McFarland to the ground. They were soaked.
Bull Neck laughed. ‘Serve you right, I don’t want to see you lot here ever again’.
The protesters had no alternative but to leave. Pearl, Louie and Lulu rushed in to help those who had been knocked down.
Mr McFarland, who of course couldn’t see who had helped him to his feet, uttered, ‘thank you, thank you’, thinking it must have been some divine intervention.
As the protesters reluctantly left, Pearl, Louie and Lulu sat down in silence and studied the situation.
Once all the protesters had gone, the bulldozer started up again and carried on clearing bush and making a path to some distance away where there was a large mound of rock right by the stream. The rock stood in the way of the proposed pipeline.
‘I suppose’, whispered Pearl, ‘that is one of the pieces of rock they are going to blast and remove’.
The insects kept well out of the way and carried on observing.
After about an hour the bulldozer had cleared the ground up to the rock. The bulldozer was then turned around and run back up to the road out of the way.
With a cleared path now in place, Bull Neck drove a truck in loaded with prefabricated boxing sections. These were placed at regular intervals along the cleared path by Fred and a mate called Blue. It became obvious that these boxing sections were to be filled with concrete and thus form the supports for the pipe.
It was just after 10.00 a.m. when Bull Neck yelled. ‘Smoko!’
Fred and Blue stopped what they were doing and went to the truck to get their morning tea. They sat around in a group laughing at what had happened with the protesters.
Louie being a bit of a mischievous bee at heart and still feeling a little angry about what had been done to the protesters whispered to the others. ‘Let’s have some fun!’
Louie moved closer to where Bull Neck was sitting with his back to him. Louie picked up a stone and hurled it at Bull Neck. It caught him fair and square in the middle of his great thick neck.
Bull Neck got to his feet rubbing the back of his neck and said what Louie thought was ‘D-U-C-K!!!! Louie might have been wrong, after all why would someone say duck after being hit by something, one usually said it when they were about to be hit by something.
‘Who’s there!?’ roared Bull Neck.
Bull Neck of course couldn’t see anybody. ‘Bloody kids I bet’, he said to Fred and Blue. Bull Neck sat down again, rubbing his neck.
Louie picked up another stone and aimed it at Bull Neck again. This time he missed Bull Neck and instead hit Fred.
Fred let out another almighty ‘D-U-C-K!!!’ just as Bull Neck had done. Louie thought this really was quite weird.
Fred, with the shock of the impact had the misfortune to throw his hot cup of tea all over Bull Neck. Bull Neck in response stood up and socked Fred in the face!
‘What the hell did you do that for’, Bull Neck said to Fred. Bull Neck not only had a sore neck from Louie’s earlier effort but was now burnt by the tea as well!
‘Sorry’, said Fred, who was obviously a bit scared of Bull Neck. ‘S-sorry mate but I got hit by a stone like you’.
‘W-H-A-T!!!’ Those little B…’.s’, (bleep, censored here) yelled Bull Neck and he walked over to the bushes where he thought the stones were coming from. The insects had to move quickly to get out of the way.
‘Come out of there you lot otherwise I will come in and give you a hiding’, Bull Neck yelled.
Of course nothing happened and Bull Neck went back and sat down again. The insects could hardly contain themselves.
Having moved to get out of the way of Bull Neck the insects were now behind Fred.
Lulu whispered. ‘It’s my turn’, and she picked up a stone and hurled it at the back of Fred.
Lulu missed and it caught Bull Neck right on the nose! This was just too much for Bull Neck who now had a sore neck, a sore nose and was burnt from the spilt tea. He stood up and roared. ‘You bloody kids, I’ll get you!’
Bull Neck went to the truck and got his cell phone and called up his boss. ‘I want some protection down here, kids are chucking rocks at us, send the police with dogs and have them rounded up’.
Bull Neck sat down again. ‘That should fix the b…’s’, said Bull Neck.
At that moment Pearl without saying a word moved forward, picked up Bull Neck’s cell phone and dropped it in his tea.
Bull Neck just lost it then. The surrounding trees were just about blown over with Bull Neck’s expletives!
To inflame the situation even more, Poor Blue, who didn’t say much anyway, moved away from where Bull Neck was frantically shaking his tea soaked cell phone and as a nervous oversight sat on Bull Neck’s cut lunch!
The fact that Blue was quite a rotund chap meant that Bull Neck’s bloater paste sandwiches looked more like pan cakes!
Fred and Blue were terrified with what Bull Neck might do next and were about to take off when the police arrived.
‘Right team’, whispered Pearl. ‘Time to make a strategic withdrawal, let’s head down stream a bit and discuss what we do next’.
The insects alighted on the east bank of the stream some distance away from the action.
‘It was too risky for us to stay there with police dogs around’, said Pearl. ‘We really have no idea yet whether we can be detected when we are on the other side of the quartz’.
The three of them lay on the ground for awhile and laughed until it hurt with what had happened.
Finally Pearl said. ‘I think we have done all we can for today, let’s come back in the morning and see what we can do. The police and the dogs won’t find anything so I doubt if they will come back tomorrow’.
Louie and Lulu agreed, it would be nice to get back home again and have some lunch.
The next morning the insects, having gone through the quartz once more, arrived at the site about 9.00 a.m.
During the previous day, after all the fiasco in the morning, the men had made some progress. All the sections of boxing for the pipe supports were in place, right up to the rock that was to be blasted.
Bull Neck and Fred were there. It seemed that Blue had probably had enough and hadn’t turned up.
The pair were sitting and leaning against a tree near the rock. It appeared as though they might be waiting for a concrete truck to arrive. While they waited both talked drivel about some sport they felt they knew more about than anybody else.
Bull Neck had left his truck parked up by the road, presumably to allow free access for the concrete truck. The insects waited and watched.
Shortly another
man arrived. Yes he was there to deliver concrete and had also parked his concrete truck up by the road. He had walked in to get instructions from Bull Neck.
‘Quick’, said Pearl. ‘Follow me’.
Pearl took off and flew quickly back along the cleared path with the two blue nymph like forms of Louie and Lulu in hot pursuit.
Yes sure enough, there was the concrete truck, barrel turning on the back, ready to move in and fill the boxed sections with concrete. It was parked right next to Bull Neck’s truck.
‘Louie, Lulu’, come and help me said Pearl. ‘Lulu, wind down the window of Bull Neck’s truck. Louie help me with this chute’. Of course the insects could do all this, unseen by anybody, now they were on the other side of the quartz.
Pearl and Louie manoeuvred the concrete chute at the back of the truck and put it in through the window in Bull Neck’s truck.
‘Louie quickly’, said Pearl, ‘pull that lever on the right hand side; pull it down as far as it will go’.
Sure enough, the barrel started turning fast and all the concrete in the concrete truck went down the chute straight into the cab of Bull Neck’s truck! Right up to the dash board!
‘Quick’, said Pearl. ‘Put everything back as it was; push that lever right up Louie’.
Louie pushed the lever back up. Pearl and Lulu swung the chute back to where it should be.
‘Right, back to Bull Neck and Fred’, said Pearl.
By now the concrete truck driver had talked to Bull Neck and gained the appropriate instructions. He was walking back to his truck. Not suspecting anything to be amiss he drove the concrete truck back in to where Bull Neck and Fred were, and backed up his truck ready to pour the first box.
Well of course strangely enough the concrete truck wouldn’t deliver anything. Funny that!
Bull Neck fired up with the fiasco from the day before, socked the concrete truck driver in the face. Hmmm, this Bull Neck fellow definitely had a problem and needed to attend an anger management course!
It was all on then with abuse and shouts from both sides.
‘You bloody idiot’, shouted Bull Neck. ‘My boss is going to kill me if I don’t get this job done today’.
‘What do you think my boss is going to say when I tell him my load of concrete has evaporated!’ yelled the concrete truck driver.
‘Not my problem’, yelled Bull Neck. ‘Go and get another load and this time don’t lose it!!!’
The poor concrete truck driver, bruised, shaken and by now speechless got back into his truck and drove off to get another load of concrete.
‘Moron!!’ yelled Bull Neck as the concrete truck drove off.
The insects had moved well clear by now in case their laughter could be heard.
‘That was a smart move Pearl’, said Louie. ‘I hate to think what Bull Neck will say, let alone his boss, when they discover his truck cab is full of concrete!’
‘I think’, said Pearl. ‘We will leave it at that for now and come back again tomorrow. I don’t want to be around when Bull Neck finds out what we have done to his truck’.
The next day the insects returned through the quartz about the same time in the morning. Strangely enough Bull Neck had another truck and his boss was with him this time!
Most of the concrete had been poured and the pipe supports were now in place. This was a little disappointing to the insects. So far they hadn’t been able to stop the project.
With the concrete now poured, Bull Neck and Fred proceeded to drill holes in the rock that was obstructing the path of the pipeline. The drilled holes were to take the charges that would be detonated and break up the rock for removal.
When the pair had finished drilling the holes in the rock, Bull Neck went off and got the “new” truck and brought in the charges that were to be inserted in the holes. There were ten in all.
Detonating cables were carefully attached to the charges. The charges with detonating cables attached were slid down into the drilled holes in the rock.
Once the charges were in place, Bull Neck carefully checked everything once more. After yesterday we didn’t want anything else going wrong, that was for sure!
Bull Neck moved his truck back out of harm’s way then he and Fred walked slowly back up the cleared access, unreeling the detonating wire as they went. This was all under the watchful eye of Bull Neck’s boss.
Some considerable distance away they set up the detonating plunger that would ultimately set the charges off.
Pearl, Louie and Lulu had remembered from the community notice board in the village that the detonation time had been publicly advertised for 11.00 am, it was now 10.15 a.m.
Bull Neck, Fred and the boss now waited in their safe position for 11.00 am to arrive. Every five minutes they announced over a loud speaker that detonation would be in so many minutes and to please clear the area.
‘Quick’, said Pearl. ‘We haven’t got much time, follow me’.
The insects went over to the rock to be detonated. Pearl carefully pulled the ten charges back out of the rock with the help of Louie and Lulu.
Once the charges were out of the rock and on the ground, Pearl said. ‘Louie and Lulu, put five of them in through the front side window of Bull Neck’s truck, make sure the detonation lines stay connected. The remaining five I am going to put under some of the concrete pipe supports’.
What mischief, it was hard to stop laughing.
The three mischief makers heard in the distance, ‘Fifteen minutes to blasting, please clear the area’. They still had some time left.
When the insects had finished the job they took off and flew to where Bull Neck, his boss and Fred were.
‘Five minutes to blasting, clear the area’, Bull Neck yelled into his hand held loud speaker.
Bull Neck’s boss turned to Bull Neck and said. ‘You had better not stuff it up this time mate or you will be toast!’
Bull Neck ignored his boss and concentrated on the job in hand. ‘One minute to blasting, please clear the area’, Yelled Bull Neck.
A short time later Bull Neck counted down. ‘Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, CONTACT!’
There was an agonising pause then there was a huge explosion. The shock waves swished through the trees, scaring the birds, animals and insects into absolute silence. Some half minute later there was an echo from the distant hills.
‘That should do it boss’, said Bull Neck smirking.
‘Let’s go and see’, said Bull Neck’s boss.
The insects followed close behind as the three men headed back expecting the rock to have been demolished.
The men stopped in their tracks. Five of the pipe supports had been destroyed; two were up a tree! Worst of all the ‘new’ truck, all that was left of it was the tray! The front end was scattered far and wide.
‘My truck!’ wailed the boss.
Bull Neck’s boss turned and socked Bull Neck in the face and shouted. ‘You bloody incompetent idiot, I can’t believe it!!! First you fill one truck up with concrete then you blow up this one. What are you bloody well going to do for your next trick!? I can’t take any more!’
Bull Neck’s boss was shouting and wringing his hands. Fred had taken off by this time; there was no way he was ever going to come back. Bull Neck followed Fred yelling. ‘The place is spooked!’
Well after that nobody did come back! The project was reconsidered by the council and the pipe was eventually laid under the road to the village. This was just as the villagers had originally wanted it.
Our three intrepid insects flew back to the quartz wall at the bank and through to the tunnel.
In the tunnel Pearl turned and said. ‘A job well-done you two!’
‘That was just incredible’, said Louie and Lulu together. ‘You are a genius Pearl’.
That night it was back to the Nest Café for the three to celebrate what they had achieved.
The insects realised that they had tremendous powers to do good.
