Julie read hers and grinned. "Can we buy them now, Dad," she asked and Helen echoed her request.
"We may need to come back later," John cautioned, “My money's at home."
"That's okay," Kylena replied. "Nobody has cash around here. I just have an account for each family."
*
Twenty minutes later the Berg girls tumbled into the Land Rover with an armful of exercise books, pens, pencils, folders and other paraphernalia. They wanted everything on their lists and John was too kind-hearted to point out they already had many of the items at home.
"I like Miss Delton, Daddy," Helen piped up. “Why are people like Mrs. McLean so mean to her?"
"They're just idiots," Julie retorted.
John chuckled. When one is twelve, everything is black or white. He swung the Land Rover around, almost drove down the wrong side of the road until Bella decided to bark and jogged his memory. He was also impressed by the young teacher they'd just spoken to and was sure he'd made the right decision to enrol the girls at Long Valley Road School.
*
In was noon on the penultimate Friday in January when John walked into the house. Reid and himself had spent the morning using an old three ton Bedford truck, another vehicle inherited with the farm, to transport hay bales to the hay shed to be unloaded and stacked. It was heavy, prickly work.
"Telephone for you, John," Fiona said and handed him the mobile receiver. "She sounds a real honey."
John screwed his nose up and spoke into the instrument. "John Berg speaking."
"Hello John," a distressed female voice came through from the other end of the line. "This is Kylena Delton speaking. I'm sorry to interrupt you, as I know you're in the middle of haymaking. I wouldn't but..." The voice broke into a tiny sniff.
"What's wrong, Kylena?" John asked. His face furrowed into a frown.
"A man from the Ministry Of Education is here and the locals are having a vote on whether to close the school or not. I wondered if you'd come to the meeting. I know you've just arrived but your children are officially on the roll and..."
"Of course I'll come," John answered. "When and where is it?'
"That's the trouble," the young woman replied. "The Board of Trustees and other locals went behind my back and arranged the meeting. It's on at the school right now. Frank Amberley, one of the few who has remained loyal, phoned a few hours ago to check that all was set up for the meeting. He was as annoyed as me when I told him I had heard nothing about it. I've been phoning my supporters."
"I'll be there," John replied, his voice determined.
"Oh thank you," the relieved voice replied. "It's called a householder's meeting and all residents, parents and caregivers can vote; not just the board." The voice broke again. "I shouldn't be asking you but I think they'll have the numbers for a simple majority. At this stage, that is all they need to close the school down. We went through all the preliminaries last year."
"Give me twenty minutes, "John snapped and clicked the off button.
His eyes looked annoyed as he stared at his mother-in-law and repeated the news.
"That's outright cowardly," Fiona responded. "I bet at this time of the year they hoped to catch all Kylena's supporters unaware."
"No doubt," John retorted. "Look, I'll have a shower and head out."
"I'm coming too," Fiona replied, "and why not ask Reid? He's a resident."
"I'll do that," John answered. "The girls are swimming. Wrap them in a towel and say they can continue their swim in the school pool."
Twenty-five minutes later the family arrived at Long Valley School to find a line of vehicles, including a large black limousine, parked outside. They dispatched the girls to the swimming pool where other children were swimming and entered the classroom.
A hush settled over the interior and all eyes turned as the three walked in and stood behind the small crowd seated in the tiny pupils' chairs.
The six foot American, dressed in khaki shorts, tartan shirt and work boots, took off his wide brimmed hat and glowered at the two men dressed in a dark suits behind Kylena's desk.
"Name's John Berg, from Top Oasis Farm and my daughters will be attending this school, " he said. His icy accent cut through the air like an arrow while his eyes travelled across the room. "This lady beside me is my mother-in- law, Mrs. Fiona Reynolds and I'm sure you know the manager of our property, Mr. Reid Platters." He held out a chair for Fiona to sit down and swung his tall frame into another one while Reid, with a slight grin on his face, also found a seat.
One man behind the desk blinked and turned to the school principal sitting beside him. She looked nervous and pale in her formal gray suit." Are the Berg children on the school roll, Miss Delton?" he asked.
"They are, Mr. Finlayson," she replied in a whisper.
"I see," the man replied and glanced out at John, “And your mother-in-law is an official caregiver, Mr. Berg?"
"Yes," John nodded. "Fiona is my late wife's mother who has accompanied me to New Zealand to help bring up my daughters.”
"They're Americans, foreigners!" snapped a male voice from the front row.
"We have a residency permit," John replied. "As a parent of pupils enrolled at this school, I believe I have full voting rights."
"And I am a resident living in the valley," Reid added in a quiet voice. "My voting rights are as valid as half the people in this room."
Mr. Finlayson took a thick green book from a satchel on the floor, glanced down the index and flicked back some pages. He read silently for a moment and glanced up. "You all have voting rights at this householder's meeting," he proclaimed. "I can read the exact sub-clause out if the floor desires."
"Forget it!" the same angry male voice snapped.
"We shall continue, then," the second man behind the desk began. "For the sake of the new arrivals, I shall reread the motion. As you know, it has already been seconded and is now ready for the vote. The motion, with all the amendments taken into account states, ‘The Board of Trustees of Long Valley School agrees that the aforesaid school shall be officially closed as from this date and amalgamated onto Junction Road School in time for the commencement of the official school year. If this motion is passed, a postal vote of local residents shall be held to elect two Board of Trustees members to represent the valley residents on the amalgamated school's Board of Trustees. Also, if this motion is passed, Miss Kylena Delton will be entitled to full redundancy rights of two term's salary and assistance to procure a new position of a comparable grade to the one she is now holding." The man looked directly at John. "The Junction Road School householders recently voted in favour of this amalgamation onto the Junction Road School site."
John nodded but remained grim.
"All those in favour a say aye."
A chorus of ayes filled the room.
"Against?"
An equally loud response filled the room.
"We shall have a show of hands," the chairperson announced.
Grim silenced filled the room as the raised hands were counted. There were fourteen for and sixteen against the motion.
"I declare the motion lost," the man declared.
The room immediately erupted into a burst of voices, cheers, grumbles and a splattering of applause. Everyone, it seemed wanted to state his or her opinion.
But not everyone!
Kylena sat with a small smile on her lips until her eyes found John's. "Thank you," she mouthed.
"Well, I'm resigning from the board." A man in the front row stood up and snorted. It was the same person who had called out earlier. "Who else is coming with me?"
A woman stood up. "I will, Kelvin."
"Anyone else?" Kelvin snapped.
The room was quiet until another farmer stood up. He was tanned and also dressed in shorts and working clothes as if he'd only arrived off the farm. "I'm staying on," he said quietly and sat down.
A woman with a nervous frown stood and announced she would also remain on the Board of Trustee
s.
"Have it your own way," Kelvin what-ever-his-name-was snapped in uncontrolled fury and stalked out of the room.
When the rumble of voices subsided, John stood up. "'Mr. Chairman, may I ask what happens now?” he asked.
Mr. Finlayson, who was obviously the Ministry representative, replied. "The school remains open, Mr. Berg but with a resignation last year and today's two resignations, we need three new representatives voted onto the Board of Trustees. If we cannot find that number the it will be dissolved and replaced by a commissioner appointed by the Ministry to govern the school."
"Thank you ... and Miss Delton's position?" John continued.
"It is secure," Finlayson announced.
"Let's vote for new BOT members now," someone called out. "Surely we can get three to stand so we can continue to function."
*
John, Fiona and Janet Amberley, wife of the board member who had earlier phoned Kylena, were elected.
"Well," Mr. Finlayson said at the conclusion. "Unless the Long Valley School roll drops below ten pupils, there is no reason why it cannot remain open in the foreseeable future."
The meeting broke up with the two distinct groups hiving off in different directions. John, Fiona and Reid walked out into the afternoon sunshine and walked over to the swimming pool.
Julie rushed up, all wet with water pouring off her body and hair. "What happened, Daddy?" she panted forgetting to call her father 'Dad'.
"The school remains open and Miss Delton will be your teacher." John smiled at his daughter. "Your Grandma and I are on the Board of Trustees."
Julie broke into a smile. "I'm glad she won and I'm going to tell her."
Not caring that she was wet and in a bikini she ran through the adults to find her new teacher.
"John," gasped Fiona. "She a mature girl, hardly dressed. What will everyone say?"
"Don't worry, Grandma," John laughed. "I'm sure nobody will care. It is, after all, a hot summer's day."
"If you say so, John," Fiona muttered but looked unconvinced.
*
CHAPTER 3
After the meeting several of the locals who supported Kylena stayed made themselves known to John and Fiona while Julie retreated to the swimming pool to find Helen. John was about to head back home when Kylena approached him.
"John," she said in a quite voice. "How can I ever thank you? Without your three votes we would have lost and I'd be out of a job."
"I didn't like the hypocrisy of the whole meeting." He grinned and wiped a hand across his sunburned brow.
" I also had ulterior motives."
"You did?"
"Yes. The thought of carting the kids ten miles over a windy road every day when they could just walk down the road was enough to motivate anyone. I reckon I would have been the one doing the trip twice a day. Fiona flatly refuses to drive on these narrow gravel roads."
"You could have joined Linda's car pool." Kylena said with a laugh.
"And end up taking her screaming little brats every alternate week. No thanks."
"Oh John." Kylena brushed his arm with her hand and her blue eyes twinkled. "They are a bit spoilt, aren't they? Mind you, away from their mother they're quite nice kids."
John coughed and glanced down at her. My God, she was a good looker. "Well, I'd better get back to the hay," he muttered. "There's another field with the bales waiting to be brought in."
"Yes," Kylena replied and glanced to the northwest where dark clouds were building up. "It'll be raining by six."
"So you know the local weather?"
"I do. Do you need a hand?"
"You mean with the hay? It's heavy work, you know."
"I was brought up on a farm. I could drive a truck or tractor for you."
"Haven't you enough work here at school?" John gave a half-hearted protest.
"There's always school work but if a thundershower arrives on your hay..." Kylena fixed John with a wide gaze. "Look, I'll get into some old clothes."
John watched her walk away and grinned to himself. It had been an unusual day that had shown the type of people his neighbours were. Half way across the world and they were the same as at home. He could imagine a similar situation happening at the elementary school Helen attended the previous year. He remembered one major controversy when a parent had complained about her children being mistreated. She was a pain in the butt, too. It was ironical how the worse parents were the ones so quick to condemn others.
"I told you she was a honey," Fiona interrupted. "There's more to that girl than a pretty face. I'd say she's got a streak of determination that will take her a long way."
"Could be, Fiona," John replied. “Give the girls a yell, will you? We'd better head home."
They were back in the Land Rover when Kylena, now dressed in a light sweater and jeans came running out, opened the rear door and jumped in beside Julie.
*
If anything, Kylena was better at driving the old truck than John and with both men at the back stacking the bales her presence sped everything up considerably. The spiky grass smelt that unique hot dry aroma of the outdoors while the sun still shone below a bank of black thunderclouds. Helen sat in the truck cab with Kylena and talked incessantly as they crawled around the paddock. After talking about their old home, the journey out, what she thought of New Zealand and all the other items six year olds are interested in, the conversation turned to Helen's family.
"And why isn't your mummy with you?" the teacher asked in a casual voice as she sped up and headed for the farm track with the tray loaded with swaying bales.
"Mommy got a lump and died," Helen replied in a frank but sad voice. “Poor Mommy got real skinny at the end. Daddy cried when she died and so did Julie and me."
"I'm sorry, Helen," Kylena replied. "I didn't realize your mummy had died."
"That's okay," Helen chirped up. "We promised Mommy we'd still come here and Grandma came too. " She pouted. "I love Grandma. Mommy got grumpy when she was sick but Daddy said it was the pain that made her that way, not the real mommy inside."
"I think your daddy was right" Kylena replied. Her eyes caught a view of John following the truck on his farm bike and she nodded in compassion. "Your Daddy's a good man."
John came up to the window and grinned into her eyes. “So you still have Helen with you?" He chuckled. "Talking her head off, as usual?"
"She's great company," Kylena responded. "Julie went off to help her grandma cook some muffins for afternoon tea but Helen stayed with me."
"I don't talk too much, Daddy," Helen retorted. "Anyhow, Miss Delton likes talking. She wouldn't be a teacher, otherwise."
John's eyes meet Kylena's and they both laughed.
"Two more loads should do it," John added. "And you were right. That rain is not far away." He wiped a sweaty handkerchief over his brow. "We're twice as fast with your help."
"Yes but without that stupid meeting you would have had it done by now."
"I guess it’s good to have it behind you, though."
"It is," Kylena admitted. "I worried about it all holidays and almost never came back to the valley. When one's health is affected by the job it's not really worth the effort."
"Well, you did return and I'm glad." John's voice turned serious. "It would have been a damn shame if they'd closed our wonderful little school. It happened at home. They closed all the small schools and consolidated onto the towns. Once the schools were gone many little districts just disappeared, all absorbed into bigger impersonal conglomerates. That's one reason we came here. The farms around us were not viable any more and only the land was valuable. Our ranch was sold to a developer and will be filled with houses and shopping malls within a year."
"It's hard to imagine from out here," Kylena replied. "I love the country, too. Two years at city schools was enough for me. I thought it would be like the country school I attended at primary school but..." She shrugged. "I guess you can't change people. They can be so conservative out here in
the country. As a child, you don't realize."
"I know, but don't worry. I reckon you're better off without those rednecks around."
"Yeah, and a big American riding in to the rescue." Kylena laughed. "God, I'll never forget everyone's faces when you three walked in the door. They'd added their figures up and knew they had the numbers then, not one, but three of you arrived."
"Like John Wayne," John laughed. He pulled his hat down over his eyes and stared straight ahead. "We'll head 'em off at the pass," he drawled in a perfect imitation of the actor.
"Oh Daddy," Helen cut in. "You're so funny."
*
By six-thirty, the clouds had blotted out the sun, drips landed on the parched landscape and a pungent fragrance of hot damp grass filled the air. Almost to the minute the teacher predicted the storm arrived. Fork lightning flashed against the inky sky, thunder rumbled through the hills and within seconds, the plopping drops changed to torrential rainfall that swept across Top Oasis from the northwest.
But the hay was in. Kylena helped John and Reid cover the exposed side of the hay shed with a massive tarpaulin before the three, followed by a bubbly Helen, dashed through the downpour into a different aroma, that of cooking.
"We've got scones and muffins," Julie called out from the huge oven. "Grandma got the recipes from the ladies at the Country Women's Institute.” She placed her hands on her hips and glowered at the workers. "And don't you wet people come in here getting water everywhere. I'll go and get you some towels."
"Bossy bit, isn't she?" John said after Julie disappeared through the door.
"But that food smells delicious," Reid added.
"And the coffee, too." Kylena added. She swished back her wet hair and smiled at John, a full smile that showed a row of white teeth and reached her blue eyes.
John grinned as a whiff of perfume reached his nostrils. He felt strange inside as an emotion, not felt for years, surged through his body; that feeling of hope and joy all rolled into one.
Long Valley Road Page 3
