Long Valley Road

by Ross Richdale

  "Don't worry about Julie." His voice came out as a hoarse grunt. " Come in and sit yourselves down."

  His eyes, though, were firmly fixed on the young schoolteacher a few steps away. It had been a fateful day in more ways than one.

  *

  "Grandma," screamed Julie as she ran down the stairs for the second time. "Shall I wear my shorts or a skirt?"

  It was seven-thirty on the first morning of the term. Helen wandered out of the upstairs bathroom with a smirk on her face. "I'm wearing my pink shorts. Everyone wears shorts to school, here."

  "And how do you know, Miss Know-it-all?"

  It was now Helen's turn to scream, "Daddy, Julie's being mean to me."

  John sat at the kitchen table and grinned at his mother-in-law. "You deal with them before a civil war begins. They've been like this for two days now. I swear if school didn't start today, I'd go and open it myself, throw the kids in and leave them there."

  "Grandma!"

  "Coming Sweetheart."

  "What shall I wear?" Julie moaned. "Do my clothes look funny? They're different than the New Zealand ones. I wish I'd bought some more when we were in town."

  "You look just fine Sweetheart. It's going to be a hot day so I'd just wear shorts if I was you," Fiona said.

  "But Grandma, what if the other girls wear skirts?"

  "Well wear both. Wrap your skirt around your shorts and later you can take your skirt off if you want to."

  "That's a good idea. Can I do it, Grandma?" Helen joined in.

  "Copy cat," retorted Julie and disappeared into her room.

  After shoving in breakfast the pair headed out the door a little after eight and insisted on being driven in the Fairmont, not the old Land Rover. John shrugged at Fiona and headed out.

  A couple of cars were already at the school and a handful of children were playing around when they arrived.

  Julie stared nervously out the windshield and back to her father. "I'm nervous, Dad," she whispered. "It's so different."

  "You'll be fine, Julie. You know Miss Delton and half the children already."

  "I guess," Julie said and glowered at her little sister who sat between them, cool and confident. John grinned again. He'd expected Helen to be the timid one. "They'll say I talk funny... Are you sure my clothes are okay?"

  "Look at it this way Sweetheart," John said as swung the car onto the grass verged. "You'll be the biggest one here. Everyone will be worried about what you are like."

  Julie broke into a grin. "You're right, Dad. I never thought of that."

  She grabbed her new backpack and disappeared with a quick wave. Helen cuddled into her father, kissed him and followed.

  *

  Just inside the gate Julie heard her name being called and turned to see a chubby, dark haired girl about her own age standing by the hedge.

  "Hi Julie, I'm Melanie Blackburn. When we heard you were coming to school, Mum said I could come back here instead of going to Junction Road." the girl said. " I'm in Year 7. Say, I love your top and skirt. Did you bring them from America with you?"

  "These old things," Julie replied and brushed her skirt down. "I think they were."

  "I love your accent," Melanie added. "You sound just like those stars on T.V. "

  "Do I? Thanks, Melanie. I'm sure glad you're here. I thought I'd be the only senior."

  "Miss Denton's a great teacher," Melanie continued as they continued up the path. "I didn't want to change schools but Mum reckoned I needed other people my own age.” She turned to the six year old tagging on. "Hi, you must be Helen," she said." My little brother Brad is in your class. He's over there on the climbing frames."

  "Hi Melanie," Helen responded and smiled up at the older girl.

  *

  At nine the bell rang, the sixteen children welcomed the two new pupils into their clan and the school year began. Julie relaxed and stared around. There was no flag in the room; no formal declaration of allegiance and the only announcements was a brief welcome to the newcomers.

  "Come on," Melanie said after everyone settled down to work. "Miss Delton always takes reading with the little ones, first thing. We usually have three projects going. It's all set out on these charts. "

  "Three?" Julie responded.

  "Yes, language, math and theme. Theme is science, social studies or technology. Every three weeks it changes." She giggled. "Last year, I did most of my work at home. Poor Miss Delton had these horrible Year 7 and 8 boys to deal with all the time. They did what she said, though, especially after she stopped them participating in the interschool sports as a punishment. I remember the time when ..."

  "Melanie," Miss Delton's quiet voice came across the room. "I asked you to show Julie our program."

  "Sorry, Miss Delton." The girl flushed and grinned at Julie. "We have work set for us and can do it in any order. I usually do math first. At quarter to ten, Miss Delton spends time with us so if you don't understand anything..." Her voice drifted on.

  Across the room, Helen was reading to her teacher.

  "Goodness, you are a good reader, Helen," the teacher said after listening to three extracts from an informal reading test. "I was going to put you on the blue books but you can go in the purple group with Gary, Len and Susan."

  "Can I, Miss Delton?" Helen's eyes lit up. The others were Year 3 children.

  *

  "Fiona," John shouted in the kitchen door. "I'm taking the truck down to Marton to pick up the fence posts and gates, I ordered. Do you want to come?" Marton was a small service town an hour's drive away.

  "No thanks," the voice came back. "I'm tidying the girls' rooms. There's a list of food I need on the bench. Could you drop into a market?"

  "Sure," John replied, grabbed the note and wandered out to the truck.

  The faded red Bedford was thirty or more years old, covered in grim and cobwebs and had a dent along the passenger door. The wooden tray, though, was tidy after being swept down after the haymaking. John opened the door, realized he'd walked to the passenger's side and slid across behind the steering wheel.

  "I'll never get used to it being on the wrong side," he muttered to himself as he used his left hand to change gears and headed down the drive.

  *

  The incident happened on one of the narrowest sections of the road and even though John was travelling in low gear he was still caught unaware. A couple of dozen large black beef cattle blocked the road.

  John braked, there was a violent bang and one of the cattle lurched away. John sat shaken but was sure the beast had crashed into his truck, not the other way around.

  "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

  Angry words filled the air and John saw a red-faced man in black singlet, shorts and gumboots, as locals called the tall rubber boots New Zealand farmers wore, standing beside a four-wheeled farm bike. He frowned when he recognized the farmer. It was that Kelvin guy who'd walked out when the motion to close the school was lost.

  The man swore at two black dogs sitting in a box tied to the carrier of the bike. "Get the hell back, you mangy mutts," he screamed and swung an arm out. They leaped out and ran off to try to catch the animals that had run in every direction. He whistled and cursed a few moments while the dogs did their work, before turning his attention back to the driver who had wound the cab window down and was peering out.

  "You just about killed one of my beasts you stupid bugger," the man roared and banged a fist on the truck's side.

  John stared in amazement. It was only a slight accident, as far as he could tell the beast was not hurt and the others were, at that moment, being gathered up by the dogs. “There’s no harm done buddy," he retorted. Normally he would have apologized but the irate guy annoyed him.

  "Oh, it's you," the man growled. An unshaven face and watery eyes glared in the cab. "If you can't drive properly, stay off the bloody road. You're lucky you didn't kill my beast."

  "Calm down," John retorted. "There was no harm done. Anyhow, you c
ould have had your farm bike at the front to warn me cattle were coming"

  This seemed to infuriate the man more. "Don't you bloody tell me what to do! I've been driving cattle through here for twenty years now and you bastards with the big money come in and think you own the place."

  "I do," John replied in a quiet voice.

  "What?"

  "Own the place.” John replied. "At least the property beyond that fence your cattle are trying to jump."

  "Real smart arse aren't you?" the man swore without any relapse in his temper. "I advise you..."

  But John had had enough of this foul-mouthed farmer. With his own eyes blazing, he shoved the truck door open, swung himself out of the cab and landed on the grass verge beside the man. He towered above the irate farmer and one muscular arm was clenched in a fist almost as large as a plate. "What do you advice, Kelvin?" he hissed through his teeth.

  The man swallowed and stepped back with his hand held up. "Okay, mate," he whispered. "As you said, there was no harm done. It doesn't pay to frighten these beasts, that's all."

  John glared at the man. "We're neighbours and it has always been my philosophy to get on with my neighbours but it's a two way street, pal," His eyes bore down at the man. “I did not purposely frighten your animals and do not appreciate your foul-mouthed language. Get it?" he gave the man a rough push on the shoulder.

  "Right, mate. No harm done." Kelvin cowered back.

  "Then think twice before you go off the deep end, next time,"

  The American swung himself back into the Bedford, crunched into gear and drove off. He'd calmed down by the time he'd reached the top of the hill and thoughts, for no apparent reason, turned to Kylena. My God, if that guy's son was as bad tempered as he was it would have been no fun trying to teach the kid. From what he'd heard, the son was a Year 8 like Julie. Thank God he’d been shifted to the other school. They were welcome to him.

  *

  School finished for the day at three and by three thirty, Julie and Helen who'd walked home, bounded in to where Fiona had some cookies and two cans of coke waiting.

  "Grandma," screamed Helen with her eyes like saucers. You know what? I'm in the purple reading group, we went swimming, I got my spelling almost all right," She screwed her nose up. "Except for colour that they stick a "u" in and ..."

  "Whoa, slow down, Sweetheart. So it was a nice day?"

  "There's another senior girl called Melanie," Julie interrupted with her voice as excited as her sister's. "I thought the work would be too easy but the math was real hard, something about graphing algebraic equations. I've never done it before but Miss Delton explained it all and there was a CD-Rom with it all on that I went though. I've got oodles of homework. We're doing a theme on United States history." She grinned. "I'm pretty sure Miss Delton purposely picked it for me but she had stacks of library books on the topic and even gave me a web site to look up."

  "So you like your new school?"

  "Love it," Helen almost shouted. "You know, we had two swims, a school one with lessons and a fun one at lunch time?"

  "And I've come home for my tennis racket," Julie continued. " Melanie's coming back at four. We're having a game of tennis then a swim. I met her mom and she invited me up sometime."

  "And did you meet any friends, Helen?"

  "Lots, Grandma. There are six in my class. It's the biggest in the school. Four girls and two boys."

  "Where's Dad?" Julie just realized her grandmother had been alone when they had arrived.

  "He went to pick up a load of fence posts and gates from Marton. He'll be back soon."

  "Great," Julie laughed, grabbed a cookie and tore upstairs to find her tennis racket.

  There was a sound of a vehicle outside and the Bedford, piled high with fencing gear, rumbled in. The girls rushed outside to repeat their news with John.

  "I bought you both something," John said after patiently listening to the reports on their day.

  He handed them a plastic bag each that they opened to find massive beach towels. Julie's showed a youth riding a surf board while Helen's had a massive smiling fish. Julie held her one out and gazed at her father.

  "I love you Dad," she said in a serious voice and slipped her arms around him.

  "Me too," bubbled Helen and waited to be lifted, one handed, up onto her father's shoulders.

  *

  CHAPTER 4

  In contrast to the previous confrontation, the first Board of Trustees meeting of the year was relaxed and friendly. It was also where John caught up with the history of the local people. Apparently the Newson family was an extended family who owned most of the properties in the valley. The previous owner of Top Oasis was a brother to the hothead Kelvin and there were two other brothers, one who had also shifted his children to the other school. Linda McLean was their sister.

  After the members drifted away at the end of the meeting, only John and Fiona were left with the teachers. Courtney O'Reilly, the school's part time teacher and office assistant was staff representative on the board.

  "I'm a bit of everything," the older motherly type laughed after the meeting as she sipped from a mug of coffee. "I'm a trained teacher and take the children half a day a week while Kylena does administration work. I'm in the office the rest of the time."

  "I don't know what I'd do without her," Kylena added.

  "Go on with you!" Courtney replied. She turned to John. "I live in Hunterville so stayed clear of the infighting up here."

  "And kept me sane last year," Kylena added. The words were in jest but John could see seriousness in the teacher's eyes.

  "So what's the problem with the Newson clan?" Fiona probed.

  Courtney replied, "The Newsons are slobs. Education, in their eyes is okay for the boys until they can come back to work on the farm but a waste of time for girls. Kylena arrived, keen as mustard with progressive modern ideas who encouraged the girls as well as the boys."

  Fiona ignored John's scowl and continued to probe. "If they don't like educated women, how come Kylena was selected as principal in the first place?" she asked.

  Courtney laughed and managed to avoid the teacher's self-conscious flush. "No men applied for the job and she was the best looker. They expected a dumb blonde they could control but found a determined, conscientious teacher who wanted to teach the children, instead."

  "Courtney, shut up!" Kylena, now bright red, retorted.

  "Well it's true. I was here with, Peter, your predecessor. He played rugby, drank with the boys, but was as lazy as hell and got a short shift by the ERO team."

  "ERO?" John queried.

  "Education Review Office. They inspect the schools every three years or so. I know Peter was told to buck up or ship out." She grinned. "So he did. I think he's selling insurance now."

  "But he was the sort the locals wanted?" John said.

  "The Newsons anyway. There were rumblings from others, though but that family held sway over everyone."

  "But not any more," Fiona added, "We arrived and bought the largest property in the valley. That must be a sock in the eye for them.”

  "You could say that." Courtney laughed.

  John glanced up and caught Kylena's eyes. They were such an intense blue. She noticed his gaze, relaxed and smiled back.

  "And yourself, John?" Courtney cut in.

  "Similar. I had to buy my brother out of our family ranch back home but the main reason for shifting here was life style, I guess. Economics, too. A farm like Top Oasis would be double or treble the price in The States and be either semi-desert or in the mountains of Montana, miles from anywhere. Anne, that's my late wife, and I visited New Zealand on a vacation a few years back and were impressed by the farms and prices." He smiled back at Kylena. "It took six years for our dream to eventuate."

  "But Anne never made it," Courtney said.

  "No," John replied. "But the rest of us decided to come, anyway."

  "I'm glad," Kylena cut in.

  The chat turned to other t
opics for a few minutes before Courtney excused herself and headed for the door. Fiona stood, muttered it was a lovely evening to walk home and John found himself alone with Kylena.

  "Courtney's a real friend but is inclined to rattle on," the young woman said.

  "I like her," John replied. He hesitated, tried to think what to say next and switched the conversation to a neutral topic. "Can you show me the toilet block where that problem mentioned at the meeting is?" he asked. One of his board responsibilities was maintenance and property manager.

  "Sure," Kylena replied. "Come on through."

  "It's nothing too serious," he said after he'd inspected the blocked toilet. “I’ll come up tomorrow and see what I can do. It's stupid to pay for a plumber to come all the way out here."

  They walked outside and John lingered while Kylena locked up. Under the full moon it was so peaceful. A slight breeze sighed through the trees and insects chirped in the darkness.

  "I'll walk you home," he stumbled when she reappeared. His tongue felt thick in his mouth.

  The schoolhouse was only through a hedge but Kylena didn't object. When she walked in front of him John realized she seemed so feminine in her neat skirt, frilly blouse and with hair was brushed out over her shoulders and not in the usual ponytail. Once again, John felt that strange stirring inside. He gave a nervousness chuckle and Kylena glanced back so her eyes shone in the moonlight.

  "What's the joke?" she asked in soft voice.

  "Oh, nothing really," John replied. "Chirping crickets, full moon and you beside me. I'm just dreaming, that’s all."

  They walked on in silence, through a tiny gate where a security light at the corner of the house flickered on. Stupid man. Why did he have to babble out and make a fool of himself?

  At the back door, Kylena turned and glanced into his eyes. "We're allowed to have dreams, John," she whispered then, without warning, stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," she added and stepped through her door. "See you tomorrow."