Now hysterical, she swung around and noticed twenty dollars and a note on the sink.
'Take a taxi home. Thank you, I enjoyed the evening and never thought you'd be so cooperate. Tell nobody as you won't be believed.'
It was unsigned but she recognised the feeble attempt to disguise the printing. It was Murray Narwood's printing.
*
CHAPTER 11
With one day remaining of the school term, Karla arrived home an hour earlier than normal for there was little to do back at the hall. As usual, she walked the few hundred metres home across the paddocks. The hall property led to a small reserve of trees and onto the Top Plateau Station home paddock. Their house was on the other side out of sight behind a tall hedge. Half way along, a small pedestrian gate filled a gap in the hedge.
She was about to walk through it onto the back lawn when she heard Ryan's quiet but angry voice interjected by an almost screaming female voice; one that was completely unknown to her.
Karla stopped by the gate and knew she had not been seen when Ryan spoke again "You've got it wrong Trish," he said. "Karla is not like that!"
Trish? That was his sister!
This Trish spoke again. "Oh, she isn't? Seems to me that she has it all planned out, promotion to a principal's position probably years before it would happen in town and her foothold in a million dollar property. What's the bet she gets pregnant and you, being the old-fashioned sort will marry her and, bang half of everything is hers."
Ryan retorted angrily. "Just because your partner walked out on you when he found your stake in this property was less than you'd told him, doesn't mean that she is the same?"
"So why are you refusing to combine your third with Mum's and my own? This new deal is even better than the original but must include the whole property. It's all or nothing Ryan. Can't you see that?"
Ryan's voice became a little calmer. "Overseas investors need government approval to purchase New Zealand farms and Chinese millionaires are not popular investors at the moment."
"This is a well known and sound syndicate who wants to keep the property as a going concern, not just sub-divide it up into those lifestyle blocks that Alan wants."
"So he's opposed to your idea, too."
"He'll do anything for the largest amount of money. Like your girlfriend and yourself, he's got Mum tucked around his little finger. What's the bet, that as soon as this place is sold he'll boot Mum out and shack up with a sexy bit twenty years his junior?"
"You always were cynical, Trish. But why do you want to lay your hands on the money this place will bring at this time, anyway?"
The woman's reply was a mere mutter that Karla didn't pick up. She leaned forward and glanced around the hedge. Ryan towered above a dark haired woman as they wandered further across the lawn and she could hear no more of the conversation. She frowned, stepped back and followed the hedge to the road, climbed the fence and waited for a moment to think about the conversation. She knew Ryan didn't particularly like his sister but the reason she was back from Australia was obvious. Trish was trying to get what she could out of the farm's sale. If it was sold all three could be instant millionaires and whatever lifestyle she led would be more than paid for by her share.
Alan wasn't the only greedy one in Ryan's extended family. Karla swallowed, hitched an innocent expression on her face and walked in up the driveway. A modern car, that was probably a rental vehicle, was parked by the side door but the pair out of sight.
"Hello Ryan," she called out as she stepped onto the veranda. "Do we have visitors?"
Ryan stepped out, and had only partly concealed his anger of a few moments before. "My sister, Trish has come over from Australia to stay with Mum and Alan over Christmas," he said and gave her a glance that warned her to be discrete.
She gave a slight nod, just as Trish appeared. From the front, her face had similar characteristics to Ryan across the cheekbones and mouth. She could see that they were related.
Trish beamed a smile that never reached the eyes. "Oh hello, Karla," she gushed and extended her hand "You look exactly as you did in that television news interview. It was even on the Australian networks, you know. Ryan's really proud of you."
The hypocrite! Even without overhearing the earlier conversation, she would have been wary of the woman's gushy style.
"So is it a social visit back home to stay with your Mum?" Karla replied in a pleasant tone and decided to add more. "Or are you here about the Top Plateau Station sale, too? I guess Ryan told you he wants to keep this part of the property."
"It was mentioned," Trish almost hissed, swallowed and smiled again. "I haven't seen my brother for several years now so took the opportunity to visit the old haunts, Sorry about the school burning down. I spent all my primary school years there, you know." She shrugged. "It was bigger then. At one point they used the hall as a second classroom and hired a junior room teacher. Heard you're back in the hall again."
"Temporarily," Karla replied. "Did Ryan offer you a cup of coffee?"
"She's only been here a while," Ryan replied.
"Yes, I'm heading back to Masterton soon but couldn't resist a visit out here." Trish stared at her. "I've been seeing the family lawyer with Mum. I guess Ryan told you all about the situation."
"Not a lot," Karla responded. Two could play at this being ignorant game. "And with school fire…" She shrugged. "Anyhow, come and have that coffee, I know I'm dying for one."
She felt Ryan squeeze her arm as she walked by him. No doubt, he'd fill in all the details later.
*
The second week of the new year had arrived and after almost three weeks back in Wellington for Christmas, cleaning up the section, visiting old haunts and even seeing some of the teachers at Tui Park School. Karla was pleased to be heading back at Top Plateau. There were decisions still to be made about almost everything that played on her mind but she was pleased to be back. She didn't want return to the situation at Tui Park. However, with no building at Top Plateau and a small roll, it was feasible that the Ministry of Education would just close the school down and save the rebuilding costs. On the personal side she found her affection towards Ryan had grown into love, she guessed the word was. She still didn't want to make the commitment of marriage and was pleased that she lived in the modern world where this was not necessary.
"You're deep in thought again," Ryan said from the front seat of her Mazda as they turned off the main road to Riversdale and headed towards Top Plateau.
"Yes. Last year was one out of the box. I was just thinking about what will happen this year."
"You go back to school, we get married and begin a family," Ryan whispered then grimaced. "But, I'm old fashioned, aren't I?"
Karla drove around a sharp bend before switching her eyes across the car at her companion. "Probably none of those will happen. I imagine they'll close the school and as for the other two, no, no!"
"Why?"
"I said I wanted more time, a year I think I asked for."
Ryan laughed. "Fair enough. After three weeks back in the city how do you feel about coming back, though?"
"Pleased but apprehensive, I guess the words are."
They drove by the school and she saw one change. The remains of the school had been bulldozed down and everything removed. All that remained was a bare patch of earth, one tank stand, and the woodshed where they had taken the children. Even the play shed that had only been scorched by the fire had gone, as well as half the concrete and one of the oak trees.
"At least they left one of the oaks," she muttered as she slowed the car but never bothered to stop. The whole scene saddened her.
A moment later they pulled in beside the letterbox at their front gate. They had arranged for the mail to be held at the post office until today and also for any school mail to go in their home box. The rural mail contractor had already been and several letters as well as the paper was poking out of the box.
Ryan collected them all, sat back in the car
and shuffled through the mail. "A couple of official looking ones for you," he said and handed them across the car.
Karla noticed the letterheads and grimaced. One was from the police the other the Ministry of Education. She opened the police one first and pouted for it really told her nothing. No suspects had been found responsible for the fire but the case was still being investigated. It was however, suspected that the attack was a random act of violence rather than a personal attack against the school, Board of Trustees or herself.
"Not helpful?" Ryan asked.
"Typical," Karla replied and handed the letter to him to read while she slit open the second one. "Oh hell," she gasped as she read the contents.
The letter was a copy of one to the Top Plateau Board of Trustees that confirmed that their request to have the school replaced was accepted. The direct cost of replacement would be made by the Ministry in line with the regulations. Here a reference number and online site was quoted. She felt a surge of adrenalin flow through her body and her hand shook as she held the letter.
"They're going to replace the school!" she gasped.
Ryan grinned as he read this letter. "That's nice. What happens now?"
"I have no idea. I'll have to speak to Dillon but the good news is that we can remain open."
"It's better than my news," Ryan said and held out a third opened letter.
Karla glanced and saw a lawyer's letterhead. "What is it?"
"My sister's lawyer. It seems that they have found a clause in my great-father's documents that they may use to contest Dad's will?"
"Great grandfather? That's a long way back"
"Yes. In the 1940s when this farm that is now mine was purchased and added to Top Plateau Station they say it was amalgamated and not kept in a separate title. If that was true, my father had no right to leave it to me as a separate identity."
"You mean you inherit nothing?"
"No. It means that I inherited one third of the whole station, not a separate farm. If that is the case, a majority of the owners, which is Trish and Mum could outvote me to sell the whole station. I would receive one third of the proceeds but couldn't stop the sale."
"But your mother wouldn't agree to this, would she?"
Ryan shrugged. "She finds it hard to stand up to Trish. You saw what she was like over Christmas when Trish visited."
"Oh yes," Karla retorted. "I wasn't going to say anything but I overheard what your sister was really like." She told Ryan about the conversation she had overheard that day she had come home early from school. "You aren't going to just accept this, are you?"
Ryan grimaced. "No way! Remember, this letter is from her lawyer. We have as much right to research old documentation and legal papers as she has. Even if this was true back in the 1940s it could have been changed back to a separate title at any time over the intervening seventy years. Also the legality of combining the two titles at that time can be queried."
"Sounds like the legal fees will be enormous," Karla replied.
"Yes," Ryan grumbled. "What's the bet Trish doesn't mind spending a few hundred thousand when there's tens of millions at stake."
"Perhaps she arranged for the fire bomb, found out it never drove us out and this is Plan B?"
"No. As spiteful as she is, the attack is too crude for her. She prefers something more sophisticated. The direct approach didn't work so she is using lawyers."
"Possibly," Karla muttered. She wasn't convinced though, as she accelerated far too quickly up the driveway and had to stop with a squeal of brakes beside the house.
"Yes, this year is going to be a challenge," Ryan said philosophically as he climbed out of the Mazda.
*
They had just walked inside when Karla's mobile chirped. It was Dillon.
"Are you free to visit town tomorrow?" he asked.
"I guess. Why?"
"We've got the right to go ahead with the school."
"I know. I received a copy of the letter."
"But not the follow up."
"Well, no."
"I persuaded the Ministry to allow us to bring a building in rather than start from scratch. As long as we make up any extra costs after their insurance fund and certain safety standards are adhered we can have a free reign. I've rung around and have found two classroom blocks to choose from. They're quite different. That's why I want you to come and see."
With Ryan at her side, Karla met Dillon outside a Masterton high school the following morning. He led the pair in across the playground to where a new classroom was sitting on jacks. It looked brand-new and sat there like a rectangular blob. There were windows down the front side beneath a veranda while off to the side was a small toilet block and storeroom.
"This is a standard design from All Right Construction. They won the tender to replace over two dozen classrooms over in the Hawkes Bay where condemned rooms built in the seventies were found to have asbestos in the ceilings and were condemned. Anyway, the company has two extra ones. This is one and we can have the other on our site by the end of the month, if we're interested."
"I see," Karla said as she strolled around and frowned. "There's no administration block, you know or space for a staffroom, medical room or office."
"The storage room could be converted."
"Does the Board like it?"
Dillon shrugged. "Half and half. The price is good and you could be in it within a month of the start of school."
"Lacks personality," Ryan added.
Karla looked up at him. His words reflected what she thought. It was just a box with a smaller box stuck on the side for the toilets. Sure at this huge school with buildings everywhere, it blended in but back on Top Plateau it would look like the box it was.
"You said there was a second choice?" she said.
"Yes. It's has more character but needs that tender loving care agents speak of. Interested in looking?"
Karla nodded and fifteen minutes later they arrived at a closed primary school, of which there were several in Masterton. The grounds were overgrown and grass grew through cracks in the concrete. The buildings were about fifty years old and one block was being demolished while two more sat forlornly across an old tennis court with boarded up windows and graffiti scrawled across their end walls.
"The site has been finally sold after seven or eight years," Dillon explained. "The company that bought it wants the land but not the buildings. We can have one block for a song but it'll take most of our allowed money to bring it back to a usable condition."
"And the safety requirements?" Ryan asked.
"The buildings are wooden and quite sound. There is no earthquake risk. Other blocks of this vintage and design are in use all around the country. Follow me."
They walked behind a block to where two other buildings stood. The one Dillon headed for looked like a library with narrow windows and a small porch. In size, it would have actually been smaller than the old school but was in good condition with graffiti free walls and no broken windows. Karla's attention, though, was focused on a large canvas sign on another building that was up on barrels ready for a transporter to be backed in beneath it.
The sign read 'Reprocessed Classroom Block. Ready for immediately use.'
It appeared to be true for the exterior was freshly painted with new spouting and roofing iron. She walked away from the others who were talking nearby and noticed a man coming towards her.
"Hi there," he said. "I'm Larry Gibson from All Right Construction. You seem interested in this building. Can I help?"
Karla introduced herself and explained why she was there. "How can a school building be reprocessed?"
Larry laughed. "This block was like the others a few months back. A group bought it with the aim of starting a new private religious school for their kids over in Wellington. They even had land purchased there and volunteers came out and do the building up." He smiled. "The inside has been repainted too."
"So what happened?'
"The government ref
used a licence to operate a school, the group reneged on their last two payments so ownership reverted to our company. We have the contract to sell or otherwise dispose of the buildings on this site. They're going to build a new retirement village here." He nodded at the other building where Ryan and Dillon had turned and stood waiting for her.
Karla walked around the classrooms. It was an older wooden building originally built in the thirties but was twice the size of the other ones they had looked at, was rectangular shaped with two classrooms separated by a small porch and double doors.
"What's in the area behind the porch?" she asked.
"A corridor and coat bay with doors into each classroom and onto a rear toilet block. Originally there was a corridor along the back of the classes but the area was converted into storage plus a wet area for each class with a sink like those in more modern classrooms, The alterations were made about fifteen years back. The new windows are more recent, as are the wood burning heaters in each classroom. They were added by the group I mentioned earlier.
By now the men had walked up and were listening to the conversation.
"Bit big for twelve kids," Dillon said. "Good condition, though."
"And ready to go," Larry pushed in true salesman-type gusto. "Same price and twice the size of that library block. As the sign says, it is ready to be connected up. We could have it on your site in a week and functioning in three."
"By the beginning of the term?" Karla asked.
"At a pinch."
"And the overall cost delivered on site and everything operational?" Dillon asked.
"Sixty to seventy grand."
Karla glanced at Dillon. The Ministry of Education had allocated them seventy-two thousand dollars towards the building replacement and the Board had their own insurance needed for new equipment, furniture and other fittings. They had also discussed taking out a new loan if it was necessary to get the school up and running.
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