Chapter 02

Interlude

The work on the houses goes as expected, and so do the lives of Mack and Irene. Parks continues to push to get the land or logging rights for next to nothing. Mack continues to work the farm while going to school and building the houses. He often goes rabbit hunting, and he gives the extra rabbits to friends and other visitors. Sometimes organising for Marker or Hammer to come out to collect the extra rabbits, along with some of the excess vegetables grown in the farm’s large garden.

One Friday afternoon Mack and Irene are in town. They stop in the street to talk with Ma Hanson and Marker’s family. After a few minutes Ma asks, “Mack, can you please go in and see what’s keeping the boys? I want to get going as I’ve got a lot to do.” He has a big smile because she’s pointing at one of the town pubs and she never goes into a pub - not for any reason at all.

The nearly fourteen year old Mack goes over and walks into the pub. Kids often go into pubs after their parents so no one cares about a boy walking in, but if he fronted the bar to order a beer they’d be concerned. While walking to the corner where Marker and Hammer are standing talking to a seated man with his back to the door Mack hears Marker say, “Look, Jasper, it won’t take but a moment for you to come out to see what Ma wants. Then we can all get on with what we want to do.”

“I’m not going out there just to hear her go off at me again.”

Jasper is reaching for his beer when Mack reaches them. He knows of this man but he’s never seen him around town before, an odd item in itself, and Mack doesn’t like what he knows of Jasper. It’s clear talking is getting nothing done so Mack decides action is needed. Mack is short for his age and his head is just a little higher than that of Jasper’s head while he sits in the chair. Mack doesn’t look like much, but he’s a lot stronger than he looks.

Mack gives an exasperated, “Bugger this!” He reaches out to grab hold of the collar of Jasper’s shirt and jacket at the back of his neck. With a quick turn and jerk Mack is heading back out the door as he drags Jasper out of the chair when it falls to the floor. Mack is moving so fast Jasper can’t get set to stand up or roll over. The sound of the chair hitting the floor has everyone looking over at them, and many shake their heads at the sight of Mack dragging a kicking and yelling man across the floor.

Ma Hanson, Jemma, Jedda, and Irene start laughing when they see Mack dragging Jasper out of the pub and along the street to them. The man has to be nearly twice Mack’s height and more than double his weight, but he’s being towed along as if he weighs nothing. People stop to stare at the sight. Mack drops him at Ma’s feet while saying, “He didn’t want to come!”

Jasper is angry when he gets to his feet. Ma has some strong words with him about how he doesn’t treat his wife and kids right, and how she’s fed up with hearing about it. She gives him a right telling off, then she demands he changes his ways. He looks everywhere except at Ma, so it’s obvious he’s ignoring her. He turns to go when she finishes speaking.

Mack is standing between Jasper and the pub. When Jasper turns around he’s facing Mack. With a very stern look Mack says, “Marla is my friend. I don’t like it when you punch her.” Quick as a whip, Mack’s clenched right hand strikes Jasper in the stomach, hard. While Jasper folds up and falls to the ground Mack adds, “If you ever punch her again I’ll beat the shit out of you.” Mack turns and steps past Jasper who’s busy throwing up on the grass area he’s lying on while all of the other adults stare at Mack.

Irene and Mack leave the Hanson families to go on about their shopping. While they walk down the street Hammer says to his mother, “I think Mack’s little talk with Jasper may have more of an effect on him than yours, Ma.”

She half grins, “Much as I hate to say it, I think you’re right.”

Note: After that day Jasper never hits a member of his family again. The change is due to him giving up alcohol because he only hit them while drunk. He finally figures out no drinking means no punching, so he changes his ways to be safe from Mack!

Building

Over the years Mack casts thousands of concrete blocks to make the walls of the four buildings. He uses the custom made window frames stored in the shed to make the gaps for the special windows. He reaches a point where he needs help. The houses look like the wall shells of old houses. The concrete floors are tinted to look like packed earth while the porch floors are tinted and marked to look like flagstones set in the ground. Adding the steel frame trusses and roofs will change their look a lot. It’s taken him some years of work to get this far. Now is the time to call on friends. Mack has a word with his mother about the next work.

Fourteen year old Mack always joins his closest friends for lunch at school, most are the Hanson children. It’s one of the hottest Novembers on record when Mack walks up to his friends during school lunchtime the next day. He smiles and says, “Jake, Jim, Jess, Ian, Ann, do you think your families would like to come out to the farm on Saturday? I got Mum to agree to a big barbie for lunch and dinner if we get enough people to come out. I want you to come out to help me with doing some tidying up. Do that in the morning then we’ll break for a swim for the rest of the day. Mum will love the extra company for a change of pace.”

They all smile. The Wood Valley town pool had a major equipment problem during the winter and the council hasn’t fixed it yet, so the town pool is closed. A chance to swim and cool off is a welcome treat, real welcome. Jess is the eldest and she asks, “Mack, can I borrow your cell phone to call Mum?”

Mack pulls his phone out and hands it over, “Sure, speed dial three.”

She grins while she takes the phone as she’s not at all surprised he has their house phone on his speed dial. She hits the number and waits for an answer. “Mum, Mack just asked if we want to spend a day out at Sandy Knoll Farm this Saturday. Our whole family and Uncle Hammer’s.” She listens for a while, “Yes, he just asked us and we’d like to go. Why don’t you ring Missus Dean and coordinate with her.” She hangs up and tells Mack, “Mum will sort things out with your mum.”

Note: Barbie is Aussie slang for a barbecue.

Saturday

The day starts early. Irene only grins when Mack asks about who’s coming. They start to arrive around eight in the morning, and just keep coming. About nine o’clock there’s around fifty vehicles parked over near the shed and almost two hundred people at work. It doesn’t take long for the place to be cleaned up, then the young kids head off to the dam. Most swim in the dam while some try to catch the crayfish living in the mud in it. Several trestle tables are set up with drinks and snacks on them. Some of the utes are full of wood that needs to be disposed of, and one ute has two long spit rods. They soon fill the pit where they toss the tree offcuts and wood rubbish for burning. The two large spits are set up over the pit, one has two dead sheep while the other has a whole head of beef on it. Mack has a better look around the group, and laughs. He and his mum are the only whites in sight, the whole of the local Aboriginal tribe is here for a massive family day and feed. A little later some of the white loggers and their families turn up with trucks loads of food and cases of soft drink. By noon there’s over six hundred people having a great day in their huge front yard. People swimming, a cricket game beside the drive, a game of football on the other plateau, and a bunch of young kids playing some sort of make believe shooting game in and around the new pump-house. This is the biggest party Mack has ever seen, and it’s bigger than the town fair held a few months back.

Mack is standing near the dam when a tall man walks by and says, “Great bash, Mate,” while he gives Mack a high five. Mack laughs. He’s a cousin of Hammer’s wife who lives and works in the city. Jimmy must have spent well over an hour driving to get here for this day out.

Wandering over to where the women are in charge of the house and the cooking Mack finds his mother to ask, “Mum, what happened?”

Ma Hanson answers for her, “It was past time for us to have a party, so we took over yours.” His only answer is to laugh and walk away.

Marker is standing over near the BBQ pit when Mack finds him. “Hi, Marker, got time for a quiet talk?”

“Sure. Is there a place here we can have a quiet talk in?”

They both smile while they look at the activity around them. Mack leads Marker toward the larger new house. They walk through the front doorway, and scare a young couple trying to spend some time alone. With a big laugh they leave via the back door and head to the sewerage building because they figure the other house may be in use too.

Marker says, “I’ve wanted to ask about these buildings for a long time, so have a lot of others. Since neither of you speak of them we’ve not said a thing, but a few of us have noticed them growing. While they look as if they’re old they’re expanding. What’s the deal?”

“That’s what I want to speak to you about, Mate. Out here we come under the shire council, not the town council. The records show the farm has two houses, a shed, and other outbuildings, but no details of where they sit or what they’re made of. Only that they were approved for residence over a hundred years ago and were inspected when electricity was provided back in the sixties. Dad got the idea to build a better house without asking for approval. The idea is to make the new places look like old houses, but with new insides and roofs. So the walls are made of concrete blocks tinted to mimic sandstone blocks of the eighteen eighties. The concrete slabs look like what they did then. New carpets will hide them. In the meantime, anyone looking thinks they’re packed earth or sandstone.” Marker smiles at the trick they’re playing on the local government people. “Dad had them up to the floors before he died. I’ve put the walls up since then. But I now need a hand to get the roofs on them as well as do the inside plumbing and electricity too. I want you to help me with the roofing and to suggest tradesmen for the rest.”

“Well, Hammer and I can help do the roofing, no worries. Hammer is licensed and can do the electrical work, but we’ll need to get someone else to do the plumbing. You need that done right. Leave it with me. I’ll ask around for someone and get back to you.”

“We can afford to pay the normal rates, but we need it to stay off the records. That way the council can’t say when it was done.”

“That makes it a lot easier to find someone. I’m sure we can do it.”

“We’ve got most of what we need to get the places to lock-up stage stored over in the shed. So we can get rolling when you’re ready.”

“I’ll organise Hammer to come out next weekend. We’ll bring the families with us, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, no trouble.” They shake hands on the deal and head back to the cooking. At the house Mack cuts off to change and go swimming.

The day is a great success and fun for all who attend the party. The party is the talk of the town for the next few weeks.

Construction

For the next two months Marker and Hammer bring their families out for the day on the Saturdays. The younger kids go swimming while the women cook and chat as the men and older kids work on the houses.

They put the roof on the sewerage shed first because any learning mistakes won’t matter much to it. Then the small house, the main house, and the pump-house is last because they have to first install the new large twin pump unit in it. Mack has already done all of the preliminary work and bolted all of the steel wall top plates into place. So it’s a relatively easy job for them to take the steel trusses from the shed to the buildings and put them up. The hard part is lifting that much steel up into place before they lower it to the top plates and their built-in bolts. The nuts go on finger tight at this time as they’ll tighten them down when the battens are in place. With the trusses and battens fitted they tighten the nuts down and lock them in place. The powder coated steel eave face-plates are put in place next. These pre-made items slip into grooves in the top plates and have bolts that go into holes in the trusses. These are followed by the hot water tanks, the roof insulation, and the coloured steel roof sheets.

They break for the Christmas and New Year celebrations but spend a lot of time in January working to fit the powder coated plates and frames for the windows and doors, along with the security windows and the steel covered doors. All of the buildings are at the lock-up stage before Mack starts back in school for the new school year.

During this time Mack and Irene log a few more loads by working on them during the week so Irene can take them in on the Friday. This is more money than they need for some time, but it’s to keep the buyer happy. It does allow them to donate some money to assist a few people around the area who need some help due to injury or illness.

Almost all of the materials from the shed are installed. For the first time in many years the shed is nearly empty. Mack confirms the size of the house interior dimensions and he writes them down on the plans for the houses. Irene takes them into the city of Rivers to have a company make up the steel wall frames. They’re delivered in mid June, the truck drops the frame units on the ground in front of each house. This makes it easier for Irene and Mack to carry the frames inside the buildings for security and weather protection. The items are numbered and the plans showing where they’re to go. None are too large or heavy, so it’s easy for Mack and Irene to put them in place and bolt them together. They also bolt to the floor after the holes are drilled for the bolts. With the frames installed they put the ceiling battens in place and use metal screws to secure them to the bottom of the trusses and the top of the walls.

Irene makes a trip to the city for a large purchase of electrical items. Hammer’s list covers everything they’ll need because he wants it all on hand before he starts the work. For a few weekends Hammer visits to do the electrical work. Mack, Jake, Jim, and Ian help him with the work. He directs them while they string the wires in the houses and set out the fittings. In response to his request to be able to secure the panels for the circuit breakers the five garage doors are bought and delivered. It needs the two men and four teenage boys to get them up and into place.

Marker finds a plumber to do the pipes for the taps and drains. But they need to bring in his boss to seat the toilets. Irene pays all of the workers for their time at the rates asked, which is under their usual rate. Since it’s not on the books there’s no tax to pay so the workers end up with more cash in hand.

It’s taken some years, but the houses are almost finished. There’s not much more that needs to be done to complete them and live in them.

More Trouble

The bus drops Mack off on the public road after it turns around at the drive entrance because his home is the last one on the run. Fifteen year old Mack is walking up the drive to his home. It’s a nice Wednesday in mid May and he’s enjoying the almost kilometre walk to the house. He’s looking forward to the snack and drink he’ll have when he gets there. After that he has chores to do. His school homework is done on the bus or after sunset as the daylight hours are for working around the farm.