Chapter 07

Ernie’s Early Farm Life

The dinner conversation on Ernie’s second Tuesday at the farm is on what Jason’s daughter, Linda, can take to school for her turn at ‘Show and Tell.’ A big issue with this program is so many of the students are farm kids with limited options of what to bring in, so it’s hard to find something another child hasn’t taken in over the last couple of years. It’s because of this each child has to do this just once a year due to the program being one child in each class once a week for each week of the school year. It’s Linda’s turn on Monday and she’s having trouble thinking of what to take in.

After a period of her parents suggesting things and being rejected due to Linda saying another student had done that item last year or this year Ernie says, “I’ve an idea of what you can present, but I have to take it in. I doubt one’s been shown at your school before.”

Belinda asks, “What is it, Ernie?”

His face is a cross between a smile and a grimace when he hands his car key to Linda while saying, “Go in the back door of the van. There’s a set of small drawers on the driver’s side just before the bench seat. In the bottom drawer there’s a long flat case like a box to hold a necklace. Get it out of the drawer and bring it to me, please. You’ll be a lot quicker than I will.”

Linda takes the key and races off to get the case. She’s soon back with the case and she hands it to Ernie with his car key. He holds it for a moment, sighs, and opens the case. After glancing in it he hands it to Belinda to look at. It takes a moment for her to realise what it is, and her eyes go wide. She gulps and hands it to Jason. He repeats her actions and says, “I see what you mean. I’m sure the school will approve the change in the presentation. I’ll call them in the morning, but I won’t tell them what it is.” He turns to Linda, “You can wait until Monday to find out what this is!” She’s not happy, but she accepts the order.

Monday morning Ernie drives all of the kids from Mount Station to the school bus pick up point at the intersection of Mount Road and Barker Road. Linda is last to get on the bus, and she tells the driver, “I’m going in with Dad’s boss today so I can show him where the school is,” and gets off again. This is so the driver won’t worry about her not riding in with the rest of them.

Ernie follows the bus to its next stop and he passes it while it slows down. When they get to the nearby town school he parks opposite the bus stop so the driver can see they did come to the school. Linda leads Ernie into the school administration area and he signs in after handing in the notes he has: one about today and approvals for him to collect any of the farm kids if they need to be picked up. He also meets the teacher of Linda’s class he’ll be with this morning, and he asks her for a spare desk to be put in the front of the classroom for him to use as a chair.

Linda and Ernie are the first ones to head to her classroom by starting a few minutes before class starts. However, he’s so slow due to the extra care for all the fast moving kids they’re almost the last to arrive. They enter, and he smiles at the extra desk the teacher has in the front of the class for him to use as his chair.

The students sit in their seats and Ernie sits on the desk. The teacher calls the roll, all present, and she says, “This morning is Linda Goode’s turn at Show and Tell. Special approval has been given for her to bring this man in to do the presentation for her. So please pay attention.” A turn to him, “You’re on, Ernie!”

He glances over the twenty plus children and he recites a poem:

A Devil’s Life
The sounding siren,
the rushing of men.
Big trouble today,
a fire holds sway,
so Devils rush in.

The flames are high,
big danger is nigh.
It looks like hell,
but all will be well,
as Devils rush in.

People in great fear,
with flames so near.
Trapped by fire,
life their desire.
Devils are searching.

All are soon found,
brought out sound.
To medics all go,
happy to know,
Devils came looking.

The fire’s now gone,
their job’s all done.
Back to their base,
and all is in place.
Devils are waiting.

Ernie asks, “Does anyone know what that’s about?”

Only one girl puts up her hand. When he points at her she says, “It’s the poem at the start of the book Flames of Passion by Major Mount.”

“I’m surprised you know it! How come?” is Ernie’s response.

“I’m Jacqueline Meeks, my father, David Meeks, is a shift leader in the Rivers Fire Service. The book was recommended to him and he liked it. I want to know about his work but he doesn’t speak about it. So when he told our neighbour the book was very good, had accurate details on the service, and he recognised a couple of the incidents as real fires I read it to learn about fire-fighters. I did have to ask what some of the things were, but it was interesting. He said the devils in the poem were a special fire-fighting unit known as the Fire Devils.”

“I think I’ve met your father, about four years ago when he went to a training course in Sydney. I recognise his name.” He looks about the class, “My name’s Ernest Major Mount. The book we just spoke of is a recounting of most of the fires I attended while a member of the Fire Devils in the Western Sydney Division of the New South Wales Fire Service. Fire Devils is the informal name given to the unit. I won’t bore you with the formal name the Service has for it. However, the Devils are not called in on every fire. They’re a special unit held in reserve and there’s only one per division. When a fire becomes a major problem due to needing more than two regular units or fire-fighters are injured or an event out of the ordinary happens the senior fire-fighter at the fire will call in the Devils. Their major task is to find people and to get them out.”

He stops to look at the ten and eleven year old students for a long moment before adding, “Being a fire-fighter is not a safe job, it’s very hazardous. A great deal of protective equipment is worn to increase the chances of survival in a very hostile environment. There are times when a fire-fighter dies or is seriously injured on the job. The risks and rates of injury are higher than most non-military jobs. Yet the great majority of fire-fighters can go their whole careers without serious injury.” He taps his left leg, “Some of us can’t. The rate of injury and death amongst the Devils is several times higher than in the rest of the Fire Service.”

With a sigh he reaches into his right coat pocket to get out the case Linda got for him the other night as he says, “As the job is so risky and those involved know it, it’s very rare for the actions of a fire-fighter to be known or recognised outside of the Fire Service. Which brings us to the point of my presence here today.” He holds the case up, “Very few of the fire-fighters are given awards like this, despite almost all of them earning such awards.” He opens the case, glances at it, and sighs again. “Linda hasn’t seen this yet, so I’ll have her carry it around the room for you all to look at it and see it up close. She’ll be a lot faster than I will.”

Linda walks up to Ernie and takes the case off him. She looks at it then gives him a quick glance before taking it over to show the teacher, and then slowly goes around the room to show each of her classmates. The room is very quiet while she does this, then she returns it to Ernie.

The teacher asks, “Does anyone recognise what the award is?”

Another student puts up his hand. When she nods at him he says, “It’s the Star of Courage. I know about it because I looked it up after reading about it in the book Star Performance my uncle gave me to read last Christmas. It’s the second highest of the awards for bravery an Australian civilian can be awarded, and it’s rated as equal to the United Kingdom’s King George Medal or the USA’s Silver Star.” A few of the other students gasp at this because they didn’t know how high an award it is, just it’s an award for bravery.

One of the students asks, “Is that the only award you’ve ever got?”

Ernie gives a half smile, “No. The most common award is the thanks of those you help. I do have a few awards the Fire Service issues as well. However, the greatest award was the smile and thanks of the fire-fighter whose life I saved when a building exploded and landed on us. She was unconscious due to an earlier propane gas tank explosion. I took my team in to find her and another who went down in the first explosion. My team mates were taking the other person out while I continued searching and I found her. When some explosives unlawfully stored in the building detonated I grabbed a big wooden pallet that was near us and pulled it over me while I lay on top of her. Parts of the building smashed the pallet as well as my left leg. A lot of burning and broken bits of building fell all around us. I couldn’t walk, so I had to drag the both of us over the burning rubble for about twenty metres.”

He stops to take a deep breath due to the remembered pain. “It was not nice,” is his comment on the trouble. “My protective gear was torn, I had a pieces of wood stuck in me. Some broken ribs and lots of bruises from the falling rubble. I got enough of the wood stuck in me pulled out to allow me to move. I put a tourniquet on my leg, rolled onto my side, got the other person up on my leg in the same way you do when towing while swimming, and I used my right arm to grab things to pull us along. It’s a good thing my gloves were undamaged at the start. When we got to the fire-line we were seen and taken to ambulances.” Again he stops for a breath before saying, “Being a fire-fighter is not for the those who are scared of fires or danger. All fire-fighters know the risks when they join, but the rewards when you save a person or the property are worth the trouble. Well, it is, in my book.”

The rest of the time set aside for Show and Tell is spent talking about his life as a fire-fighter. Halfway through the period he leaves the class to get on with the rest of their work. He also leaves a lot of them with a lot to think about as well.

When he reaches the administration area to sign out the principal asks to see what he couldn’t let Linda bring in on her own. Ernie places the case on the counter and he opens it. The principal and his admin staff all stare for a moment before the principal says, “You were right to be here with this and to take it back home straight away. Thank you for being here with it, and for letting the students see it.” Ernie puts it away to make his slow way back to his car, then he heads back to the farm.

Ernie stops at a few shops in town before going back to the farm which is north-east of Bowen’s Creek and the city of Rivers.

The time passes reasonably well with Ernie following Jason around the property to watch what the men are doing while he asks what and why they’re doing things. He also spends a part of each day working on his books, plus time on the Internet conducting all sorts of research.

While Ernie learns a lot about a working farm others are busy doing things he wants done: John is working on the book contracts as well as the plans for Wells Number 2 Farm and the Argent Estate village; Will is researching aquaculture farming; Sergeant Bannerman is checking up on the gang Ernie had a run in with.

Two farm related extras Jason is involved in are the preparation of lists of safety equipment needed for the properties and what levels of emergency training the staff and other residents have. Ernie wants them all to be brought up to what he regards as reasonable and safe levels. So he pressures Will to pay for the needed gear and training.

On one Rivers visit Ernie eats at Mistri Meals and he’s handed the robes he asked Mrs Mistri to make for him. They match the van and are perfect for what he wants them for: which is to appear as a wizard when doing a public relations appearances with the van. He’s happy to pay her for the work.

Time, tide, and farm life all move on in a slow and uneventful way for some weeks.

Note: During the following years the local councils have Ernie and his van appear in their shows and parades to get more attention.

An Interesting Week

The seventh week Ernie is at Mount Station is an interesting one as per the apocryphal Chinese curse. On Monday Ernie gets a phone call from Sergeant Bannerman saying, “Ernie, just giving you a heads up on the situation with the two matters up here. First, the Coroner ruled on the men in Parramatta as ‘Death by Misadventure’ because they died while committing a crime. So you’re in the clear there, on the legal side. Three of the young men in the incident at the apartment gave a guilty plea to a charge of assault and got community service time. The issue is around their leader, Fred Dawes. His brother John was third in charge of the gang I told you about. The other two with John when they attacked you were the younger brothers of James Green, the fifth in charge of the gang at that time. In the wake of the first attack the two men in charge decided you weren’t any of the gang’s business and were angry when John Dawes went after you. They maintained that stance in the wake of the second attack. However, James Green wasn’t happy and disagreed with them. Anyway, the final outcome was an in-house war. James Green is now in charge and the other leaders are now all dead, as are about fifteen other members of the gang. Fred Dawes is also dead. The word on the street is James Green wants you dead at his hand for the deaths of his brothers. The remaining thirty-seven members of the gang are working hard to find you. They’ve been to your old residence and know you aren’t there. One of the people there told them you sold a lot of your gear to the new owner, some more to another resident, and sold the rest to a third person who had it shipped to them in Victoria before you went to Adelaide to live. Green accepts you’ve moved and he’s found out the city your gear went to. He’s checking all over Sydney as well as looking for a final delivery address for the freight shipment. So watch out for him and his crew. I’ll email you a set of their photos.”

Ernie replies, “Thanks for the update, Dave. I gather I don’t have to attend any court hearings now!”

“Your written statements were all they needed because there wasn’t any challenges to them thanks to the witness statements. I’ve also put in a special request for you to be issued with a hand-gun licence and a permit to wear body armour. The Divisional Commander signed both requests, so expect to be contacted about them.”

“Is that really needed?”

“We think so because the ones in charge of the gang like to hear the sound of a shotgun going boom! So they’ll be out of reach and you can’t run. The gang isn’t that big now, but they are affiliated with one of the worst national gangs who seem to have no trouble getting some military hardware and have a big reputation for killing people for little reason.”

“Damn! OK! Send me info about where to get the gear, please.”

“I’ll include it in the email with the photos.”

After Dave hangs up Ernie sits and thinks about things for a while. Ten minutes later he decides there’s not much he can do except get the offered protection when he gets the proper paperwork and to keep an eye out for the trouble makers.

Tuesday’s Trouble

Ernie is out at the Manor Mount watching Serge’s men at work on the buildings which are coming along nicely as he checks up on it each day. In the background they can hear some gunfire on the other side of the river, obviously someone is out hunting kangaroos or rabbits on the property over there. Gunfire isn’t uncommon on farm properties.

Everything changes when one of the workmen on the roof yells in pain, collapses, and slides down the roof. A man nearby is able to catch him to stop him falling off as he calls for help and everyone stops what they’re doing to go and help. In less than a minute the workers have the man on the verandah floor of the new building and Serge is racing over with his first aid kit while one of the foremen is making a phone call. Ernie is watching from beside his van, so he hops in and drives right over to the group, tooting his horn to make them move to let him get right up close to the hurt man. He stops with his back door a bit past where the man is lying. He gets up and opens the back door.

He clips the back door open and he opens the rear cabinet to access his first aid equipment. Ernie gets out, grabs his main kit, and takes the few steps to be beside the hurt fellow. A quick examination shows he’s been shot in the side with a small calibre bullet. There’s an entry wound and an exit wound, but not much blood. Blood pressure and pulse are good so Ernie puts on a compression bandage and has the man helped into the back of his van. One of the other workers gets in with him and the door is shut. While turning around to drive to the Bowen’s Creek Hospital Ernie notices Serge giving everyone work on the field side of the houses so they have the houses between them and the river.

Ernie takes care to minimise bumps while driving across the farm and out to Mount Road. After turning into Barker Road he see a police car and ambulance coming the other way. He flashes his lights and waves for them to stop. The cop pulls up. Ernie tells them about having the man in the back of the van. While the ambulance crew transfers the shot worker to the ambulance Ernie tells the cop about it being a bullet wound and where it happened. After a check of the map the cop says, “Tell Serge I’ll be out to get statements later. First I’ll head over to the other place to see if I can find the shooter.” Ernie nods yes and the three vehicles go in different ways: the ambulance to Bowen’s Creek with its siren and lights on, the cop down Barker Road with his lights on and moving fast, and Ernie back to the manor at a normal speed.

Three hours later they all learn the workman has no serious harm and the cop caught a city relative of the farm owner hunting rabbits. The cop charges the shooter with the ‘reckless use of a firearm’ and he has serious words with the owner about letting others go shooting on the property without being properly supervised.

Serge thanks Ernie for his quick treatment of his worker.

Note: The man out hunting has to pay a large fine, he’s banned from ever being allowed to use a gun again, and he also pays good compensation to the worker he hurt through his carelessness.

Wednesday

Ernie’s day starts with a phone call from John about Argent Estate and Wells Number 2 Farm. This morning’s mail has two letters from Rivers Water, the state government created and owned company to manage and provide water in the Rivers Region. The first raises concerns about the possibility of the bio-diesel production polluting the river if there’s an accident. He has that covered as the plans have a guard against that happening. The second refuses them the right to take water out of the river for the housing in the proposed village. It also has a cost schedule of what they’ll have to pay for Rivers Water to lay reticulated water pipes to the estate. The amount is nearly triple what Serge quoted to lay pipe to the nearest Rivers Water mains pipeline. They discuss the matter at length as they work out a way to provide water at a reasonable cost because they need to cover it in their presentation to the shire council at 2:00 p.m. that day. Ernie no sooner closes his phone than it rings again. This time it’s Will wanting to discuss with Ernie a letter he has from Rivers Water about an increase in charges for the water Harry Mills had been drawing out of the river for his farm. They discuss the matter for a while and Will hangs up to check on a few legal aspects of the situation.

Jason is in his office going over the combined farm layouts to come up with a composite usage plan. Ernie finds him and asks, “Jason, do you know why Harry Mills was drawing extra water from the river?”

“I saw the pump and gear so I wondered about that. It’s not needed for the crops and I couldn’t find a reason for it, but Belinda may have found the reason. I’d asked her to do a set of composite books for all of the properties so I could look at all of the costs and revenues as one. The records don’t go into the specifics, but Harry did some agistment of yearlings for two months each year prior to a mate’s stock going to the Rivers Stock Sale. He’s done this for five years now. One of the costs of the agistment is the same as the water charges each year. I checked the site, and the water is pumped into some troughs along the back of one of the paddocks. We can cancel that service and pull out the gear. But I am concerned about how much water we now have for the crops.”

“I know about the concern, after all, you had me reading all that stuff you got on alternate farming processes to get my support to make some changes.” Jason grins as he goes to reply, but Ernie’s phone rings.

Ernie answers the phone, and Will says, “Talk about a mess. Rivers Water has the say about what water we can pump out of the river, and if it goes over a certain level we also need to get approval from the state government agency involved. However, it’s the shire council who has a say in where we can put in a dam on the property, as long as it doesn’t block an existing watercourse beyond what’s needed for erosion control of the creek or gully and no water is pumped from that spot.”

A laughing Ernie replies, “In short, it’s a typical bureaucratic can of worms. Right! I’m with Jason and he says we inform Rivers Water we no longer need that service as the previous owner had been using it to water extra cattle, which we aren’t doing. We’ll rip it out this week and they can confirm the removal next week. Jason and I do have to look at the land use and water needs, so I need some high quality contour maps of the whole farm and adjacent land. Can you please organise those for us. If they can be ready today give them to John to give to me when we go visit the shire council this afternoon. Jason and I will go over them and talk to you about what we decide after our meeting.” Ernie is watching Jason nod while Will gives his agreement to do as requested.

After hanging up the phone Ernie and Jason look over the basic map they have of the land. Jason asks, “Ernie, why the fine detail contour map? What are you thinking?”