Chapter 15

Going Home

Despite not wanting a life as a logger or a farmer Mack has always seen Sandy Knoll Farm as being his home, and after a five year absence he’s glad to be heading home to live there full-time. Ann and Jess have been away for three years and are also happy to be going home. Both the Yukon and Ambulance are packed with their gear: clothes, books, mementos, computers, the best of the cooking gear, plus a few other odds and ends. They leave the furniture and other stuff in the flat so the Steins can rent it out as a furnished flat.

The Steins already have new tenants due to arrive in mid January, a couple of late teens who are high school graduates from Sandy Knoll Farm coming down to do the same courses Ann did, but they’re planning on taking four years to do it all, plus a lot of extras along the way.

The Dean trio are surprised by the large group gathered to see them off: the Lukovic and Thomas families are expected, but the number of people from the archery clubs and the gym aren’t. All three are moved by the large turnout of people to watch while they climb in the two vehicles and wave when they drive off.

The three young adults stop every hour or so to have a break and change drivers to rotate through the vehicles and a rest. They know they’ll take longer to drive home than if they go straight through, but they’re in no great hurry, while they want to arrive there refreshed and not tired out.

Accidents Happen

Mack stops for a drink after a bit over an hour of driving the Yukon and talking to Jess then he takes over driving the ambulance while Jess drives the SUV and he talks with Ann. About half an hour into this shift he hears a report on the CB radio, a car has run off the road a little bit ahead of them and a truck driver is calling the incident in because it’s a family and it looks like a serious crash.

Mack leans over to switch on the lights but not the siren and he pulls into the right hand lane while accelerating. Ann grabs the CB and says, “Jess, pull in behind us and stay with us as we may need you on-site.”

The ambulance is large and heavy, but its powerful motor soon has it at 130 kph and it’s still speeding up. Jess tucks in about twenty metres behind them and they both fly down the highway. A couple of minutes later Mack is braking and he has his indicator on to switch to the other side of the divided road so he can pull up at the scene of the accident. In a moment he’s parked part on the side of the road and part in the left lane while facing the wrong way with his headlights and red lights still on and flashing. Ann jumps out and races to the back of the ambulance while he locks the front and Jess stops a few metres behind them.

A station wagon is off the side of the road with the front wrapped around a tree. A truck driver has the doors open and is checking the occupants, his semi and trailer are about thirty metres up the road.

By the time Mack reaches the back of the ambulance both Ann and Jess have grabbed trauma kits and are racing to the car, so he grabs an equipment kit and the defibrillator in case they need it and heads over.

Ann goes from person to person examining them then telling Mack and Jess what to do. On finding one of the kids has no injuries she tells the driver to take her over to sit in the back of the ambulance. The poor driver is surprised by her commands, but he does as he’s told.

The trio spends several minutes applying bandages and braces to the injured, but they don’t let them leave the vehicle due to worries about back injuries. One person requires a tourniquet to stop her bleeding.

After seeing to the immediate treatment of the injured the three step back to evaluate the wider scene. A police car is stopped nose to nose with the ambulance with its light bar on and the policeman is taking a statement from the truck driver. Jess and Ann start cleaning up their rubbish and packing up their kits. Leaving one kit with Ann while she watches over the injured the other two take the rest back and pack up the ambulance, putting the torn wrappers into a plastic bag to toss later.

The cop looks up and says, “It’s good you guys were near here. The local ambulance is still ten minutes away. It’s been a busy day for them with accidents all over the district. By the way, who are you?”

Jess grins while she walks up to the ambulance to get a clipboard from the back door, handing it to the cop she says, “Our details, IDs, and quals are on this, so write them down while we catch our breath.” The cop smiles and starts to write in his notebook, looking up now and then to compare them with the photo IDs he’s looking at. All three are qualified emergency service medical personnel with state recognised IDs for use in an emergency, and that’s what he’s looking at.

Half an hour later the injured are on their way to hospital in the local ambulance after they’re briefed by Ann and have their paperwork done by her as the senior initial treating person. The truck driver is thanked by the cop and sent on his way with the ’rest break’ noted in his logbook and countersigned by the cop. The damaged station wagon is loaded onto the bed of a tow truck and the cop has the traffic stopped to let Mack and Jess get back onto the side of the highway they need to be on.

Ann smiles as she says, “Well, now we know we can do this when we have to, and we can work as a team when we do!”

Mack nods yes as he replies, “Yes, we do! But I do wish we never have to do anything like that again. Sadly, I think we will, at some point.”

After a couple of more hours of driving the two vehicles are turning into the gates of Sandy Knoll Farm. They’re home at last! When they enter the gateway a loud truck horn gives a long blast and people pour out of all the houses and businesses to line James Drive, cheering them.

It’s Mack’s turn for a break and he’s sitting in the Yukon with Jess driving. He turns to her and says, “I know we’re glad to be home and I expected a few people to be happy we’re finally here, permanently, but this is way beyond anything I expected!”

Jess grins and replies, “I know, but I like it.” They both laugh.

Stopping outside their house they greet Ma and the other Hanson family members. A large crowd joins them and everyone there grabs something to take it into the house for them. Thus Jess, Ann, and Mack spend a few minutes doing nothing but hand things out of the vehicles to people to carry in for them. When the vehicles are unloaded Mack moves both vehicles into the garage and he enters the house.

The lounge room and kitchen are crowded when Mack fights his way in from the hallway. Ma moves the three to the front of the room and faces them to say, “Welcome home! And thanks for putting us all on the map!” On getting blank stares from the three she laughs and asks, “You don’t know, do you?”

Ann says, “Know what?”

Hammer says, “Watch tonight’s news! We’ve had a number of phone calls asking about you three and the farm. You’ll be on tonight’s news. Now tell us about the car crash.”

While still a bit puzzled about the local events the three take turns telling about their parts in helping the people at the crash site. Soon after they finish telling their story the crowd starts to break up. About an hour after they arrive the trio are allowed to put their things away and get settled into their home in time for Ma to serve them a tasty hot dinner. The meal is a little early so they can watch the evening television news.

All are ready and seated before the television in plenty of time for the night’s news program from the station Hammer mentioned earlier. The whole Hanson family is sitting on the chairs or the floor of the Dean residence when the news starts, and they’re the lead item.

Six O’clock News

The show opens with their usual start and is followed by the lead reader saying, “Earlier today one of our reporters was returning from visiting his family for Christmas when he was passed by an ambulance with its lights on. Like any good reporter he followed, and then he filmed what he could of the incident. A car had run off the road and hit a tree, a very common event during the holidays. However, what wasn’t so common was the people treating the injured, as you’ll see in this film footage from our on-the-spot reporter.”

The scene changes to a view through a car’s front window of an Army ambulance and a large SUV speeding down the highway. The action cuts to a shot of the two vehicles stopped on the other side of the road. One young woman is opening the rear doors of the ambulance while another is getting out of the SUV. A moment later a young man is seen walking around from the far side of the ambulance while the two women are now at a crashed car checking people out. The view goes closer to the scene with the focus moving to show the people being treated by the three young people.

A voice says, “Today it’s common to be passed by an ambulance on its way to an incident, but it’s uncommon for the vehicle to be an Army ambulance. Today I was passed by an Army ambulance with an SUV in close convoy with it. A little further down the road I stopped when I saw them both at the scene of an accident on the other side of the road. Three young adults got out and treated the injured in the car.”

The camera moves to the truck stopped on the road, then it focuses on the driver carrying a child to the ambulance to sit her down in it. “The accident was witnessed by a truck driver who gave the alert on his Citizen Band radio when he stopped to help out. As you can see, he helped calm this young girl down.”

A police car arrives and sets up. The scene cuts to a state ambulance arriving, the injured being loaded into it, and leaving the scene. “The police arrived and set up to protect those working at the scene before taking down a report of what happened. Several minutes later the local ambulance service arrived, then it took the injured to hospital.”

The scene cuts to show a close up of the rear doors of the Army ambulance when the doors are closed and the young people are getting into their vehicles to leave. The words Ann’s Ambulance with Sandy Knoll Farm under it are easy to read, and so are the words of the sign on the side of the Yukon when the camera focuses on it. In the same script and paint it reads - Mack Dean with Sandy Knoll Farm under the name. A shot of both vehicles crossing the road dividing strip is frozen.

“The signs made it clear this was not an Army ambulance but a privately owned one, and the two vehicles were connected. It took some time to find out what Sandy Knoll Farm is and where it is. Sandy Knoll Farm is a large farm and logging area in the Rivers Region, about mid-way between Wood Valley and Ryan’s Ridge. The farm is the largest single logging farm in the region. It also hosts a village of a hundred and seventy houses with over five hundred residents and some shops. The village and farm is owned by Walkers Enterprises who own the Ryan’s Ridge Sawmill and is the biggest employer in the area. They’re also famous for when they declared war on a number of government bureaucracies a couple of years back, and they won. Sandy Knoll Farm was the first farm established in their area by James Kelly, the first white settler. It was in the Kelly family until five years ago when one of the Kelly descendants, Irene Dean nee Kelly, sold it to Walkers Enterprises shortly before her death by cancer. Her orphaned son, Mack Dean, then left the area to live with a cousin in Queanbeyan. A few years ago he married his childhood sweetheart, Ann, in a quiet local ceremony and she moved to Queanbeyan to undertake studies as a paramedic. She finished her studies this month and they were on their way home to Sandy Knoll Farm when they stopped to help. The third person is Ann’s cousin Jess who also has had medical training as an ambulance officer, and Mack has too. I’m told two other young people from the village are starting the paramedic course in February. The young people of Sandy Knoll Farm have a high level of community spirit and interest. It’s easy to see their part of the world is in very good hands.”

The show returns to the station studio and the news reader gives the details of the injuries sustained by those in the car before going on with the rest of the news for the night.

After the news is over Mack turns to look at Hammer, who grins and says, “The reporter got onto the Internet and found some stuff out then he rang here to ask about the farm, Ann, and you. We gave them a lot of background material but insisted they don’t quote us as a source unless we get to see the final product before it airs. I expect they’ll later come out to do an in-depth follow up story.”

Mack shakes his head real slow as he says, “Well, there goes any chance of a quiet return to town.” They all laugh at his comment.

They all agree it shows Mack, Ann, Jess, the Farm, the company, and the village in a very good light. They expect more good to come out of this than otherwise.

After Church Sunday

When the next day’s church service topic is on the Good Samaritan Mack wonders when the talk was chosen and written as it has a lot of the news from yesterday in it. However, it does suit the general theme for this time of year and is well received, regardless if it was all written or just amended as a result of the news.

After the service Mack, Ann, and Jess are spoken to by many people who ask about yesterday, their studies, and their plans for the future.

Toward the end of the line of people they talk to one of them is Angelina Parks, during their talk Mack asks, “What are you doing for a living now? I heard you left the Wood Valley Sawmill.”

She replies, “I own and run a small business providing accounting and office management services to others. It’s not making a fortune but I’m doing OK. We call it Angelic Accounting and Office Services.”

Mack laughs and says, “I wouldn’t have thought there’s enough work of that type here!”

“Oh, there is, and more than we can get at the moment. A lot of the smaller businesses need people to keep their books and look after things like answering phones and mail for them so they can get on with doing the work they get paid for. The only thing we don’t do is sign cheques. We’ll draw them up but the client must check and sign them. We insist they visit us a minimum of once a week to check things and sign papers and stuff. We also get an independent auditor in once a year to go over everything so they get a clean annual report as well.”

After looking around Mack calls out, “Tory, are you still having a lot of trouble doing your accounts and stuff?”

Tory walks over and says, “Yes. I thought about getting Angelina to do them, but I didn’t know how you’d feel about that.”

“It’s Brian Parks I’ve a problem with. I know Angelina is honest and fair, so get her to do all of that stuff for you.”

George is still nearby so he turns and says, “Well, if you agree with that then she can do mine as well and I can get more sleep at night.”

They all laugh and Mack adds, “See, two new accounts already.”

Angie says, “Thanks, Mack. I think some of the people don’t use me because they think you hate all people named Parks. Once they learn I’ve got the ’Mack Dean seal of approval’ I should see a lot more clients.” Which elicits a lot more laughs from them all.

A few minutes later Mack, Ann, and Jess are speaking to Reverend Martin and the Reverend says, “Mack, I saw on the news you and Ann got married in a local ceremony, why didn’t you ask me to do it?”

Mack sighs and replies, “Because you couldn’t do what we wanted and be legal. You’re a Registered Marriage Celebrant and any service you do has to comply with the Commonwealth Marriage Act. We had a small tribal ceremony because I married both Ann and Jess. We later had a minister in Queanbeyan marry us in an Anglican Church as he’s not an RMC so he could marry us before God but not for the state.”

“I see! Like many, I’m aware of what Exodus chapter twenty-one verse ten says about having more than one wife, and the other verses on the subject. Unlike many I know it isn’t countermanded anywhere else in the Bible. So it applies to those who live by the Old Testament. Also, like any good Christian we should live by the Commandments we were given by Jesus in Matthew twenty-two where he tells us to give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to give to God that which is God’s. Thus making it clear we should keep church and state matters apart. He follows that with giving us the two Great Commandments of loving God with all we have and to love our neighbours in the same manner. I see what you wish and have done as being within the teachings of the scriptures but not within the current doctrine of the church leadership or the laws of the land. How do you intend to get around the laws?”

“Well, the state laws on de facto marriages is very ambiguous on the number of people involved. While changes to the Family Law Act allows for a person to be in two relationships at once, just not married under the Commonwealth Marriage Act in both.”

“What!”

“Back in two thousand and nine the Rudd government changed the Family Law Act. The intent, at the time, was a sideways recognition of same sex relationships by giving those in a de facto relationship the same property rights at the time of a breakdown as those married under the Commonwealth Marriage Act. The change requires the people to be not legally married to each other and not immediate family members. It also states the people can be the same or different sexes and can also be in an existing legal marriage or another de facto relationship at the same time. Although it was aimed at property settlement and child support it makes it clear the federal government now recognises a situation where a relationship has more than two people in it. I just don’t think they thought it would apply to where the people all lived in the one house if it was multiple relationships.”

Reverend Martin laughs for a while before saying, “Mack, I’m very sure none of those who passed that law even suspected it could be used to legalise a multi-spousal marriage. I’m also sure the lawyers will have a field day on a case as you describe going before the court. However, I’m also sure your interpretation will be found to be within the law.” He stops to get his breath back then adds, “Well, you’ve certainly given to Caesar that which is his and given God that which is His by doing it this way. Don’t forget to bring the children to me for baptism.”

After Reverend Martin walks away Mack and the girls turn around to find Ma, Hammer, Marker, and their families standing there. Ma says, “I had no idea what you were doing was legal. I thought you had the small tribal ceremony because you wanted it kept quiet!”

“Ma, I’ve got no intention of shouting it from the rooftops, but I had a tribal ceremony because I wanted the tribal recognition. I knew we’d have the federal government recognition after a couple of years of being together. So we’re now in a legal de facto marriage situation.”

While they get into their cars to drive home they’re all laughing about the situation and what Ma thought it was.

Life on the Farm

After getting home and having lunch Mack, Jess, and Ann get busy setting up the office in their house to be how they want it as a work centre. Most of the work is a simple matter of rearranging the desks and setting up their computers how they want them.

All three will continue to do some on-line studies, but at a reduced level so they can spend more time on themselves and in learning how to best manage Mack’s business interests while looking for more good business opportunities. They also expect they’ll be involved in helping with running Walkers Enterprises and the village.

The work and talks about tasks takes them through to dinnertime. After spending some time with the students staying with Ma they sit down to talk with Ma about duties and chores around the house. They get a surprise when she says, “You three concentrate on other things as I already have too many hands to do what little needs to be done here. If you want to help with the cooking give me a day’s notice and I’ll work it in. I know you’ve all been learning a lot about cooking.”

After a quick visual check with his wives Mack says, “Book us in for cooking dinner every Tuesday and Thursday. We’ll let you know what the menu is a few days before hand and work out which of us will do it. We’ll also keep the office and our bedroom tidy.” Ma nods agreement and goes back to reading her book while the three Deans head off to their room to finish putting their clothes away.

Most of the next week is spent just walking around the two towns and the village while getting back in close touch with everyone.

On Wednesday they run into Brian Parks when he walks out of the bank. Brian stops to stare at Mack for a moment before turning and going off down the street. No words are said, no gestures are made, but Mack and the girls all know Parks is seething mad about something and he seems to hold Mack or them responsible for it in some way.

Friday Mack is talking to Hammer in the Walkers Enterprises office tucked into the back of the clinic when Marker walks in and sits down. When Hammer finishes what he’s saying Marker says, “We need to get set for some big trouble in Wood Valley in the near future. I just found out Parks got refused a loan to buy some leases that are up for sale and he’s nominated for the upcoming local government elections. Since he’s realigned his businesses and is now unable to start expanding again I think he’s getting into politics to cause us trouble.”

The rest of the day is spent talking to people and discussing what they learn. Parks and four of his friends are running for the council in Wood Valley because three of the current councillors are retiring and if they can pick up a couple of the nine seats they can control a lot of what happens, especially when they can pressure the a few other councillors into doing what they want.

Marker and Mack set about organising for some people they know and trust to stand as candidates too. The problem is to stand you have to be resident within the relevant local government area and Sandy Knoll Farm is outside of the Wood Valley Council boundaries. They continue to recruit votes and candidates over the weekend.

Monday morning Ann Jones, Rob Marlow, Tory Knowles, Angelina Parks, David Marks, and Patrick Ryan all nominate to stand in the local government elections later in the year. They list as an aligned group not linked with any of the existing political parties. By Wednesday the knowledge of them lodging as a group is all over Wood Valley and it’s much discussed. Brian Parks is not happy with Angelina standing against his group. Soon the word this new group is supported by the independent loggers and the local Aboriginal tribe as well as some small business people is another heavy discussion point for the local residents and voters. Another item not like by Brian Parks and his friends.

The election is many months away, but the lobbying and asking for votes starts before the nominations close. So this looks like being a very long and dirty campaign.

One odd aspect of the situation is Mack now owns the most property in the town and he’s involved in five small businesses, but he doesn’t live within the town. Thus he can appear and speak at council meetings as a concerned property owner but he isn’t allowed to vote in the election or to stand for an office in it. Yet many of his tenants who live in town and work out at the farm are able to vote in the election or stand for an office because those aspects are linked to their place of residence and not the ownership or where they work.

Leaving the Wood Valley political arena to those living in the town Mack settles for issuing a statement on who he supports and why, he also gives them a donation toward their campaign costs. He then gets busy looking for opportunities to create more real long term jobs in the area through new or expanded businesses.

Jess finds a couple of small businesses that can expand and employ more people once Mack reaches an agreement with them to buy-in as a junior partner to inject some needed cash to pay for the expansion.

Marker has Mack and Jess review the Walker Enterprises company operations to see if they can make any suggestions for them to expand their businesses and employ more people.

The Deans also help out in all of the other Walkers operations where and when asked to. Ann, Jess, and Mack fill in at short notice in the various shops while Mack also helps with the logging teams if they need a hand at short notice. All three even take turns acting as the telephonist when asked to fill in while someone has a break.

Overall, the three Deans keep reasonably busy.

Tower Talks

About a fortnight later Jess asks Mack some questions about how the cell phones operate because she doesn’t like how often she loses signal when travelling into the towns. After answering what little he can they both go talk to Hammer, and he sends them off looking for Bob ’Rabbit’ Warren. After spending most of a day talking with Rabbit and going over the many maps of coverage areas and tower performance they do have a good understanding of how the cell phones work and why they have signal issues in the area.

Jess asks, “Rabbit, is there a way to work out where best to put a new tower and how high it needs to be to give us coverage all over both the towns and the two roads between them?”

He thinks for a moment before he says, “There’s a piece of software that has some quality topographical maps in which you can enter a tower location, height, power, and operating frequencies. It’ll then give you a coloured map overlay of the theoretical performance.”

While he’s talking Rabbit opens and displays to them an on-line program he subscribes to which has a good topographical map of the area showing the height variation at every fifty metres of height. Mack asks, “Having only every fifty metres in the map won’t give you much of a real answer, will it?”

“Mack, the display will only show the contour heights at fifty metres while the program itself has the heights registered in one metre changes over the whole map. I’m not sure how they made it, but when I checked it on the land I found it to be very accurate.”

With a smile Mack points at one spot then moves to another while saying, “OK! Using those two outcrops of bedrock on the edge of the ridges start entering heights and let’s see what we get. I hope it’ll do two towers at once!”

A grinning Rabbit replies, “The software is set to work out hundreds of towers at once so you can plan a network. What frequencies should we be looking at? It’ll cover a huge range.”

Jess asks, “Do you know the frequencies for the current cell phone networks and the emergency services?”

Bob nods yes while he turns to the computer and opens a webpage to click a lot of boxes. Mack adds, “Include the local radio and TV stuff.”

In a moment they’re looking at two odd shaped areas spreading out from the two points Mack indicated. Both areas have a small circle on one side of them with a large circle on the other. In each case the bigger circle is over the area below the ridges they’re sitting on. They have a funny multi-coloured hatch pattern because each frequency shows in its own colour. All of the frequencies have the same coverage areas.

Rabbit says, “That’s at the standard height for cell phone towers.”

Jess asks, “Can you show what the current towers cover too?”

“Sure!” After a few finger strokes some more coloured circles appear. There is some overlap between the existing towers and the two new ones they’re planning, but there are also some gaps as well.

Mack taps the western most of the two planned towers and says, “I want you to keep upping the height until the circle for this one goes to the far side of Wood Valley township. Then do the same with the other until its circle covers to the other side of Ryan’s Ridge township.”

They all sit and watch the screen while Rabbit plays with the height and power settings for the two towers. In a few minutes he has the circles doing what Mack wants. One odd aspect is the circles either fall short of the whole town or go well past it. So Jess asks, “Why is there a big jump from half the town to the much bigger area?”

Rabbit grins, “The fall and shape of the land.” He taps a spot a bit to the north of the Wood Valley business district but still within the urban area of the town, “There’s an east - west ridge here. One setting isn’t high enough to get a line of sight over the ridge while the next is. Once you get over it you cover the whole area beyond it because the far slope is less than the transmission angle down from the tower. The same sort of thing applies in Ryan’s Ridge.” Jess and Mack nod in understanding.