Chapter 07

Saturday

I wake up just after six and have my morning wash before waking the ladies to tell them they’ve got twenty minutes to get ready for breakfast. It’s a fun madhouse. I enjoy watching them scrambling to get washed and dressed in that short time. They’re still in various stages of partial dress when there’s a knock on the door.

They rush for bedrooms while I check the door. It’s Room Service with the Deluxe English Breakfast for twelve I ordered by phone before I got in the shower, so I open the door wide as I wave them in to set it up on the large table in the main room. I have a good laugh while they set it up. The supervisor finally asks, “Excuse me, Sir, but what’s so funny with the breakfast?”

While I slip him a healthy tip to share between the team I say, “Not your people, they’re doing a wonderful job. Twenty minutes ago I told the ten ladies here with me they had twenty minutes to be ready to sit down to breakfast at this time. I neglected to tell them you’re serving it in the room. So it’s been a madhouse as they get showered and dressed to go downstairs to eat. Right now they’re all cowering, half dressed, in the bedrooms. Probably saying some very rude words about me for tricking them like that.”

He sees my point and smiles, so do his fellow workers. After a few minutes of set up and distribution they leave, taking the carts back to the kitchen with them.

The door is still closing when the bedroom doors fly open and a wave of half dressed females charge in the room throwing towels at me while I laugh. In a few minutes we’re all laughing while we sit around the table eating a lovely breakfast.

I finish my meal and say, “OK, ladies, keep eating, but please listen. Although you don’t live in my house I regard most of you as part of my household. I see servants and slaves as part of my household and family. If you’ve a problem of any sort please come and talk to me. Now, about my family. All of my grandparents are dead. So is my mother and step-father. I’ve two half-sisters I love, they live with their father’s sister but I can’t see them because it upsets them to be reminded of their parents’ deaths. I used to live with my father, step-mother, and their two sons. That’s all my birth kin. I’ve two blood brothers and families in Saudi Arabia. A couple of dozen of family by choice in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq. When I visit them I eat at the family table and not the guests’ table. There’s also a couple of family by choice from there who now live here in Australia, like Ahmed.” This gets the close attention of Adala and Farrah as they didn’t know that because I haven’t been over to their house during a meal. “The important thing is you all, except Jenny, are my immediate family and we need to set some rules. Farrah and Adala don’t mind kissing and playing with breasts, in fact, they like it. But they do not like playing with pussies or having other women play with theirs, so don’t do it nor ask them to play with yours. Ellie and Mandy are part-time slaves and are ordered about only by me. No slave, part-time or full-time, is to be ordered to hurt themselves or anyone else, except to defend themselves or us according to the laws on self defence. Nor are they to accept any such orders. The same applies to orders to get lost. If anyone gives such an order all slaves are to regard it as an angry outburst and not a real order. They’re also to ignore any orders issued in anger or high emotion, except those to get help or assistance. The order of authority after me is Candy, Jo, Adala, Farrah, Mel, Ellie, Mandy, Beverly, Zoe. Everyone understand all of that?”

I stop for a drink as I look around their attentive looking faces when they nod yes while chewing on the food and my words. “As most of you know I’m in the security business. I’m an armed security guard and I’m never without a handgun and knife. You may not always see them, but they’re on me or nearby and within easy reach. Even when I’m in bed, or the shower, or the pool. There are people who’d like to see me dead, so I take precautions. Now, in that regard, if I suddenly yell down throw yourselves at the floor. Don’t just drop, use your muscles to get there quick because it means shooting is about to start. If I yell run take off at full speed in the direction we’re currently heading and stay as a group. If I add a direction to that head in that direction at the earliest opportunity. If I yell fuck off or scatter run away fast in many different directions. That means we’re in deep shit with them coming from all directions and if you spread out some of you may get away. I don’t see that we may need anything except down in this country, but after the wedding we’ll be visiting some countries where the others may come into play. In those countries we should have some good security, but it’s best to be prepared.” I stop to look at their concerned faces for a moment. “Now having scared you, you can all calm down. If you want or need anything while here this weekend just give them the room number and sign the docket. It’ll all go on the bill which I’ll pay before we leave. That goes for food, drink, souvenirs, tourist trips, and special services.” This gets a few stunned looks. “Now, this morning there’s a tour walk along the ridge if anyone’s interested in it. If enough of you want to go I’ll go too. I can recommend it because I’ve been on it before. There’s also other tourist events this afternoon after lunch. The one visiting local gardens is well recommended. Check them out down in the lobby.” I get more yes nods.

Ten minutes later they’re all dressed when I let the Room Service people in for the plates and things. All of the food is gone, despite having an extra of the large breakfasts. When we head downstairs I leave Room Service to lock up after they’re finished cleaning up from breakfast.

Gardens

When we get downstairs we find all of the tours for today and for tomorrow are full, so we can’t join them. Being where we are there’s not all that much else to do during the day because the place was built as a retreat type resort well out in the bush at the time of building, but the urban area has moved closer and transport has improved a lot since then. I smile and take everyone out to our bus, then I head off to the largest garden the afternoon’s tour will go to.

Arriving at the house I ask them to wait while I see the owners and I get out of the bus. When I walk up a woman in her late fifties stands up from behind the hedge they use instead of a fence. As I near the hedge I can see another woman in her mid thirties weeding the garden too. The first woman gives me a lopsided smile as if to say ’What do you want?’

I smile and say, “Excuse me, Ma’am, but my friends and I weren’t able to get on the booked tour for this afternoon and I particularly wanted them to see this garden. Now I know you don’t normally allow people through, except for the booked tours. However, when I was almost twelve my mother was able to organise a special tour for me and my sisters through a good friend of hers. I know the woman who ran the place then was older than you are, but I’m hoping you’re related and you can put me in touch with mum’s friend so I can talk her into talking you into letting us walk through the garden.”

She gives me a very penetrating look, “Mother very rarely allowed extra tours, only about ten or twelve in the thirty years she allowed the tours. So if you got a special, you must’ve been very special. But I need to be sure you’re not lying. Who did your mother organise it through?”

“Mum organised it through an old friend of hers who used to teach her, the woman’s name was Agatha. I remember the name because it stuck in my mind then. I was into reading Agatha Christie novels at the time and I thought, for a moment, it may have been her when mum said she now wrote books, but it wasn’t her.”

The woman laughs, “Well, if Aunt Agatha organised the tour your family must have been very special. What was your mother’s name?”

“Mum was born Helen Cable, then she became Helen Rochester, and was Helen Barnes when we were here for the tour. I’m her son from her first marriage, Gary Rochester.”

“Please wait here a moment while I call Aunt Agatha as she’s getting on a bit, just like mother, and they both live at a nursing home now.” She goes inside for several minutes. When she returns she gives me a very close look and asks, “Aunt Aggie remembers your mother well and has asked I give you and your friends a very special tour if you can prove you’re who you claim to be. She also wants me to go and get her because she wants to talk to you before you leave. She did say she only met you the once, on that visit, but has since then learned to love you a lot. Why would that be?”

I get out my wallet to show her my licence and other ID while I say, “I think it’s because she loved mum a lot and was very hurt to hear she was killed by my step-father a couple of months after our visit. One of the reasons I have very good memories of this garden is it’s the very last place my mother took me to for a holiday before she died. It’s the last of my happy memories of her. I think your Aunt’s liking me is due to the fact I demonstrated to my step-father my cricket bat was better than his head when I killed him for knocking mum down the stairs to her death.”

She gasps, “Well, I’ll be damned. Get your people and come in. I’ll get Aunt Aggie while you take your tour.”

“How much do you ask the tour groups for a donation now?” She tells me they get fifty dollars donation for upkeep and local charities. I take out my wallet and hand over two fifties. “Special service deserves a tip.” She smiles and puts the money away before turning to talk to the other woman while I go to get my crew.

A Walk Through Eden

The ladies are soon out of the bus and at the gate when the younger woman opens it while saying, “If you’re who I think you are I showed you around the garden that day. It was during the mid-semester holidays and I was home from university at the time.”

“You’re probably right because I remember our guide was a very pretty girl on holidays from her horticultural course at university. She told us while she showed us around the garden. She also mentioned how good working on the garden was for her course of study.” She smiles as she nods it’s her while I just confirmed it’s really me. When she starts to show us around I notice the other woman get in a car and drive away.

The garden spreads out over an acre with many paths and a huge variety of plants - you name it and it’s there if it’ll grow in this climate. While we follow our guide through the large garden we all take turns to describe various plants to Candy in great detail. This requires we go very slow to do so. The garden is even more beautiful than I remember. I make a point of saying so, and our guide smiles in reply.

About forty-five minutes later we come into one particular glade that’s very sheltered and the trees in it are heavily adorned with a big array of flowering orchids. After naming each one our guide is about to lead us on when I say, “Please stop for a moment. I wish to do what mum had me do that day. I want everyone to close their eyes and take three very slow calming breaths while you concentrate on what you smell.” We all stand very still while we do that.

A couple of minutes later I open my eyes when Candy says, “Oh, Roo, that’s the most lovely mix of fragrances I’ve ever come across. Just coming here to smell that is worth the whole weekend trip to me.”

I look around to see all of my crew smiling. Then I notice our guide is only just realising Candy is blind. When we move on she moves slower and is more descriptive in talking about the flowers.

Old Friends and New

Nearly two hours after we start the tour we end up back at the open lawn area near the gate. In our absence a few garden tables, along with many chairs, have been brought out. On the tables are glasses and jugs of cold drink. Sitting at one table is the first woman and a much older woman who looks vaguely familiar, it’s probably Agatha.

We’re invited to take a seat and the woman I first met says, “That’s a bit longer than I expected, Jan.”

Our guide says, “Yes, Mum. I gave them the total of both walks. Just like I did when Gary was here the first time. He even stopped to really smell the orchid grove like his mother did on their first visit. It wasn’t until then I realised one of the group was blind, so I slowed down while I added more descriptions in the talk.” Her mother smiles in reply.

Agatha says, “Well done, Jan. Now, Gary, I’ve reason to thank you twice. Once for dealing with that brute, and another for saving my two grandchildren. I’ve got some influential contacts in the Department of Defence so I was able to get the name of the team leader who got them and their friends out of that hell hole in Afghanistan. Thank you.”

I blush while I say, “You’re welcome, Ma’am. That’s what I got paid for then. I hope that incident didn’t cause them any long term issues.”

“No, it seems some smart person had started them on the way to dealing with the critical issues on the way out. The psychologist who helped them with the recovery from the stress said that little bit done so soon, and so well, was very useful in helping them. So I should thank you for that as well. I was told the only reason they let me know who was involved was because they recognised it with a medal, so it was already semi-public knowledge. One thing you should know is I’m a part owner of this garden and in my will I’ll pass it on to my niece here because she loves it as much as I do while my children don’t. My will has a clause you’re to be allowed access at any time you wish.” It takes a moment for me to recover and to thank her for that.

We sit and chat for another thirty minutes. We break up when the woman I first met says, “Can you take Jan with you when you go for your lunch because she missed breakfast. Also, she can introduce you to the owners of the other gardens on the tour and get you in for a short look while avoiding the official tour.” I smile my thanks while I agree; I do want to show them as many of the gardens as I can get them into.

We soon load up and head back to the hotel for lunch. Jan is very surprised to find we’re staying at the hotel because it’s so expensive. She grew up around here and this is the first time she’s eaten here. We’ve a lovely lunch.

After lunch we’ve a good time going around the five other nice gardens in the tour. At some of them we arrive just before the tour bus, and some we arrive just after the tour bus. Jan times it well so we don’t clash with the tour, and the people are happy to take us around when Jan asks them to do so. I make a point of paying each one twice what the tour group normally pays them.

In each garden we take longer than the normal tour and they walk slower while giving very full descriptions. It’s clear Jan told them about Candy being blind.

After the garden tours are over I’ve Jan call home to tell them I’m shouting her dinner as well. We also spend a bit of time at a couple of the local lookouts. We get back to the hotel in time for an early dinner, and I even get Jan a couple of desserts to take back for her family.

When we drop Jan home we all thank her for helping us with the garden tours. Then it’s back to the hotel for a bit of swimming.