Chapter 14

Jessica interrupted, telling Reg, “My love, it is time we were on our way home again. You have chatted long enough.”

“Sorry, Jessica. I am ready to go. Bye, Ivan. Keep your ladies happy: that is your first and only priority.”

Ivan waved them off, and turned to resume his work, when Reg stopped to tell him, “We almost fell into a hole on the other side of the ridge, Ivan. We are assuming it is a cave, so beware finding the same thing on this side of the hill. You don’t want to fall in without knowing how deep it goes!”

“I’ll keep an eye out for anything that looks like a hole, or even a soft spot on the ground that might cover a hole, Reginald. Thanks for the warning.”

The rest of the walk home was uneventful, and when the group walked in the door both ladies headed for their babies to attend to them as mothers do. Reg became aware that he should have much the same attitude, so wandered into the nursery and picked a baby at random, and started to cuddle the child, who cooed with pleasure.

Freda looked up from where she was changing a baby, and declared, “That’s nice, Reg. Alice likes being cuddled almost as much as I do.”

“Oh, this is Alice?”

“It is about time you recognised your own children, Reg. Take a good look at each of them, and note the differences between them: size, colour of eyes, shape of the nose or mouth; hair colour, type of cry; the list goes on. We women can manage that, but perhaps it is because we spend more time with them.”

“Could be,” Reg agreed. “As the head of the family, I have to be out and about more, but I will try to spend time each evening getting to know my kids. Sorry if I have been lax.”

“Another thing, Reg love: Jessica wants another baby as soon as she can manage it. She says you are the sort of husband that she wished her first one had been. She wants to have as many of your children as she can manage, and you know we girls are happy to help raise them. Will you give her some priority in getting pregnant again, dear?”

“Of course, Freda. Anything you girls want is fine by me, and I am very pleased that you have taken Jessica into your hearts.”

“She’s like another mother to most of us, Reg. She treats us like her own Sidra, for Sidra and Elizabeth are more or less adult now.”

“Ah, yes: Sidra and Elizabeth. Is it safe to allow them to go out and meet boys their own age? Should we encourage that, or not?”

Freda grimaced. “Boys their own age? Probably not, for teenage boys are often less mature than girls of the same age. Our girls should be looking for lads of eighteen and nineteen to go out with; definitely not the immature teens that wanted to bother them before.”

“Hmm, yes. I recall how immature I was at sixteen or seventeen.”

“You were not the normal teenage boy, Reg. You were held back considerably by your mother, but the principle still applies; girls mature earlier than boys.”

“True. You ladies had to teach me so much about life and people in general.”

“And you learned, Reg; you learned. Now you are a dependable husband for us, and hopefully will be a good father for our children as they grow.”

“I am trying to be a good father, Freda. This is all new to me; I never had a baby brother or sister to help raise.”

“Don’t worry, Reg. Us girls are mostly starting from the same level, but we were instructed by our own mothers on on the joys and trials of motherhood, so we have a head start. We’ll pass on our knowledge to you as it is time to do so. We have a couple of decades to turn our babies into responsible adults able to carry on decent parenthood duties.”

“Thanks, Freda. You make it seem very easy, but I know there are many pitfalls ahead; hopefully problems that you ladies are able to solve. I expect I will have to vet the boys that take an interest in my daughters.”

“Yes, and it starts with Sidra and Elizabeth.”

Reg jerked his head at the thought of such imminent challenges. “Where do I start?” he questioned himself. “What do I do or say?”

“That is up to you as their recognised father, Reg. You recall Frances’ nieces, Holly and Carol? Their first boyfriends turned out to be unreliable. Sometimes a father, even one as young as you, is better able to judge boys as potential husbands, as his eyes are not clouded by emotions of what was assumed by the girls to be love; and these twins were eighteen at the time!”

“I suppose. Presumably I ask about their education and job prospects; then their attitudes to life, including religion in case they have extremist views.”

“That’s the general direction to take, darling, but remember to ask the boy about his intentions towards your daughter; long-term or short-term relationship, or just a date. I recall my Mom telling me that my Dad asked her, not did she want to marry him, but was she willing to move to another place to live with him in the future! He meant to say that after they married, his work might take them a long distance from her home, but he forgot the essential first step: Will you marry me?”

Reg laughed at the scenario. “I hope I did better with you girls.”

Freda laughed in turn. “I don’t think you asked us like that. I think we told you that we were going to be your wives, and that was that.” She smiled to show she was happy with the way it turned out.

Reg observed, “Our daughter seems to have fallen asleep, Freda. Will I lay her down?”

“Not just yet, dear. Keep rocking her for a minute or two, then she should go down without waking at the move.”

“Right.” He continued to swing Alice gently, and enjoyed the feeling of contentment that came with it. He should spend more time with his kids, he told himself again.

Freda laid down the baby she had just changed, and looked around at the scene. A thought came to her and she asked Reg, “Have you heard about Ivan?”

“You mean, the second set of twins making him their husband? Yes. We met him and he admitted as much. Still embarrassed, he was, but starting to live with his new family life.”

“Good. Hazel phoned to tell us what happened. She and Ivy persuaded the new girls to take the bull by the horns, or rather Ivan by the pecker, and get him to make them his wives. It worked, she says, and he now accepts that he has four wives, with the responsibilities that goes along with that arrangement.”

Reg said, “As long as his women can organise their lovemaking without rancour, it should be fine. I just leave it to you ladies to do the organisation of lovemaking for our family, and as long as I can cope, I will go along with your plans.”

“Talking of which,” said Freda, “I suggest you start by fucking Jessica several times a day until she confirms a new baby is on the way. The rest of us will take your loving when you are up to it.”

Prudence popped in, her own infant sucking greedily on her breast. “Reg? Go see Frances. She has something to tell you.”

Reg threw up his hands and grimaced in mock terror. “Is she going to tell me she is pregnant?”

“No, not yet; at least I don’t think so, for she hasn’t mentioned that. No, it was a message she took for you.”

“Right. I’ll go see her right away, as soon as Alice is in her cot.”

Prudence raised one eyebrow to Freda. “He recognised your baby?”

Freda grimaced and snorted, “No way! He picked her up at random and I told him who it was he was holding. Men have trouble recognising their infants, especially so with Reg, having so many children to love.”

“Hey, I am trying to learn!” Reg insisted, but they ignored him. He left to find Frances.

She was in the kitchen, supervising preparations for the next meal. Reg called to her, and she turned to see him standing at the door.

“Ah, Reg. Message from Ivan. The Governor has decided that our commercial friend John ... Brunton I think he said; had vastly overstepped the rules, so the Colony has confiscated his business. He wants Ivan to run it for now, so Ivan said to tell you he would not have time to be with his team of fencing installers.”

Reg nodded, not surprised at the Governor’s action regarding the guy whose only concern was profiting himself. He was though surprised at how much Governor Kempe seemed to know about Ivan. He had to know enough to be confident that Ivan would do a worthwhile job. Possibly the Governor had his own spy network in the Colony.

“So what happens to John?” he asked.

Frances looked despairingly at Reg as she replied, “The usual for minor criminals: banished back to Earth; what else?”

“I see. What happens with his company finances?”

“As I gather, anyone deported back to earth takes nothing with them. All their confiscated assets stay on Rehome as the property of the Colony, and the Colony reallocates the assets as best suits the Colony. That’s as I heard it, anyway.”

“Hmmm ... So they may have handed over all the company assets to Ivan, effectively giving him ownership of the operating company. Does he realise the implications?”

“I don’t think so. His girls say he is still in shock at being given the new responsibility, and hasn’t asked the relevant questions. If all the cash assets revert to him as well, as the new owner, he and his family will not lack for spending power in future. He should be able to expand his land fencing business by employing more staff and a manager to supervise the work.”

Frances offered, “Possibly, but the Governor may have impounded a percentage of the seized financial assets to cover Colony costs. That would be fair, I think.”

Reg advised, “Get his girls to persuade Ivan to ask the important questions. He needs to know what the finances are, before he can make rational decisions for the future.”

“Good idea. I’ll phone Hazel myself; she seems to take the lead in the family, as his first wife.”

“Just as you do in ours, Frances,” said Reginald.

He could hear Frances snorting her laughter as she left. The woman knew it was true, but did not flaunt it.

Ivan phoned Frances the following day, to inform the Robertsons that he had delegated responsibility for their ongoing fencing to his foreman, saying that he was a good steady man and progress would continue as before. Ivan explained that he had taken on an additional task, at the behest of the Governor, and would be too busy for a while to supervise any single fence construction job. Reg took over the call and thanked Ivan for his devotion to the needs of his customers.

“You are one of my favourite clients, Reginald. I hope we can do business again later.”

Reg told him that he felt the same way, then asked, “Ivan, are there other fencing outfits that John dealt with?”

“Yes, several. I reckon he played us off against each other to get the best deal for himself. Why?”

“I was wondering about how the Colony could use more wood in its businesses, instead of importing all that steel wire from Earth. You must use a hellova large number of fence posts, for instance!

“Yeah, that’s so; we all do, and the wood has to be treated before use, to prevent rot.”

“Well, instead of each firm buying in fence posts, why not set up another business cutting fence posts, and you make a bulk order for all your companies’ timber needs? That ought to be cheaper for all of you. The same goes for switching to wooden rails instead of imported wire reels. There is potential business in other parts of the colony as well.”

“Good God! That is so simple, yet I didn’t think of it, and neither did John. He just left us to buy our materials; he was only interested in the bottom line, not good service to his clients. That was how he got into trouble with the Colony. I’ll look into your idea right away. Thanks, Reg.”

After Reg closed his call, Erika who had been listening said, “You didn’t tell us you were thinking about wood replacements for metal structures, dear.”

“No, it just popped into my head a short while ago. Can you girls think of examples where the colony might use wood instead of metal?”

“Does that lead on from building a ship with wood, Reg?” she suggested.

“I suppose that was what led me to the thought. For example, you know how most scaffolding used for buildings uses steel tubes?”

“Yes, that is standard; so?”

“In much of Asia, bamboo has been used for scaffolding for literally centuries. If we have a similar strong and flexible type of wood on Rehome, we could revert to wooden scaffolding here, where most buildings are only a couple of stories high. That way, there isn’t excessive weight on the scaffolding framework. In the same way, many rail bridges in the past were built with wood, such as in the US where wood was plentiful for a long time. In the UK, bridges were built to last forever, with brick or stone construction, and sometimes iron, like the famous Ironbridge one that is still standing after more than 250 years.”

Erika said, “To get back to what you said about wood, why are we using steel wire for our own fences, if you want to use wood to substitute for metals?”

“Ooops!” Reg gasped. “I forgot we are making our own fence with wood posts and wire stringers; and I told Ivan he should offer wooden rails between the posts. I should have thought about the fence being all wood a lot earlier. We can’t change now; it’ll muck things up for Ivan’s business and look odd if we changeover halfway through, but I’ll have a talk with Ivan and see if he can offer ranch-style wooden fencing for us in future. With a bit of luck, an entirely wooden fence should be cheaper than what we are getting installed now, if the wood is properly treated against rot.

Okay, the wooden rails will be screwed into place instead of nailed to the posts, but the end result should be as strong as wire stringers, and when I think about it, planks will also provide a simple form of wind break for the growing crops. Ivan should be able to use additional screws to make the planks more secure in their places, and properly robust in rough weather conditions to thereby keep his guarantee of quality on track.”

“Got you,” Erika declared. “You were quick to backtrack on that one. It is almost like answering a professor’s pointed question at university. You had to think fast; thank God that education is over.”