Chapter 20

Another evening meal over, Jess, Cheryl, Dom and I were sitting back relaxing in front of the oven and talking. There was a radio playing in the mess hall and a few of the boys were playing cards. Ernie, Fred, Wally and another chap were playing whist; I felt contented, this was 'My family'.

"OK Tony, let's talk about your 'Road house' idea" said Jess, "You told us a bit about it coming back from Bairnsdale, now's the time to tell all."

"Like I told you, when I did my National Service I had the chance to Moonlight at a café cum restaurant in Seymour. The lady that ran the place took me under her wing and taught me a great deal about running a catering business; a friend of hers gave me a lot of valuable advice on council regulations, she also offered to help me when it came time to register the business."

"What do you actually envisage the roadhouse to be Tony?" asked Cheryl.

"What I would like to do is start off by selling snacks and takeaways; then serve sit down type of meals. Long term I would like to install petrol pumps, but I would need to convince one of the oil companies that it would be viable. Still further in the future I would like to set up some cabins for overnight stay, sort of like a motor hotel."

"It's a pretty big gamble Tony, what happens if you fall flat on your face mate?"

"Good question Dom, let's look at the positives. Assuming Doug Henry has a change of heart and decides to sell the old house. The location is perfect, half way between two towns which are a long way apart, it's on a main highway so there is a lot of traffic passing by. It's a good spot for the traveller to break their journey, ample parking space and most important, no competition. I think the first 'customers' to find us would be interstate truck drivers, they don't want to leave their trucks unattended while they grab a bite to eat, here they can keep an eye on their vehicle while they enjoy a relaxed meal."

"It all hinges on this Doug Henry changing his mind though doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but I've a feeling he will sell it, as he said he can't afford to maintain it so it will just fall into disrepair, I think he has a lot of affection for the old place. If he sells it to me it will be well looked after."

"Um, that's 'We' Tony"

"Yes Jess, 'We'"

Cheryl gave Dom a knowing look, Would you consider Dom and I in your 'We' Tony and Jess?"

I looked at Jess and she had a big grin on her face, "I think that would be a great idea Cheryl, it would be pretty tough going for a while but I can see Jess likes the idea and I know that I can always rely on Dom."

We chatted a while longer, with several good ideas we could implement. Soon Jess started to yawn so I suggested we call it a night, Dom and I had any early start for breakfast and Jess had school in the morning.

...

Jess settled in well at her school and was soon bringing home good reports, this made Ernie happy. "I'm glad to see you doing so well Jess, I must admit I had my doubts about you. Your reports from your old school were not very impressive, how come you're doing so well here?"

"One word Daddy, 'Incentive', I've got a good reason to do well. When we start the roadhouse I will be doing the bookwork, so I'm learning as much about business management as I can. Because I'm doing OK with those subjects I might as well do good with the others as well."

"I'm proud of you Jess, it's a big load off my mind I can tell you."

"Thanks Daddy, I won't let you down."

...

A wet and windy day, I'd just returned from taking Jess into school, Ernie had entrusted me with his car so we didn't get a wet backside using the 'Beeza'. One of the trucks came racing into the yard blowing it's horn, something was obviously wrong. The driver climbed out of the cab and rushed towards Fred's office. I followed him in.

"There's been an accident, Ernie's grader has gone over the edge and he's trapped inside of it." Fred grabbed the phone and called for an ambulance.

"You better call the police as well Fred, we will need to close the road off so we can get Ernie out of the grader. How is he?"

"He was unconscious when I left, he looks pretty bad Tony, someone will have to talk to Jess before she hears it on the rumour mill."

"That had better be me, Jesus, she's had enough upsets as it is, she's just getting her act together when this has to happen, I hope to God Ernie's OK, I'll go and get her now." With that I hurried over to Ernie's car and headed back to school.

...

I went to the principle's office and told him I needed to talk to Jess, "Her father has had an accident, I don't know how serious it is but I think it would be for the best if I told her before the rumours started."

"Yes, of course, I'll have her paged right away, I take it she will be going with you?"

"Yes, I think she would want to be with him as soon as possible."

There was a tap on the door and Jess walked in, "You wanted to see me Sir ... Tony, what are you doing here?"

"Ernie's had an accident Jess, I don't know how bad it is, his grader ran off the road, that's all I know at this stage."

Jess went white and had to sit down, "He will be OK Tony, won't he?"

"I don't know love, I just hope everything will be alright, the sooner we get out there the more we will know. Are you feeling OK now, if so we'll get moving.?"

"Yeah let's get going then." I thanked the principle for his help and we drove back to the camp. Fred met us as we drove up, he didn't look very well, "It doesn't look too good Jess, he's trapped in the cabin and they're trying to get him out, it's best if you don't go up there love."

"I have to see him Fred, Tony please take me up there ... please."

"Sorry Fred, I think Jess needs to see for herself how bad it is, come on love lets get it over with,"

...

When we reached the job site a local cop pulled us up, "Sorry folks, you can't go past this point, there's been an accident and the road is closed."