by Eben Le Roux
Chapter 24
The morning sun was scorching down with temperatures already reaching into the thirties. It was becoming a bit too hot in the car for Kathy as she turned the air conditioner a notch higher. Looking at her watch, she said to Michael, ‘We should be there in the next ten minutes. Should I phone the number Peter gave us?’
Michael also felt relieved when he saw the sign that said Bolton was twenty kilometres ahead. The road had been long and tiring while Mandy had been sleeping most of the way. Eighty kilometres away from the city, they noticed how the green plant life had completely disappeared. Even cattle had gathered under trees to hide from the sweltering sun, and nowhere could they see any stream with running water.
They could not wait to reach their destination as even the drinks in the car had become warm. Looking at the scenery with sorrow, Michael realised that it was the most boring journey he ever had in a car. In some way, it gave him courage, knowing he was on a trip to rescue something. He took a quick glance at his daughter on the back seat and then smiled. She was the one most excited to go on the trip but fell off to sleep within the first hour into it. Still holding the smile, he reacted on his wife’s question. ‘I think we should first get to know this place, Kathy. We do not want to commit ourselves and then be disappointed.’
Kathy looked at her husband, somewhat thwarted. She wondered what happened to his eagerness to go there. She thought of saying something, but decided against it. Maybe he was right. It was better to make the decision after knowing what type of people they would be dealing with. He took a left turn off the main road and followed the arrow that pointed to Bolton. He carried on for another five hundred metres and took a left turn onto a dirt road. The houses started immediately on the corners of that road. Most of them dated back to the early nineteen hundreds. Just here and there, you could see a modern house. Kathy was surprised at the beautiful flower gardens that most of these houses had against the dry background of the fields. She remembered Peter telling her that there had been no rain for nearly four years. The people also seemed to be very friendly. Every single person looking in their direction waved at them, most staring at the car. They turned left into a road that seemed to take them into the main area of the town. There was not much, two grocery stores, one on each side of the road. The one on the left had two fuel pumps, and they stopped next to one. Next to it was a coffee shop also selling fresh flowers. On the corner, he could see what must have been the biggest store in town, also housing farm equipment. Where the business centre ended, the road still carried on ahead, crossing another to disappear behind some beautifully lined up trees.
‘You think we should ask him now that we are here?’ Kathy pointed to a man coming from inside the shop.
‘I was thinking the same,’ Michael responded.
A middle-aged man walked out of the shop to meet them at the pump. ‘Good afternoon . . . should I fill her up?’ he asked very politely.
‘Yes, please, and we will need three ice-cold drinks, one on ice for my little girl, please,’ Michael replied.
‘Yes, of course, Sir; the young lady will have ice in her drink. Let us go inside, and I will serve you your drinks first. Looks like you need it most.’
They entered the store, and Michael could see it was very scarcely stocked with mostly basic items. In the corner were two tables, each with four chairs. They picked the one nearest to the window, but Michael stayed at the counter. As the man was busy preparing the glasses for the drinks, putting two blocks in each glass, Michael stopped him.
‘Just for the ladies please; I’ll have mine from the bottle.’
‘No problem, Sir. Typical man’s way of being served,’ he joked.
In return, he got a smile from Michael, acknowledging his sense of humour.
‘Mister, I want to ask you something.’
‘The name is Gregg, Sir,’ he said as he walked the drinks over to Kathy and Mandy.
‘Want to come with me while I fill up your car?’ he asked as he started towards the door.
Michael took his drink from the counter and followed him outside.
‘What is it you want to know, Sir?’
‘Gregg, please don’t take it as an insult, but this place, it is . . .’ Michael was trying to find words not to offend him or the town. He just wanted to know he was with the right people to give help.
‘So what Sir?’ Gregg asked with a little smile around his lips.
‘So dreary . . . How do you people survive here?’ Michael saw the change of expression on the man’s face and thought he had made the biggest mistake by putting it in that manner. On the contrary, the man was not angry. The smile came back as quickly as it had disappeared.
‘Did you say “survive”, Sir? No, Sir, we are not surviving here . . . we are living here. It is you guys in the city who should be talking about surviving. When you are not stealing from one another, you are hating or killing one another. Here we do not have silver and gold, Sir, but milk and honey, here we have plenty of that. My Dad used to say, “Life should be as easy as breathing fresh air”. You people do not even have fresh air to breathe. So how are you surviving, Sir?’
Michael now felt embarrassed by this question. He could not even think of an answer for this man, but he knew he had to say something. ‘Look, I am sorry. I did not . . .’
‘No, no, Sir, don’t feel sorry. Our lifestyles are different; we should only learn to appreciate one another more.’
‘Thank you Gregg. Which way do I find the Claytons?’
‘Oh you’re looking for Josh?’ There was some excitement in the man’s voice. ‘Keep straight across that road over there. The road will fork. Take the one to the right. About five minutes drive, you cannot miss it. There will be plenty of people around his place today.’
‘Oh . . . does he have visitors?’
‘No, sir, half of the town has been busy at the factory the whole week. I heard he had a promise that somebody will come to help restart it.’
Gregg’s words sent a warm, pleasant feeling down Michael’s spine. If everyone in this town was like him, then they were at the right place. Kathy and Mandy came out of the shop just as Gregg was hanging back the fuel pipe.
‘Seems like we’re all ready to go.’ Michael took out three bills from his pocket and handed it over to him. ‘Don’t worry about the change. It was really nice talking to you.’
‘Do you know which way to go?’ Kathy asked as she made herself comfortable in her seat.
‘Just behind those trees.” He said, while making sure Mandy was properly secured in the backseat.
‘Bye, mister.’ Kathy waved at Gregg through the window with the excitement growing within her. Their car passed the taller trees, and they could see farm buildings ahead of them. At one of the buildings, they could see people moving around a big water tanker. A sign on a building caught Michael’s eye and he put on the brakes so hard that Kathy’s body jerked forward due to the sudden stop.
‘Michael, what is wrong?’ She shouted out in anger while looking back to see if Mandy was all right, but Michael was shouting back with more excitement. ‘Look, Kathy, look!’
Michael’s eyes seemed stalled in their sockets by the manner in which he was staring. It scared Kathy cold and she followed his line of vision. Her eyes opened as wide as his did, and her mouth opened slowly.
‘Oh, my dear Lord!’ she shouted while she opened her door and walked to the front of the car. In a nearly robotic way, Michael followed to stand next to her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders. They both were starring at a sign on the newly painted building that read, Twinns.
Kathy was the first to speak. ‘I can feel it, Michael. They are here.’
Michael said nothing, and Kathy wished she could read his mind. It was moment for which she would give everything just to know what was going on inside her husband. Mandy did not know why her parents were so excited and came slowly around the car. Holding her father’s hand, she noticed the sign and said in
nocently, ‘Look, Daddy, it is my sisters’ new name.’ referring to the word Peter had written on their photo.
Michael looked at his wife, and they both smiled at her. Although still confused, she did not bother to ask questions. She was too happy to see her father’s smile back on his face. Her bright eyes locked with his, and she could see little tears there. She could not have found a better time to say to him, ‘I love you, Daddy.’
He picked her up and pressed her closed to him. From where Kathy was standing, she whispered softly, ‘God, did You sent us this hobo?’
When Michael looked into her eyes, she knew their lives were about to change.
The men working on the premises became curious and started looking at them. In less than two minutes, they were crowded together, all looking at the strange car in the field across the road. Josh, who was busy hooking up the trailer, became aware that something had drawn the attention of the workers and started walking in that direction. ‘What is going on here, Sam?’ he asked the painter, who was still holding a brush.
‘Those people over there,’ he gestured to the Atkinsons. ‘They are acting funny and have been looking at your place for a while now.’
Josh started walking towards the gate, opened it, and went outside into the street. He lifted his arm and started waving at them. He got a wave back from the strangers who then got into their car and slowly, started driving towards his place.
‘Good morning. Looking for somebody?’ Josh greeted Michael.
‘No, I think we found it.’ Michael said with eyes inspecting the scenery round him.
‘Found it? I do not understand,’ Josh said, mystified.
Michael walked around to the boot, opened it, and took out something wrapped in a towel.
‘Maybe this will help.’ He removed the towel from the packet and asked Josh, ‘Who named this place? I mean whose idea was it to call this place Twinns?’
‘Oh, the name . . . it is from the man they call Teacher. I still don’t know why . . .’
Michael handed him the framed photo of his two daughters, still with Peter’s handwriting on it.
Josh looked stunned, from Michael to Kathy, then back to Michael, and again at the photo.
‘These are your daughters, sir?’
‘Yes, but they both are gone.’
‘You mean gone, as in . . .’
‘Yes, eighteen months ago in a car accident.’
‘I still don’t understand. The name on the building is the same as the one on the photo...’
‘It’s a long story, mister, but he was right.’
Josh, realising that they had not introduced themselves to one another, took a quick step forward to Michael. ‘I am Josh Clayton, the man the Teacher spoke to while he was here.’
‘Ah . . . Josh, he said we should speak to you. This is my wife, Kathy, my daughter, Mandy, and I am Michael Atkinson. He said your town was in need of some desperate help.’
‘Yes, sir, if it was not for our shipment that . . .’
‘He told us everything, Mr Clayton’
‘He couldn’t come with you?’
‘He is still settling in with his family.’
‘Yeah, what a man he is.’
‘You have a place where we can talk?’
‘You don’t want to start by seeing what is inside the building?’
‘Yes . . . I mean, if we can.’
‘Then it will be this way, please.’ The sensation that was forming inside Josh was impossible to describe.