Educating Harry Ch. 17

Chapter 17, and chapter 18 which will be posted only a day or so later, diverge slightly from the story line in the previous few chapters. Harry's character is developed in the context of his holiday with his friends, and Susan's complexity also begins to emerge, both as prerequisites to the conclusions in Chapters 19 and 20.

I hope you enjoy the story .

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Susan threw her bag onto the kitchen table, "I never thought for a moment I would need to take so much."

"I told you that Mr Iemma was thorough," laughed Maria.

"Yes but I generally buy off the peg so I didn't know there was so much involved, 'Walk in high heels, medium heels, and even no shoes, with this bra, that bra and even that one his daughter altered.' I've been measured, poked, prodded and examined from more angles than I thought possible."

"But are you happy with the results?"

"Well obviously we haven't had the final fitting yet and I was a bit surprised Mr Iemma managed to talk me out of the blue, I was almost set on it."

Maria laughed and imitated the little Italian dressmaker, "Meesis Tremaine in blue you will be a preencess but it is my plan to make you a queen."

"He was so earnest wasn't he, but somehow I feel very sure he will get it right."

"He will, hopefully it will be ready not too long after you finish work over the Christmas break, and that reminds me, just exactly how long will you be away?"

"From Christmas eve until the second of January, possibly the third, I did not expect it to be such a concentrated session when I put myself on the roster, and none of the work will be into or out of Hawksworth.

"A whole week without sex! How will you ever manage?"

A few days later Susan put much the same question to Harry, they were stretched out on her bed recovering from a prolonged and energetic session. "What are you going to do without me for a whole week Harry?"

Despite the distraction of her breasts which Susan used to playfully massage his chest, Harry didn't hesitate, "R and R, rest and recovery, "He grinned, you've absolutely knackered me the last few days, you are a very demanding woman." he added in mock admonishment.

"I am," agreed Susan, "Very demanding and there is one special demand I want you to know about," she leaned forward with a mysterious smile on her face; "I want you, I want you to..." she whispered in his ear.

"You're kidding, you want... are you sure?"

Susan gave his ear a sharp nip with her teeth, she knelt up and looked down laughing at the very surprised Harry, "Quite sure, and you can spend the next week or so thinking about it, maybe fantasising about it, because that particular present will have to wait for the new year."

Christmas day was a quiet one for Harry, in the morning he talked to his parents and sisters in the USA where it was still Christmas Eve, and then at mid-day he took his aunt to The Club for Christmas dinner. This was organised basically as a barbecue which if the weather was good would spread out over the parkland at the back of the clubhouse, and if it was not, the stock and station agents had cleared out their warehouse close by to take the overflow. The idea had started some ears previously when a few club members had decided to pool their resources at a Christmas barbecue, it had grown and grown, and this year when Harry asked his aunt how many would attend, she guessed, "About fifteen hundred maybe a few more."

A few more was nearer the mark, and although the centrepiece was a whole steer on a spit, it was soon evident that this, as well as the several lambs, a hog roast, and turkeys, would all be welcome over the next few hours. Everything was donated by individuals and businesses with all of the ticket receipts going to local charities; it was the sort of event that only a small town or a community like Hawksworth could bring off with complete success. Harry spent the better part of the afternoon catching up with old friends and acquaintances, and eating twice as much as he really needed, until eventually in the early evening he walked home leaving his aunt behind, she would be hours yet.

Harry spent a couple of hours packing a few clothes and getting his Ute ready for the long drive to Byron Bay the next day. He checked his route, "Armidale first, then the Waterfall Way to Grafton before heading north to Ballina and Byron Bay, "Hmm, maybe nine hours, r even a bit more."

Harry had just about decided to have an early night and was making himself a drink when he heard his aunt arrive home, "I was just off to bed I didn't expect you back quite so soon."

"I have been out since mid-day, there are always so many people to say hello to, and then there are those who I haven't seen for ages, I enjoy catching up with them."

"I know what you mean," replied Harry, then he hesitated for a moment, "but although I enjoyed seeing people I know; in a vague sort of way I also felt a bit detached, almost as if I was part of their lives but they weren't really part of mine."

"That's hardly surprising Harry, because essentially it's correct; you will soon be moving on, and it's very unlikely you will be seeing anything much of Hawksworth for the next few years."

"But I and the rest of the family will come to see you."

"That Harry is based on an assumption, perhaps a false one." Harry poured the tea and just raised a quizzical eyebrow to ask what his aunt meant. To his slight surprise she explained.

"I am thinking of moving on myself, I came here with your uncle fifty years ago, I suppose that I sacrificed the chance of a legal career, but it was my choice, and our business did prove to be very successful, but..." again, Harry thought it was better to remain silent. His aunt continued, "Your uncle died three years ago, and last year your aunt Sarah became a widow too, we have been talking about it and think we might do something together."

"But you haven't decided exactly what just yet" Harry surmised.

"Correct Harry, but we both agree that two women of seventy three and seventy four should not just sit back and do nothing; given the record of longevity the women in our family have, we probably have fifteen to twenty years left and we shouldn't just fritter it away."

"Well good for you," responded Harry, unable to think of anything more constructive and realising that his aunt was not going to fill in any details, he added, "I'm going to have an early night, it's a long run to Byron, maybe ten hours, so will be leaving early in the morning."

It was barely light when Harry fired up the big V8 ute, and it seemed no time at all before he stopped to refuel in Armidale before he continued on to the Waterfall highway and then through Ebor and Nymboida to Grafton. He took a break in the early afternoon at Grafton and got a burger at a truck stop for lunch; Harry had expected the Pacific highway to be crowded with holiday traffic headed from Sydney to the North coast, and was surprised that it wasn't too heavy. Reasoning that he was probably a couple of hours ahead of the annual exodus of summer holiday makers from the south, Harry decided not to waste time and was soon back on the road. His optimism was slightly misplaced; after crossing the Clarence river at Maclean the traffic slowed to a crawl, but eventually he got to what his father years ago had christened the 'B's' country, Broadwater, Ballina, then at last Bangalow, the turn to Byron. "At least I'm not going as far as Brunswick or Burringar," muttered Harry to himself.

Harry soon found the address no more than two hundred metres from the beach and was slightly surprised that he was not the first to arrive. The front door was open and when Harry shouted, "Anybody home?" there was an unmistakeable bellow in return; "Hi Al he greeted his old uni mate, "didn't expect you here so soon."

"We drove up from Sydney after lunch yesterday...you know how nothing much happens after Christmas lunch, stopped halfway overnight and got here a couple of hours ago, the others are at the beach but should be back shortly, go and grab your bag and I'll show you where you're sleeping." This was soon done, and Harry found that he had a small room at the back of the house that was almost filled with a king size bed. He barely had time to unpack one or two essentials and take a much needed shower, when some clatter and the sound of voices and laughter indicated the others had got back.

Gary and Emma he knew well, Emma had taken some of the same courses as Harry and she and Gary, a freshly minted medicine graduate were a long standing item. Lynn was a petite attractive blonde who Harry had not met before, and to whom Al was clearly paying a close interest. "Where's the other guy then Al? What did you say his name was? Freddy wasn't it?"

Al looked nonplussed for a moment, Emma and Gary grinned knowingly at each other and Lynn explained, "Freddy is my flat mate and Freddy isn't a bloke, she's a girl, she's also Al's sister; didn't you tell Harry?" she added, directing a critical eye at Al.

"Musta forgotten," Al excused himself lamely, "Never mind, Freddy's coming later, on the train, doesn't get here till about eight thirty."

The friends continued to chat and banter for a while until Harry announced, "I think I might go for a bit of a walk, get some of the journey stiffness out of my legs."

"I'll come with you," said Lynn, "I've been detailed to do the shopping, and you can help me carry it back."

"I'll come too," suggested Al.

"No you won't, I'm going to cross examine Harry and you'll cramp my style."

"Oh alright," Al grinned, "But don't tell her any bad stuff about me Harry."

"No danger of that, we won't have enough time, I'd hardly get started."

Harry and Lynn took a circuitous route along the beach and then back into town. "You know Harry' I don't really want to ask you lots of questions about yourself, because Al has told me quite a bit already."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Mostly I guess, he said you were a brainiac, but not really a nerd or a spock...his words, he also told me that you started very young at Uni and some of the girls adopted you like you were their little brother, or may be even their own kid."

Harry grinned, "Not entirely inaccurate," he admitted, "on maths and science courses, women are a distinct minority and tend to get a lot of attention, they in turn probably paid me a bit of attention, to keep the more obvious predators off their backs."

Lynn shook her head decisively, "Too glib, I think they just liked you; in any case," she teased Harry laughing, "Al told me that after a year or two some of those 'big sisters' started to behave in a very un-sisterly way."

Harry just smiled and said nothing.

"Anyway, what has Al told you about me?"

"Not a lot," admitted Harry, "In fact until a few days ago, I had never heard your name mentioned."

"Interesting, and my guess is that's not normal."

"Well umm, not exactly"

"I think Al's attitude to women in the past might have been..." Lynn hesitated, "More a find 'em, fuck'em and forget'em approach."

"Oh I don't know," protested Harry weakly, knowing only too well how much Lynn was on the money.

"I'll take that as an admission," laughed Lynn, pleased she had got it right, "And I'll tell you something Harry, we've been going out together almost six weeks and I haven't given Al the chance to forget anything yet."

"What, you mean... you haven't."

"No, not once."

"Wow, Al must be absolutely nuts about you, he used to say he only played by the three date rule, well that's what he said, probably only boasting."

"Almost certainly," agreed Lynn firmly, "But you know, if he wasn't so keen and I wasn't so keen too, I wouldn't have held out this long... it's horrible getting dumped when you're really keen on someone. Does that make sense?"

"I think so," responded Harry doubtfully, "So you think that if you had jumped into the cot with Al at the beginning he might have lost interest just as quickly."

"Something like that, and I didn't want to get hurt again."

Harry thought it would be diplomatic not to ask what lay behind that comment; they were silent for a while.

"Now," announced Lynn changing the subject altogether, "I suppose that seeing you thought Freddy was a man you know nothing about her?"

"That's right, why should I?"

"I'm not sure but let me explain; Freddy and I have been flatmates for two years and we have known each other since kindergarten, some people find her a bit intimidating, but I'm very fond of her, she's my best friend."

"Why intimidating?"

"Freddy's hyper smart, and she might do better sometimes not to make it quite so obvious, but she's a lawyer, and isn't always as sensitive as she might be."

"You mean, subtle as a train smash."

"Mmm, something like that, anyway, she has gone through life sweeping all before her, winning all the prizes, even getting a university medal, and basically never knowing what it's like to fail. Recently though she had a bust up, a very messy, nasty bust up with her man, Al knows about that, but he has no idea what a gold plated total asshole this guy is. I'm not going to give you the details."

"But why are you telling me all this?"

"Simple, Gary and Emma are pretty preoccupied with each other; I guess that Al and I might be similarly involved in the next day or so."

"So chances are that Freddy and I as the unattached members of the party will see a lot of each other."

"Right," Lynn confirmed, "And I just want to ask you, be kind to her, she'll probably, well she'll almost certainly bite your head off at some point, but try to understand."

"Mmm ok, I'll see how it goes."

"Great, now this evening I expect that Al will ask you to pick Freddy up from the train, will you do that please?"

Harry laughed, "Oh no, Al won't be doing that."

Lynn stopped, confused.

"He won't be asking me..."Because he already has."

And so it was, that with a minute or two before eight thirty that evening, Harry found himself at the station waiting for Freddy. Waiting was the right word, because the first thing he discovered was that the train was running late, but Harry, knowing the unlikelihood of a country train being on time had brought a book to read. When it eventually arrived, half an hour behind schedule, he was surprised at the number of passengers who got off, but he figured that whoever was left would probably be Al's sister. After a minute or so there was only one obvious candidate, a young dark haired woman who was looking about her as if searching for someone. "Excuse me; are you Al's sister Freddy? He asked me to come and pick you up."

"I am, I suppose Al is too busy with Lynn so he sent you along."

"Pretty much," agreed Harry amiably, "I'm Harry Salt, can I take your bag for you?"

"No, I'll handle it," responded Freddy gracelessly.

They walked across the car park without speaking, Freddy felt tired after the long journey, and irritated that her brother hadn't bothered to turn up. Harry having been forewarned, was determined not to let Freddy get under his skin, he was struck on looking at her a little more closely how much she reminded him of Lois, taller but with a similar slightly sallow complexion, and at first impression a similar, rather self contained personality. She did not as yet appear to have the same smile which lit up Lois' face from time to time. Harry pulled back the tarp on the ute and put her bag in, "Jump in," he suggested. Freddy had no more to say on the two minute journey to the house, but at least she didn't object this time when Harry carried her bag for her.

The others had all gone out; "Where is everybody sleeping?" asked Freddy.

"Gary and Emma have one room, I have the small room out the back, you are sharing with Lynn, and Al is using the fold down in the sitting room.

"Good," responded Freddy with vindictive satisfaction, "At least that means Lynn still has enough sense to keep my oaf of a brother at bay."

"Well," said Harry "At least I know now that you can smile," and before Freddy could reply he added, "would you like to freshen up after your journey, maybe take a shower and if you like I'll get you something to eat.

"I'll take a shower," acknowledged Freddy, "trains always make me feel grubby, I'll eat something afterwards, but not too much"

Freddy emerged ten minutes later wrapped in a light housecoat. "It's on the table" Harry told her.

Freddy sat down and was surprised at the trouble he had taken; a small mixed green salad dressed in oil and balsamic vinegar, with two or three king prawns and some bread, which Harry had freshened up by heating in the oven. It looked good, "Thanks," acknowledged Freddy curtly, Harry continued to read the book he had picked up. They remained silent until Freddy had finished, "I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted."

An hour later Gary and Emma returned followed almost immediately by Al and Lynn, "How's Freddy," asked Al.

"She's fine, but very tired, already gone to bed."

"How is she really?" asked Lynn a minute or two later when she had Harry on her own.

"Cranky as hell," admitted Harry, "But she'll come round, I'm gonna drive her mad by being nice."

At about the time Harry had left Armidale Susan was in a cab on the way to Sydney airport from her hotel. She received a phone call, there was a problem with the plane; "Mrs Tremaine we carried out the necessary check and we have to get a replacement part sent up from Melbourne, departure will be delayed by at least six hours. We'll call you with an update later."

Susan asked the driver to stop, "Flight's been cancelled," she explained, "Let's go back," but then she had a second thought, and scrambled in her bag for her mobile phone. "Ah here it is," she said to herself, and quickly rang the number she had found. A female voice answered; "Oh," responded Susan slightly surprised, "I thought this was Joe Callaghan's number."

"It is," came the reply, "Joe has just stepped out for a few minutes, I'm his sister, Maggie, who shall I say called?"

"Could you tell him Susan rang, Susan Tremaine, my flight's been delayed for a few hours, and I rang on the off chance we might catch up for a while."

Maggie thought rapidly, she had heard a lot about Susan. "Where are you staying?" Susan told her. "Oh that's practically next door to where Joe is, why don't you just call in to see him, take down this address."

Susan hesitated, "I don't know that I should... that is land on him unexpectedly."

"Nonsense," replied Maggie decisively, "He'll be furious with me if you don't drop in, we'll see you in about twenty minutes," and without giving Susan the chance to disagree she broke off the call.

"Whatever made you invite someone else over, there's a dozen of the family here already," complained Maggie's mother Ellie.

Maggie grinned, "Ok mum, I'll just ring Susan back and tell her not to come."

"Susan, not Susan Tremaine?" Ellie burst out in surprise, "Don't you dare, and Joe will be so pleased; oh you are a clever girl Maggie. Now where is Joe, in the garden I think, I'll just go and tell him."

"No mum, let it be a surprise, I want to see his response."

"Mmm yes, yes, you are a clever girl Maggie."

It took Susan's cab rather more than twenty minutes to find the address, enough time for her to decide that Maggie's notion of 'practically next door' was hazy to say the least, but in any event, Susan paid the cabbie and rang the bell of a rambling old house in a quiet street at Darling Point. She vaguely remembered that Joe had told her his parents lived there. Maggie made sure she answered the bell, "Come in," she greeted Susan, and having ushered her through the door added, "I didn't expect to see you in a uniform."

"I was already on my way to work, to take a flight down to Melbourne."

Maggie took Susan into the lounge where Ellie met her, "So lovely to see you again, such a nice surprise." At that moment Susan heard a peal of laughter and conversation through the French doors from the garden, "Oh my goodness you have a family party, I shouldn't have come."