Lola's Lurching Life Ch. 02

"Perhaps sometimes it's necessary to allow an adult child to make his or her own choices?"

"You sound exactly like my wife and Toni, Lola, only they emphatically leave out the 'perhaps sometimes' wording in their thinking."

"Doesn't that practically mean the same, Matt?"

He sighed and said he'd worked for many years giving clients the facts and urging them to shy away from taking risks when situations involved in proposed investments could turn on investors and bite viciously.

She shrugged.

Matt changed the subject, pulling the wine bottle from the container and keeping the label out of sight.

"I guess you've worked in the wine growing or wine-making industry and now wish to invest in vineyard production. So, let's see if you can get anywhere nearing identifying this wine by taste. The clues are, it's a top wine and is made on this island. Enough said."

Lola went through the pre-tasting procedure, earning an approving nod from her host, and then tasted it.

"It's a fairly recent vintage of Syrah, no wait. Ah, it has a small amount of blending, oh yes, Viognier. Very nice but that's all I can say. I don't recognise the wide by taste. I'd have to say it's from a boutique quality producer."

"Very good, Lola. I mean excellent. It's a Bellerophon Syrah Viognier from Man o' War Bay at the winery of that name at the eastern end of the island. I have no idea the meaning of the name Bellerophon."

Lola said Bellerophon was a semi-Greek God, with her host commenting, "How the hell do you know stuff like that and earned her usual reply, "I read a great deal."

Their lunch plates arrived, Matt licking his lips at the sight of his eye fillet of steak covered in mushrooms and pickles served with a cold potato and tomato salad piled high topped with fennel.

Lola's choice was strips of cold cooked vegetables that had rested overnight in scented oils served with sliced cucumber, olives and minted avocado, sunflower seeds and walnut pieces, all fare including Matt's Angus steak island-sourced produce.

"That dish of yours is a speciality of the house," Matt said, and then swirling a large gulp of the red wine around his mouth. "Visitors to the island rave about it."

Lola raved silently, chewing at times with her eyes closed until Matt said, "Now Lola, what do you wish me to find for you buy way of an investment or an island life-style?"

Four days later, Lola sat sipping wine in the kitchen of the dilapidated former farm cottage at the top of the sloping vineyard with her advisory panel of experts, Dougal Wallace and his two pals Bryce Wells and Rudi Nevada.

"Well guys, you are drinking Cab Sav from this vineyard with the contract with the winemaker that should be transferable to the vineyard buyer. You have examined the vines closely and checked out the water supply and are now in the dump of a cottage, what do you think?"

The guys went into a huddle and within two minutes, Rubi in his heavy Italian accent, although he's only twice visited the homeland of his parents said, "We agree she's a goer as a vineyard with a view out into the gulf to die for, but not at the asking price. It's priced too high; you'd lose everything but the clothes you stand in if you take one-third of that consortium that Matt has proposed for you and those two investors from the Waikato who are faming brothers. The brothers are likely to drop out once their accountant produces the profit and loss figures for them based on the asking price."

"What should I do."

"Either go home or stay on the island and gain experience to manage a commercial vineyard," Bryce said.

Dougal said, "Lola has her heart set on buying her own patch of dirt."

Rudi said then she should look to buy a 10 to 15-acre partly developed vineyard near the fringe of the proven most suitable area for grape-growing.

"Lola, use that fine brain of yours and aim small, not big. Big equals corporate investment these days."

Dougal said that was great advice.

"My thinking is also to think small."

Bryce said, "Working in the industry means you have one foot in the door. Just be patient and before too long, as result of the economic downturn brought on by that damn global virus, you'll soon hear rumours, most likely to be correct, of small vineyard owners ready to throw in the towel because they are heavily financially commitments. Also tell Matt exactly what want and he'll do his job by linking you with smaller vineyard owners coming to him and saying they wish to exit the industry."

Later, as the guys left and Lola pulled the front door of the shack closed (the lock was stuffed, or as they say non-functional), she sat on the warped decking of the front porch and looked out to far-off islands misty-eyed.

And then, her eyelids slowly closed as if she was closing the shutters on her dream of working her own vineyard.

Dougal said to his wife, "Lola looks as if she's lost the winning Lotto ticket."

Helena said, "Leave her be darling. You said you and the guys fed her the grim news about acquiring a share in that vineyard with no habitable house on it and she simply took it with a quiet smile. Well now she'll be bleeding mentally, having gained the knowledge that it takes big money to break into the wine industry these days on this island."

Dougal wriggled in his chair and said quietly, "This is extremely confidential. Matt the selling agent told me she's has money but doesn't wish to borrow more. She has $1.8 million available to invest."

"Omigod, how does a young woman live her life her bouncing from one place to another, from one job to being unemployed, get to hold that amount of money?"

"Dunno, why don't you asked her but remember it's her business. Perhaps her father paid out her share of the family farm when she left home."

Helena sighed, knowing she wouldn't sleep well for a night or two seized by the unanswered question how did darling Lola get to have a suitcase full of money like that.

Two mornings later after having her dream shattered, the usually chirper Lola stretched in bed, instead of jumping out and stretching bedside.

She smiled readily when relaxing after the toes to extended arm stretching. She felt mentally repaired.

Removing a 'sleeper' from the corner of her left eye she thought, well it was time to move on.

To were?

She leapt out of the bed, knowing that answer would come to her soon enough, and headed for the shower.

The answer came when later cleaning her teeth. She would pack her things and head for a new life on Great Barrier Island, the largest island and situated close to the entrance of the massive gulf. People had told it was largely undeveloped still with a pioneering spirit still every evident although in recent years people had begun peppering the prime spots with flash homes as holiday residences suitable to become their retirement homes.

Lola didn't attempt to plan what she'd do there other than to think she'd eat crayfish perhaps twice a week and then mostly dine on varieties of fish from snapper to bass. Ooh, not forgetting shellfish including oysters, green mussels and scallops.

Yummy and go surfing and bush walking, there was much to look forward to.

Her phone went, and an occasional older friend Lucy, a veterinarian called and asked, "Hi, want to go on an adventure with me on Sunday?"

"Ooh, an adventure. Count me in babe."

"It will be just you, me and Sally Wells, you've met her a couple of times."

"Yes, she sure is talkative and I recently met her father Bryce."

"Great, we'll go in my pick-up because it's older than yours and the roads are rather rough. I'll have three all-terrain 4WD 4-wheel farm bikes on the back and we'll head well beyond Onetangi Bay and off a side road that ends at Carey Bay and go around rough country from there exploring some of the bay-peppered coastline."

"Sounds great, packing food, drink and warm clothing just in case. "I'll bring with me Dougal's hand-held two-way radio he has for search and rescue callouts."

"I'll have my own."

"Well, since we are going into a remote area, I'll bring Dougal's radio as backup."

* * *

The three unattached women had a great time exploring remote bays on their quad bikes, often travelling off-road across farmland between bays, taking care to close any gates they had opened.

They were having lunch on a headland when Lucy, the vet, received an emergency call.

"I'll be there within an hour, I'm up well beyond Man o' War Road," she said, ending the call.

She told her companions, "I'm required back at base in a hurry. Five dogs have been in a scrap, one is dead and the other four require surgery and our on-duty vet is attending a mare having birthing difficulties."

"Right, let's pack up and go," Sally said urgently. "If I go now, I'll have time to get my hair coloured before my hairdresser finishes for the day."

"Go without me," Lola said. "I can continue along as I have GPS map location on my phone and the radio if I get lost out of mobile phone signal range."

"Okay, come back to the pickup with us Lola and I'll top up your fuel tank," Lucy said. "You know where we loaded the bikes at the rental place in Surfdale to return your bike. Keep within sight of the sea and you'll have no chance of becoming lost in this sparsely populated part of the island."

Lucy and Sally roared off in a cloud of dust, Lola waving. She was unaware she was about to lurch into yet another stage of her oscillating life that went from fantastic to indifferent, as well as to anywhere between those distinct phases.

Twenty minutes into her exploration of the coastline, she was crossing a paddock after crossing an unsealed fenced off private road and saw a steep hillock to her right and decided to test out the hill climbing ability of her rented quad bike. She has been a skilled rider of farm two-wheel motor-bikes and farm quads when living on the family farm years earlier.

She stopped to check her location on the map of the island on her cell phone and decided after the hill-climb, to continue on as far as Ruruwhango Bay, before heading back.

Lola wound up the throttle fairly hard, but not hard enough because just metres from the summit the bike under-load ran out of revs, and stalled. The quad began slipping backwards. She applied the brake to the rear wheel and then to the front wheels and the vehicle that had navigated between partly exposed boulders began to slew. She released the braking and concentrated on keep the vehicle straight during its downward descent at increasing speed.

The left rear wheel bounced over a bump and then the left front wheel struck the same hump the vehicle reared and thumped over backwards. Local was protected from the initial thump of the flip but in the second bounce the light-weight roll bar crushed, pinning Lola into the over-turned vehicle that slewed to a stop against a big boulder.

She was winded, but otherwise felt also but expected to find she was bruised.

After catching her breath, she wriggled her hand into her small back-pack and managed to slowly pull out her hand-held radio and worked it into position so she could read the dial, but only just.

Unable to operate the device properly, she noticed the button to operate the ELB (energy locator beacon) and pressed it, and mentally crossed fingers.

After what seemed an hour, in reality it was probably only fifteen minutes, she heard a 4WD motor vehicle grinding up the slope below her and stop.

A male called, "Are you okay, dead or dying?"

She thought not bad to get full assessment although it would be useless asking if she were dead.

"Pinned but probably okay."

"Gosh, are you an adult female."

"When I showered this morning, I checked out as female."

There was silence as if the oaf didn't know what to say.

She said, "Come and turn off my beacon please and report to that the party in distress is okay after having a fall."

Still sight unseen, he said, "All vehicle injuries have to be reported."

"I'm not injured, I believe."

He said that probably meant farm accidents, with or without involving injury as well.

"Then do what you have to do sir, I was attempting to save you and me from endless paper work about an accident. I'm not a farm worker. I'm an ex-townie from the city having an exploring day out while visiting the island for a few weeks."

He leaned and peered under the over-turned light vehicle to come almost face to face with Lola.

"Fuck," he said in astonishment.

She replied sternly, "No thank you, not whilst I'm in this helpless position."

"No of course...? Oh, I get it. I used the f-word and you proved you have humour."

"Yes, and that's enough talk. Do you have a winch on your Jeep or whatever it is?"

"Yes, ma'am. It's an old Land Rover. Good spotting err I mean great ears for you to work that out, but I really don't believe that I can what you ask."

"Nose your vehicle to almost to touching this quad. Then hook the winch wire to the far side of the quad and ease it up slowly on to its side, leaning against the front of the Land Rover, and then you may extricate me."

"No."

"And why not? Are you scared of having to touch me near my private parts?"

"Oh yes, and that too. But my thinking is you'll have to be rescued by experts."

"What, and then spending a week on writing up reports, having the authorities interrogating you and me and possibly alleging we were having it off in the quad when it began rolling backwards and you managed to jump out like a coward, leaving me to my fate."

"Stop, please stop, ma'am."

"I had already stopped and please, call me Lola."

"Great name, suits you."

"Omigod, you flirt. Get your rescue underway."

"Ah, paperwork. Who wants to invite that? Um, promise not to sue me for damages if the rescue attempt goes awry and you end up with damage to presumably your lovely body."

"Joseph..."

"My name is Ned."

"Ned, just close your fucking mouth and release me from the jam I'm in."

"Aye, aye ma'am."

He disappeared.

The Land Rover roared into life and Lola hoped that Ned, who appeared to have an Australian accent, wasn't about to flee. She smiled when hearing the motor sounding almost right above her head. Good boy Ned."

The extrication was successful.

Lola dusted herself, feeling her limbs and not discovering anything amiss.

Ned and Lola inspected the quad and the damage appeared superficial, limited to two small dents to one side panel and the roll bar needed replacing and the exterior of the vehicle needed washing and that would normally be done anyway on any return of rented vehicles.

They agreed the vehicle structurally and mechanically sound as it was unlikely to have suffered internal damage as the roll-over had fortunately occurred slowly and on to a grassy patch.

"You appear shaken," the rescuer said.

"Yeah, just a bit. I was lucky and your rescue went like clockwork."

"Right, providing you have no objection, you're staying at my place tonight. I'll phone the depot where you rented the quad from. I know Ewan well as we do a bit of early week fishing together and tell him your vehicle had a gentle roll and dented the roll-bar a bit and that's about all. Give me the copy of your hire document so that I can quote the number from the document. I need to confirm that you are the hirer."

"Yes, I am Lola Hunt.

"I thought that you might be her."

"Who is the person you have in mind."

"The kind-hearted generous person who attended to that nice woman, wife of Duggie Wallace. I've worked on several community support groups with Duggie and um Helena."

"I'm presently living with them. Are you Australian?"

"Yeah, born and raised in Canberra. My name is Ned Adams. I like everyone thinking I'm just an odd Kiwi who has gone bush. Served two terms in Aussie special forces in the Middle East and ended my military service a bit battered and mentally wobbly from being in active duty at the wrong places at the wrong time. Leaving the Army, I just slipped off across the Tasman Sea to recuperate by living on this island in peace and quiet to repair my body and soul."

"Don't you mean body and mind?"

"Yeah, that too, but when you have twice being pinned down by a very hostile and determined enemy, in one instance the promised reinforcements didn't arrive and finally we had to make our exit fighting through two cleverly located ambushes, and in the second incident, reinforcements did arrive to evict us safely but 27 hours later than the first radioed message had promised."

"Twice is was like going to Hell and back, and that left my soul or you might call it my beliefs, in tatters but after five years living it virtual isolation, I believe I'm whole again.

"You poor darling."

"Christ, Lola, lay off that language. You'll have me bubbling in self-pity if you continue. Phone the Wallace's now and say you were stranded with your vehicle became un-operative and I came to your rescue and you agreed it was sensible to stay the night with me with darkness approaching fast."

"And I'm not to tell them what really happened, just yet?"

"Good girl, well read. Incidentally, you'll be my first house guest that I've had stay for longer than to have a cup of coffee or a couple of drinks. I've been told people refer to me as a hermit. One of the local cops checks each month to confirm I haven't expired."

"I bet you are logged to be checked once a month because you live alone remotely and top confirm that you want for nothing."

"Yeah, a bit of that too, I guess. You are confident and assertive for a young woman, Lola. How old are you, twenty-eight?"

"Thirty-three and unattached."

Ned nodded and said his guess was almost on the dot.

"Bullshit," she laughed.

He said smugly that he'd thought thirty-four but had long know that most adult females prefer to have their ages under-estimated and thus he's lobbed six years off his true estimate.

"Wow, I'm impressed," Lola said, and just as she'd expected, her rescuer appeared rather embarrassed at receiving a compliment.

She turned the screw.

"That was a compliment, Ned."

"I know but living alone, a guy rather gets out of touch with the finer points of social protocols."

Lola was about to scoff at that but instead said quietly, "If one learns and believes in any protocol, should not it be engrained in one's brain for life?"

"Omigod, a babe with a brain as well as the looks."

The withering stare was sufficient reprimand.

"Oops, sorry."

She smiled and said no offence taken and thought give the guy a break.

Ned confirmed they were in cell tower signal range and Lola called Helena's cell phone number and switched to speaker.

"Hi, the other two girls returned home because my friend Lucy, who's a vet, received a call-out. I decided to press on to look at Ruruwhango Bay before turning back, and on the return my quad became err disabled but not seriously."

"A nearby resident came to my aid and it was becoming dark and so I decided to accept his offer and stay on with him. He appears to be a nice chap and says you know him - an Australian Ned Adams."

"Ah yes, Ned. He's nice and I wasn't aware he was an Aussie. We thought he sounded like someone from the south of the South Island. We'll come for you Lola, he lives alone and is virtually a recluse."

"Yes, I know, he told me. And you called him a nice guy."

"Yes darling, but he may become a problem for you, a nubile young woman, staying all alone overnight in his home."

"No worries, as the Aussies say, Helena. I'm a big girl and anyway I judge him to be very okay."

She called Dougal, sounding in a panic. Lola and Ned heard her said, "Lola's become stranded near the eastern end of the island and intends staying the night with Ned Adams. I don't know what to do."

"She's in good hands, Helena. We know Ned as a top guy. Talk to him about your trumped-up concerns."