Chapter 22
Taylor and I walk out of her house and down the steps with heavy hearts. This poor old woman is on the verge of losing everything she has worked for. I wish there were something else we could do for her. I am standing at the bottom of the porch stairs glancing at the lay-out of the station.
When we first drove up, I didn’t take the time to notice how beautiful it is out here. All I could think about was doing the job we came here to do. But, now that we are just about finished, my mind has a chance to absorb the vastness and the beauty of the striking landscape. Looking off in the distance, I see rolling hills of brilliant green. Slopes going left to right, and right to left. Nestled right in between the slopes is a grove of trees in full color. The sky that hangs above the slopes is a cerulean blue with wisps of white painted across the top. I walk out a little more into the yard and tilt my head up to the sun. It feels wonderful hitting my face. Mrs. Jones comes to the door and sees me and just smiles.
“Kobi, why don’t you and Derrick take a couple of horses and ride out to the edge of the station. It is very pretty out there under that grove of trees. From there you will get a good view of the station and the main house.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Jones. That sounds like a great idea. I scan the pasture and
catch Derrick looking at me. I motion for him to come over, and he nods his head, as if to say okay.
“Hey Honey, what’s up?”
“Mrs. Jones suggested that you and I take a couple of horses and ride out to the edge of her property. Turn around. Just have a look at how beautiful that view is. Are you game for a ride?”
“With you? You bet. I’ll go saddle up the horses for us. You guys don’t mind, do you?” Derrick says as he waves goodbye to Dane and Taylor.
“No Mate, you go have a ride with your new bride. Dane and I will go talk to the quarantine crew for an hour or so. We will see you in a bit,” Taylor says.
After 15 minutes or so, I see Derrick walking out of the stable with two horses, saddled up and ready to go. It has been a long time since I have been on a horse, but I’m sure it’s like riding a bike. You never forget how, right? Wrong. I can’t even get on this horse. When I was little, I weighed a lot less, about 100 pounds, maybe. But, now that I am mature and 30 pounds heavier, it is taking a little more momentum to swing my leg over the saddle and mount up.
After a few tries, I’m on and ready to ride. It doesn’t take me long to get
the hang of riding again. I rather like it! Derrick and I slowly walk the horses out towards the meadow by the grove of trees. It’s easy to see where the sheep have been because the grass is worn down and discolored. The ride is not disappointing at all. When we do finally get to the grove of trees nestled right up against the slopes, we see how lovely it is. We get off the horses and walk over to the biggest tree we see and have a seat in the grass.
“It is awesome up here, isn’t it? Look down there at the sheep station. It looks huge from up here, doesn’t it?” I observe.
“What a breathtaking sight. Look at the old house. I feel like I am looking at a brochure. It is almost surreal. Hard to believe that anything bad is going on down there,” Derrick remarks.
“I know.”
After about 45 minutes, Derrick and I decide to make our way back to the stables. We are finished for the day and I am sure the guys would like to head back to the hotel. We take the saddles off and give the horses a rub-down before leaving.
“I just want to tell Mrs. Jones that we are leaving and will be back tomorrow. Give me two minutes,” I say. I quickly run inside, tell her we are leaving, and then I am back in the truck ready to go.
On the way back to the hotel, I call Henderson.
“Henderson, it’s Kobi.”
“Hey, when are you coming back?”
“We will be back tomorrow night, late. We would like to take off the next morning. Will that work for you?”
“I’m here for ya’ll. Whenever you are ready to go, I’m ready to go.”
“Great. I’ll give you a call when we get back to the hotel tomorrow night, okay?”
“Sounds good, Kobi. Let’s all have dinner together.”
“It might be 7:00 p.m. before we get there, is that too late?”
“No, that’s fine. I’ll wait. Drive safe tomorrow.”
“We will. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He is such a nice guy. It’s time to turn in for the day. Tomorrow we can sleep late because we aren’t planning on going to the station until 11:00 p.m. Matthew wanted to give the bleach 12 hours to take effect. I’m really glad we can relax tonight and don’t have to worry about time. I want to give Geoff a call tonight and see what’s going on back in Darwin.
All of us are famished and stop at a restaurant before going back to the hotel. It’s only 7:00 p.m., so I suggest we sit here for a while, chat and relax. We have been working some long hours lately, and I am starting to feel a little fatigued. We are all wondering if the bleach is going to do the trick. We can only hope.
Taylor decides to call one of his friends in Perth who has a business that involves water purification. The problem with Mrs. Jones’ farm is that the water will be totally unusable for quite some time because of the amount of bleach we put in the water. Taylor wants to find out what can be done to help improve her water without needing to find another source.
After hanging up, he tells us that his friend has offered to drive up to the station and meet us after lunch tomorrow. He will check out the situation, test the water to see exactly what impurities are in the water and go from there. He has agreed to help Mrs. Jones, free of charge, because Taylor explained her situation in detail. Taylor tells his friend that the CDC will pick up the tab for his supplies. What a kind-hearted thing to do.
We are finally done with dinner and have relaxed to the point of falling asleep. I glance at my watch and see the time is 8:30 p.m. I say my good nights and Derrick and I retire to our hotel room. I need to call Geoff and find out how everyone is doing.
“Geoff, it’s Kobi. How is everyone doing over there?
“Everyone is doing well. We went to a local drugstore and picked up all of the medicines that were on the list that you faxed me. There was only one thing on the list that the pharmacy didn’t have--Ambien. We have contacted the pharmaceutical company and they are going to ship some to us first thing in the morning. Nicola and Trevor are building the database with the medicines so the experiments can be tracked and adjusted as required. I wish it were as simple as dissolving the drug in water and adding the parasite, but it has to be so precise. Only one variable can be changed at a time so we can identify what works and what doesn’t.”
“I can’t wait to get back so I can start helping you guys. Let me catch you up on what’s happening here. The entire herd of sheep is infected and we are holding the sheep in the upper pasture. All of the employees are in their quarters in quarantine. The CDC in Perth sent a team to oversee the quarantine, and Animal Control Services has taken over the task of tending the sheep. They have built troughs for water and feed. Matthew dumped bleach into the water supply and over the ground where Thom was buried. We will be going back to the station after lunch tomorrow, because he wants to give the bleach about 12 hours to work on the water and soil before we test it again. Taylor has a friend from Perth that will help Mrs. Jones with the purification of her water system. We should be in Darwin day after tomorrow.”
“I’m sure between you and Taylor, you haven’t forgotten anything.”
“Thanks, Geoff, I appreciate that. Do you want me to call you tomorrow or just wait until we see you day after tomorrow?”
“Just call me before you take off so we know when to expect you.”
“That sounds good, Geoff. Tell everyone I said hi.”
Derrick and I are mo
re than ready to turn in for the evening. I know we are on our honeymoon and should be acting more like a honey-mooning couple, but the circumstances are such that neither one of has the desire nor the energy to carry on in that way. Both of us understand and feel the same way, so it’s not a problem. We have the rest of our lives together, so right now we are focused on trying to save lives.