“It’s a fuse on the boiler, missus. It’s blown is all.” Claus’ deep tones pulled Leilah from her pillow and she flushed with embarrassment. She shoved the fabric away from her face and sat up, snatching his phone and holding it out to him.
“Thanks. I’ll pay for the call,” she said.
Claus shrugged. “It’s all good, missus. I’ve got a phone plan.” He took the phone and hung around in the doorway, his feet shuffling as he shoved it in his trouser pocket. Leilah heard Tai moving around in the hallway behind him. “I don’t wanna run up to Hamilton just for a fuse, missus, so why don’t we walk around and see what them jokers did with all the supplies. Then I can get a decent amount from the wholesalers while I’m wastin’ time driving around the wop-wops on your money and in your truck.”
Leilah nodded and dragged herself upright. “Let me get some boots on and we’ll do a walk through.” Her tone sounded flat, the job overwhelming with her in the role of project manager, instead of distant admirer from the safety of Vaughan’s house.
On the porch she pressed her feet into the borrowed boots, feeling Vaughan’s socks prickling against her toes. She should return both at some point but the realisation only added more worry to her woes. She followed Claus around the property in a reversal of their first meeting, the daunting volume of work no longer filling Leilah with hope. “This barn is still sound,” Claus said with enthusiasm. “Why don’t the boy and me clear all the junk to one end and use the other as a workroom?” Excitement lit his tone and forced a reluctant smile onto Leilah’s face.
“I guess.” She glanced around her at the broken furniture stacked to one side. “Dodgy and Co went through everything and syphoned off the stuff worth anything, so why don’t we just biff all this?” She kicked at a dresser with a smashed mirror and a plank of wood slid down the corrugated wall behind, clanging wildly on the concrete floor.
Claus nodded his head. “You know what? Them losers might have done youse a favour here. How do you feel about a bonfire? We can get this place cleared out fully and set up shop. All the building supplies is still outside and we’d have room to bring them all in afterwards.”
“No bonfire, sorry.” Leilah wrinkled her nose. “I’d need a fire permit because we’re too close to the bush.”
“Go get one then.” His eyes sparkled. “Waipa District Council office is in Te Awamutu. If you’re going across there, you can visit the wholesalers and pick up a fuse.”
Leilah pulled a face. “I don’t know what I’ll need.”
“Yeah, ya do.” Claus patted her arm, his missing tooth giving him a dark space in his smile. “Take the old one with ya and I’ll write it down. You can do it.” His encouragement made her feel like a stage struck five year old and something in Leilah responded to the paternal nurturing.
“Ok,” she agreed. “I’ll head over there this morning. Then you can pick up the rest of the supplies from Hamilton this afternoon. I’ll fill the truck with petrol on my way back.”
The sun baked the earth into a dusty wasteland, shrivelling the fading grass into shades of autumn. Farmers irrigated through bore holes and rainwater tanks, ranking water along with platinum and gold. The road shimmered under the glare of the sun and potholes developed as the metal peeled itself away from the tar underlay. Leilah drove with the windows down, enjoying a rare sense of freedom as the countryside whipped past amidst heat mirages.
Her phone stuttered to life in her jeans pocket and then stopped, hiccoughing and spluttering as though trying to get her attention. She fumbled in her jeans and withdrew it, seeing a number of missed calls on the screen. “Bloody hell!” she cursed, pulling over on the deserted road between two lines of dense bush.
Leilah hesitated at the sight of the same number trying to call her numerous times in the last few minutes. If she called it back and got Michael, he’d scream and shout and threaten, plunging her day into even more turmoil. “He can’t have got this number,” she reassured herself, using a confident tone against the latent fear budding in her heart. The handset blipped and a message appeared on screen. ‘It’s Derek. Pick up.’
With relief, Leilah called the number and listened to the ropey sound of the call attempting to connect. It failed. She texted back. ‘Bad connection. I’ll call you from TA in a few minutes.’
The sunshine turned its face onto the small town of Te Awamutu, filling it with light and sparkle. Leilah pulled over past the welcome sign and dialled Derek again. This time the call connected. “Sorry,” Leilah said. “I think it must be the phone. I borrowed my builder’s to call you before.”
“Yeah, he told me. I’ve got news on Bertrams Lawyers.”
Leilah got out of the steaming vehicle and turned her face into the sunshine. She leaned her backside against the driver’s door and tried not to tense herself for bad news. “Ok, go,” she sighed.
“Morley, Hepi and Bertram were based on Carson Street which, as you correctly deduced was razed for Cobham Drive. Paul Morley and Bob Hepi died in a boating accident a few months before they moved out and Bertram shifted to Christchurch to be nearer his family.”
“Wow.” Leilah’s hope plummeted. “Dad said they’d find me if something happened to him but I guess they had other stuff on their mind.”
“They sure did. Albert Bertram built up his own firm in Christchurch and employed his two sons to run it with him. He retired five years ago but you know what? He still remembers your dad.”
“Really?” Leilah kept her hope buried in her chest.
“What’s this about, Deleilah?” Derek asked, his perceptive tone cutting across the lousy connection. “It’s not about the land or money, is it?”
Leilah shook her head and then added voice to the pointless action. “No, Uncle. Vaughan was one of my best friends growing up. I’m not sure he knows the property isn’t his. Horse died not long after Dad and between them, those old men left a bloody big mess. It’s possible Vaughan thinks he owns it.” She sighed. “And if he knows Horse lost it, it’s probable he’s spent the last twenty years wondering when he’ll have it sold from underneath him.”
“Well, the good news is your mate’s paid rent,” Derek said. “It’s not much because with no landlord, the rate’s stayed the same for twenty years. There’s all sorts of legal implications with this, Leilah. I don’t want you to touch any of this until I’ve checked some things out.”
“Why didn’t the lawyer try harder to find me?” Leilah sighed. “It wouldn’t have been difficult.”
“Didn’t know Hector was dead,” Derek said, his tone sad. “He sent letters over the years as the money accrued but got nothing in reply. He wasn’t Hector’s regular lawyer so nobody told him. He kept hold of everything and assumed someone would come looking one day.”
“So, you can find him in five minutes but he couldn’t find me in twenty years?” Leilah let frustration permeate her voice. “And now you’re saying to leave things alone?”
“I’ve got ways of finding things out, Deleilah dear. And yes. Say nothing, do nothing. Give me some time. It’s messy. Probate didn’t happen on this property, dues weren’t paid; it’s a big mess and there’s an account in Hector’s name with over two hundred thousand dollars in it. Capital gains will want a chunk of that. Just trust me.”
“So what was the friend paying?” Leilah asked. “That’s a huge amount of money.”
“Not for the rental of a farm, Deleilah. It works out at only two hundred dollars a week. It’s nothing more than a gentlemen’s agreement.”
A lump formed in Leilah’s throat as Derek rang off. A gentlemen’s agreement between two of the most unlikely men in the southern hemisphere.
Leilah picked up a fire permit at the council offices and fumbled her way around a building supplies store. Wielding the broken part proved a master stroke as the gentleman in the plumbing department handed over a suitable replacement with very little fuss. Claus thumped her on the back with paternal pride back at the house and nodded his head with satisfaction.
“Hot water’s back on,” Tai announced an hour later, wiping his hands on a dirty rag. He leaned his backside against the counter and Leilah groaned in pleasure.
“Thank goodness! I can’t face another cold shower. You’re a miracle worker.”
“Didn’t even need to drain the tank,” Claus said, wandering through, bouncing the truck keys on his palm. “I’d recommend a filter system for your water, though. It’s coming straight off the roof and into your taps.”
Leilah looked down at the glass in her hand. Small bits floated around the liquid and she wrinkled her nose and sat it on the draining board. “Ok. Please can you look into it?”
“Yup.” Claus whacked Tai on the back and raised his eyebrows. “Come on, dude. Quicker we get going, the quicker we’re back.”
“You’ve got the list of what we need?” Leilah chewed her lip and watched the men walk through the open French doors. Claus patted his top pocket and waved over his shoulder.
“See ya later, miss,” Tai called and beamed as he closed the door.
Leilah set to work cleaning the bathroom with bleach. The stench of chemicals worked their way down the hallway and permeated through the house. A bottle of septic tank bacteria sat on the counter in the kitchen waiting for her to finish poisoning the drainage system. Once the bath, sink and toilet looked of a passable standard, Leilah read the instructions and poured the healing mixture down the toilet in the correct dose. “Sorry little bugs,” she said, wrinkling her nose at the peculiar scent of the liquid. “I’m done now. Only bio-products from today, I promise.” She flushed the toilet and froze at the sound of a vehicle pulling up outside.
Anticipating trouble, Leilah went to the front windows and looked out onto the drive, her eyebrows knitted with anxiety. Her daughter’s white car sat alongside the porch steps and Leilah’s face lit up with pleasure. Flinging the front door open, she ran out onto the porch and waved to the redheaded young woman in the driver’s seat. “What a lovely surprise,” she called, her face lighting with pleasure. “You should’ve called.” Leilah clasped her hands and waited for Seline to clamber from the car, the smile waning as she saw her daughter’s pale face and swollen eyes. “Seline? What’s happened?”
“I’m sorry, Mum.” The girl’s voice broke and her chest hitched. “I couldn’t help it; please forgive me.”
“Forgive what?” Leilah walked down the first two steps and then halted. The door behind Seline’s opened and a man climbed out, a slender blonde male with hooded lids and a peculiar glint in his eyes.
Seline’s body language communicated stress and exhaustion and her shoulders stooped. Leilah took another step towards her stricken child and the passenger slammed the rear door and raised the pistol in his hand. “Hello, Dee,” Michael Hanover said, his eyes sparkling with semi-madness. “Aren’t you going to invite us in?”