Screw Pile Developments

Winter — Headwall Station

Grandpa Jake stamped the snow off his boots as he came inside and hung the Hundeerwagon keys back on the hook. He and Daan had been up since dawn assessing the road. It had snowed all night and it was still snowing heavily. No-one would be going anywhere; the road was completely impassable, even for the six-wheel-drive Hundeerwagons.

Angus, also up since dawn, had his nose pressed against the window, making quite the foggy smeary mess. He was beyond excited. By the time the rest of the boys had come down for breakfast he was practically vibrating through the glass. Nobody had told him it might be a snow day, but he just seemed to know and he couldn’t wait to get outside and play in the snow.

Fifteen expectant faces at the breakfast table were awaiting Grandpa Jake’s verdict.

Most of the faces at the table registered delight; however, one or two looked a little disappointed that they would be missing a whole day of school.

The rest of the boys at the table suddenly became very interested in finishing their scrambled eggs and toast.

---

Morning — All the Boys Inside

The house was very full and loud. There were boys in the dining room playing board games. There were boys in the living room playing cards by the fire. Angus and Fergus were busy plotting some kind of indoor chaos. Boys everywhere, all cooped up inside since breakfast, beginning to vibrate the very foundations of the house.

Angus declared to anyone who would listen and a few who didn’t, what he thought about staying inside.

The snow continued falling, but finally around mid-morning the snow-laden clouds gave way and the sun broke through.

Grandma Bella sought volunteers to take the pups out.  Despite the very real risk of being press-ganged by Angus into being his sled dogs, Harry, Rupert and Samson and several of the other boys were just as antsy to get outside as the pups.

There was then a good fifteen minutes of finding all the coats, snow pants, hats, gloves, and boots needed for the outdoor expedition.

Anyone witnessing Angus hitting the snow for the first time saw pure husky delight.  He was born to be in the snow and declared this to be so several times. Fergus quickly adapted to the conditions and was soon prancing around as madly as Angus. Hamish, being more reserved, proceeded with proper caution, but he too soon found his inner husky instinct and joined in just as enthusiastically.

A sled appeared and Angus promptly had his sled team organised. Watching all this mayhem from the sensible safety of the verandah was Grandpa Jake, complete with a steaming hot mug of tea in his paw.

---

Mid Morning – Kitchen

Charlie was already in his natural habitat, moving from the scullery to the pantry and back to the big table of the kitchen seamlessly. He was already starting to prepare lunch: build-your-own pizzas. Bowls of various toppings prepared and laid out ready, and of course the biggest bowl… grated cheese.

Seb, who had elected not to go outside, wandered into the kitchen as boys do without much purpose in mind. Rebecca read him immediately, restless hands needing something to do.

Back from the sink, Rebecca immediately put Seb to work, measuring out flour, butter, sugar, cocoa, and a very generous amount of chocolate chips.

Seb grinned, and nodded his head in solid agreement.

All the ingredients were put into a huge bowl and then mixed together. Rebecca said that doing it by hand made the cookies taste better. It was hard work mixing the dough by hand, but it was exactly the physical outlet that Seb needed.

No preamble, no beating about the bush, just a straight question.

Rebecca became still for a moment.

She knew exactly who the he was that Seb was referring to.

James Earl Jarvis. Seb’s dad.

The same James Jarvis who she had worked alongside at the TA-3 site. Those memories, that time, and that loss. Earth.

Rebecca took a long slow breath in through her nose.

Again, Rebecca knew exactly what Seb was asking — yes, she had been there. She had been there for Lucas, then Eugene and then finally James. She had been waiting for this question from Seb for the last six months since he had arrived and been hugged for just a little longer than the others on his first day at Headwall.

Silent tears were now trickling down Seb’s face. Seb spoke quietly.

The cookies went in the oven and exactly 11 minutes later they were taken out.

Rebecca explained that they won’t look done when you first take them out. They will firm up on the tray as they cool. The real test is to pull one apart to check that the centre is still fudgy. Then of course that cookie is now technically broken, so there is only one proper way of dealing with that.

Still hot out of the oven, with slightly molten chocolate chips. That is the best way to eat double chocolate chip cookies. Unsurprisingly Charlie suddenly appeared at their side to help. Strictly to provide appropriate quality control assurance. Of course.

The smell of freshly baked cookies wafted through the house.

---

Veldmeer High School

The Next Day

Much to Angus’ vocal disappointment, the snow plough had managed to clear the valley road overnight, and the two Hundeerwagons, with the assistance of their six-wheel drive, were able to safely negotiate some of the more slippery and icy sections of the road.

Miss Vera was in the process of handing back marked mathematics test papers to the class. As soon as Lewis received his, he quickly folded it and tucked it away into his notebook.

Hans elbowed Lewis.

Hans nodded sagely. He knew what fine meant — Lewis had aced his test. As usual.

---

Afternoon — End of Day Bell

End of the day and the class was emptying faster than a Jack Russell cleaning up a dropped egg.

Seb was still at his desk, the notebook open and his pencil busy. The pale winter afternoon light finding its way through the class windows, dappled through the branches of the leafless trees.

Miss Vera walked slowly down the rows of desks and stopped just before Seb. She didn’t look directly at Seb’s notebook.

Seb sat back in his chair. He then slid the notebook just a couple of inches towards Miss Vera, and looked up at her for only the briefest of moments.

What he had drawn was unmistakable. Clearly a family portrait, of four. A mother, father and two boys, one several years younger than the other. One boy with the same spiky dark hair as his father.

—And one spiky dark-haired boy sitting in the chair in front of her.

Seb leaned forwards in his chair and pointed with his finger.

Seb gave a small nod, picked up his notebook and put it in his bag.

---