Losing Jack

Chapter 11

Rick Hughes settled in for the night. After a hard day’s work, with a hearty meal under his belt, he was comfortable. As he lay in his bed letting the day’s events flow through his mind, he sighed contentedly. It made him happy to see things between Sandy and Michael finally taking off. That girl was a hard worker, but such a loner, it was just a pity Jude and Daniel weren't still here to see it.

He smiled as he recalled how she had been daydreaming after her lunchtime encounter with Michael and he realised that he was one of the lucky ones to see Sandy as she really was. Despite her reputation of being a hard ass, as the younger blokes at the vineyard described her, Rick knew differently. She was a gentle timid kid who had learnt that nice guys always finish last.

Sandy had learnt that to survive in a man’s world and to lead men she had to adapt, she had to be fearless, heartless and demanding or get walked all over. Rick and Daniel had taught her that, and she had been an exemplary student. She ran a tight ship at Whispering Vines and he was proud.

Rick was glad that after Daniel had gone Sandy had so easily taken over. It meant there would be someone to carry on Whispering Vines tradition the same way it had always been.

He had been around for a long time now. Rick had taken on the job of supervisor and ran the day to day operations of the vineyard for the months that Jude and Daniel had been at the hospital with Jack after his accident. And then throughout the early rehabilitation process, when Jude had needed Daniels help just to make the household function. He had been glad for the opportunity to help them out.

When Jude and Daniel were alive they often said Rick had saved Whispering Vines and their behinds. But the truth was, they had saved his life. They gave him some purpose, a place to belong and people to love.

He thought back to the early days and how he had had ended up on Whispering Vines. Just a bit over 13 years ago he had been working as a chaser bin driver over harvest. He was barley making a living, not to mention the hours, which were killer. He was grateful for it though - the truth was that seasonal chaser bin driving was all he could get. Finding a permanent job in a small country town could be hard. Usually someone had to die for a job to become vacant.

What had made it even more difficult was that he was new to town. He didn't really know anyone and as far as anyone knew he could have been a blow in, a common crook on the run, anyone really. That left him in a difficult situation. Without money he couldn't move on so found himself trapped in town, penniless. Until he had been recruited for harvest.

In a farming town once harvest rolled around it was all hands on deck. The money he saved from working had become the opportunity he needed to move on, in hopes of finding a better job in another town. But fate had different ideas for him as he remembered back to the night that changed his life...

As he had been driving home from a 14hour shift early hours of the morning he had seen a pair of red tail lights up ahead when he turned onto the highway. Thinking nothing of it he followed still a fair way back.

Rick didn't live far from where he was working, just a few km’s. It was a small dilapidated farm house he had managed to get rent free, in return for doing some fixing up on the place.

He had been driving along, thinking how good it would be just to drop into bed boots and all and get some sleep.  Suddenly he had seen the car up ahead begin to drive erratically. It swerved all over the road, before nose diving down an embankment.

The accident had only taken a few seconds to play out, but never the less it had been frightful to watch. Rick pulled up his car where the skid marks left the asphalt. He parked on the shoulder of the road and rubbed his eyes thinking that his mind was playing tricks on him. He could easily  have been hallucinating after too many hours on the tractor and too many cups of strong black coffee from his flask.

Getting out of the car, he was still half expecting to see nothing there. But sure enough, down the bottom of the embankment was a wreck, hissing loudly crumpled around a big tree.

Not wanting to leave the wreck, he fought the urge to race down the steep embankment to see if anyone was hurt. Time was of the essence and it would take too long to get back up the way he had come.
Rick made a tough decision to take off to his house less than a kilometre down the road and use his telephone to alert the police and ambulance. They had come surprisingly quickly and he arrived back at the scene just in time to wave them in the right direction.

Rick later found out that it had been three young kids in the car and the police and ambulance officers had told Rick he was a hero. He saved their lives.

If it hadn't have been for Rick seeing the accident and acting so quickly to alert the emergency services one of the young fellows wouldn't have had a chance. As it was he died a few times on the way to the hospital and was resuscitated.

Shaking his hand Daniel had thanked Rick for saving his son Jack's life.

Feeling very sorry for the families Rick had told Daniel that if there was anything he could do to help them not to hesitate.
Daniel had jokingly said “Not unless you want to come and run a vineyard for me.”

And that was how he had ended up on a massive vineyard, not through going to college, not from years’ worth of previous experience, just dumb luck that he was in the right place at the right time to save a life.

Rick  loved Whispering Vines. He loved the seasonal routines that come with viticulture, it was like a never ending cycle.

Although things seemed to be going perfectly on the surface at Whispering Vines, Rick was concerned. He knew there had to be trouble on the vineyard horizon.  He had seen Muldoon’s car leaving the office earlier on - and wherever Muldoon was,  catastrophe was never far behind.

For year's he had been feeding off of other good folks misfortune. He had a never ending supply of money that could miraculously appear at the click of his fingers as well as a knack for turning up wherever there was trouble brewing. Now he was circling Whispering Vines like a shark out for the kill.

Sighing Rick just hoped that this time he was way off. But after the last harvest going belly up and a disastrous pruning season to top it off, he knew things couldn't be too good. Cracks of strain were beginning to show. Especially now with Sandy’s recent announcement that they were going to be selling off surplus machinery. Not forgetting she had sent the crew on holidays to save on costs.

As he lay in bed his eyes beginning to get heavy as he drifted off to sleep. Rick said a silent prayer for their vineyard and decided that he would keep an eye out for Muldoon, that man was trouble.

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