High Country Christmas

Chapter Five- Scrabble

The descent from the Cairn was uneventful. I got back to the homestead with plenty of time to shower and get the evening meal on the table. Daniel's greeting when he arrived was just as warm as Leah's had been. He was pleased I was there and his normally conservative reaction to life was laid aside as he stood and pulled me into a side splitting bear hug, and a light kiss on the cheek, "Good to see you girl," he had said gruffly. He turned and introduced me to the two brothers that had been at the station for close to six months, Franco and Lucas. They were from Argentina, hoping to learn from Daniel so they could save up and buy their own place back in South America. That is if they ever left. They both talked excitedly about their time on the station so far.

Over the next few days they made it no secret that being around the kitchen was something they both enjoyed and competed for my attention during my first few days. I was flattered but Daniel had to take charge to get them back out onto the station.

The first week passed in a blur as we found our rhythm around one another again. Leah usually left me to use my initiative to find things that needed to be done. I kept the house, bathrooms and kitchen tidy, did a bit of gardening, and planned the evening meals. So long as I kept the refrigerator stocked with sandwich fillings and fresh baked bread, people pretty much got their own breakfast and mid day meals.

The Earnslaw's arrival at the station became the clock that we all worked to, with 4-5 trips a day at the height of summer. Managing the next flood of tourists off the boat and ensuring that they all departed on time, was always a fun kind of chaos.

Leah had just about finished appointing staff for the summer at The Mill and Shirley would be arriving soon to confirm The Mills menu and necessary grocery purchases from Queenstown. Leah was great, doing any baking required for morning or afternoon teas for the tourists, and helping in the wool shed. It felt like everything was going well, except the nagging question of Allister.

I had heard him come in very late every night, he never joined us at the dinner table, and I had yet to even meet him on the landing upstairs. He was in the far end bedroom, from where I was.

Even though we shared a bathroom, I had never seen him entering or exiting. Daniel and Leah used the master bedroom and ensuite downstairs at the back of the kitchen that faced out onto the private family garden that guests were not invited to view during their tour. Daniel had made a passing comment that he had put a lock on my bedroom door, upstairs as I was "being asked to share the landing with a stranger." I noticed Leah frown at him when he said that, and gave me a sad, tired smile.

It was all rather curious. Each night with the meals that I left on the bench for Ali, I left a note, that usually read, "Ali, two minutes in the microwave. Hope you had a good day. Sascha."

I didn't know what he did all day but whatever it was, kept him busy. I was concerned that he might be finding areas that we were not conservation friendly enough, and anything like that reported, however informally to DOC, could see our tourist operation in serious jeopardy.

I planned to rush through the shower early, and catch Leah before she went over to the shed to prepare for the day. I wanted to check if Shirley was going to run her restaurant crew through a friendly meal tomorrow night before they opened for the season. That would mean I didn't need to prepare a meal, and I would need to call around some of the other land holders in the area to see if they wanted to come over for dinner.

Usually there were about 30-40 people, depending on who was available and we took the opportunity to catch up in a relaxed atmosphere with neighbours before the full on slaught of the busy summer.

I tied my satin robe round me quickly for the dash to my room, when I opened the bathroom door I ran straight into someone and bounced off. Before I had a chance to collect my thoughts and realise what was happening, I was caught under the elbow and held steady. I got such a fright that my hands flew to my chest, trying to calm my reactions, and breathing deep. I smiled weakly and looked up to thank Ali because my brain now computed that it was probably him.