Westpoint Tales
by Kiwi
Lindsay & Tony Bloody Southon - Pt 7
His mother came in.
Bugger!
Leigh sat up on the bed and Lindsay dropped down to scratch his suddenly-itchy foot. "Mum. You could knock."
"What for? Don't be silly. The door's wide open isn't it? I brought you some drinks; your friend looks like he needs one." She handed them a large glass of coke each. "There you go, Lad. Plenty more where that came from."
"Thanks, Mrs. Reilly. Thanks a lot."
"You're welcome. When you've finished them, boys, come down to the kitchen. I've made some sandwiches for you."
"Thanks Mum. That's great. We'll be right there."
She left, Lindsay sat down again and shrugged. "Sorry. That was bad timing."
"No problems," Leigh grinned over his coke. "The stiffness seems to have gone away all on its own now."
"It has? Yeah, me too. Let's go and attack these sandwiches then."
They ate in the kitchen and were joined by Alvin and Janie. Lindsay was thinking what a cute couple they made, when Alvin spoiled the moment by pinching a couple of the sandwiches.
"Hey! Get off. These are ours. Get your own sandwiches."
"Oh?" Alvin passed one to Janie, then held the other up, carefully licked it all over, then offered it back to him. "Want it back do you? Here you are then."
"Not likely. Not after you've spit all over it. You can keep that one."
"Okay. Thank you very much. Leigh Stevens - you're Harry's brother, right?"
"Yeah. That's right."
"Then you live out at Charlestown. Did you bike all the way into town?"
"Well, yeah. Harry came with me. He's gone around to see his mate."
"Round to Paul's? He'll be totally shagged then."
"Alvin!!" Lindsay protested. Their mother was still in the room, and Janie was too.
"I meant from biking in from Charlestown, Bro. What did you think I meant?" Alvin's evil grin left no doubt about where his mind was at now.
"You. I. Oh, never mind."
"Anyway, Leigh, You should start biking in to school every day. Get lots of practice and you might be able to keep up with Lindsay."
"You think?" Leigh looked at Lindsay. "I thought you were more into books than sporty stuff?"
"Well, yeah, I am. But I love biking. I've got a really cool bike and, well, I'm good at it .I've finally found something that I am good at."
"Oh, you're good at lots of things," said Leigh with a wink and a cheeky grin.
"Shaddup Stevens," Lindsay blushed.
After they'd eaten, they all went out the back and Lindsay showed off his great new bike. Alvin and Janie hung around and their younger brother and sister were there too. Harry arrived and said that they had to go. They needed to get started if they were going to get home in time for the late milking.
"Milking?" Janie asked. "Do you have to milk the cows?"
"Well yes," said Harry. "They won't do it themselves."
"Don't be a smart-arse Stevens. I mean do you two have to do the milking? Why doesn't your father do it himself?"
"He does usually," Leigh replied. "But in the school holidays he pays us to help out."
They started for home and Lindsay rode along with the brothers for a few kilometers, but, frustrated with their slow progress, he soon left them to it and rode back home. Before he left, they agreed that he'd ride out to Leigh's place on the following day.
Sunday morning, Lindsay slept in. Normally, lately, he went for a short bike ride before breakfast, (the high-banked track in the Square was great when there were no runners on it), but not today. He ate breakfast with the family, then, after telling his parents his plans for the day, (some of his plans), he mounted his bike and headed out of town, down the Coast Road, towards Charlestown.
Partway there he realised that he had a small problem - he didn't actually know exactly where Leigh lived. All he knew was that it was on a dairy farm somewhere past Charlestown. Ah well, it shouldn't be too hard to find. He'd ask for directions when he got there. It was only a small town - a tiny town. Charlestown's collection of a dozen houses, the hotel and the hall, made Westpoint look like a city, almost.
Arriving in Charlestown, he couldn't see anyone around, so he wheeled his bike around to the back door of the hotel. The publican's wife saw him coming and came out of the door.
"Hello Young Reilly. What are you doing away out here?"
"Hey Mrs.Thomas. I'm a bit lost."
"Aren't we all, Lovey? What are you looking for?"
"The Stevens farm. My friend Leigh lives on a farm around here somewhere."
"The Stevens? Oh, yeah, Jim Steven's place. They're just on down the road a bit, about three or four miles, on the right-hand side. You'll see the mailbox with their name on it."
"Oh good. Thanks Mrs. Thomas. I'll find them then."
"No problems, Lovey. Just remember, if you finish up in Brownsville, then you've gone too far."
"I'll try not to do that then," he grinned as he started riding again.
He waved as he rode back out to the highway, shaking his head as he went. 'Three or four MILES?' The country had changed to the metric system years ago, but some people never had. A lot of old people still thought in feet and inches and miles. 'Three miles is what? About five kilometers isn't it? Something like that, not far anyway.'
He was almost 6k. along the road, according to his speedometer counter, when he finally saw the Steven's mailbox. There was also a small rough shelter, open-fronted and with a single bench seat inside. 'That must be where Leigh and the others wait for the schoolbus on wet days.'
The graveled driveway, rough and pot-holed, soon dipped down and wound down the face of the huge cliff between the road and the sea. As he coasted downhill, he could see below him, the farmhouse and other buildings, at the top of a small bank and looking out across the stony beach to the sea. It looked like a great view, but what an exposed site for a house. Also, he wouldn't want to be climbing up this hill everyday. Bugger that.
At the foot of the hill, the road leveled out and with just a few turns of the pedals, he rolled into the wide graveled yard at the back of the farmhouse. Leigh was there waiting for him with a big glass of coke and a huge grin on his freckled face.
"Hey Lindsay. Welcome to Nowhere. You want a coke?"
"Sounds good to me. Thanks. Have you been standing there all morning waiting for me?"
"No, of course not. I saw you coming down the hill, didn't I? No-one arrives here without us seeing them coming."
"Oh.I guess not." Lindsay had a drink and looked back at the road snaking down the face of the hill. "You've got a great place here, but, Man! What a hill."
"Yeah. It's a bitch isn't it? Wait until you ride back up it. Come around here."
He led the way around to where there was a big old caravan sitting, on wooden blocks, at the edge of the sea cliff and under a huge pine tree.
"This is my room," Leigh said, opening the door. "Come inside. Bring your bike with you."
"Bring my bike? I could just leave it out here couldn't I?"
"No, don't do that. If Harry sees it, he'll know you're here and we'll never get rid of him."
"Don't you get on with your brother?" Lindsay lifted his bike and stepped in through the door.
"Sure I do. We have to, there's not a lot of other kids out here in the middle of nowhere. But, today I've got you and Harry can get lost. I'm never welcome when he's got Paul out here." Leigh closed and locked the door behind them.
"Right." Lindsay leant his bike against the built-in wardrobe and looked around. "Man, what a mess."
"Whadda ya mean? It is not, I've just spent ages cleaning it up. It's no worse than yours anyway. There's nothing on the bed, come and rest your weary bones."
"Okay." Lindsay flopped down on the wide bed, then, remembering, sat up and took off his sneaker and socks. "That's better. My bones aren't that weary, it wasn’t too far to ride. I've been getting a lot of practice lately" He lay, face-down, again.
"You're not weary. So you don't want a butt-massage then?" Leigh sat down on the bed next to him.
('Yes!') "I didn't say that," Lindsay grinned and he lifted his backside and wriggled it. "A butt-massage sounds good to me."
"Yeah. Sounds good to me too." Leigh put one hand, then the other, on Lindsay's globes, flexing and squeezing his fingers. Lindsay smiled, moaned, and relaxed as he let Leigh do his work.
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