Ella said, ‘I heard a child nearly drowned.’
He nodded. ‘True. Jake dragged him out in the nick of time.’
Ella’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Jake Honeychurch saved the child? He’s never said anything to me.’
Harvey gave her a why would he look, and kept talking. ‘Yeah, anyway. Good warning for everyone, that. We drained the water after. See skateboarders in there sometimes. Carving up, or whatever it is the young ones do.’
‘There’s an idea, Harvey. Why don’t we sponsor a skate park for the town instead?’ Ella suggested, forcing her fingers to relax.
Gina added, ‘That could work.’
Harvey’s mouth screwed up as he considered that, head tilted to one side, making his pudgy cheek droop. ‘That’s not a bad idea …’
Ella pounced. ‘Fencing. Gates. All the pumps and equipment, running costs. Pools are so expensive to run. You don’t have to run a skate park once you build it. You don’t need a lifeguard for a skate park.’
‘Yeah, that’s true,’ Harvey admitted.
There was a scrape and a whoosh of hot air filled the office as the local newspaper delivery guy pushed through the front door.
‘G’day, Pete. You got our papers?’ Harvey greeted the guy, rubbing his hands together. Harvey loved Tuesday morning when the local paper came out. He’d spend an hour with his 10:30 am coffee, poring over the pages, commenting on the golf and bowls results.
‘You’ll like the front page this week, Harve,’ said Pete.
‘Yeah? What mischief are they cooking up?’ Harvey stepped close to the bound stack of thirty or so papers Pete hefted on the top of Gina’s counter.
‘You know how Pickles has been working on his dam out Chalk Hill Bridge Road?’
‘Yeah,’ Harvey said, squinting as he tried to see the paper. ‘Can you get me some scissors, Gina?’
‘He’s got an application in for a water park out there. That’s why the damn thing looks like Lake Argyle. He’s gonna do a water ski park. Reckons tourists will flock to it.’
Gina handed over the scissors and Harvey snipped the straps binding the paper so he could take the top one off. Gina picked up the rubbish, and Harvey and the newspaper delivery man stepped back. Ella grabbed herself her own copy of the paper before Gina took the bundle out to the stand at the front of the office.
‘Be good for you, eh?’ Pete said with a wink. ‘Sell more land. Flog a few more houses.’
‘Always love the idea of more people coming here, mate. Can’t keep paradise a secret forever,’ Harvey said, scanning the front page. Then he glanced at Ella. ‘If there’s a water park, locals need to know how to swim. Hey, Ella?’
She didn’t say anything, just examined the smudge on her fingers where the newsprint had stained.
‘We’ve been talking about reopening the old pool, Pete. Turns out our Ella here is a swimming champ from way back. Be able to get swimming lessons started for the school kids, therapy sessions for the oldies. Be a great idea. Ella will be the face of it. It’s like having our own Shane Gould.’
‘So you’re the swimmer lady the whole town’s talking about, hey? Nice to meet you,’ Pete nodded at Ella and she returned his smile; at least she hoped she did, her face felt frozen. Pete kept talking. ‘Sounds like a good plan, Harve. My kids would be in it.’
‘I mean, we’ll talk about it more, of course,’ Harvey said, nodding to Ella, straightening his newspaper and shaking it into a neat shape.
Pete backed out of the office, opening the door for Gina as they crossed paths. ‘See you Friday at scroungers, Harve. See ya, ladies.’
‘Bye, Pete,’ Ella and Gina said in unison.
‘Right. Time for coffee, hey? My buy. Who’s in?’ Harvey looked at Gina and Ella, and they both said, ‘Me. Thanks, Harvey,’ watching their illustrious leader walk out of the office on his way to get takeaway cups from Coffee on Chalk.
‘How about that then,’ said Gina, sitting at her desk. ‘Never a dull moment in sleepy Chalk Hill, hey?’
‘You can say that again,’ Ella said, retreating to her space so she could check and return her emails. She’d wait till Harvey came back with her coffee then she’d read the newspaper.
* * *
The headline read:
‘Ski Park Plans to put Town on Tourist Map’
A development application for a water ski park on Chalk Hill Bridge Road is expected to be approved when the council meets at its March district council meeting in Mount Barker, with most councillors canvassed by the Courier indicating they were in favour of the plan.
The proponent of the water ski park is second-generation farmer, Dylan Fields, who has been extending the natural dam on his 250-ha sheep and canola property in anticipation of a positive council vote.
‘We’ve had meetings with the environmental authorities, town planners and councillors, and they’ve all indicated support,’ Mr Fields told the Courier on Monday. ‘The ski park will bring tourists to the area, giving visitors another place to stop on the way to the Porongurups, Mount Barker and Albany.’
One of the key facets of the application includes an undertaking from the developer for a contribution towards the upgrade of Chalk Hill Bridge Road—
‘By the living Harrys!’ burst Harvey from his office loud enough to make Ella jump, and she stopped reading.
Harvey came out of his office like a shark smelling blood.
‘They’re gonna upgrade Chalk Hill Bridge Road. Says here it will become a through-road joining the Muirs Highway and the South Coast Highway. We’ll have a north–south corridor that will come out not far from Walpole. People could come from the Tree Top Walk straight through to Chalk Hill.’
Harvey’s face purpled. ‘A bloody bitumen road, Ella!’ He slapped the newspaper page with one hand, sending the smell of newsprint swirling towards her. ‘They’ve been talking about this for years, but we never thought it would happen. This is why Henry Graham wants the Honeychurch property. He knew about this.’ Harvey slapped the page again. ‘Bet this is why I’m
