Three Views

By Rene Bird

This is the story of all residents living in a house built in 1917. The house had over ten different owners, and each owner has a story. Each owner was secretly storing items that have impacted their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jun 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796002959

Rene Bird

After a career as a Private Secretary and Personal Assistant, Rene decided to use the talents she was blessed with for her own purpose. Rene lives at the seaside on the outer reaches of Melbourne, Australia. She is an avid reader herself and has always found time the time to read, not only as a relaxing tool but also to open her mind. She graduated from college and then traveled before settling down and marrying. Her two daughters and their four children keep her busy. At 55 years of age Rene has found writing a great past time and stimulates her thinking.

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Copyright © 2019 by Rene Bird.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-7960-0296-6

                eBook          978-1-7960-0295-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 05/28/2019

Xlibris

1-800-455-039

www.Xlibris.com.au

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Novels by the same author:

Anna

Anna-again

Anna Re-invented

Jennifer’s Dad

Children’s Book:

I Didn’t Know That!

Biographies:         2 (Not published)

For

Cate …………………..

(My Keeper of Secrets)

The long drive was

certainly worthwhile. They had been told by the real estate salesman the views from this particular block of land far surpassed any block that was for sale along the east coast.

With views to three sides which could neve r be built out and nestled into a hill, the block was all that they had been searching for over the last three years. The view to the left was state forest for thirty miles, to the right was their nearest township in the distance, and right in front was a magnificent view of the ocean. It was ideal.

The young couple, Simon who was a carpenter and his bride to be Janine, had plans for a house which would be able to grow with their anticipated family. The year was 1917. Both Simon and Janine were living with their parents and would be for at least another year until they had saved up enough money to begin building their home.

They had calculated that by the end of the following year they would have enough funds to begin work on the house, although they would be living nearby in a make-ship caravan. By this time they would be married and were prepared to tough it out for at least two years living hand-to-mouth until the construction would be livable.

With stars in their eyes they drove back to the township to speak to the real estate salesman. As the block had been for sale for quite a long time they hoped they would be able to buy it for a reduced price. With a little haggling and hearts beating rapidly, the salesman made a phone call to the owners who said they would think over the offer and get back to them by the end of the day or first thing in the morning.

As it was getting rather late in the afternoon Simon and Janine booked in at the local hotel. Two separate rooms of course, as the law of the time did not allow for unmarried couples to share a room. They ordered dinner and went to their separate rooms both with a feeling of trepidation for the expected contact from the real estate salesman in the morning.

Eating breakfast together in the small dining room of the hotel they both looked at their watches every few minutes. They wanted to be ready by 9.00am when the expected call would come through to the hotel reception.

Simon and Janine, were a good looking couple. Simon was tall and athletic, forever with a smile on his face. He was very self-conscious however of the fact that he was minus a thumb and little finger on his left hand. A birth deformity, which ran in the family did not hold him back at all. He achieved excellent results as an apprentice carpenter and made a very good living now that he was working for himself.

He fell in love with Janine the minute he saw her through the window of the Ladies Hairdressing Salon in their home town. He would wait outside the Salon every afternoon at 5.30pm to walk her home. They were both nineteen years of age, both had come from rather troubled families, and being so at ease in each other’s company was looked forward to each day.

Janine was petite with short curly dark brown hair with dark eyes to match. Around 5.00pm on a work day she would tingle with excitement just waiting to catch a glimpse of Simon when he would appear at the Salon door.

When the telephone rang in reception right on 9.00am, Simon and Janine knew the block of land would be theirs. And right enough it was. They were to be in the real estate office by 9.30am where Simon would sign the necessary papers and leave a small deposit – as a sign of good faith.

The block of land had been advertised for sale at one hundred pounds, but the agent had secured it for them for ninety-five pounds. They were able to leave five pounds as an interim deposit and as soon as they returned home Simon would go to the bank and have a cheque forwarded for another ten pounds.

Janine did not have her own bank account, as bank accounts for women was frowned upon. She would give her savings to Simon and each week he would deposit the funds, along with his savings, into his account. Of course the title of the land and any building on that land would be in his name only.

For the next year Simon and Janine saved as much money as they could, even staying at home and reading or playing scrabble on a Saturday night instead of going to the picture theatre or town hall dance. All entertainment cost money and it was money they would rather save. They had each other for company and they wanted nothing else.

On the 20th November 1917 Simon and Janine drove to the city and were married in The Registry Office with only Registry staff to witness the happy event. From there, as Mr. & Mrs. Beauchamp, they drove towards their land, stopping at a small hotel on the way for their first night together and in the morning buying a small caravan Simon had purchased from a notice in the paper.

By the end of November Simon had secured work on a building site in the nearby township and Janine, although not finding work as a hairdresser, was employed in the local post office.

Simon had set up their caravan and a small annex for cooking and washing. It was a tight fit, this was the only way however they would be able to save money to build their home. Once the house was even half way through the build they would have more space available to them.

A few of the townsfolk had reached out to them in friendship, but in the main most people kept to themselves. As Simon and Janine were happy to keep it that way they were friendly and polite but did not seek the company of others.

They each had a few days off work over the Christmas/New Year period. The days and nights were warm and their days were spent walking along the beach and nights drawing plans for their home in the dim light of a kerosene lamp.

By 1st February 1918 Simon and a day laborer were digging foundations for the first stumps to be set into. By the end of two weeks all the stumps had been set. A few more weeks of saving would see the joists and bearers being purchased and then they would be fixed to the stumps. Before the bearers arrived Simon spent time measuring the distance between stumps and joists and where the bearers would be placed. He had drawn on the plans where he anticipated a hall cupboard would be. This cupboard to be used for linen and spare coat hanging space.

During the time he was on the site by himself, with Janine at work, and no laborer around, he dug a large hole similar to a grave. After each time he dug there he placed corrugated sheets over the hole so no one would know of its existence. In time, without onlookers, he blue-stoned the sides and base then concreted the blue-stone.

Two months later the frame work was completed and the roof tiles installed. The cladding for around the house was nearly finished and the couple were able to utilize more space inside the incomplete house. As winter was approaching Simon was conscious of the fact that a very pregnant Janine would not be very comfortable in the caravan. He was pulling out all stops to make a home for her but at the same time was becoming more and more entrenched in debt. He could not earn enough money to keep up the mortgage on their home or the cost of materials to finish it. He owed the laborer more than four weeks wages and the laborer was becoming increasingly impatient, as he himself had a family to support – let alone his drinking habit.

One month later the house was totally livable, with kitchen and bathroom ready for use. Wallpaper and paint were still to be applied but as their new baby had arrived, painting would be put on hold for a couple of months. They had happily ordered a brass name plate for the house – Beauview.

With his family now living in the house Simon sold the caravan and annex and was able to pay the hospital bill. However, he now owed the laborer ten weeks wages and the blokes at the pub were giving him strange looks when he passed by. He guessed the laborer had been telling his mates about the predicament he was in not getting wages, as after all his mates would be the ones buying him drinks, Simon was exceedingly worried about his debt to the laborer and spent many hours thinking about what he could do to pay the laborer off before Janine became aware of the situation. He did not want to worry her, but his gut churned and churned when thinking about it.

With the weather changing and the cold winds blowing up from the south, Simon was out chopping wood one afternoon when a telegram was received by Janine. Her mother, who she had not seen for many years, was dying and wanted to see Janine and her baby before she died.

With Janine gone from the house he was surprised when there was a loud knock on the front door after dinner one evening. Upon opening the door Simon was confronted by the laborer. It was a dark evening and heavy with rain dripping off the laborer as no verandah porch had yet been built.

The laborer was very drunk and very abusive, pushing Simon in the chest to shove him out of the way so that he could enter into the passage. Simon fell backwards with the laborer falling on top of him. Struggling to get free Simon grasped a brass pot plant off the hallstand, twisted, and then smashed the pot against the laborer’s head. The sound was sickening. Simon regained his senses and reached out to help the laborer stand up and some endeavor made to reason with him. The laborer however did not move and as Simon looked down upon the laborer’s face he could see a large amount of blood oozing from his right ear.

The laborer was of course dead. Stone dead, in the passage of the new house Simon had built for his family. Walking to the front window he looked out to see if one of the laborer’s friends had driven him there and was waiting in a car. There was no car, nor was there a bicycle near the front gate. There was no evidence at all that the laborer had arrived at Simon’s house.

Not knowing exactly what to do because he certainly wasn’t going to get the police involved or even a doctor for that matter, with the blood oozing from the laborer’s ear, Simon lifted the bloody head and placed it down again on a piece of plastic to protect the floor and then a towel to absorb the blood.

Just take your time and think about this Simon thought to himself. The rain was now torrential outside which would wash away the laborer’s footprints and as the house was removed from the township no passersby would be in the area. Just think, Simon said to himself, just think.

Sitting on his haunches next to the prostate body he realized he was looking right at the answer to his dilemma. The