Chapter 5. Teamwork

Mum made some phone calls as soon as she as John got home, she knew some of the people at the Lawyers office they had to go to.  She was lucky; someone could meet them at 9.00am on Monday morning!  She phoned the other parents and they agreed to meet at the office at 8.50am.

Sunday seemed to really drag for John, he did his chores and tried playing some games on the computer, but his mind kept drifting back to the ‘Dump’.  Finally it was time for bed and he fell asleep still thinking about the ‘Dump’ and wondering what to call his go-cart when it was finished.

Monday dawned clear and sunny and John leapt out of bed and had a shower, and put on his neatest clothes.  He scoffed his breakfast down and was ready to leave by 7.30am.  “Slow down buddy” said Mum “we’re a bit early just yet, let me finish my cup of coffee”.  John fidgeted about, putting his breakfast dishes in the dishwasher, combing his hair, and nervously wandering around the lounge.  Finally Mum had finished her coffee, brushed her own hair and put on some make-up.  She called the school to let them know that John would be absent today, and then gathered her bag, the envelope of documents for the ‘Dump’ and they piled into the car.

John didn’t often drive with Mum into town, so he spent most of the time staring out the window at the passing scenery.  He liked it when they got onto the motorway, they were in the lane which was closest to the railway tracks and for a while they were keeping pace with a passenger train.  The train slowed and pulled into a station, and John and Mum left it behind, following the motorway around its gentle curves and into the city.

Mum parked the car in a car park building right in the centre of the city, and they walked the short distance to a large building with blue-looking reflective glass all over the outside.  They took the lift to the third floor, and Mum reported in at the Reception desk.  The Receptionist gave them a bright smile and asked them to wait in the waiting area to their left.  They took a seat and it wasn’t long before Moana and his parents, and Flynn and his parents joined them.

The boys talked excitedly to each other, a little nervous about the meeting with the Lawyers. “I hope it doesn’t take long” said Flynn
“I wonder if we’ll have to sign anything?” said Moana
“I wonder what I should call my go-cart?” said John, and they all burst out laughing

A few minutes later a white-haired man in a suit with a friendly smile and twinkly eyes walked into the waiting area and John’s Mum stood up to greet him “Hello Bill” said John’s Mum with a smile
“Hello Raewyn” said Bill smiling back “Lovely to see you again, and who do we have here?” he said looking at John kindly.
“I’m John” said John
Turning to the rest of the group John’s Mum introduced them “And this is Moana, and his parents Ethan and Maria, and Flynn and his parents Brad and Gina”
Bill shook everyone’s hands smiling and said “Welcome, welcome, now I understand we have a bit of an interesting case to look at?” he said “let’s pop into the meeting room where we can get comfortable and have a look” he led the way down a corridor and into a room where there was a large table with 10 seats around it.  They all took a seat and John’s Mum handed Bill the envelope of documents.  Bill opened the envelope and carefully pulled the documents out, his eyes opening wide as he quickly scanned them “Well!” he said “This is very interesting indeed! I shall need a colleague to confirm, but I think these are the genuine article!” he smiled at them all “I’ll get us some coffee and juice for the boys, and see who I can grab to look at these documents” and whisked out of the room.

A few minutes later he was back followed by a lady wearing glasses with red rims, and matching lipstick.  Bill quickly introduced her as Veronica, and after she’d shaken everyone’s hands she sat down next to Bill and they went back through the documents, Bill pointing out things on a few pages.  The boys were starting to fidget when there was a knock on the door, and the Receptionist brought in a tray of coffees for the adults, and fruit juice for the boys " along with a plate of chocolate biscuits!

“Well” said Bill around a mouthful of biscuit “Everything seems to be in order”, Veronica nodded her agreement and smiled widely.  She stood and said to Bill that she’s pop out and organize the paperwork for the boys to sign, and left the room.
“OK boys” said Bill “What we need to do now is go through some of the other interesting parts of the Will, because there are a few things you need to know” he paused and had a sip of coffee “The Will states that when you take ownership of the Property, it must remain in its current usage for a further 10 years before you can change it.  So that means that you can’t build a house, or divide it up in to separate Properties until after that time - make sense?” he looked at the boys smiling.  The boys nodded and he continued “And the other interesting thing is that the Will requests that the new Owner or Owners re-use as much of the items currently located on the property as possible, will you be able to do that?”
“Yes!” said the boys together smiling.

Veronica came back into the room holding some papers, she showed each of the boys where to sign, and then told them that they’d each get a copy of the documents in the mail which they needed to keep very safe, with the help of their parents.  Everybody shook hands again and they all trooped out of the office.
“Wow you guys” said John’s Mum “This has been such an amazing day so far already!  I think we need a celebration - who’s ready for a burger and fries?”
“Me, me!” the boys chorused, and they walked a little further up the road and had a delicious lunch, the boys excitedly talking about getting the go-carts finished.

It was still only early afternoon by the time they’d eaten their lunch, and everyone agreed that after a quick change of clothes they would gather back at the ‘Dump’ with some cleaning and gardening equipment and rubbish bags, so they could spend the rest of the day there getting it tidied up a bit, now that they were legally allowed to be there.  

John, Moana and Moana’s Dad looked through the pile of parts the boys had gathered for the go-carts, and began making a list of what other things they needed.  Moana and John’s Mum’s began pulling the weeds out from around and in between the piles, filling the rubbish bags as they went.  It made it a lot easier for John and Moana to look through the piles for the things on the list. Every now and then Moana's Mum would grab her camera and take photos of their progress.

Flynn with his Mum and Dad spent some time in the shed looking for tools that they could use, while sweeping out piles of dust and dirt.  They found an assortment of wrenches and spanners, some hammers, saws and screwdrivers.  There were jars with nuts and bolts, nails and washers, all the little bits you’d expect to find in a workshop.  Flynn opened a drawer in the workbench and found a stack of blueprint drawings for a small wind turbine, and a solar panel, just as his Dad pulled the cover off another pile on the floor in the shed " revealing all the parts for both!  They had a power-supply they could use while they got the electricity reconnected!  Flynn and his Dad immediately looked around for the best place to get both set-up, while Flynn’s Mum started getting all the tools organized into piles, and put all the old newspapers and rags into bags for the recycling bin.

By 5.00pm everyone had made great progress and it was time to take a break.  Flynn and his Dad showed the others the large space around the far side of the shed that they’d cleared of undergrowth so they could put together the wind turbine.  They’d also found an old ladder and worked out the best spot on the roof for the large solar panel, then cleared the dirt and leaves from track for the shed doors and re-oiled them.  Inside the shed Flynn’s Mum had cleared and swept a big enough area for the boy’s bikes and school bags, and had swept and tidied the workbenches and all the tools were in neat piles.  John, Moana and his Dad pointed to the much larger pile of parts they now had to make the go-carts, and had assembled two more sets of wheels and axles.  Everyone was amazed at how much wider the paths between the closest piles were now that John and Moana’s Mum had cleared the weeds.  They were all tired and grubby, but very pleased with themselves; it was time to head home for some rest.  They agreed to go back again the next night, to all help with getting the wind turbine put together and connect up the solar panel.

At school the next day the boys found it hard not to mention the ‘Dump’, especially when a few of their friends asked them where they were the day before!  They had decided to keep it all a secret until everything was finished.  They were all pretty excited about their progress and couldn’t wait to get back there and help get the wind turbine and solar panel done.

Back at the ‘Dump’ in the early evening, with everyone working as a team, they assembled the wind turbine quickly and cheered when there was enough of a breeze for it to turn the blades slowly.  Then they moved onto the solar panel, following the instruction blueprints and the guidance of Flynn’s Dad, they got that set up and working too.  Between the wind turbine and the solar panel they had enough power to run the lights in the shed!  It was another achievement they could all be proud of.  It had started to get dark, and even though they now had lights, it was the end of another big day and they were again tired, but happy.  Time to head home.

It was another 3 weekends later that everyone was free and able to head back to work at the 'Dump'.  Each weekend that the group were able to get together they cleared, tidied and assembled a little bit more.  The electricity had been reconnected at the end of the first week, and that meanst that Moana's Dad could bring his welder with him and put together the frames for the go-carts.  He was also able to patch-up the mangled gates out by the road and attach a new "Private Property - Keep out" sign.  The weekends flew by for the boys, who helped assemble the steering, throttle and foot pedals, they even got to help with the brakes, and were amazed at all the different parts they needed and how everything went together.

Also by this time the boy’s Mums had cleared what seemed like miles of paths in between the piles of stuff, they had even found enough old tires to place around the base of each pile in case of a crash.  It was looking amazing, so much better then when the boys first found the ‘Dump’!

Late Sunday afternoon when everyone was preparing to head home Moana’s Mum said to the boys “Have you boys thought about giving this place a name?”  The boys looked at each other shrugged “We just call it ‘The Dump’ said John, Flynn and Moana nodding their agreement.  Moana’s Mum smiled “Fair enough” she said.