Chapter 11

Step and Sad had still not reached the end of their long day but watching Ruth spinning had been informative and interesting, not so much for what she did but what she said. The hour of prayer and contemplation was coming up and Sad hoped it would be a good opportunity for a sleep.  Everyone was gathering in a sunny area at the front of the house, sitting cross-legged on the grass with eyes closed.  For a whole hour Step and Sad had time to think about their situation.  Step considered the possibility of staying with Jehovah’s Children.  So far it seemed a pleasant lifestyle and all the grown-ups were friendly and smiled a lot. Ruth showed another side of the community, where people were made to do things against their will.  He would reserve judgment until he was here for a few more days.

Sad was too tired to think for long.  The combination of late afternoon spring sunshine and the effort of turning cream into butter had made him very sleepy so he slowly drooped forward until his forehead touched the ground.  He dreamed he was in a large house with all the other orphans.  Looking out the window he could see the waves crashing onto the rocks below.  In his dream he was happy and excited.  Step woke him up to tell him they were going to dinner.

“What do you think about staying here?” asked Step.

Sad’s head was still filled with his wonderful dream. “I’m sure we will get another place to live.  I want to go back to the other orphans and Nurse Smiley and Mr Scott our teacher.  I want to go to school and know what’s going on in the world. Most of all I don’t want to be forced to get married to some girl.  Ugh!”

The dining room was like a cafeteria, with trays, plates and cutlery at one end and food in metal trays for them to choose from.  One boy exclaimed, “Gluten steak tonight!”

Step looked in surprise when he heard the word “steak”.  Maybe they ate some meat here after all.  He speared a piece onto his plate along with some mashed potato, cabbage and pumpkin.

Moses began his pre-dinner prayer. “We thank you Lord for this food you have provided for us.  For our gluten steaks, made in our own kitchen from wheat grown in our own paddocks, potatoes and pumpkins grown in our own vegetable garden and cabbage from last summer which we have bottled and preserved to keep us from scurvy in the long winter.”

Although it was chewy, Sad found the gluten steak was a change from bread and cheese.  He hoped there would be dessert and there was.  Apple crumble with apples from the orchard and crumble from the ground wheat with a dollop of cream from the dairy.

Bible study was interesting as they were given readers roughly suitable for their age group.  For Step it was easy although Sad struggled a bit with some of the words.  To Sad’s delight the story they were studying that evening was about Noah and the Flood. However, when he reached a part that said the dinosaurs were too slow to get on the boat and that is why they died out, he put up his hand.  “Excuse me, that is wrong.  The dinosaurs lived a long time before there were any people on the earth.  It is thought that a meteor hitting the earth caused the destruction of the dinosaurs.”

The teacher at the front of the room smiled although it was through gritted teeth.

“Sad, we believe that God created all the animals and man in six days, so they were all on this earth together until the Great Flood.  It tells us that in the Bible, which is the Word of God.  It is not our place to dispute the Blessed Word of God.”

“But…. Ow!” Sad was suddenly silent when Step kicked him under the table.  Maybe he had better be quiet.

He couldn’t help himself, however.

“Excuse me, Brother Jacob (that was the teacher’s name), exactly how many animals were on the ark?  It couldn’t have been every animal in the world, could it?  What about Polar Bears?  They only live in the ice and snow.  Were they on the Ark?”

Brother Jacob just nodded his head. “The Bible says it was every animal of God’s Creation.”

“Except the dinosaurs,” replied Sad.

“Except the dinosaurs,” repeated Brother Jacob.  His smile was looking very forced.

Next day after morning prayers and breakfast the boys reported to Moses. Instead of giving them a sheet of instructions he called someone into his office.  It was Ruth, smiling broadly.

“I have asked Ruth to show you around all the work activities today so we can decide more quickly what you are suited to.  We might as well get you working as soon as possible.”

Ruth took them to the hen house where children were collecting the eggs.  She also pointed out other children who were collecting loose feathers to be used in pillows and cushions.  The bee hives were well away from the house and they were told that not only honey came from the bees but also the wax which could be used for candles.  There was a mill where the wheat was crushed to be made into flour and vegetable gardens where people young and not so young were digging, weeding and planting. In some paddocks there were sheep, and others showed signs of being recently ploughed, waiting for crops of wheat, oats and barley to be planted.  Everyone they saw smiled merrily at them so that Step finally asked Ruth why everyone was so happy.

“They are not really happy,” said Ruth bitterly.  “They have been instructed to show they always have the Joy of the Lord in them.  If you stop smiling you get sent to a Pastor who punishes you until you start smiling again.”

“What sort of punishment do people get and have you ever been punished?” Sad asked fearfully.

“Oh, I’ve been punished lots of times.  Now I just go along with what they want, meanwhile making my own plans for escape.”

“But what do they do to you?” insisted Sad.

“They lock you up in a small, dark room with no bed and no blankets.  They only give you one glass of water a day and no food.  You get so bored you beg to be let out.  Meanwhile you must promise not to tell anyone where you have been, or why.”

The second last place they visited was the vast kitchen where they admired rows of jars with gold-coloured lids. “This is where all our summer fruit and vegetables are preserved.  That keeps us going throughout the winter.  We cut up the produce, put it in a jar, put the lid on and then boil it in a large pot filled with water for hours.  That kills all the germs and the food keeps throughout the winter. It gets very hot here in the summer with the stove alight all the time so we try to do as much as we can outside in the shade.”

Ruth looked at the boys. ”I have to make a recommendation for your chosen labour but I have one more place to show you.  I think you will find it interesting.”

They walked over to a large wooden shed. Ruth knocked three times on the door and waited while a voice called out, “All right, I’m coming, I’m coming.”

The old man who opened the door wasn’t smiling.  He didn’t even pretend to be happy, but he ushered the children and Ruth into the shed and then went back to what he was doing.  He was working on some shoes, fixing the soles which had large holes in them.

Step looked around the shed.  It was full of every imaginable kind of junk.  Maybe some of it wasn’t junk but you couldn’t tell because there was so much of it.

Ruth waved her hand around the shed. “This is all the worldly goods donated by people who have joined “Jehovah’s Children”. Isaiah here has a huge job trying to sort through it all.  For example, look at all the shoes!  He goes through them all and fixes anything that needs mending.  Once things are in good working order they go to the Sunday Thanks Giving where people who have worked well during the week are given rewards.  Of course, we don’t give out a wireless set because we don’t have any electricity and we are forbidden to find out about the world outside.”

“So, there could be a War,” exclaimed Sad, “and you wouldn’t know about it!”

“Moses would know,” said Ruth.  “He has a wireless in his room which runs on batteries so he would know if another country invaded Australia.”

“Would you like to help Isaiah?” said Ruth.  “He needs help sorting out all the donations and no one else wants to do it.”

“Does Isaiah want us to help him?” asked Step, wondering if the cranky old man needed two small children around him.

“I reckon you’re from outside, so you might be more use than the dingbats who live in this nut house,” replied Isaiah. “Crazy, the lot of them.  It’s all smiley, smiley and daggers behind your back.  I’m having none of them.”

Sad wondered why Isaiah didn’t get put into solitary confinement but decided now was not the time to ask.  He looked at Step, who nodded.  This was as good a place as any to work and it might be fun.  Who knows what they would find!

From then on life began to take on a familiar routine.  The boys found Isaiah was not as unpleasant as they first thought.  They had long discussions about various items found on the shelves of the shed, what could be useful and what was just rubbish.

“I need to get rid of all the junk,” said Isaiah. “What I need is a big hole in the ground to put it all in so I could have some room in me shed.”

The days flew by until it was Sunday.  Step and Sad were not looking forward to a day of fasting but Ruth told them to keep some bread and cheese from their meals to nibble on that day. “Everybody does it,” she said.

Step was looking forward to the Thanks Giving Service. This was to be held after Church in the little chapel beside the farmhouse.  At one end of the chapel was a stage and on the stage were all sorts of interesting items which Step and Sad had helped Isaiah choose the week before.

The most useful things were chairs and tables, beds, mattresses, sheets and pillows.  There were lots of kitchen items but of course they didn’t include anything that ran on electricity so the shed was still full of toasters, electric jugs, heaters, hairdryers, refrigerators and washing machines.

At the end of a boring church service Moses walked to the front with a list of names.  He smiled and announced that there were ten hard workers who would be given their choice of item from the stage.  The first person named was Saul, who had prepared all the paddocks for planting with the help of a plough and their one draft horse.  He and his wife Mary walked to the front and chose a large wooden double bed complete with mattress.  It would have to stay there until tomorrow as no work was allowed until the Sabbath was over.

The next person named was Sarah, who had milked the cows every morning and made 50 pats of butter.  She chose a table with four matching chairs and looked very pleased with herself.

Moses looked up with a beaming smile and said, “I am pleased to announce that our next recipient is soon to be married.  Esau, you have chopped down 20 trees in the last week and cut them all up into firewood ready for next winter. Would you like to bring your future wife, Ruth to the front and choose your gift from God.”

Step and Tear looked with interest at Esau, Ruth’s future husband.  He appeared much older than her but he didn’t look particularly evil.  As the couple walked to the front Esau took Ruth’s hand but she withdrew it sharply.  It was obvious to all that she didn’t like Esau one little bit.  He looked at her and asked what she would like.  She shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes. 

Moses spoke quickly to recover the situation. “Let us all show our joy in the future union of our two Children of Jehovah.  God has chosen these two to be together and I know that once they are married, they will grow to love each other.”

Esau chose an axe and a saw while Ruth stared grimly out of the window.  He didn’t look at his future wife and seemed embarrassed by the whole situation, as well he might.

It was two weeks later, while Step and Sad were working in the shed, that Ruth came to the door to tell them Moses wanted to see them.  Sad had been keeping his head down and his mouth shut so he wondered if he was in trouble.  Step was also thinking back over the last week to see if he had broken any of the rules.

Moses was looking very serious and for once was not smiling.

“I have some news from your Matron, who telephoned me this morning.”

Moses has a telephone?  I wonder how that works way out here? thought Step.

“Apparently there is a new home for the orphanage.  It is a big, old house near the sea which has been bequeathed to the orphans by an elderly lady who only recently went to live with the Heavenly Father.”

Sad looked up in astonishment.  It seems as if his dream from two weeks ago was actually coming true.

“Although much work has to be done to it, Matron wants all the orphans to return so they can help with the repairs and renovations.  It looks as though you will be leaving in the Land Rover tomorrow, unless you want to stay?”

Step looked Moses in the eye. “Sir, I feel it is our duty to report to the new orphanage and help where we can, despite the wonderful time we have had with Jehovah’s Children.  I would like you to accept our sincere appreciation of all you have done for us.”

“Well, that’s that,” Moses sighed.  “You’ll be off at dawn tomorrow.”

END OF CHAPTER 11