Out Of Reach

“So, the stupid old bugger just got married, did he?”

Kevin threw down the letter in disgust. Slowly shaking his head, he reached for the kettle and the coffee.

Charles Bradshaw was his late father’s brother and he and Kevin had always been close. Even more so in recent years, since Kevin’s father had passed away. The two of them often spent Kevin’s annual holidays in each other’s company; out fishing, at the footy, down at the pub, playing tennis, either in Melbourne, Australia where Charles lived, or in Kevin’s home town of Taupo, New Zealand.

Despite the difference in age, they were great mates. Well, not any more, Kevin mused. He’s gone and married some fortune-hunting bimbo and he could just see all the good times going down the drain.

Kevin had put in for some vacation time and his uncle had arranged to join him for some well-earned R & R. Charles was a stock broker and even though he was in his early sixties, he still followed the markets with avid devotion. Up all hours at night, sleeping through the day until the international markets reopened. Seven days a week. The poor old sod needed some downtime, Kevin thought. He had intended to play tour guide for Charles and give him a good time to distract him from his endless worship of the flashing numbers. Let the old fellow wind down.

That is, until Kevin received this stunning news. It was like a bolt out of the blue.

Married?

He knew Charles did a bit of dating, got himself onto some of those apps, though he did meet a few like-minded women in his line of business, as well. He was a good catch too, for a gold-digger. Charles had stashed away a modest fortune during his career, and he had that grizzled, older gentleman look with just a few character lines on his face, greying temples and a surprising amount of hair for an old guy. He had also kept in reasonable shape, with some expensive tennis club and golf memberships.

There had been a story about Charles being engaged in his younger years, back before Kevin was even born. But apparently that alliance petered out and his uncle had remained unmarried all these years.

Kevin could relate to that philosophy. His mates from school, dropping off one after another, had succumbed to the allure of family life. Forsaking Kevin and the good times for the yoke of marital bliss, the nappies, the nagging, and always struggling to make ends meet. Little Johnny needs braces, little Gracie wants a pony, little Donald was a gifted child and needed more resources, little Donna was allergic to – everything – and needed specialist care.

No thanks.

Kevin was enjoying his freedom to indulge his whims and follow his interests just fine, thank you very much. For the meantime anyway. Plenty of time in the future to ‘settle down’, if the urge came upon him.

He checked the letter for his uncle’s flight number then dropped it back onto the dining table.

“Eleven o’clock on Saturday morning. Great, and he’s bringing the missus,” Kevin snorted. He dropped his coffee cup into the sink and contemplated the pile of greasy dishes for a moment. Time to wash-up he conceded and he reached for the dish wash liquid. He ran the water until it was warm and got stuck into sorting out the day’s pile of soiled crockery and cutlery, and the frying pan he had used for the lamb chops.

How was he going to entertain some middle-aged step-aunty for the next month? She was going to spoil all the fun he and Charles usually shared. Bloke’s stuff. That was going to ruin their fishing trips for a starter. He knew how older women nagged and reshuffled everybody’s routine to suit themselves.

He had watched his mother reign over their family gatherings back when his father was alive. Kevin’s older sister, Pippa, would visit for a catch-up. She was a foreign correspondent and very rarely at home. She and Kevin had grown apart, not really sharing many interests anymore. Time and distance had dulled any semblance of companionship they had once enjoyed as children. Their mother always dictated the family get-togethers, mostly to suit what she wanted. Kevin and Pippa went along with her demands to keep the peace but Kevin didn’t really look forward to those ordeals, even if they were, thankfully, rather infrequent.

Still, Kevin had to admit that he loved his mother and put up with her shenanigans because, well, she was Mum. She had taken it badly when his father passed away nearly four years ago, just after Kevin’s twenty-fifth birthday. Pippa came back and gave her support which Kevin was grateful for, because he struggled to soothe his mother’s grief on his own. Uncle Charles had flown in from Melbourne, too, for the funeral, offering solace and sympathy to his bereaved sister-in-law.

Kevin was pleased that his mother had been making attempts recently to carve out a new purpose in life. She was enjoying volunteering for worthy causes and it made her feel needed again. He made a mental note to give her a call. Maybe tomorrow.

Kevin tidied up before retreating to the patio. He was determined to swallow his disappointment over the shambles his holiday plans had become. Look on the bright side, was his motto. But it was a struggle to find one.

He took a glass of Bourbon out with him and sat, preoccupied with his thoughts, as he absorbed the welcome solace of the evening. His little bungalow occupied a property overlooking Lake Taupo. With a clear sky tonight, stars twinkled on the lake’s dark, glassy surface reflecting the immensity of the Milky Way until you could believe that there really wasn’t a huge lake in front of you at all, just the vast infinity of the universe laid out before you.

Was that Ursa Major? Or was it the Southern Cross? Like he had on other nights just like this one, Kevin resolved once again to study astronomy. Well, at least the basics anyway.

The lake was a mystical marvel and she kept many closely-guarded secrets. Kevin always enjoyed spending time out on her waters, and he was looking forward to getting out there with Charles. While Taupo was quite an unsophisticated little town it was an international tourist magnet. In the holiday season the town’s population nearly doubled and there was a lot of activity on the lake. The place was known around the world for its magnificent, freshwater rainbow trout and so many other stunning natural wonders throughout the region.

By day, across the great expanse of the lake, he could make out the imposing outlines of the three active volcanos clustered at the south end of the lake. They still rumbled and even vented their fury at unpredictable moments. On one of them, Mount Ruapehu, was an internationally rated ski resort, where locals and tourists could indulge in a wide variety of winter sports. Every year, Kevin enjoyed snowboarding and skiing down its slopes but being an active volcano, it made winter sports both dangerous and exciting.

The Three Sisters featured prominently in local folklore dating back centuries, that told of their sacred connection with the lake. Looking out from his patio tonight, they were invisible, shrouded in darkness, but their glamour and mystery persisted. Kevin knew they were there; crouching cold, brooding and implacable.

Aside from the lake and the Three Sisters, Taupo had even more ways to astound sightseers and provide nail-biting adventure and peril for life and limb. There was white-water jet-boating down thrilling rapids, and surrounding the town were valleys plastered with multi-colored mud, full of geothermal marvels like bubbling hot pools and magnificent geysers, unmatched by anywhere else in the world. Well, except maybe Yellowstone National Park.

Although Kevin’s aging bungalow was nothing fancy, his block of land located as it was so close to the lake was worth a great deal. He had firmly resolved to one day rustle up the finance to demolish the current house and build something more worthy of the view. And a boat. It was his life’s ambition to own a beautiful clipper, sleek and sexy. Then he could spend more time on the lake, maybe even become a tour guide in the holiday season. He certainly knew the area very well.

Kevin whiled away his Thursday evening with a couple of Bourbons and his plans to ditch his day job and become a tour guide, showing wealthy middle-aged Americans around the best fishing spots, and many of the other local tourist attractions.

Something to aspire to, he told himself. A lad could dream.

While he sat and contemplated what could be, the starry firmament glittered provocatively off the surface of the lake, as if to urge him on to realise his goals.

The lake looked calm and peaceful but Kevin knew she could be a harsh mistress. Tales were told among the locals, reaching as far back as the first nation’s people of the deep lake’s capricious moods and her hidden perils. She could be a trap for the unwary. But Kevin was wary, and he well knew she could also be the mistress of fortune for those willing to master the risks.

****

Kevin wanted to enjoy the serenity of the quiet evening. The moon sparkled on the water and the night birds were calling. The night was almost still but from time to time, a tiny breeze ruffled his hair. Although he could be a party animal, the life of the party, there were times when he treasured his solitude. He could be at one with nature, contemplating the meaning of life’s complexities before chilling out as the Bourbon lulled his senses into a golden morass of contented acceptance. C’est La Vie.

However, tonight contentment eluded him. He couldn’t keep his thoughts from returning to the pending arrival of his visitors from Melbourne, and his mellow mood changed to something more disturbing.

What was his uncle thinking? How could they enjoy all their usual pursuits with a wife hanging around? What if she was one of those clingy, whining types? God forbid. Four weeks of nagging; he knew for sure he would struggle to keep his cool.

His mind turned to ways he could offload his new aunty and have Charles to himself. Perhaps he could dump her on his mother, they would surely be about the same age. Middle-aged ladies loved to gossip about their menfolk, play bingo and go shopping, didn’t they? There wasn’t much of a shopping center in Taupo, essentially it was a small country town. So, they could pack the ladies off to Rotorua for the day when they wanted to amuse themselves and that would keep them out of the way. Sure.

Kevin allowed himself a smile. That sounded like a dastardly plan!