The Jovian Legacy (27 page)

Hopefully
Fonterra will come to the party,
he muses.

Finally,
they come to a small town teaming with morning shoppers. Jack
remembers the town with fondness, the same one that he and Nick had
biked to. The bank in the centre of town stands out grandly as if
overseeing other buildings dwarfed by its size, and that look like
they are milling around it.

After
the young teller scrutinises Jack’s money he hastily excuses
himself to fetch the manager. An uptight looking man in his forties
emerges from a side office.

“What
can I do for you, Sir?” he asks stiffly.

“I’d
like to exchange some foreign currency please,” Jack replies,
handing him the Egyptian pounds.

The
bank manager’s eyes pop out of his head. “My word, this
is a great amount of money. I’m not sure if we can justify
your needs, Sir,” he states, his demeanour softening yet still
astonished.

“Well,
just as much as you can manage then,” Jack answers casually.
The man gives him a cursory look, takes the money and starts counting
it. With a few calculations in longhand, a telephone call to someone
and a trip out the back, Jack is handed a hundred pounds in brand new
five-pound notes.

“That’s
the best I can do, I’m afraid,” he says, and hands some
leftover Egyptian money back. Jack pockets his money and strolls
out, knowing that the bank manager and everyone else in the bank are
watching him go.

He
is going to have to hitch a ride back again to the old farmhouse. It
doesn’t take long before he is picked up in an old Vanguard by
a dark-featured elderly gentleman who looks, well, Egyptian. Or so
Jack thinks.

Jack
introduces himself to the older man, who says his name is Ari Namet.

How
odd,
he thinks, regarding him.
He wants to know more about him.

It
turns out that Ari isn’t Egyptian, but not far off. He is
Algerian. When he was fourteen, however, his family moved to Egypt
to set up a furniture business. After some years they sensed
political unrest and decided to move their family to a safe place, so
migrated halfway across the world to New Zealand. Of course his
parents are now gone and Ari has a family of his own, and with
grandchildren who have a mixture of Algerian and Kiwi blood. He
shows Jack photos of them. His dark-haired granddaughters are
stunning.

Ari
continues to drive as Jack gawks at the photos.

“So,
where, may I ask, are you heading?” Ari quizzes, lighting up a
cigarette while steering the wheel with his elbows.

“Oh,
up to Okakako Road, but please, don’t let me take you out of
your way.”

“Oh
really, that’s quite all right. I’m actually heading
there myself, to see Arthur Dunlop. He asked me to come by - wants
to purchase a gift for his young son who is having a birthday,”
Ari elaborates.

“Really?
Well, that’s where I’m staying at the moment.
Of
course, it’s Benjamin’s birthday soon,” Jack
utters, remembering his father’s birthdate.

“So,
you are staying with the Dunlops? Ah, well, at least you won’t
have to hitch another ride,” Ari smiles. Jack notices how
yellow his teeth are.

“So,
what sort of things do you sell?” he asks, changing the
subject.

“I
sell a wide range of gifts, from toys to furniture,” the
wheeler dealer replies, gesturing towards the rear of the Vanguard.
It is jam-packed with wooden toys and bric-a-brac.

“Of
course I cannot fit the large pieces of furniture in, I have a
catalogue for those. Have a look if you like,” he says,
handing Jack a thick cardboard-bound booklet.

Jack
gazes at the small black and white images depicting beautiful pieces
of furniture. Alongside the photos are the prices.

Man
these are so cheap,
Jack
considers.
He could
have a field day with his hundred pounds.
Never mind the
saddle.

When
they drive up to the house Jack thanks him for the ride and offers to
help take the items inside.

“Yes,
thank you, I would appreciate that,” Mr Namet responds.

Jack
helps Ari place the toys on the kitchen table. Fortunately Benjamin
is having his nap so isn’t in the way. Marjorie takes a liking
to a brightly coloured bumblebee with a cord, and when she pulls it
along the floor it makes a whirring, clicking sound. She thinks Ben
will like it so Arthur puts it aside. Jack’s grandfather also
picks out two wooden windmills, an abacus and a wooden truck. He
thinks the rattles are a bit young for Benjamin now.

Jack
spots something in the catalogue that he takes a fancy to - a
beautiful oak chest of drawers. The price is twenty pounds; a
princely sum in those days. He buys it wondering how he is going to
transport it back home.

What
the heck
.

After
Ari had packed up his wares and left, Arthur asks Jack to join him in
the other room.

“I
want you to see something else I purchased,” he quietly tells
him, pulling an object out of a drawer and placing it on the
sideboard.

“I
bought this for Benjamin as well, although I’m not going to
give it to him yet. When he’s older I will. Mr Namet said it
is called a lucky box or something,” Arthur states.

Jack’s
eyes grow wide. He is dumbstruck.

“A
Lucre Box,” he says in a stifled voice.

“Pardon
me?”

“It’s
a Lucre Box!” Jack replies rather loudly, a shiver running up
his spine.

“Oh,
I see. You seem to know what it is. Mr Namet said it will bring him
discovery,” he adds, snickering. “I just thought it would
make a nice little box for his small toys. It’s very old
apparently.”

Jack’s
heart is pounding. “Yes, totally.”

Now
I can go home! Fancy this happening!
He
inhales deeply, trying to calm himself, feeling so incredibly
relieved.

He
eats his dinner in silence. He studies each member of the family and
knows that this will be the last time he’ll be with them, the
last time he will see his father as a baby. His racing thoughts are
popped when his grandmother speaks.

That,
I will not miss,
he reckons,
smirking to himself.

“That
lucky box thing you got for Benjamin - I don’t like it, it
looks evil,” she growls. “I don’t like the idea of
giving it to him.”

“It’s
just a box, Margaret,” Arthur argues meekly, “he can put
his small toys in it.”

“He’s
too young for small toys!” she snaps at him.

“I’m
not giving it to him yet,” Jack’s grandfather patiently
explains to his disgruntled wife. “When he’s older I
will.”

“And
when he’s older I’m going to give him my soldier set,”
his brother Bill chips in.

“Humph!”
she says and focuses on her dinner again.

That’s
right!
remembers Jack. His
father had been given a Lucre Box as a boy but his parents hadn’t
kept it because his mother thought it was evil.

Looks
like she won this battle,
he
grins to himself.

M
egan
and his parents were becoming very concerned indeed. He had been in
this state for two days now and his face was taking on an ashen
colour, even though an intravenous tube had been inserted. The
medics were providing round the clock care, and kept assuring them
that Jack was doing well. The thing that scared Megan, however, was
that they couldn’t tell them when Jack would come round.

How
would they know anyhow,
she
thought.

Megan
took hold of Jack’s hand and kissed him.

“Please
come home,” she whispered in his ear, “we love you.”

Nancy
and Ben hugged her. The three had become close over the trauma.
Refreshments were brought in for them. None felt like eating, but
forced themselves anyway. The food tasted good, and the
non-alcoholic drinks immediately relaxed them.

It
was the same drink that Megan had been given when she was angry about
being held against her will by Sobek’s brother and his team.

J
ack
now wants to cherish his last moments with his family and asks if
they can all sit around the fire in the living room that night and
chat. He announces that he will be leaving in the morning at first
light and returning to the South Island. They are surprised, their
expressions changing to sadness. All except his grandmother. And
Benjamin who is too young to understand. He dribbles and grins at
Jack innocently.

That
night Jack has a chat with each of the boys, getting to know them;
his uncles. He has Benjamin on his lap, cuddling him and whispering
in his ear that it won’t be the last time they will see each
other.

“Just
a little differently,” he says quietly to his baby father.

Marjorie
is a sweetie, appearing quite upset about Jack’s impending
departure. They have some good laughs as Arthur tells a number of
interesting stories. It takes Jack by surprise, as he didn’t
think his grandfather would be such a storyteller.

He
then remembers his large purchase that day, of the chest of drawers.
It is going to take three weeks for it to be delivered. He decides
to give it to the family, telling them it is a gift in appreciation
of their hospitality. They are delighted, his grandmother even
thanking him.

When
everyone has gone to bed, Jack lies there for a good couple of hours
to make sure everyone is asleep. He nearly falls asleep as well and
has to force himself to stay awake. When he is certain everyone has
nodded off he steals into the living room and goes over to the
sideboard. He opens the drawer very slowly, finding it stiff and
squeaky. Carefully he takes out the Lucre Box and holds it in both
hands. He reads the inscription on its lid, discerning that it is
the same inscription his one had:

“
Sinestu-ipini-itxaro-ahalguzti.”

He
then witnesses the letters flickering, dull at first then becoming
brighter and more colourful. Jack closes his eyes and whispers the
words of the inscription. He opens his eyes in time to see a bright
green luminous ray of light shoot through the window.

Once
again Jack feels like he is in a gravitational pull then
weightlessness.

Chapter 20

I
t
took a while for Jack to realise where he was. He heard people
talking quietly and felt the warm pressure of someone holding his
hand.

There
was his Megan, his adorable young girlfriend. At first she didn’t
notice Jack had returned because she was talking to Nancy. Nancy saw
first and smiled at him. Jack did a quick squeeze of Megan’s
hand, making her shriek with joy. Exhilaration set in by everyone.

Jack
felt enormous relief while Megan embraced him tightly. Someone had
rung the household, and within a few minutes the girls came flooding
in with Sobek in tow. They jumped all over him in great excitement.

The
medical team carried out an examination and were satisfied Jack was
well enough to return home.

A
large welcome party was awaiting him, the housestaff having quickly
organised a feast. The cooks must have known he would be ravenous.
Jack ate till he couldn’t move. A steaming bath was also
waiting for him.

The
following evening Jack asked his father for some time alone together.

“Dad,
I’d like to tell you about my journey,” he stated,
plumping up the cushions and getting himself comfortable.

“Sure
Son, I’d like to hear where you went. It must’ve been
very interesting because you didn’t want to come home in a
hurry.”

“Draw
up a pew Dad, this is going to take a while,” Jack announced,
grinning inanely. “Oh yeah, it was definitely interesting, it’s
going to knock your socks off.”

“Do
you remember that Lucre Box your father gave you?”

Chapter
21

J
ack
hadn’t forgotten the reason why he’d wanted to escape on
a journey in the first place, the reason why he’d acted
recklessly, typing in a time and date that he didn’t think
would work. He hadn’t forgotten the tall order that had been
requested of him, to return to Earth to introduce genetically
modified foods in order to create a more contented race of people and
extinguish world hatred and greed. And as a result he’d be
rewarded with a significant sum for each of his charges.

He
weighed up the ethics of the situation. It seemed almost hypocritical
to accept such an amount when he was supposed to be fighting world
greed. He had to ask himself what he was doing it for, and needed
some space to rethink things, and this time, he told himself, he had
to act rationally. After all, he had everything here.

Money
is just paper. The girls are going to have a great life anyway.
They don’t need 40,000,000 Egyptian pounds each to live a good
life. But what if something went wrong, and everybody started living
in poverty? The girls might grow up hating me for cheating them out
of a good future just because I couldn’t bear to be away from
them for a few years.