This episode introduces us to the other King family sibling: Hetty, Alec, and Olivia's brother Roger- Andrew's father. As we learned in the pilot episode, he's a geologist who's been on an expedition in Brazil, which is why Andrew has been living at King farm. Roger has written saying that he's coming home which makes Andrew really happy. Always a conscientious student, he redoubles the time he spends working on his rock collection, hoping to impress his father when he arrives. Even more excited is Hetty, who has always doted on Roger. She starts planning a reception to celebrate his return to the Island. Alec is happy for Andrew's sake but seems a little less than excited for his younger brother's return. Meanwhile, local farmer Amos Spry, never very financially stable, is in danger of losing his farm after he breaks his arm and is unable to work his potato fields. Ever a good neighbour, Alec offers to help him with his harvest and further, guarantees Amos' loan with the bank using the King family trust account. Roger arrives and it's a bit sick-making, watching Hetty fawn over him. Andrew wishes to spend time with his father, but Roger tells him that he's too busy with work right now, much to Andrew's disappointment. Roger does however find time to go about the farm and criticise the way Alec runs it. He says that the farm could be making a lot more profit if Alec would modernise by buying a milking machine, for example. Alec points out that they aren't running a dairy farm- they only have two cows. And, he adds, the milking machines on the market are still in their early stage of development, are expensive, and prone to a variety of problems. Hetty, who thinks that Roger can do no wrong, backs him up as he tells Alec that, since they all share in the profits from the farm, it's only right that they should be concerned that it's being run efficiently. Alec, being a better sibling than I would be under similar circumstances, refrains from pointing out that neither Roger nor Hetty actually does any work on the farm. The two of them disregard Alec's wishes and order a milking machine without telling him. When Hetty's not party planning, she's having Andrew come to Rose Cottage to look at his father's old school reports and listen to tales of Roger's scholastic triumphs. Scintillating stuff. Andrew enjoys it though, as he's very proud of his father. Hetty also gives him grandfather King's fishing basket to keep his rock collection in. The problem is, Grandfather King had, before he died, promised Felix- who loves to fish- that he would be given the basket on his 10th birthday. He's very upset when he finds out that Aunt Hetty has cavalierly given it to Andrew who isn't even using it for fishing. His resentment over this is exacerbated when Andrew doesn't get his chores done because he's at Rose Cottage, and Hetty airily tells Felix to do them for him, because Andrew is engaged with more important matters. Alec is having a stressful time of it. He's working two farms, the unwanted milking machine arrives and he refuses to use it, resulting in him being hectored by Roger and Hetty, and there is tension and resentment in the family between both the older and younger generations. We learn that the reason why Roger has a pronounced limp- and spent so much time studying as a child- is because, when he was a baby, a young Alec dropped him and permanently injured his leg. He still resents Alec for this and isn't above casting it up to his brother during an argument. Worst of all, Amos Spry arrives with terrible news: there was a run on the bank, which called all the loans. Because Amos didn't have enough money in his account, the bank took it from the King family trust. Amos feels horribly guilty but Alec, though shocked and dismayed, reassures Amos saying that he has a bumper crop and can pay back the money when he sells it. (To Be Continued...)
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