Things didn’t get off to a good start, nor did they get any better over the 3 days he stayed at the farm. Success had gone to George’s head, and he made no bones about the money he earned. This went down like a lead balloon with Henry who was so close to bankruptcy it wasn’t funny. It rained heavily on the second day of his visit, and the landscape turned into a sea of mud, ash and stumps. George was appalled at how basic the house was and the terrible state of the so-called farm. He tried to persuade Henry to chuck it in and join him up in Auckland, nearly getting punched for his trouble. By the time they left on horseback to get back to his car, they were barely on speaking terms. But despite everything, George loved his brother, and after they had managed to get the car started and unstuck, he did his best to make things right. “Henry.” he said, “If you ever need a cash injection just write me a letter. The money’s just sitting in the bank, and you’re welcome to borrow some.”
Henry looked daggers at him, his lips a thin white slit. Seizing the reigns of George’s mount, he spun round and rode off without so much as a word.
They were hard times, and things were about to get worse.
As the 1920’s came to a close, life on the farm was tough and the great depression was about to make things worse. Henry was under constant stress, and Rebecca and the children were on edge whenever he was at home. Things came to a head when the government inspector came to the farm to check up on progress and no one was home. Henry had taken the family to town to buy some basic supplies with the last of their money, which proved to be a terrible mistake. One of the conditions for receiving government assistance was for someone to always be present and working on the farm. It was a cruel requirement, as many families lived miles from town and no right-thinking man would allow his young family to travel for days by themselves to get supplies. But the rules were the rules and the inspector duly recorded that they were absent when he visited and their government assistance was forfeited. The letter informing them of this bad news arrived on the same day as a letter from the bank which bluntly stated Henry was in default of his loan and had a month to deposit the required funds or the bank would foreclose. They were completely broke and Henry was ready to explode.
