Episode 690

Extended Summary

Fisher tells Bobby he is going out to do some shopping and into the school to do some rosters. Bobby asks if Fisher is still mad at her and Fisher says he wishes Bobby had been there to enjoy the picnic; however Bobby says she thought it would be nice if he and Patricia spent some time together. Fisher ultimately gets frustrated at Bobby’s attempts at matchmaking and leaves the house.

Sally is talking to Ben and Carly about the goat. Ben tells Sally that by feeding the goat only the best, they’ll get the best from her and they leave to feed her. Steven comes downstairs with some clothes that need ironing. Pippa tells Steven that she’s bought him shoe polish and she wants him to pack it before he forgets. Steven asks why he needs shoe polish before going for a last sight-seeing trip around Summer Bay. Bobby comes around and gives Carly her pay. Carly leaves for her final shift at the diner and Bobby asks Pippa if she wants to go down to the beach. Pippa reminisces over the four years that Steven has spent with the family and how she’s going to miss him. Ben tries to sell to Carly the benefits of the goat, before unsuccessfully attempting to milk her.

Steven walks around the school, whilst words of dialogue from Dodge, Andrew and Grant are heard echoing around his head. He picks up a textbook from an open locker and flicks through it.

Back at the Fletcher house, Pippa and Bobby talk about Steven’s upcoming departure and how Pippa’s foster children are marching out in the big world. She asks Pippa if she regretted fostering and Pippa replies not for one moment and that’s made her life worthwhile.

Steven is still at the school, with words of dialogue echoing around his head when Fisher arrives. Fisher asks how he got in and Steven says there’s a secret entrance. Fisher is keen to learn about this secret entrance for the security of the school, but Steven is evasive before he talks about he’s moving on. They talk about a passage Fisher once recited from the bible and that Steven now believes he understands what it means. Fisher leaves him be and goes to his office.

Ben continues to unsuccessfully milk the goat. Sally and Carly convince him to let Sally have a go at milking her. Inside Bobby and Pippa are looking at old photos before Sally comes into, having also been unsuccessful at milking the goat. Pippa says she’ll go and have a try at milking the goat.

Fisher and Steven walk along a corridor talking about Steven’s upcoming departure. Steven then admits that he was the one that had let loose a possum in Fisher’s office a few years previously before telling Fisher that he is a very good teacher and he owes him a lot. Fisher wishes him luck at University and he leaves.

At home, Bobby looks at a photo and unfolds a letter, before picking up the phone. She then hears Fisher arriving home and hangs up. Fisher spots the Fletcher family photo and talks about they can feel proud of how Steven has turned out. Bobby mentions that Pippa got a lot out of bringing Steven up as well.

Carly serves Ben a milkshake whilst Alf brings some deliveries to the diner. Ben follows Alf into the kitchen, asking if he does any farming magazines. Ben says that he might get a few more animals, but Alf says he’s just making himself a lot of work.

Pippa and Sally successfully milk the goat and come up with a plan to trick Ben.

At the diner, Ailsa catches Bobby daydreaming and they talk about her return to work the following day. Bobby is unsure about whether all her life is going to amount to will be serving customers at the diner and that she wants more from life. Carly shouts something to Ailsa and Bobby quickly leaves. Steven and Carly talk, and Steven mentions that he won’t be getting back to Summer Bay often (possibly not until mid-1995)

The following morning, the Fletcher’s are at breakfast. Pippa frets about making sure everything is a-OK for Steven’s departure whilst Sally fusses over Ben eating his breakfast. One he finally takes a mouthful, he thinks the milk is off, before Sally reveals that Pippa had shown her how to milk the goat and that’s actually the goats milk he is eating.

At Fisher’s, Bobby tries to stop her father his breakfast at home and to come to the diner instead.

At the Fletcher’s, Pippa gives Steven a bank book where she and Tom had been saving five pounds a week so that Steven had some money behind him. They go down to the bus stop where Carly, Ben, Sally and Pippa wave him goodbye.

Bobby has gathered Fisher, Alf and Ailsa together at the diner and announces that she has decided that she wants to be a foster mother. She expects them to be pleased, but they are shocked and taken aback by her decision and are worried whether she is making the right decision. She storms out saying nothing will make her change her mind.