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Character Profiles > Callum Rebecchi Morgan Baker

Callum 'Squid' Rebecchi (né Jones) 2008-2014, 2015
Lived: 30 Ramsay Street, Jones house, Robyn Lovell's farm
Born: 1997
Parents: Sonya Mitchell and Troy Miller
Family Tree: Jones/Mitchell/Lovell/Miller

With his drug addict mum in hospital, young Callum Jones was cared for by his grandparents. Following the death of his grandfather, Callum's sole carer was his gran, Hilda, who also took on cleaning jobs to pay the bills. Through her job cleaning Charlie's bar, Hilda met Steph Scully, and when Steph's friend Toadie's plans to adopt fell through, she introduced him to young Callum, who needed a male influence in his life. Though Toadie was upset with Steph's interference, he quickly bonded with Callum over their shared love of wrestling. Later that day, as Toadie dropped Callum home and nobody answered the door, they were alarmed to find Hilda collapsed in the back garden, having suffered a stroke. At the hospital, Toadie explained to Callum that his gran would be in hospital for a while, so he'd have to come and stay with him and his housemate Dan Fitzgerald.

Though Toadie was happy to have Callum to stay, work soon took up his time and he was forced to leave his new charge in the care of neighbour Susan Kinski. With Susan having recently suffered an MS relapse, Callum was annoyed at being left with the 'spaco' but, after a firm dressing down from Toadie, he agreed to stay. As a game of Monopoly got underway, Callum became bored and frustrated, so Susan suggested going for a walk, stubbornly deciding not to use her new walking stick. After walking to the park, Susan needed to sit down for a moment but as she rested, she briefly fell asleep and as she regained her composure she realised that Callum had vanished. As she walked across the park looking for him, Susan eventually collapsed and, realising that her phone wasn't in her bag, she struggled to call for help but was then found by her stepchildren Zeke and Rachel. At the hospital, Susan explained what had happened, while Toadie and Steph soon found Callum on the ward where his gran was staying. Toadie took Callum to apologise to Susan, and he then produced her phone, claiming that he'd found it in the park.

A few days later and Callum was claiming to feel too sick to go to school, so Toadie agreed to take him along to work. As Callum became bored and started trashing the office, Toadie took him to the General Store for a milkshake but when Toadie went to take a call, waitress Sienna saw Callum about to swipe her iPod. Though he claimed that he was just looking at it, she still told Toadie, who insisted that she'd probably just got the wrong end of the stick. Later, as Toadie and Callum were playing footy in the park, they were joined by Steph but as she kicked the ball, her phone fell from her back pocket and Callum quickly pocketed it. A few days later, Callum, who continued to complain about being too unwell to go to school, was at the Kennedy house being examined by Susan's doctor husband Karl when Steph's phone started ringing in Callum's bag, where they found dozens of other phones, cameras and MP3 players. Callum then admitted that he'd stolen those things to sell them, as he might need the money when his gran dies, but agreed to give them all back to their owners, if Toadie agreed not to call the police. And Toadie assured him that he wouldn't need a back-up plan, as he'd be there to look after him if anything were to happen to his gran.

When Callum found out that Dan's wife Sam had left town suddenly, he became upset and went on a hunger strike. Steph suggested to Toadie that he should 'accidentally' drop some food as he got back from shopping, a plan which worked. Though Toadie was grateful, Steph's new boyfriend, fireman Jay Duncan grew jealous of the time she was spending with her ex. Callum, however, unaware of the tension, was very taken with Jay and his heroic profession and was delighted when Toadie agreed to join the other volunteers clearing the fire paths in the local bushland. Callum was soon causing chaos when he ran into the path of a falling tree and, as Dan pushed him out of the way, his leg was trapped, but this was the least of their problems when a fire broke out and everyone had to make a quick escape, with Toadie driving Callum and Mickey to safety.

As everyone recovered from recent events, Toadie found a new distraction when Nicola West asked him out on a date. Though it was only a plan to stop Nicola's sister Miranda pestering her about her love life, Toadie and Callum enjoyed having Nicola around. Meanwhile, when a lighter was found in Callum's pocket, he suddenly became the number one suspect for starting the bushfire. Though Callum denied ever having seen it before, Steph and Jay weren't convinced. Later, she visited Toadie to explain the discovery, and he was furious at the implication, telling her that he was certain that Callum would never do such a thing. The next day, Toadie and Callum took their minds of it by using water pistols to paint the shed together and, later, once they'd gone inside, Jay came into the back garden and set the shed on fire. When Callum saw the flames, he grabbed a hose and tried to put them out, but it was too late, and even Toadie started to suspect that his new charge had had something to do with the bushfire. He apologised to Steph for not listening to her concerns, and agreed when Jay suggested that they send Callum along to a Fire Intervention Awareness group. As they left the next day, they were ambushed by a journalist and photographer looking for information and later, Toadie went to the Erinsborough News to ask editor Paul Robinson what he thought he was playing at. He explained to Paul that Callum had been declared extremely unlikely to commit an act of arson, and Paul agreed with this assessment, explaining that he believed the arsonist to be someone in the community, and hoped an article pointing the finger at Callum would flush them out. Though Toadie accepted this, he told Paul that he didn't want this plan to be at Callum's expense, so instead an article was run asking for people with information to come forward, offering a reward.

Toadie soon became suspicious of Jay's odd behaviour once the article was published, and he and Nicola did some research, learning that Jay had been the 'hero' in numerous other fires, and was always pictured with a young, blonde single mum afterwards. Aware that Steph was in danger, they tried to warn her but she refused to listen, instead going away with Jay for a weekend in the country. Fortunately, Toadie managed to find the remote cabin just in time to save Steph, and Callum was impressed with the heroic stories, but Steph was struggling to cope, and so Toadie agreed to stay the night at number 32, along with Callum. That night, Callum went to the kitchen only to find Jay standing there. Though Jay told him everything was fine and to go back to bed, Callum kicked him and ran off to tell Toadie but by the time they returned to the kitchen, there was no sign of the intruder. Toadie was sceptical, but Callum insisted it was true and the next day, dressed in camouflage and went off with neighbour Mickey and 6-year-old Ben, the son of Steph's housemate Libby to guard Ramsay Street, while Steph's 2-year-old, Charlie, hid in a cupboard. The missing boys quickly caused Steph and Libby to panic, though they realised that their reasons had been good ones. Later that day, as Toadie and Callum talked through recent events, Jay broke into number 30 and grabbed some scissors from the kitchen, just as Steph realised that it might be Toadie Jay was looking for, and not her. As Callum left to spend the evening at the Kennedy house, Jay appeared to Toadie, just as Steph burst into the house and a tussle began, with Steph falling victim to the scissors. When news of what had happened got back to everyone, Libby and Callum arrived and learnt that Steph was going to be fine, while Toadie apologised for not believing that Callum had seen Jay in number 32's kitchen.

Though now settled in Ramsay Street, Callum soon had to say goodbye to Mickey, who he'd become good friends with, when Mickey's parents, Kirsten and Ned moved to Perth, where Kirsten required urgent medical treatment. And after a few weeks, Callum set up a webcam, so that Mickey could still see and talk to his friends and family in Erinsborough. He soon found something else to occupy his time though, when Nicola moved into number 30. Callum was delighted to have Toadie's gorgeous friend living under the same roof and did his best to impress her, but he took things a step too far when he snooped on her computer and found some sexy photos of her, which he promptly printed off and showed around the school, only to be caught by his teacher, Kelly Katsis. After a visit at home from Kelly, Toadie and Dan were struggling to find a way to punish Callum without having to explain the birds and the bees to him, but in the end, Sienna stepped in and told him that it was fine to look at pictures of attractive ladies, as long as they weren't private photos, like the ones he took from Nicola, before recommending that he look through the junk mail for ladies' underwear catalogues.

Everyone was concerned when news came through that Mickey, who'd been staying with family in Adelaide, had gone missing. A search began, but Callum seemed oddly unphased, and it emerged that he was hiding his young friend in Ramsay Street. It wasn't long before Dan and Toadie came home as someone ran out of the house, and they forced Callum to admit that it was Mickey. As Mickey disappeared again, Callum found himself being blamed for the situation by everyone around him and decided that he had to find his friend, so he headed off to hand out missing posters. With Toadie and Dan hot on his trail, Callum found Mickey alone in the city and ran after him, but it looked like Mickey didn't want to be found. After finally tracking Mickey down, Callum managed to keep him in one place long enough to raise the alarm with Toadie and Dan, who then arrived to take the boys home. Concerned that he was about to be thrown out, due to all the trouble he'd caused, Callum packed his bags, only to be told by Toadie that everyone made mistakes and he was welcome to stay.

When Nicola was involved in a hit and run accident and left in a coma, Callum was worried for his friend, but looked after her dog, Bronte, who had also been hit by the car but had recovered. When Nicola did wake up, she was apparently suffering from amnesia and unable to remember anyone except her sister Miranda. When Toadie announced that they could go and visit, Callum decided to smuggle Bronte in, but sadly the plan went horribly wrong as the dog leapt up onto the bed to Nicola, who was terrified, unable to remember her friends or her dog. Toadie and Callum continued to try to help Nicola regain her memory, unaware that she was faking the whole thing in an attempt to move on from some of the terrible things she'd done, and repair her relationship with Miranda. When she was released from hospital, Callum started to notice her jumpy behaviour, and when he caught her hiding something in number 28's bin and she lied that the Parkers' bin was full, he told Toadie, explaining that his mum used to lie and hide things like that when she was on the drugs.

When it was revealed that Nicola had tried to kill Steve by poisoning him, and had been faking her recent bout of amnesia, she was arrested, kicking and screaming, in the middle of Ramsay Street, witnessed by Callum and Toadie. Unable to rationalise what had happened, Callum started acting out, leading Ms Katsis to return to see Toadie, and explain that she would have to contact Human Services, as she was concerned for the boy's welfare. Callum overheard their conversation and grew worried that he'd be taken away, leading his behaviour to become even worse, as he tried to snash up Nicola's car and destroyed the flowers he'd planted with her. Realising that perhaps he wasn't cut out to deal with Callum, Toadie contacted Robyn Lovell, Callum's aunt who lived on a farm in Ballarat. She agreed to take the young boy, and the wheels were quickly set in motion for his move, leaving both Callum and Toadie devastated.

It wasn't long before Toadie had realised his mistake and, with Steph's encouragement, headed to Ballarat, where Robyn was adamant that the boy shouldn't go through any further upheaval. Toadie was amazed to see that Callum had settled in and was enjoying life on the farm with no video games, so left without speaking to him, unaware just how much he was missing Toadie and life in Ramsay Street. Over the next few days, Toadie started receiving crank calls and believed they were from a disgruntled client, until Rebecca answered and pretended that it was the Erinsborough Police Station. Hearing Callum's voice, she passed the phone to Toadie, just as Robyn took the phone from Callum and they all realised that they needed to have a chat. Callum was surprised to be taken to Erinsborough, where Toadie told him that he'd been an idiot to send him away; Ramsay Street was where he belonged and, with that, the neighbours all appeared for a surprise 'welcome home' party. Plans were then soon underway for Toadie to become Callum's legal guardian, with the boys even allowing the women of Ramsay Street to give number 30 a thorough clean and tidy, so it would be fit for inspection. Meanwhile, Callum had noticed the attraction between Toadie and Kelly and, after faking illness to get them both to the hospital, he was pleased as, after spending more time together, they phoned each other and arranged to meet again.

As Kelly and Toadie finally got together, Callum hoped it would mean she'd go easy on him in class, but she said that she'd have to treat him the same as the other kids. She did, however, lend him her new laptop to write his book report, but he ended up snooping in her files. When he found some saucy modelling snaps of her, he remembered an earlier conversation he'd overheard in the General Store, debating whether it was a good idea for Paul to introduce page three girls in the Erinsborough News, and Kelly had mentioned that she'd be proud to show off her body. Callum then emailed the photos to Paul, and Kelly was stunned when she found out. Despite the best efforts of her and Toadie, Paul printed the photo as his first page three girl, leaving Kelly in hot water and suspended from work. Feeling responsible, and missing his favourite teacher, Callum organised a protest at the General Store and, along with Mickey and Ben, started a "read-in", refusing to stop reading until Ms Katsis got her job back. They then called Paul down there, for an urgent story, and refused to let him leave until he signed the petition and agreed to publish an article on it. Though the paper agreed to run a campaign for Kelly, Callum was disappointed that his prank seemed to have ruined her relationship with Toadie, whilst the read-in only highlighted Callum's reading problems.

When Callum was diagnosed with amblyopia - a lazy eye - Toadie and Kelly pulled together to support him, and ended up getting back together. They also helped him to see that his past Christmasses with his mum didn't have to be the norm, and tried to make Christmas 2008 special for him, but a plan to get Steve Parker to dress up as Santa fell apart when Callum saw through it. However, later, many of the neighbours were gathered outside when they saw some mysterious lights in the sky, and Callum realised that this time, he hadn't been set up, and it might be a magical Christmas after all. But by the end of the week, Callum was annoyed as the issue of his eyesight returned, with Toadie and Kelly trying to get him to wear an eyepatch, and glasses to read. As he refused to wear the glasses, he argued with Toadie, who grounded him, but he disappeared off to go fishing with Mickey. Whilst he was gone, Toadie received a visit from the DHS, to discuss his permanent guardianship of Callum, and when the boy finally returned home to apologise, it looked like he had blown his chance of staying in Ramsay Street. Luckily, the department agreed to reassess the following week, and Kelly came up with the idea of throwing a pirate party to encourage Callum to wear his eye patch. The plan seemed to be working, though Roz Challis from the DHS walked in just as Toadie and Callum were playfighting, she managed to see the funny side of it, and agreed that he could stay on in Toadie's care.

After Mickey mentioned that maybe Callum should start calling Toadie 'Dad', Callum scoffed but decided to test Toadie's reaction by slipping it into conversation. When Toadie was awkward, Callum pretended it was a joke, but Toadie soon realised how important it was for Callum to feel like he belonged to a family again, so a naming ceremony was arranged. In the grand Rebecchi tradition, Callum was given the nautical nickname of 'Squid' and he and Toadie declared that they would be father and son forever. Things then took a slightly more depressing turn when Toadie and Kelly split up, and she left to teach in Africa. Trying to fill the gap in his life, Toadie suggested to Callum that they join the local Scout troupe, but Callum wasn't keen, deciding to play a prank instead. After telling Toadie that they weren't allowed to join until they'd learnt how to pitch a tent, they spent all afternoon practising, before Toadie phoned Scout leader Cheryl and learnt the truth. Callum explained that he'd just been trying to keep Toadie busy so he wouldn't miss Kelly, but they soon realised that they worked even better as just a two-man team.

When Dan's girlfriend Libby, and her son, Ben, moved in, Callum found himself a new partner-in-crime, and managed to scare the slightly younger boy about what would happen to them on Friday 13th. Callum told Ben that, if he'd made his bed that day, which he had, then the evil spirits would get him and turn his insides to mush, unless he ate all his meals with his hands. When, at dinner that evening, Ben started to eat with his hands, he was forced to come clean to Libby and Dan, and Dan suggested a way to get their own back. With Toadie and Callum spending the night in the garden in their newly-pitched tent, Dan and Ben started making noises in the garden, before bursting into the tent wearing masks, scaring the living daylights out of Callum.

When Mickey told Callum about some money he'd found in a bag, which had been dug up at the Community Gardens by Bridget and Declan, the youngsters decided to hide and it and spend it themselves. But once they were found out and the police got involved, word soon got around town, and a newspaper story appeared with various locals digging in the gardens, trying to find the money. It transpired that the money had been hidden there three years earlier by Katya Kinski, who were determined her criminal enemy Guy Sykes would get to it. Just after Christmas 2006, Guy had come looking for the money and held various neighbours hostage, a situation which resulted in Toadie being shot and left with a bullet lodged in his back, while Guy went to prison. Having just been released on parole, Guy saw the newspaper story and returned to town, recognising Callum from the picture and determined to get what was rightfully his. With Katya long gone, the police hatched a plan for Katya's brother Zeke to entrap Guy, but it went wrong and he realised he was being watched and fled the scene. He then turned up at Toadie's place, convinced that Callum knew where the money was, and kept them both in the house all night, ready to go and get the money the next morning. The plan backfired, however, as the other residents realised something was wrong, and Toadie managed to fight back with a cricket bat, allowing the police to come in and take Guy back to prison.

As if the drama with Guy wasn't bad enough, Toadie and Callum faced more trauma when pet dog Bob fell ill and was diagnosed with cancer. After one final visit to the park, Bob was put to sleep and his ashes were scattered at the lake. After a while, Toadie decided that it might be time for a new pet and surprised Callum by bringing home Rocky, a guide dog puppy who they could train up together. Callum reacted badly to this, not wanting to replace Bob, but soon came to enjoy the new puppy's company, especially as it allowed him to get closer to new neighbour, 10-year-old Sophie Ramsay. But as Callum began to spend more time at the Ramsay house, it was Sophie's 17-year-old sister, Kate, who was caring for her two younger siblings, who got all of his attention. Sophie was upset, believing that her friend had a crush on Kate, and so Kate decided to speak to Callum about the problem, only to realise that he actually saw her as the missing mother figure in his life. Kate was embarrassed, while Toadie was surprised and began to wonder if perhaps he should think about entering the dating game again.

(to be continued - 2009-2014)

After his move to the USA, Callum kept in regular Skype contact with Toadie and Sonya, and when Toadie was left paralysed after an accident, he even offered to return home and help out where he could, though his parents insisted that they could cope, telling him to focus on his studies.

Tenure
5471-6904, 7214

Biography by Steve

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