Amanda quietly slipped out the back of the shed to fetch some beer, then walked through the sheep yards to the fence where she could see the ewes grazing in the paddock closest to the yards. She was excited about what these ewes held for her future. When their lambs were born, they would be her best lambs yet.
Jim came and stood alongside her. ‘Happy are you, love?’
Amanda nodded. ‘Thanks for what you’ve done today, Jim. I always look forward to you coming.’
‘Those rams you chose will do a lot of good to your flock. Stretch out some of your smaller ewes – there’s a fair bit of meat and muscle in those rams too. Think you made a good choice.’
Amanda was pleased.‘That means a lot coming from someone like you.’
‘You’ve got the ability to see the sheep under its skin. You need to keep on with what you’re doing. Don’t worry about breeding lambs for the commercial market – you make sure you breed the rams for farmers to buy from you. Let them breed the meat.
‘I reckon at some stage you should hold an open day. Explain to your clients what you’re trying to achieve. Start getting your name out there a bit more. Advertise! Get those stock agents to take you seriously. I’ll come down for it and back you every step of the way. You’ve got a talent; it would be a shame to see it wasted.’ He glanced back to where Adrian was standing as he said that, and Amanda got the feeling that he thought Adrian might interfere with the way she ran the stud.
‘No one has any say on my farm except me, Jim,’ she said softly. ‘Thanks for your belief in me. I hope I can live up to it. The stud income is a good supplement but the commercial business is making more money at the moment, so I guess I’ll just have to stick to both for the time being.’
‘You remember what I said,’ he told her gruffly, then called over his shoulder, ‘C’mon, Jenny, time to go.’
Adrian stood beside Amanda as the vet’s car disappeared down the drive.
‘He’s got a soft spot for you, Mandy,’ said Adrian.
‘Oh, I don’t know. Maybe he just enjoys coming here.’
‘No, he likes you. I saw you having a bit of a heart-to-heart with him there. I don’t know what he said, but don’t take it too seriously, eh? I’ve heard him talking to stud breeders before and I think he’s often just telling them what they want to hear.’
Amanda took a sip of her beer to try and hide the disappointment that had shot through her at Adrian’s words. Why couldn’t he have let her enjoy the feeling of achievement for a little longer?
Chapter 26
2006
As Amanda turned the tap over from one water tank to another, she went to wipe away the sweat that was running into her eyes, but the strong hot northerly dried it before she could. As she straightened up, she heard the trickling of water running through the black poly pipe. Satisfied that the tank further down the laneway would be receiving water, she turned and jumped into her ute.
January could be a stinker of a month and on days like today water was crucial for the stock. Earlier in the day, she’d found one of the troughs nearly empty, and when she’d traced it back to the tank, she found the tank was empty. There was no way that should have happened. It would be fine now though. Fresh, clean, cold water was on its way. Beautiful!
What a crappy day, she thought as she jumped into the ute and put the air-con on full blast. Mingus sat on the floor on the passenger’s side, panting hard.
‘Stop puffing, Mingus! You’re just making it hotter in here.’ She watched the trees bend in the wind and the sand in the gateway shifting with each gust. Some of the sheep pads were beginning to blow now and Amanda was frightened that early rains may not arrive. If it didn’t rain on time, more of her farm would blow away and she didn’t like the thought of that.
As she looked across the paddocks, the grass was now a sun-bleached gold and a mirage shimmered in the distance. None of the stock were out in the sun – they were all camped under trees with their heads down, trying to avoid the dust that blew. A lone sheep, thirsty enough to brave the direct sunlight, stumbled towards the trough with its head down and, once there, took long, gulping slurps before turning and walking back to the shade of the big gum trees that ran along the fence line.
It was too hot to be outside, Amanda decided as a particularly strong gust of wind shook the ute. Surely there was paperwork that needed doing in the cool of the office. Her two-way crackled to life as she drove back towards the house.
‘On channel, Mandy?’
‘Yeah, Mandy here,’ she answered, not recognising the voice.
‘Mandy, it’s Ken Hargreave.’
Amanda’s stomach took a dive as she looked around trying to spot smoke. Ken was the captain of her fire brigade.
‘Just wanted to let you know that we’ve issued a harvest and movement of vehicle ban starting at nine-thirty. The only exception is getting water to animals.’
Amanda nodded to herself; it made sense. It meant that the less machinery in the paddock, the less chance of a header or tractor having a bearing break causing the hot steel balls to shatter over the ground and start a fire.
‘Yeah, no worries, Ken. It’s a foul day! Can I let anyone know for you?’
He named a few more people in the brigade’s area then signed off with, ‘We’ll review it at five this afternoon.’
‘Okay, well I might head into town. There’s not much I can do out here and I’ve got to get some supplies. I’ll probably go in the next hour and be back by around lunchtime. I’ll have my mobile with me if there’re any problems.’
‘Thanks for the heads-up, Mandy. Hopefully there won’t be any fires today. Cheers.’
‘Catch you later,’ replied Amanda, then looked at Mingus and said, ‘Well, looks like we’ve got the day off, old mate.’
Back at the house, Amanda made the phone calls about the harvest ban then jumped into the shower and stood there with the cool water running over her. There were always days like this in summer and they scared her. Mother Nature’s power could undo in an instant all the hard work of a year. She could be friend or foe and the display she was putting on today definitely had her in the foe category.
Locking Mingus in the laundry, where he could stretch out over the tiled floor to keep cool, she dressed in the lightest T-shirt and pair of shorts she owned and drove to town.
The only shopping she really liked doing was for the farm, but today she welcomed the coolness of the shopping centre as she headed to the supermarket.
As she pushed the trolley around, she noticed a group of young people, obviously on holidays from uni. Dressed in skimpy tops and short shorts, skin bronzed from hours spent basking in the summer sun, they seemed not to have a care in the world. For a brief moment, Amanda felt such a pang of envy it surprised her. It had been a long time since she’d felt carefree.
Amanda’s next stop was the farm merchandise store. Hopefully the weather would ease in the next few days and she’d be able to get out and fix a couple of sagging fences that could do with some more steel posts to keep them upright. Some of the fences needed replacing, but that was still a long way off, since the last time Amanda had researched how much it would cost to build a new one it had worked out at more than eight hundred dollars a kilometre – and she wanted to do ten kilometres! So for the time being the fences would have to make do with a bit of TLC instead.
As she entered the merchandise building she saw that Sharna was on the front desk.
Amanda had met Sharna about eight months ago, when the younger girl had come to work as an assistant to the merch manager. She’d done a year of vet science at uni but was taking a break to earn more money before she finished her study. They both loved animals and had spent some time discussing husbandry practices.
Today Sharna was sitting next to the printer with a roll of paper over her legs and ink on her cheek.
‘Busy I see,’ Amanda said with a grin.
Sharna looked up and, realising who it was, held up a finger. ‘You ar
e not to say a word. My boss thinks that just because I’ve performed a small amount of surgery on animals that were already dead, I can fix this.’
Amanda laughed. ‘Well I can tell you, it’s better in here than out there. If the heat doesn’t get you, the wind will carry you away.’
‘Yeah, it’s not a good day.’ Sharna struggled to her feet. ‘Good thing you didn’t come in this morning. Slay was in picking up his new hand piece. Man, you hurt some serious male pride there! He’s still dirty on you.’
Amanda frowned. She really couldn’t understand why the guy still had such a grudge against her. Yeah, she’d sacked him, but surely three years down the track he would have got over it! The last time Amanda had seen him, Sharna had been with her at the local show. They were watching the ‘Quick Shears’ competition, when Slay had walked up, stood in front of her and just glared. Amanda hadn’t known what to do, so she’d smiled, then walked around him. It had been really unnerving.
‘Oh well, good thing I’m in now and not then,’ she said.
‘You must have really upset him. Anyway what can I get you today, Mandy?’
‘Well, I’m going to do some fencing.’
‘Oh, good idea! The ground’s as hard as hell, you won’t be able to touch the wire because it’ll burn you, and when you bang the staples in the wood it’ll split because it’s so dry.’
‘Surgery must suit you! Maybe you could think about becoming something other than a vet – your bedside manner sucks when you’re angry.’
‘Sorry.’ Sharna looked sheepish. ‘It’s the weather.’
‘I can sympathise – but hey, I’ve got some news that’ll cheer you up.’
‘Have you? What?’
‘You know how you said you’d drive for me when I wanted to shoot foxes? Well I thought I might start in a month or so. Suit you?’
‘Hell, yeah!’ Sharna brightened visibly. ‘That’d be great. Give me a ring when you want to start. Now, what do you need in the way of fencing gear?’
All that night Amanda listened to the wind howl and moan. At least the harvest ban was still on, meaning machinery fires were one less thing to think about. She kicked off her covers restlessly. It was just too hot to sleep.
She knew she could go to Adrian’s, to his air-conditioner and comfortable house. He had called while she was having tea and urged her to come over but, like him, she was unwilling to leave her farm in case Mother Nature took over. She needed to be here.
Two days later she awoke to bright blue skies and a calm day. She could see out the window that overnight a couple of thick branches had fallen across the drive, but they hadn’t damaged anything – which was a minor miracle considering the strength of the winds.
The stock were next on her checklist, and as she drove along the laneway her stomach constricted as she saw her precious AI ewes hanging around a trough.
Puzzled, she stopped and jumped the fence. She knew that she’d swapped the taps over and pushed water down this side of the farm. But when she looked into the trough, it was dry, mud caked to its bottom. The sheep hanging around it were more than thirsty. Judging by the way their eyes were sunk back in their heads, they were dehydrated.
‘I know I turned those taps over yesterday morning,’ Amanda said aloud as a stab of unease shot through her. ‘I’m sure I did.’ She raced back to the ute and drove towards the tank. The taps were set the wrong way.
Chapter 27
‘I know I set those taps up right, Ade.’ Amanda ran her hands through her hair as she spoke into the phone. ‘I heard the water trickling through the pipe. I just can’t work out what’s gone wrong.’
Adrian had been the first person she’d rung when she found the sheep thirsty and milling around the trough – once she’d fixed the problem. She’d watched with horror as the ewes clambered over one another to get a sip of water and replenish their body fluid. The round trough wasn’t large enough for them all to get a drink at the same time, and their frantic attempts to get to the water showed Amanda how badly dehydrated they all were. She just prayed they wouldn’t miscarry their precious lambs – but with a sick feeling in her stomach, she had to face the fact that they probably would.
She had raced back to the shed, grabbed a bag of salt and emptied it into the trough, knowing that if she allowed the ewes to have unlimited fresh water, it could do them more harm than good.
‘Maybe something rubbed on the taps and turned them back,’ Adrian offered.
‘The only thing that would’ve done that would be a cow, and you know I sold all the cows when I bought in these stud ewes. I just can’t understand it.’ Amanda was working herself into a state and she knew, but couldn’t help it.
‘Well I don’t know. But you’ve fixed the problem now and hopefully there hasn’t been too much damage done. But, Mandy, you’ve got to understand, this is farming. These things happen sometimes and you’ve just got to roll with the punches. Don’t give yourself a hard time about it. I thought we’d worked through this when you lost the sheep during the storm.’
An image of the dead sheep scattered through the bush hit her with full force, followed by another image – the dozer driving through her farm, the driver digging a large hole, and Adrian’s big, shiny front-end loader pushing the dead carcasses into the hole then filling it with dirt. She could see, as though it was happening right before her eyes, the two machines driving back and forth over the filled-in pit to pack the dirt down and squash the bodies, so they wouldn’t rise as they bloated and then started to decompose. That had been her fault and this was too.
‘Anyway, I’d better go,’ Amanda said and hung up the phone before Adrian could respond. The sick feeling in her stomach had suddenly bubbled into her mouth and she raced to the toilet and retched into the bowl.
Then she sank to the floor and started to cry.
A couple of hours later Amanda stalked around the shed with Mingus at her heels, muttering, ‘Maybe I’m not cut out for this. But if I don’t farm, what would I do? Yet if I can’t keep my animals well and healthy, I shouldn’t have them. They rely on me.’ She picked up a spanner and hung it on the wall, then a hammer, then grabbed the broom and started to sweep.
The all too familiar feeling of panic rose and threatened to overwhelm her as she heard the outside bell of the phone ringing. She knew she wouldn’t make it before the answering machine kicked in, but she dropped the broom and ran for the house anyway.
Hannah was leaving a message when Amanda snatched up the phone, breathless.
‘Hi,’ she gasped.
‘Well, I didn’t expect to get you. Where did I pull you from? You sound like you’ve run a marathon.’
‘I was in the shed,’ Amanda panted, trying to catch her breath.‘How are you going? How’s Sydney and the grain trade?’
‘All fine. How about you? What are you up to?’
‘Trying to convince myself that I’m a good farmer. Mingus hasn’t got anything worthwhile to say, so I still haven’t worked out if I am or not.’
‘Ah. Did you have a stuff-up?’
‘You could say that,’ and she went on to tell Hannah the whole sorry saga.
When she had finished, Hannah said, ‘Well, Mandy, I’m sorry but I actually have to agree with Adrian on this. Mistakes happen. It doesn’t make you any less of a farmer . . .’ There was the sound of a mobile ringing in the background. ‘Uh-oh. Sorry, Mandy, I have to dash – the world of grain contracts calls. Good luck, and don’t forget: you are a good farmer!’
That night, Amanda was sitting on the couch in her mum’s study with a glass of wine in hand – she still found it hard to believe that Adrian had changed her beer ways to wine. Flicking through an old photograph album, she could see the happiness etched in her parents’ faces as they pushed her on a swing or held her in their arms.
She turned back to the start of the album and looked again at the photo that she found behind another photo in the album. It always sent a wave of emotion through her. It was taken in
the hospital; her mum was in bed and her dad was standing near a window, cradling his newborn child. The smile on his face told a story that Amanda hadn’t felt often with her dad. She wondered why things had changed.
Then there were the farming photos: of the tanks being put up and new dams going in. Even one of the mail box after the mail run had started.
There were photos of Christmases, family gettogethers and dinner parties. As she flicked through she came across a picture of a very young Adrian sitting next to her father. On the table were empty plates and serving dishes. There were half-eaten bread rolls and it looked like there had been a big party, but there was no one else sitting there. They each had a beer in front of them, red cheeks and huge grins. She could almost hear them saying ‘cheers!’ to whoever was taking the photo – Amanda assumed it was her mum.
She looked up as Mingus barked and gravel crunched under wheels in the drive. Through the window she saw Adrian’s car and jumped up, taking the album with her.
‘Look at this,’ she said by way of greeting, and held out the album.
He took it and looked at the photo for a long time. Finally he ran his fingers over the photo then handed the album back. ‘That’s a long time ago.’
‘When was it?’ she asked curiously.
‘The last time I ever came to this farm, until that night I met you again.’
‘Want to tell me about it?’
Adrian sighed heavily. ‘It’s not really something I like to remember, but I guess you need to know, if you’re to understand the relationship I had with your father. Have you got some wine? We can settle down in the lounge and talk if you like.’
‘I would like that,’ she said softly, and went to get a new bottle, another glass and some nibbles.
Adrian was sitting in a rocking chair when Amanda came into the lounge room. He seemed to be lost in thought. When she placed a glass on the table in front of him, he looked up, startled, then picked up the glass and took a sip, while Amanda arranged herself on the couch.
Blue Skies Page 11
