The Call of the High Country

by Tony Parsons

  ‘Wow, it’s Tim Sparkes,’ David yelled.

  ‘David, we aren’t in the paddock and none of us is deaf,’ Anne scolded. ‘Sit where you are, please. If Tim hasn’t eaten, he can have lunch with us.’

  Tim hadn’t. The tall, lean Queenslander explained that he should have arrived earlier but he had been held up by a puncture.

  ‘Hi, everyone. Hi, Kate,’ he said. ‘How are you, young lady?’ he added to Catriona. Tim had known Catriona since she was a baby, as he had been breaking in the Inverlochy horses for years.

  ‘What are you doing down this way, Tim?’ Anne asked. ‘We heard you were busy running the big station with your uncle so sick.’

  ‘I was. I am. Uncle Bob died and left the place to me. I’ve been flat-out trying to round up micky bulls and cleanskins. The place had been going backwards for years, but Uncle was making enough money not to worry about it. When he got crook, the place reallywent downhill. I’ve been trying to pull it back into shape.’

  ‘So what are you doing here?’ Anne persisted.

  ‘Delivering a horse, actually,’ Tim said, giving a wink to Andy.

  ‘I wouldn’t have thought you’d have time for that,’ Anne said. ‘Now, please sit down and help yourself to whatever you fancy, Tim. David, I can see that you’re bursting to ask questions but they can wait until after lunch. I think that while Tim is eating we can start giving out your presents.’

  ‘Wow, what a day,’ David said excitedly. Tim’s arrival had put a whole new perspective on things. He was sure to stay at least a day and they would be able to have a long yarn about his property and its horses. His father had told him a lot about the Sparkes horses.

  The first present David opened was a roo-hide whip made by his father. It was plaited in black and tan leather with a six-foot thong. The whip was an absolute work of art and fell beautifully.

  ‘Gee, thanks, Dad. It’s a beauty,’ David said as he ran his fingers down it.

  ‘If you look after it, that whip should last you for years,’ Andy said.

  ‘Yeah, I’ve got one of your father’s whips and it must be twelve years old,’ Tim said. ‘Could have sold it over and over again but money wouldn’t buy it.’

  There was a new pair of riding boots from Anne, who liked to give practical presents, and a wide-brimmed hat from Kate. Kate also presented him with two books on sheepdogs that she had picked up in Britain and put by for this day. And there were even more surprises in store.

  Anne went into her bedroom and came back with the big box Angus Campbell had deposited earlier. ‘This is a present from the Campbell family, David,’ Catriona said. ‘Daddy said you more than earned it.’

  David’s excitement level rose several notches. What could be in that big box? What would the Campbells give him?

  He took out his penknife and cut the adhesive tape that bound the box together. When the flaps fell open, he could not believe what he saw inside – a fully mounted saddle.

  He lifted it out and placed it over the arm of the sofa. Embossed quite clearly on both saddle flaps were the words David MacLeod Poley Special.

  There was absolute silence in the room while everyone but Catriona stared at the saddle.

  ‘It was handmade in Tamworth,’ Catriona explained. ‘Daddy ordered it some time ago and it was delivered just this morning. He says that one day people will be ordering saddles in your name. This is the first. It has a fifteen-inch seat so it should be big enough for a few years to come.’

  The enormity of the gift left even David speechless. His very own brand of saddle. It was too much, and all for riding a pony down Yellow Rock.

  ‘It’s too much, Cat, far too much. I don’t deserve a present like this,’ David said with surprising maturity.

  ‘Well, Daddy says you do and so do I. My pony is worth a lot more than that saddle.’

  David shook his head. ‘It is too much,’ he repeated.

  The adults inspected the saddle with clinical thoroughness.

  ‘It’s a lovely job,’ Andrew said at last.

  ‘A real beaut,’ Tim agreed. ‘Seems to me you need a bigger horse than your pony to do this saddle justice.’

  ‘David would be the first to agree with you,’ Anne said. ‘He drives us mad about it.’

  ‘Hmmm,’ Tim sat back in his chair. ‘After that great lunch I’d better go and walk about for a while. Andy, do ya reckon I could let the mare off for a bit?’

  ‘Not at all. She won’t come to any harm in the horse yard,’ Andy said, smiling quickly in Kate’s direction.

  Outside, Tim let down the ramp, unhooked the horse inside and led her out. She was a beautifully put together bay with a white strip on her nose and two white stockings on her hind legs. David climbed up on a post of the horse yard and inspected the new arrival. He reckoned she was a shade under fourteen point two hands and a very impressive mare.

  ‘What is she, Tim?’ Anne asked, trying to keep her voice under control. It was all clear to her now. Andy had been watching the clock because his old mate was overdue with the mare. The pair of them had hatched up this second surprise.

  ‘Well, now, Anne,’ Tim drawled, ‘she’s a cross of stock horse and quarter horse. She’s a mite small for most stockmen up our way because they like a horse about fifteen hands or a bit taller. Our cattle go like blazes and you need a real fast horse to catch them. Not that this mare isn’t fast. She’s a good one, terrific on her feet and lovely tempered. She’s a winner in the show ring, too.’

  ‘Where are you taking her, Tim?’ David asked.

  ‘Where am I taking her? I’m not taking her anywhere. I’m leaving her here,’ Tim said with a grin.

  Andy took hold of the mare’s halter and led her across to his son.

  ‘Happy birthday, Davie. I reckon you’re up to this mare now.’

  David nearly fell of his post. He couldn’t believe his ears. First, his very own brand of saddle, and now his first big horse, his very own big horse. And what a ripper.

  ‘Do you mean it, Dad?’ he asked in a kind of daze.

  ‘Of course he means it, Davie. We worked it out between us,’ Tim said. ‘I didn’t bring the mare all this way just to be looked at. Now, it seems to me that if I was a young fellow and had just been given my own saddle and a new horse, I’d be putting the two together real quick. I’d be charging back to the house for that saddle and I would have it on this mare as quick as I could. Hell, Davie, I want to see what you think of her.’

  ‘Wow,’ David yelled as he fell off the post and raced back to the house for the new saddle.

  Andy had a bridle on the mare when his son returned with the saddle. Miraculously, there was now a new blue and white saddle blanket with the letters D.M. enscribed on it sitting on the mare’s back. Andy and Tim watched critically as David saddled the mare. The leather was still stiff and it took a little longer than usual. David led the mare round the yard before pulling the girth up a notch. Then he was in the saddle, and in heaven. A touch on the rein and ribs and the mare spun to one side.

  ‘Take her up the paddock, David,’ Tim said. ‘If you can get her down to a real slow canter you will find she’s like a rocking horse.’

  David did as he was instructed and found that the mare was absolutely foursquare and smooth as silk. She was like a cat on her feet and very quick to respond to any signal. When David brought her back to the others, there was a huge smile on his face.

  ‘She’s terrific, Tim, just terrific. Thank you.’

  Tim nodded. ‘Yeah, she’s not bad. She’ll be big enough for you for a few years. If you put a bigger horse over her later on, she’ll breed ya good-sized stock horses.’

  ‘She is just fantastic, and so is the saddle,’ David said, looking up at Catriona who was now sitting on his post.

  ‘Thank goodness,’ Anne said under her breath to Kate. She had wondered if the enormity of the gift of the horse would override the gift of the saddle.

  ‘You had better whack some oil onto the saddle.
Those buckles are pretty stiff. New saddlery always needs plenty of dressing,’ Andrew said.

  ‘I’ll do it, Dad. Gee, what can I say? Thanks again, Dad, and Tim. What a birthday.’

  ‘I reckon you’re worth it, Davie. If you don’t win a junior draft or two on that mare, I’ll be very surprised,’ Tim said.

  ‘I reckon he’s just about ready to handle a junior draft,’ Andy agreed.

  Anne didn’t know whether to feel pleased or angry. Admittedly, Andy was a very deep fellow who did not always confide in her. Perhaps he had decided to keep Tim’s gift of a bigger horse secret so they didn’t argue about it. She felt that there shouldn’t be any need for secrets between husband and wife. After fourteen years of marriage Andy still kept some things to himself, and it did rankle a little.

  Just then David said something that surprised and pleased her very much. ‘Mum, when you take Cat back to Inverlochy, I’d like to go with you so I can thank Mr and Mrs Campbell for the saddle in person.’

  Anne nodded. ‘I think that’s a splendid idea. Now, what about a cuppa, everyone? I believe I could use one.’

  ‘Good idea,’ Andy replied. ‘Leave your mare here with a slab of hay, Davie. We’ll probably put her in the old stallion stable later on.’

  Inside, Catriona informed everyone that her father was importing a new border collie by the name of Toss. If the dog was as good as it was supposed to be, Angus proposed to work him in the local trial.

  When Catriona said this, David had just taken a gulp of tea and he almost choked on it. He looked across to where his father sat and noted the gleam in his eye. He was about to make a comment but the tiny shake of his father’s head stopped him dead. David was quite confident that no matter how good this Toss was – and that remained to be seen – he would not be as good as their dogs, especially on merino sheep. But Mr Campbell had to try and beat them.

  After he had finished his tea, David, at Anne’s whispered entreaty, took Catriona to show her the pups. More specifically, to show her his new pup.

  On his way out the door, Kate asked him what he would do if Catriona tried to kiss him goodbye. He blushed but said that he reckoned he could put up with it as it was a pretty small price to pay for a fantastic new saddle. After all, what was a kiss? It might mean something to a girl but it didn’t mean much to him. He was more interested in whether a pup tried to kiss him when he blew into its nose. If a pup didn’t try to kiss you, it was a safe bet that it would have a bad nature. His father had read that in a dog training book and it had proved to be correct.

  But when they left Catriona at Inverlochy, she didn’t try to kiss him. She merely said goodbye to him in her well-mannered way. She was very pleased he liked the new saddle and was happy to see how good it looked on his new horse.

  As they were driving back to High Peaks after dropping Catriona home, David said to Anne, ‘That was a great birthday, Mum. The best ever.’

  ‘Well, there’s still a hot dinner to come tonight,’ she said. ‘And I know you’ll want to sit up and listen to Tim tell his yarns.’

  ‘You bet,’ he agreed.

  ‘You can stay up an hour later but not one minute longer. And by the way, I think you behaved quite well with Catriona. I know you’re not mad on girls right now, but I’m sure you’ll change your mind in a few years. Catriona is a lovely child. If boarding school doesn’t turn her into a snob, she might grow up into a very nice young woman.’

  ‘Dad says that she will marry some rich grazier.’

  ‘You do have some interesting discussions with your father, don’t you? Let me tell you that I predict nobody will tell Catriona who she is to marry. Your father might be good at a lot of things, but he is no authority on ladies.’

  ‘He sure knew the right one to marry, though,’ David said calmly.

  This remark so stunned Anne that she was left speechless all the way back to High Peaks.

  But nothing could keep David quiet. ‘Mum, you know very well that the Campbells are snobs. They never invite you and Dad to their parties. When Catriona is older, she won’t even want to look at me.’

  ‘What a profound young man you are today,’ Anne said.

  David sighed. ‘I listen to what other people say. And I am sure that once Catriona goes away to school next year and mixes with all the other snob girls and their brothers she will be a completely different person. There are a lot more important things to think about than her, like winning sheepdog trials and campdrafts, and taking a team of kelpies to the National.’

  ‘We’ll see, young man. At least you behaved well today. I was very proud of you.’

  ‘How long will Aunty Kate be staying, Mum?’ he asked. Kate’s visit was of very real interest to him. Last time she came, he and his father had begun to initiate her into flag and barrel races. She did everything with such wonderful enthusiasm that it was sheer fun to be with her. David reckoned that he now had a horse who would be competitive anywhere, but it wasn’t the same racing on your own. Kate’s visit promised a lot.

  ‘A couple of weeks. I thought she would be a help while we’re crutching. You know how Kate loves to help.’

  Andrew MacLeod did not employ crutchers, but did the lot over about a week and half. David and Anne would muster the sheep and bring them to the shed. One of them would work inside the shed while the other would take the sheep away. When Kate stayed with them, she often shared their jobs. David much preferred the outside work because crutching meant mustering – and that meant dog work. Dog work was his major passion in life. For this upcoming crutching, mustering also meant a lot of riding on his new horse.

  David had had the perfect day. Sure, his mum had gone on a bit, but she was a great mum really. At times, like when his mother went riding with him, she was as good as any mate. The best of all times was when they had a picnic or barbecue at the creek on summer evenings and his mother took her guitar and sang. Sometimes she played and sang on the front verandah.

  David did not speak again for the remainder of the short trip back to High Peaks. There were several important matters to consider, not the least of which was a name for his new horse. It needed to be a short, clear name because he taught his horses to come to name. There had once been a great drafting mare called Gleam, which his father told him had been one of the best he had seen. David was half inclined to call his mare by that same name.

  ‘You’ve gone very quiet, David,’ Anne said as they came into sight of the homestead.

  ‘Just thinking about a name for my new horse. I think I’ll call her Gift. What do you think, Mum?’

  ‘I think that would be very appropriate,’ Anne agreed.

  ‘And I’ll name my new pup Lad.’

  Chapter Ten

  Now that he had a new pup and a new horse, a proper-sized horse, David was happier than he had ever been. School days seemed to drag intolerably because he yearned to be home with Gift and Lad. His father had promised that he could begin in junior drafts, so there was cattle work in plenty to get Gift ready. Because she had done a fair bit of cattle work after Tim Sparkes broke her in, Gift was well on her way to becoming a top drafter, but she wasn’t there yet. He would need to work with his father in the big cattle yard where they drafted up sale cattle. There he could gauge Gift’s strength against cattle and see how fast she was when a beast was lifted from the camp.

  David also had the urgent need to find some excuse not to attend Catriona’s birthday party. He knew he would have to go unless he had a foolproof excuse, so he went to his father with the problem.

  Andrew had the choice of attending two camp-drafts that weekend, so he decided they would nominate for the event that included a junior draft. Fortuitously, this was the date of Catriona’s party. The plan was that, when invited, David would be able to tell his mother honestly that his father had entered him for his first draft. Anne would have to get on the phone to Jane and explain why her son couldn’t attend. David’s strategy worked this time, although Anne was furious because she r
ightly guessed that Andy and David had colluded. She expected the Campbells to be miffed about David’s late withdrawal, and though Jane seemed a bit offhand about it, Angus displayed genuine interest in David’s entree into campdrafting. There were not many eleven-year-old boys good enough to compete in drafts.

  Kate extended her stay by a week so she could be on hand for the last of the crutching. She wore a pair of faded blue jeans patched on both knees and a man’s checked shirt, and with her grey, wide-brimmed hat she looked a real ringer. On Saturday nights she and David went eel-bashing. Kate had discovered a new recipe for cooking eels and wanted to try it out. Despite her long experience with surgical instruments, she could not match David’s skill with the pieces of flat iron they used to whack the eels. But once they were in the sugar bag, Kate could skin them quick sticks.

  In the shearing shed, Kate swept the board of crutchings, and if David was not present to pen up, she did that, too. There was little to do beyond opening the gates, because old Ben knew the shed routine so well he could have done the job on his own, had he been able to open the gates. He would go to the back of a pen of sheep and then climb over their backs to get the leaders moving. The pens filled once more, Ben would retire to a spot under the wool table where he could watch his boss crutch and wig the sheep.

  The MacLeods ran over 4000 sheep, of which there were about 1000 ewes. The ewes were run with the Herefords on the richer bottom country, while the wethers were run exclusively in the hills. They also had about 100 Hereford cows. Andrew had borrowed money from a local agent to buy most of these, and had then gone away and shorn extra sheep to earn the money to pay for them. He was supposed to sell what he bred from them through the agent who loaned him the money. Now the cows were paid for and beginning to show a return on his investment.

  Andrew said it was important not to have all his eggs in one basket. In their country, only cattle could be considered an alternative to sheep. Andrew did have plans to purchase a few more good mares and also invest in a top-class stallion, but those plans would have to wait until he had the cash in hand. Currently they sent half a dozen mares away to good stock horse stallions, and broke in and handled the young horses. Andrew’s horses, like his dogs, were always in great demand because he bred from only a few high-class animals.