Page 10 of In Full Bloom
“Yeah?”
“The sheep are that way.” He points in the opposite direction to where I’m heading, a huge grin on his face, then he spins the bike and takes off in that direction.
“Ugh,” I say to no one in particular. “Come on Scout, why’d you set me up?” The horse doesn’t respond, but she willingly turns around and follows Dallas down the track, heading in the right direction.
The sheep aretwo paddocks over. Little white dots that turn into woolly clouds as we get closer. Dallas takes the left side of the paddock, while I head down the right hand side, sweeping through a gully and up over a ridge, keeping an eye out for any sheep struggling in labour, or any lambs who aren’t being cared for by their mothers. It’s still early in the lambing season, so there aren’t too many. In another month this hillsidewill be dotted with tiny lambs, bouncing their way around the paddock.
I startle a recent arrival and it races for its mother, immediately going in for a feed, its tiny tail wriggling as it latches on. I grin. Lambs will always be adorable.
I crest the ridge and bring Scout to a stop. A fresh spring breeze is blowing straight into my face, winding its way through my hair. I take a deep breath of the clean air and survey the swaying grass sprawling out before me. This place smells like sunshine and I can’t believe I managed to stay away for so long. Out here, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by lambs and fresh air, astride Scout, I wonder how I ever made that vow to never come back.
A small movement in the grass catches my eye and I head towards it. A tiny newborn lamb is sprawled in the grass, trying to get up but failing. I glance around, but there’s no mama sheep in the area.
“Hey, it’s okay. I got you,” I murmur, then scoop it into my arms. Its tiny body trembles as I pull it close. It hasn’t even been cleaned properly. Clearly mis-mothered. I wipe the worst of the gunk off, then tuck the tiny lamb into the front of my jacket. Remounting Scout with my new passenger is a little tricky, but I manage without causing harm to any of us.
“Katie?” Dallas calls.
“Over here,” I shout back, turning Scout to head in the direction I can hear the motorbike.
“You all good?” He asks as he zooms up the hill, coming to a stop beside me.
“Yep, just found this little one.” I pull the front of my jacket aside so he can see the little bundle tucked against my chest.
“Its mother?”
I shake my head. “No idea, nothing nearby.”
He looks exceptionally sad for a guy who deals with this kind of thing on a daily basis. “We’d better get her back then,” he says. “Everything else is all good.”
“The Herefords?” I ask, referencing the herd of red and white cattle.
“We’ll get to them later.” He seems really determined to get this lamb safely home.
We ride side by side back across the paddock, Scout walking on a loose rein and Dallas continually trying to avoid driving the motorbike into holes.
“You know,” I say, “if you rode a horse you wouldn’t have to be so careful where you ride it. It’s much more relaxing.”
“We’re supposed to be working. It’s not supposed to be relaxing,” he says, irritation back in his voice.
“It doesn’t have to be misery though,” I say and roll my eyes. “On a horse, you can just let it get on with its thing and not worry about going over a cliff because it has a mind of its own.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly the problem,” he mutters.
“Not a horse guy, huh?” I say. I can feel a smile spreading across my face.
“No,” he says with a scowl.
I’ve annoyed him again with my teasing. It makes me grin wider. I think I’ve found my new favourite hobby.
6
DALLAS
Katie ridesher horse right up to the farmhouse, loops its rein around a verandah post and strides up the porch steps.
She still has the lamb tucked inside her jacket. She kicks off her boots and walks straight inside the house.
I catch up with her in the front hallway, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to a stop. “What’re you doing?” I say, my voice a low rasp.
