I glanced up at Willow but she was all blurry. I was hot, so very hot, and I tried to waft my T-shirt but my arms felt heavy and I was struggling to catch my breath. The ground seemed to be rising and falling like waves on the sea. And then it all went black.
14
Someone was calling my name. A man. Laurie? I tried to answer him but how could it be Laurie? He was in Finland and I was… Where was I?
‘Grace? Can you hear me?’
Fingers lightly brushed against my right cheek and pushed my hair behind my ears.
‘Can you open your eyes?’
I flickered my eyes open and the first thing I saw were my legs propped up in front of me, the heels resting on the edge of a wheelbarrow.What the…?
‘Keep your legs there,’ the man said as I tried to move. ‘You fainted. We need to keep your legs elevated.’
I looked to my side. Dark tousled hair. Beard.
‘Caleb?’
‘I didn’t know what to do,’ Willow said, her voice shaky, ‘so I rang Caleb.’
‘Are you all right?’ Caleb asked, his voice soothing. ‘Do you feel sick or dizzy?’
‘I feel stupid,’ I murmured. ‘I’m okay to sit up.’
I lowered my legs to the ground and, with Caleb’s help, shifted position so my back was against the pillar I’d slid down earlier.
‘Drink this.’
A metal bottle was pressed into my hand and I drank from it, expecting water but finding it to be raspberry flavoured, cold and delicious.
‘I thought the natural sugars would help,’ Caleb said.
‘How long was I out?’
‘Five minutes? Bit longer? Willow rang me and I ran straight here.’
I was mortified. I’d never fainted before so why did my first time have to be in front of a young kid? That must have given her a heck of a shock. And as for my grumpy tenant coming to my aid… although I’d rather she’d called him than knocked for my family and panicked Mam.
‘Sorry,’ I said, grimacing at Willow. ‘That’s never happened to me before.’
She looked nervous. ‘Was it because of what I told you about the farm?’
It was, but I couldn’t land that on her. ‘No. It’s my fault. I should have eaten something before doing any physical work. I didn’t eat much yesterday – long journey. I was running on empty and, as you can see, I crashed. Not embarrassing at all.’
I tried to sound jovial but my voice was way higher than usual. As they barely knew me, they hopefully wouldn’t notice.
‘As long as it’s not my fault,’ she said.
‘Definitely not,’ I replied, smiling at her. ‘I’m really grateful for everything you told me and all your help around here. You’re doing a great job.’
She gave me a weak smile. ‘Thanks. I’ll go and clear the last pasture. See you tomorrow.’
When she’d gone, I took another gulp of the juice and released a heavy sigh.
‘I’ll be going then,’ Caleb said. ‘I’ve got a job to get to.’
‘Yes, of course. Erm… thank you for your help. I’d better give you this back.’ I screwed the top onto the bottle and handed it to him but he shook his head.
