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chapter 8
Craig
We had a meeting with the breeder first thing that morning. Their farm was only forty minutes north-east of Roma. The highway became a dusty road that turned into a wide, tree-lined flat driveway. Cattle grates greeted our entry onto the farm, and Scottie drove the short distance to the immaculately cared for house. It was straight out of a magazine—a perfect old Queenslander much like the homestead on Pearce Station, except with all the decorative woodwork added to the veranda. We pulled up, letting the dust settle around the Landcruiser for a moment before we piled out.
I offered the paperwork to Scottie, but he waved me off. He’d been eyeing two bulls from the breeder for months. But given the investment, he’d taken his time making the decision and comparing every option on the market. The vet had been out to the farm to check out the bulls and all their paperwork. From what Scottie had said, the vet read every piece of information he could get his hands on, from full medical records, semen count to reports on feed and artificial insemination results. Scottie had gone through every piece too and now knew it all backwards.
As we stepped away from the four-wheel drive, Scottie nodded towards the pens. “One on the left is Pure Blond. The other is Zeus.”
“They’re good-lookin’ bulls, aren’t they?” I mused as Ally came to stand next to me. The two faded gold Charolais were big. They’d dwarf the cows on the station. Happily munching away on hay, they were quiet and calm, but I had a feeling they’d both be spirited.
An older bloke bypassed the three of us, walking straight up to Jono. He reached for his hand, shaking it. “Thanks for making the trip out, Mr Pearce.”
Jono smiled serenely, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you, mate, but I’m Jono. This is the boss.” He motioned to Scottie. “Scottie Pearce.” Sweeping his hand to us, he added, “And this is Ally Pearce and Craig Williams.”
“My apologies, Mr Pearce. Welcome. I’m Jack Stone. Can I get you some refreshments?” The bloke blushed, looking suitably chastised as he shook Scottie’s hand.
“I’m good, mate. We stayed in Roma last night. It was only a short trip here.”
“All right then. Should we take a look at the bulls?”
We wandered over to the holding yards the bulls were in. They were contained by a thick timber post and rail fence, the wood faded by years of weathering until it was smooth to the touch. Jack stepped up to Zeus’s yard and began reeling off statistics. Scottie and Jono grilled him, double-checking all their information, and no doubt comparing it against the data they’d memorized.
Ally wandered off, beckoning to me with a tilt of her head. Hands in her pockets, she walked over to a larger paddock and I followed her, spying more cattle in the distance. There were trees dotted all over the landscape running the length of the fence and green grass grew over the rolling hills.
“Bit different from the station, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “It is. Cattle looks good, but. I like what I see.” She pointed to the dam in the distance at the bottom of the hill. “Good water supply for them, lots of feed.”
“You think Scottie will get both?” I rested my hand on the star picket that had wire running through it to fence off the paddock.
“Depends on the price they can negotiate. He’s most interested in Pure Blond. Zeus is a bonus if he can get him.”
“What’s the process after that?”
“We’ll go back into Roma, transfer the funds, then once it goes through, we’ll come back and pick them up. While we’re waiting for Scottie to do his thing, we can have a wander around the horse auctions.”
I nodded with a smile. Driving back and getting the chance to see the stock horses available would make for a great day as far as I was concerned. “Been a while since I’ve been to a horse auction. Years.”
By the time we wandered back over to the others, Scottie was shaking hands with Jack and a lady Jack’s age was walking over to us with a smile on her face. “Mrs Pearce?” She held her hand out to shake. “I’m Mandy.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Ally Pearce, Scottie’s sister. This is Craig.”
I shook the woman’s hand and we moved toward the others. “They look happy.” Scottie turned to us and grinned and I knew he’d reached a deal. “I haven’t been much use here today,” I confessed to Ally before we joined them.
“Well, to be honest, we didn’t really need you here to help choose the bulls—” Ally put her hand up to silence my interruption “—but I wanted your opinion on the horses. We also wanted to give Sam an opportunity to do his thing at the station.”
“Sam would have been more helpful to you here, but I’m glad he’s got a chance to show what he’s made of.”
She nudged me with her elbow. “Don’t undersell yourself. You know horses just as well as Sam and if anything, you’re more confident with them.”
I shook my head. “Nah.” I’d suspected the reason for their inviting me, and I was happy for Sam. It was something he deserved. Jono wasn’t going anywhere—he and Scottie almost had a father-son relationship—but knowing that Scottie trusted Sam to run the place in his absence warmed me inside. I was also glad that they’d not considered me for the same opportunity. Management wasn’t something I was interested in. What did grab my attention though was the thought of getting a horse. I hadn’t realized how much I loved the idea until the possibility presented itself.
I was suddenly itching to get a closer look at them. The hour-long chat we had over a cuppa and scones felt like five. The forty-minute drive back to Roma might as well have been a week, but Scottie finally dropped Ally and me off at the saleyards. He said he’d join us after he and Jono went to the bank. I was fine with that.
Each stall had a stock horse in it. This wasn’t the Magic Millions, where thoroughbred racehorses sold for millions, but the pedigree on offer was impressive. The horses looked sturdy. Fit and calm, despite so many people being around—something they likely weren’t used to. Hay and horsehair filled my senses and memories reminiscent of happy times filled the hole in my chest. I closed my eyes and smiled, at home among the smells and sounds of my favourite animals. Beautiful chestnut browns and dappled greys, mahoganies and the odd black horse had me guessing at their age and how many hands they were. I watched them shift between the pail of water and bucket of hay or pellets and saw the flick of ears or swish of a tail.
My fingers itched to tangle into a mane and feel the wind in my hair as I rode bareback, racing along the open desert plains. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed these majestic beasts until I was around so many. I didn’t spend much time in the shed with the horses of Pearce Station. Without one of my own, there wasn’t really any reason to go in the shed. Sam’s almost aversion to them kept me away too.
