Twenty-seven
It was two weeks later, when Cap parked his Tojo at the drafting yards, with Ash in the passenger seat. The sun hung low on the distant horizon, highlighting the haze of red dust that floated in the air.
‘Why are we here?’ Ash asked.
‘Ryder said he wanted a meeting.’
‘We have one twice a day at the farmhouse at the outdoor table. We should just call it the boardroom.’
‘The table covered in empty beer cans and coffee cups.’ They chuckled as they climbed out of the ute. Cap let Atlas and Fern out of the Tojo’s back cage. The rest of the muster dogs were already chilling in their kennels after another big day.
Ash bounded up the staircase to the high boards that overlooked the drafting yards that they were now using as a fancy feedlot to fatten their cattle for market.
Up top, they found Dex leaning over the rails with a beer in hand. ‘There’s beer in the esky, boys.’
‘Cheers.’ Ash plucked a can from the ice and passed one to Cap.
Cap eagerly guzzled on his beer that was like heaven on the tastebuds to chase away the day’s dust. ‘Where’s Ryder?’
‘Down there.’ Dex nodded, his dark eyes shaded by the brim of his hat. ‘Checking the gummy gate again.’
‘Didn’t we fix that already?’ asked Ash.
‘I did, today. As well as the gate that jammed up during the drafting.’
Ryder’s heavy boot tread was felt on the boards as he climbed the stairs. ‘Save me any beer?’
‘Here.’ Ash rummaged through the esky and handed a beer to Ryder. ‘So, why are we out here?’
‘To talk about this weekend’s campdraft.’
‘Why out here, and not at the table?’
‘This conversation is for partners only.’ Ryder might not have said it, but he was talking about Harper and Mia.
‘Hey, I don’t keep secrets from Harper—’
Ryder raised his hand, cutting off Ash. ‘This is a business meeting. Straight and simple.’
No, it wasn’t. It showed Ryder didn’t approve of the women at all, especially Mia, who’d done so much for Cap.
‘I don’t think you lot realise what an opportunity this is for us.’
‘It’s not our first campdraft. Relax, Ryder.’
‘That’s what I said.’ Dex turned and leaned his back against the rails. ‘I’m going to drink beer, look at the cars, the occasional cow, and score a buckle bunny. So I’ll be getting a ride in with you, Ryder.’
‘Ash? What do you plan to do?’
Ash shrugged. ‘I’ll be checking out the horses, like I normally do, and drinking beer. I’ll get Harper to drive.’
‘That’s not what I meant.’ Ryder shook his head. ‘Your cattle tags and water tech is now patented, so while you’re still running your trials, it’s time to see if there is a market out there—which we know there is. And the local campdraft would be a good place to learn how to talk about your products.’
‘Do you really think so?’ Ash rubbed the back of his neck.
Ryder plonked a heavy hand on their younger brother’s shoulder. ‘I believe in your products. It’s why I’m financially backing them all.’
‘I agree,’ said Dex.
‘Ditto.’ Cap held his beer up in a toast.
‘What about you, Cap?’
‘I’ve entered Fern and Atlas for the muster dog trials, under the name of Elsie Creek Station.’ He’d been practising with them daily, alongside Mia and Willow.
‘To do what?’ Ryder crossed his arms, waiting.
Cap removed his hat and raked fingers through his hair. ‘I want to show how easy it is for new farmers to use a muster dog and their benefits such as cutting down on labour costs. They’ve saved us stacks.’
‘Weren’t you looking at doing some puppy school?’ Dex smirked behind his can.
Cap narrowed his eyes at Dex being a dick. ‘Look, cattle dogs aren’t new. But I want to be known as the go-to person for re-training those problem dogs, so that farmers can come to me, and not shoot or discard their dogs. Nearly all of my muster dogs were like that, where now I could sell them back to those farmers if I wanted to.’
‘But we know you won’t sell them,’ said Dex, for once not being a dick as he patted Cap’s shoulders. ‘They’re part of your pack that is an asset to this place, brother.’
‘And the Maremma’s?’ asked Ryder.
‘As much as I’d like to show them, I’m not ready yet. Even if those guardian dogs have easily proven themselves to be a success, I’ll show them next time.’
‘Harper wants one of those dogs for the house,’ said Ash.
‘Like hell.’ Ryder frowned. ‘There are enough pampered dogs crowding the farmhouse now as it is. What else, Cap?’
‘Um…’ He scratched at his neck. ‘Mia’s nursery is doing well.’
His brothers may have said nothing, yet he knew what they were thinking: Mia wasn’t a partner. Harper wasn’t either, but she worked for the vet in town, had her own money, and did a day in the office while helping on the station like a trainee stockwoman.
Mia was their only full-time employee.
‘What do you want to do, Cap? For this station.’ Ryder obviously chose his words carefully to exclude Mia.
Cap wasn’t a fool. He knew Ryder was doing this to protect their assets. ‘Mia has become an asset. She’s helped recognise and provide plant stock to not only feed the cattle, but to create wildlife corridors that double as windbreaks to stop dust storms. Our plans on soil repair, which reduce and offset carbon emissions, are working much better than expected.’ His grin broke out to share the news. ‘My paddock is done, brothers.’
‘No way?’ Dex’s beer can froze halfway to his mouth.
‘The fencing, the wildlife corridors, and the no-till pasture planting is done.’ The thrill of completing a project, his dream, was such a high for him, one he shared with Mia. ‘Now we just watch it grow.’
‘They’re starting on my paddock next.’ Ash playfully nudged Cap’s ribs.
Ryder tilted his head, his voice low and steady. ‘Even then, there’s still a lot of stock growing inside that shade house.’
Cap could never hide anything from Ryder. ‘Mia’s native nursery has created enough seedling stock to supply other farmers, other mine sites, with room to expand big time to make it a full-time gig.’
‘A commercial nursery?’ Ash asked.
‘A small-scale commercial native nursery.’ Cap nodded. It was Mia’s dream, too. ‘Mia knows what other mines want for their revegetation programs. And we’re hoping to sell some of that plant stock at the campdraft to pay for dog food and future vet fees. The costs have been minimal and we’re repurposing the water from that pond you dug, Dex. We’ve got solar running the pumps, using the irrigation pipes Bree found out the back of the sheds. Only the seedling trays and pots we’ve bought new. The rest Mia and I have been able to use what we have.’
‘Will it make a profit if you sell those seedlings?’ asked Dex.
‘Ninety-eight per cent.’
‘You forget Mia’s wages are a part of that equation, too,’ said Ryder, their bank.
‘I think it sounds like a good idea,’ said Ash.
‘You really want to save the world, don’t you?’ Dex playfully punched Cap’s shoulder. ‘Sounds good to me, too, brother.’
But Ryder stared, cold and unemotional as always.
‘Do you see a problem with us selling those seedlings, Ryder?’ Cap only saw benefits.
Ryder took a deep guzzle of his beer. ‘I think you should give them away.’
‘Say what?’ Ash shuffled his boots, as Dex paused mid-drink.
‘But aren’t we meant to make money?’ Cap asked Ryder, who held the purse strings on this station.
‘If you give one seedling pot and a brochure as a package deal to advertise your commercial native nursery, it’ll sweeten the deal for future customers.’
‘I get it,’ said Ash. ‘Harper says some authors offer their new readers a free book to try out their writing style. It’d be the same concept if Cap gave them a seedling they can’t kill, with the brochure the girls designed.’
‘They’ll need to be update, if we want to put in the native nursery details on them.’ Cap nodded eagerly, not expecting that out of Ryder.
‘They have time. Which is why I am calling this meeting here today.’ Ryder patted Cap’s shoulder. ‘I think your native nursery is a good idea and it goes with my plans to diversify this station.’
‘Huh?’ Dex arched his eyebrows. ‘Isn’t this a cattle station?’ He pointed to the small herd in the yards below them.
‘We have a cattle station with little cattle. So we need to bring in other forms of income until we’ve got decent-sized herds again.’ Ryder looked at the three brothers. ‘We’ll have that with Ash and his tags—’
‘And my water trough tech?’
‘That too. And maybe you can design a drone specifically for mustering. In the meantime, you could teach farmers how to use drones, like Cap with his muster dogs and guardian dogs. Maybe build an arena, just for that dual purpose.’
Cap and Ash nodded like kids being given free rein in a candy store.
‘And what do I do, besides look pretty?’ Dex scowled as he adjusted his hat over his eyes.
‘Volunteer your skills to help them build things, like my house before the wet season arrives.’
‘Right, so I’m the mug on the tools.’ Dex crossed his arms over his chest, showing off all the muscles he had. Any wonder when the guy was training in the mornings, working all day, then he’d train at night for his fights.
‘You’re mechanically minded, and we all know you like playing with the tools,’ said Ryder.
‘Dex should have been an engineer,’ said Cap.
‘He is, just without the fancy tickets.’ Ryder was handing out the compliments today—which was rare. ‘I’m sure you have ideas, Dex. You still have a paddock to play with, too.’
‘Well, I have an idea for a new cradling system to make things quicker in the yards.’ Dex pointed at the pit they were all well-acquainted with. ‘I want to build it and test it when the vet comes and checks our stock.’
‘Good.’ Ryder patted Dex’s back.
Their normally gruff brother was being so nice. Should Cap ask Ryder if he was okay?
For a moment they drank their beer as they watched the sun grow heavier as it kissed the edge of the horizon, spreading shadows over the drafting yards, when they heard a horse galloping behind them.
‘It’s Bree.’ Ash pointed at Bree riding up on her black stallion.
‘Oh look, the queen of chaos is here.’ Dex leaned over the rails to smirk at her.
‘Isn’t daycare shut this time of the day, boys? Why aren’t you lot messing up that table at the farmhouse?’
‘Why aren’t you wallowing in your trough, slugging down a jug of gin?’
‘I thought I’d look for some bunyips and drop bears,’ she said with a straight face.
‘Are you saying you still believe in fairytales?’
‘I’m no damsel in distress, and I’m too busy to bother saving any male from themselves. But let me guess,’ she said, wiggling her gloved finger at them like a worm. ‘Your little crocheting corner is to do with the campdraft?’
Ryder crossed his arms, glaring at her. ‘We know what we’re doing.’
‘But do you realise that this is Elsie Creek’s annual campdraft, and you’ll be there as the new owners of Elsie Creek Station?’
‘Are you worried we’ll embarrass you?’ Dex asked.
‘Do you really want me to answer that, stormcloud?’ Bree gave a positively wolfish grin.
It had Ryder lifting an eyebrow. ‘Play nice, Bree.’
‘I am. I know you’ve all got your own projects, and before you bite my head off, cupcake, and tell me to butt out, I’m here to tell you I’ve booked you a tent.’
‘For what?’
‘To show your cute butts off to whoever walks past like strippers on a Sunday.’ She giggled to herself. ‘I’d sell tickets for that, and then I’d invest in my favourite charity—being me, and my future holiday to watch padded men play ice hockey.’
‘We’re not stripping.’ Dex scowled at her.
‘You strip off your shirt to get all hot and sweaty in front of strangers for your fights. What’s the difference?’
‘Why did you get us a tent at the campdraft?’ Cap asked Bree.
‘I usually get one for the family’s cattle-brand business. Only this year I booked a bigger one to include you guys, if you want in. No skin off my nose, if you don’t.’
‘Whereabouts?’
‘Main thoroughfare. Best spot to catch everyone who walks past.’
‘Why?’ Ash asked with a shrug.
‘To network.’ Ryder responded curtly, while nodding at Bree.
‘Good to see someone’s got their thinking cap on. But you can skip the tent, Dex, you’ll scare the children. The beer tent is your playground to mingle. They’ll have the cars there.’
‘See, you do love me.’ Dex grinned at Bree, as Ryder scowled.
‘What else can we expect?’ Ash asked.
‘You’ll get to meet your other neighbours, who could be future customers for the ideas you guys have. If you’re going to talk about your cattle tags, Ash, I’d suggest you have Harper create a sheet for customers to leave their names and email addresses for future sales. You can use it for Mia and Cap’s commercial native nursery, too. Oh, and for the guardian dogs and the dog school. Plenty of customers will be there.’
Ryder growled as he looked back at his brothers. ‘How is it Bree knows all about this before me?’
The three of them shrugged.
Shaking his head, Ryder crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at Bree. ‘What’s it gonna cost me?’
‘Pfft, nothing, cupcake.’
‘Everyone has a price for doing favours.’
‘Like I said, I get a tent every year.’ She barked out at him, her horse shifting beneath her, but she remained steady, matching Ryder’s scowl. ‘It’s no skin off my nose if you don’t want it, cupcake. I’ll just pretend I don’t know you, if you’re going to be like that.’ She went to ride away.
‘ Fine! We’ll take it.’
‘I’ll scribble out a mud map for you. Charlie can deliver it to the farmhouse later. He’ll gladly fill you in on the gossip. Ash, I’d suggest you take the drone to tape Cap at the muster dog trials. Harper can then spin it for a social media campaign.’
‘Good idea.’ Ash nodded with a grin. Cap widened his eyes; he’d been living so far off-the-grid he had nothing to do with social media.
Meanwhile Ryder’s scowl just got deeper.
‘See, cupcake, not everything has to have an ulterior motive.’ She gave Ryder a filthy look, then rode off, not even glancing back.
‘That woman can be so irritating.’ Ryder gripped the rail so hard it groaned as if about to crack under the pressure.
Dex patted Ryder’s shoulder. ‘Easy brother, Bree is only helping us.’
‘So why was Bree riding out here when she normally rides in the mornings? What were those saddlebags full of? And how is it that she knows more about this station and your ideas than I do? When that redhead takes great pleasure in constantly telling us she doesn’t work for us!’ Ryder pointed angrily in her direction, mumbling a set of expletives under his breath, as if to expel the hot air.
Cap side-glanced his brothers. No one ruffled Ryder quite like Bree did.
‘That irritating, sassy-mouthed redhead is right, though…’ Ryder exhaled heavily, dropping his hands to his hips, and lowering his head. ‘The campdraft isn’t just a social event for us like it used to be. We’re station owners now, which means it’s a place of business.’ Ryder turned and faced his brothers.
Cap instantly felt the pressure land heavily on his shoulders, noting Ash was the same.
‘But I don’t want you lot to think of it that way, because we’re not just investing in a business, we’re investing in a lifestyle and a legacy. So, right here and now, I want you all to speak openly about any ideas you have for the future of this place. Say it now, free from judgement. So I’m not hearing it second-hand from someone who has no investment in this place.’ Again, Ryder scowled in Bree’s direction. ‘Agreed?’
They all nodded, and that afternoon, long after the sun had set, they discussed many ideas for a long-term future, standing on the high boards of the drafting yards. But they knew the real test was to come at the local campdraft, where they’d hopefully make a name for themselves as the new owners of Elsie Creek Station.