Twenty-nine
Excitement filled the air as people of all ages arrived in trucks and assorted four-wheel drives, towing trailers and horse floats. Sturdy stockhorses nickered and neighed, cattle lowed, and dogs yipped and barked as the aroma of barbecued meats scented the air to create a carnival-like atmosphere for the annual Elsie Creek Campdraft, held at the rodeo end of the local sports grounds.
‘Have you ever been to a campdraft?’ Cap asked Mia, as they unloaded their many trays of seedlings from the Tojo, while Atlas, Fern and Willow waited obediently inside the large cage. Ryder’s big ute was parked on one side of the Tojo, and Harper in her Audi was parked on the other.
‘No. Are cowboy hats part of the uniform? I’ve never seen so many hats.’ She tugged on her overalls, feeling underdressed. But it was all she had.
‘Careful saying the C word with this crowd.’ Cap chuckled, loading up the trolley with their best seedlings. They had hundreds, along with the Elsie Creek Station brochures about their various patented products and native nursery, it also included instructions for seedling care while outlining the benefits of native windbreaks, to share with their neighbours.
‘Why can’t I say cowboys ?’ The place was wall to wall cowboys of all ages. ‘Do I call them cowgirls, too?’
‘In this region, cowboys are what we call the boys, or girls, who do minor jobs around stations before they train to become stockmen.’
‘Oh, so it’s…’
‘An insult to a stockman.’ He nodded.
Tugging on her ponytail, again she felt severely underdressed. ‘Maybe I should’ve brought my hat out.’ But it was dirty, and they were supposed to be in a tent all day.
‘Feel free to pinch any of my caps, if you want.’ He pointed to his vast collection of hats that covered the entire dashboard of his Tojo. The sun sparkled to catch the buckle on Dodge’s old dog collar. It made her pause, to realise she’d been through worse and shouldn’t worry about the little things.
‘I’ll be fine.’ She then playfully patted his amazing butt in his good jeans. ‘But you look nice.’ More than nice, her man was sweet sassy malassy hot and sizzling. Dayum.
‘It’s for the show events.’ Cap smoothed down his necktie over his checked shirt, in clean jeans, and polished boots. ‘I’ve got a lot riding on today.’
It was her turn to give his hand an encouraging squeeze. ‘Hey, you’ll be incredible.’
He gave her a wink, the sly kind that always made her smile from the inside. ‘Here, you take Willow with you.’ He led the kelpie from the cage, her coat gleaming. ‘I’ve got to admit Bree’s dog shampoo is fancy. The kelpie looks like one of those polished racehorses at the Melbourne Cup.’
‘So do Fern and Atlas.’
‘They do look good.’ He patted the dogs in the cage. ‘ Stay ... I’ll come back and set them up once I’ve shown you where the tent is.’ Closing the cage, he grabbed the trolley loaded with crates of plant seedlings.
‘Do we lock the Tojo up?’ Considering they locked nothing at the station.
‘Yeah, I forgot.’ He chuckled as he walked around to the driver’s side and locked the old ute.
‘What about the back?’
‘The dogs won’t let anyone near it.’
She dropped her head at the reminder.
‘Hey, my little stowaway, you’re okay.’ He gave her shoulders a squeeze and kissed the top of her hair as if he’d read her mind.
Ash closed the boot of Harper’s slick Audi. ‘Babe, we should’ve brought my ute for all this stuff.’ He juggled with the fold-up tables and chairs. ‘Cap? Have you got room on that trolley? I’ve still got a kid to get out of his seat and they don’t travel light.’
‘I’ve got you.’ Cap helped his brother with the tables.
‘Here, let me.’ Mia helped Harper load up the pram with a cooler, a water container, and the many items a toddler needed.
It was like a bucket of cold water being splashed over her good mood. She hadn’t told Cap about her not being able to have children. Every time she tried, she chickened out because she didn’t want to ruin what they had.
‘We good?’ Cap asked, while waiting for her like always so he could walk at her side.
‘Yeah.’ She pasted on a smile, sliding the baby bag over her shoulder, and grabbed the boxes of pamphlets, looking for Willow’s lead, following close to Mia’s knee, like always. ‘Good girl, Willow. Stick close.’
‘Anyone see Bree?’ Harper pushed the loaded pram like a wheelbarrow.
‘Bree is parking Charlie’s car up by the vintage cars display near the beer tent,’ replied Ash, hoisting his son onto his shoulders.
‘Pandora,’ said Harper. ‘It’s says so on the new numberplates Bree got for the car, that Porter helped her get registered. Bree has a nickname for everything.’
‘And everyone,’ said Ash already looked bothered as the packhorse. ‘Where are we setting up?’
‘Our tent is on the main thoroughfare. Good traffic, Bree said.’ Cap pulled out the mud map Charlie had given them. ‘Here.’
‘Will your other brothers help us today?’ asked Harper.
Cap grinned at Ash, who said, ‘Dex, the revhead, has volunteered to watch over Pandora, acting like a proud father. I think he’s trying to convince Charlie to make it a black muscle car. Porter thinks it should be a hot rod.’
‘I like how it is now. Charlie was up late polishing it.’
‘Like you were, polishing dogs. I’ve gotta say that kelpie’s looking good.’ Ash tilted his head at the dog. ‘Great shine on her coat.’
‘Thanks to Bree’s dog shampoo,’ Mia said.
‘Another witchy concoction.’ Ash shifted his shoulders to better balance the child, before hooking his arm through the camp chair and cooler.
‘Will you be showing the fluffy white bears next year?’ Harper asked.
‘Babe, those guardian dogs aren’t pets.’
‘But Lurch and Momma Bear are adorable,’ said Harper. The new guardian dogs had settled in so fast they were like part of the furniture, protecting a paddock full of poddy calves.
‘Will you guys ever use them for mustering, like your other dogs?’ Harper asked Ash as they made their way through the crowded car park of assorted utes, trucks, and four-wheel-drives.
‘No. They’re not built for that. They’re just there to protect our calves.’
‘Is that why you put those dogs in the kennel when Mia and I are having horse riding lessons with the calves?’
‘Help me out here, bro?’ Ash pleaded with Cap, lifting his arms, carrying the camp chairs, while balancing a toddler on his shoulders.
‘We’re not just training you two to be stockwomen, but we’re also teaching the calves to get used to being mustered by stockhorses. And sometimes guardian dogs can be protective, as they aren’t used to our processes either.’
‘So, it’s one big lesson for everyone,’ said Mia smiling up at Cap. She loved everything about station living, the pace, the lifestyle and how no two days were the same.
But today she was in town for the first time in over a month, and switched on her mobile phone. In a matter of moments, it displayed over thirty phone messages and another fifty text messages waiting for her.
Most of them were from Gavin.