Chapter 13
Thirteen
The mist was still hanging low over the paddocks when they set out the next morning. Dew clung to spiderwebs woven with silver threads, scattered across the grass and lining the barbed wire, like someone had been busy crocheting hundreds of metres of intricate lace and draping it over the fences.
The cattle lifted their heads in the paddock beyond the cattle yards where Jack had brought them up to the day before. Kenzie and Poppy stayed at the yards while Jack and Ewan opened the gate and made their way towards the herd.
Jack was big on low-stress cattle handling, where getting them into the stockyards and moving them around was all done on foot—slow and steady with the focus on keeping the cattle calm.
While this theory made sense, it was a little more difficult to put into practice when your helpers were often not proficient at reading cattle body language.
Jack moved towards the back of the cattle, and Kenzie saw him open his mouth to call out instructions. Then his mouth shut and Kenzie saw that Ewan was already moving into position, slightly ahead. Ewan put pressure on the lead cattle, and the rest of the herd followed through the gate.
Watching low-stress handling done by two people who clearly knew cattle was like watching for the first time.
There was no yelling or swearing, just a few encouraging ‘Up, up, up’s, and the herd moved slowly but smoothly as one through the paddock gate and into the first holding yard.
From there, the herd was divided into smaller, more manageable lots and drafted into pens.
Kenzie and Poppy were manning the gates, but mostly just staying out of the way, which also seemed to be a big help.
The morning air began to warm and soon everyone had raised a sweat.
The flies began appearing, buzzing annoyingly around faces, while the constant sounds of low bellowing and mooing filled the air.
Ewan pushed the first lot of young steers in need of tagging into the forcing yard, an oddly shaped pen that started off wide but then narrowed as it led into the race where the cattle would then be forced into single file for the tagging, injecting and weighing.
The squeak of metal gates opening and closing, mixed with the hustle and bustle of cattle jostling for position, brought back the little thrill of excitement that Kenzie had always felt whenever she’d been here.
There was something exhilarating about working with the dust and smell of cattle swirling around.
The men communicated with a few brief words, Jack’s typical lengthy explanation about the next step or repetition of instructions notably absent.
Poppy and Kenzie were busy keeping tally, writing down whatever Jack shouted out, opening gates and filling water troughs.
Kenzie had given up trying to keep Poppy away from the more surgical procedures when she’d realised her child had a fascination with anything to do with farming life.
While Kenzie often found herself flinching and deliberately not watching certain things, Poppy would watch with open curiosity, listening intently to Jack explaining exactly what he was doing and why.
Which was what was currently happening as Jack, with a well-practised, smooth action, placed the needle into a steer’s neck, the animal barely flinching at the necessary injection.
He then nodded for Ewan to open the crush and the steer calmly walked out before trotting off to join its friends in the larger holding area ahead.
Kenzie recorded its ear tag number as the next one was pushed through, and Ewan pulled the handle, closing the gate on the beast’s neck, securely holding it in place to repeat the process.
Jack and Ewan worked liked they’d been doing this together all their lives, and all the cattle seemed to be doing what they were supposed to be doing, unlike when it was just her mother and herself helping. Kenzie had never seen the process go so smoothly or efficiently.
Jack’s dogs played a big part in the process too, and she loved watching them work with just a few whistles or hand signals from Jack; they knew what to do.
He’d spent a lot of time training them to work with the whole low-stress technique, having them move with purpose and minimal barking or aggression.
As a result, the cattle responded without panic or fear.
The roar of a car engine rumbled its way towards them, announcing her mother’s arrival with the food and drinks she’d stayed behind to prepare.
They stopped for a quick cuppa, Poppy sweetly passing around cake and biscuits. There was a happy, almost festive air to their little picnic.
‘I’m not sure you’ve earned that cuppa,’ Jack said, watching as his wife handed Ewan a cup.
‘Why’s that?’ Ewan asked, sending the older man a slightly confused glance.
‘Well, we’ve barely even raised a sweat.’
Ewan grinned. ‘I don’t know. I think I have.’
‘Yeah, but normally to get to this point would have taken pretty much all day. We’ve already got one lot done and dusted.’
‘Not to mention you haven’t made anyone cry yet,’ Sam put in drolly.
‘Mate, I’m telling you, no one prepares you for working with emotional women. There needs to be a workshop on it or something. It’s brutal,’ Jack informed him blandly.
Ewan chuckled.
Kenzie shook her head ruefully. She’d been thinking about how easy Ewan had been to talk to the night before; she’d lain awake for a long time after they’d said goodnight, going over the things they’d talked about.
It was all so strange. For so long, this man had just been a shadowy memory and now he was real—or, at least, a lot more real than he had been.
A few hours later, Ewan was standing nearby and her gaze wandered from his heavy workboots up his jean-clad legs, one foot resting on the bottom rail of the stockyards.
His previously clean dark blue shirt was now covered in sweat stains and dust. She let her eyes follow the tanned skin of his thick forearms partially exposed beneath the rolled-up sleeves.
Large veins ran down either arm, risen from the heat and physical activity he’d been doing.
His hands, braced on the rail, were large and clearly capable, judging by how deftly he’d handled the cattle.
She watched as he dropped his foot from the rail and straightened, wiping an arm across his face, knocking his felt hat back slightly to reveal his previously shaded eyes. Christ, he’s like a cowboy fantasy come to life …
The sensible, no-nonsense part of her pointed out that Jack was in a similar state, with the sweat and dust, and she didn’t see anything particularly romantic about him. But then … eww, why would she?
Just then, Ewan turned and locked eyes with her and her throat went dry. Her heart literally skipped a beat, and she swallowed painfully. Maybe it’s heat stroke?
‘Mum, can I go over to Ewan and Grandad now?’ Poppy asked from beside her, effectively ending whatever the hell that response had been.
‘I can watch her,’ Ewan called, waving Poppy over, who didn’t even bother to check with Kenzie before running for his outstretched hand.
He swooped down and picked her up effortlessly, swinging her onto the top rail in front of him, wrapping his arm around her securely and pointing out something about the cow Jack was finishing with inside the yards.
Poppy’s delighted giggle sent a ripple of confusing emotion through her, both joy and the tiniest bit of fear. He wasn’t pushing himself on their daughter; he’d been allowing her to get to know him in her own time and whenever she did approach, it was always so natural and easy.
She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting.
Maybe some slight awkwardness or hesitation?
But there hadn’t been. He spoke easily, letting her do most of the talking, which, quite frankly, was all you could do around the little chatterbox that she was, and he seemed genuinely relaxed. Like he’d been doing it all her life.
‘Jack?’ her mother called from the ute parked under the shade of two enormous fig trees. ‘Are you ready for lunch?’
Kenzie glanced at her watch, and realised it was almost one-thirty. Due to the early start, the majority of the work had been done, with just a few things left to finish before they moved the cattle down the back.
‘I’m starving,’ Jack said, kissing his wife’s cheek after he and Ewan had washed their hands under the nearby tap.
‘Me too,’ Poppy said, blowing a loose strand of hair from her ponytail out of her eyes.
‘Don’t forget to feed our best worker,’ Jack said, nodding down at his granddaughter.
‘Never. I made an extra special sandwich for you,’ Sam said, taking out a small lunch bag from the bottom of the basket.
Kenzie watched Poppy’s eyes grow wide. ‘A fairy bread sandwich,’ she said in a reverent tone.
‘Seriously?’ Kenzie exclaimed, eyeing her mother sceptically.
‘What?’ her mother asked innocently.
‘You would never have packed a fairy bread sandwich for our lunchboxes.’
‘This is different. I’m a nan. I’m allowed to do things like this.’
Kenzie noticed Jack and Ewan both studiously concentrating on their sandwiches, clearly hoping not to be asked their opinions. ‘Hmm.’
‘Nan, can you make my lunch every day?’ Poppy asked. ‘I like it when all the sometimes food at our house is everyday food here.’
‘See what you’ve done?’
‘Oh, well, it’s only on special days,’ Sam told her granddaughter hastily.
‘Yeah, only days ending in Y,’ Kenzie muttered, rolling her eyes.
‘Tonight, we’ll have extra vegetables,’ Sam promised.
‘Eww,’ Poppy said, turning up her nose.
‘Good luck with that, Nan,’ Kenzie warned, before opening her own sandwich—chicken, not fairy bread, she noted, to her disappointment.
‘I hope he hasn’t been working you too hard, Ewan?’ Sam asked.
Ewan swallowed a bite before answering. ‘Not at all. It’s been great to get my hands dirty again.’
‘I appreciate it,’ Jack said, before looking over at his wife sheepishly. ‘No offence, sweetheart, but it’s been a lot easier working with someone who can tell a steer from a heifer without me having to go back through and double-check.’
‘It’s hard to tell when they’re all moving around so fast.’
‘I know,’ Jack said with a reassuring pat of her knee. ‘I’m just saying … it’s been a lot less stressful for everyone.’
Kenzie bit back a smile at the narrowed glare Sam gave her husband.
‘Is this anything like what you were used to when you used to work with your family?’ Kenzie asked Ewan as they finished eating, and her mother was once again bringing out the coffee and cake.
‘Not in the slightest,’ he said with a wan smile.
‘Really?’
‘Nope. My family are all pretty high-strung. Cattle are the only thing that really matter, or at least, they were back when I was growing up. My parents poured everything into building the property, so there was always a fair amount of pressure with just about every aspect of the cattle work. Getting the best prices, making sure the cattle were in the best condition, getting them to sale on time,’ he said, looking out over the yards where Jack’s mob were still being held, letting out the odd, irritated bellow at being unable to spread out and graze.
‘And if you think Jack gets a bit snippy working cattle, you’d be horrified at how off the handle my old man used to get. ’
‘I guess we’ve got it pretty easy then,’ she said with a small grimace.
He glanced across at her before allowing his gaze to fall on her parents. ‘You’ve got it pretty good, I’d say. Your parents are great. I didn’t realise families could work together and almost enjoy it.’
‘There’s the occasional raised voice and the odd meltdown, but generally we all still talk to each other once it’s done.’ She grinned. Well, except for Brook. Kenzie was fairly sure she still hadn’t recovered from that one and only experience.
After lunch, the men went back to work and Kenzie helped her mother pack everything into the car.
‘What do you think of him?’ Kenzie asked her mother as they finished loading the last fold-up chair.
‘He isn’t what I was expecting,’ Sam said.
‘In a good or bad way?’
‘Good,’ she said, watching as Ewan headed over to open a gate. ‘From what you were saying, I expected more of a hard-nosed businessman, but he seems very down-to-earth. Poppy seems to like him.’
‘Poppy likes everyone,’ Kenzie said dryly.
‘The important question is, what do you think of him?’
Kenzie gave a small shrug and dragged her gaze away from the man in question to watch her daughter having a tea party on the grass with her new teddy bear. ‘I think he genuinely wants a relationship with his daughter,’ she said.
‘Isn’t that the best scenario to come from all this?’ her mother asked.
Kenzie gave a short sigh. ‘I don’t know … I guess?’ she reluctantly admitted. ‘I think part of me wanted him to say it was too much and he didn’t want anything to do with her, so we could just stay as Poppy and me.’
‘Change is scary,’ her mother said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and hugging her gently.
‘But this is all about doing what’s best for Poppy.
Look, it’s still early days. I think you need to get to know him a lot better before you make any decisions.
So far, I think he seems like a decent man.
’ Sam dropped her arm from Kenzie’s shoulders.
‘Give it some more time and see how you feel.’
That was true. She barely knew Ewan Campbell. Maybe once they returned to the Gold Coast, things would be different. They could gradually go about easing him into Poppy’s life and this wouldn’t feel quite so scary.