Chapter 14
Everyone, volunteers as well as employees, had worked tremendously hard all week to get the Caldbrook herd ready for a good sale and Roxie was proud of them, and honoured to have been her father’s daughter.
She hoped she would be able to keep her tears in check when she saw some of her favourite cows being sold to strangers.
She didn’t blame Tommy for selling them when they were not his interest, but she wished she had been born a boy, then her father would have left the dairy herd to her.
On the eve of the sale, Roxie told Harry he need not come in early for milking the next day; she would be starting before four in the morning to get the cows milked and settled down again before buyers started to come looking round.
‘Serious buyers always come early before a sale begins, so they can have a good look and take time to examine some of the animals they fancy from the catalogue.
‘It will be your job, Harry, to keep going round them to pull away any dirty bedding and giving an extra brush or wipe down if any get in a mess.’
‘Isn’t four in the morning a bit early to start milking?’ he asked, puzzled.
‘They wouldn’t look so good if they were newly milked and with floppy, empty udders, but we couldn’t leave them until after the sale or they would start streaming milk in the sale ring if their udders were too full.
We need to relieve them to prevent that, but if we do it early enough, they will have begun to fill up again by mid-morning when the sale begins.
We want them to show themselves at their very best. I know some people don’t milk them at all before a sale, but experienced dairymen can tell if they have been deliberately hefted and for high yielders it is rather cruel. It might cause mastitis too.’
‘I see. I never thought of all that.’
* * *
Harry wanted to be there for the last milking and made sure he arrived early the next morning, as Tommy was bringing in the cows and Roxie was starting to milk.
‘I’ve brought a pair of clean overalls in case these get in a mess, he said.’
‘My word, Harry, you’re very conscientious.
Dad would have approved of you,’ Roxie told him.
‘You may have to milk some of the cows this afternoon before they are loaded, if their new owners live a long way away. I think some of them will have travelled a fair distance because my father was fairly well known in various parts of the country. It is better for the cows if they are milked before they leave here to start a long journey. It prevents their udders getting too full before they reach their destination. I doubt if I shall be free to help you at that time of day. I know several of the buyers will be grateful for your help, and your consideration for the animals, so most of them will reward you, a few of them quite generously. My father always did. Accept whatever they offer and thank them. You will have deserved it by the time this day is over.’
As soon as the milking was finished, Roxie sent Harry for a big breakfast.
‘We don’t know when we shall get another decent meal, but Beth will have rolls and tea going all day today.
Grab what you can when the opportunity arises.
Don’t wait for Tommy or me to tell you.’ Harry had seen Beth’s van arriving earlier.
‘While you’re eating, I will check through the animals in all the different groups, then you can come and take my place, constantly checking to keep them clean and bedded.
I will go for my breakfast and shower, and change when you come back from yours.
’ Harry nodded and grinned. He liked the way Roxie gave clear instructions.
He had learned a lot from her in the past week.
After his breakfast, Harry was returning to the cattle sheds to take over from Roxie when he met a man he hadn’t seen around before.
‘Can you tell me where I can find Roxanne Carr, please?’
‘I will get her for you,’ Harry said. ‘She is in one of the sheds. She will be needing her breakfast, though. She has been milking since before four o’clock. You’re early for the sale.’
‘Yes, I had a better journey than I expected.’
‘Someone to see you, Roxie,’ Harry called when he glimpsed her about to disappear into another shed. She turned and came towards them. Her eyes widened in astonishment.
‘Ciaran!’
* * *
Ciaran smiled as she ran the last few yards towards him, her arms wide.
‘Can it really be you? Here?’ She hugged him tightly. Ciaran was delighted and relieved by her greeting. It was spontaneous and warm. He lowered his head and kissed her parted lips longingly, returning her hug. She laughed happily.
‘It’s good to see you, Roxie,’ he said honestly.
‘Anyone would think I’d been away for a month.’ She chuckled warmly.
‘It has felt like it to me,’ he said seriously.
‘I never dreamed of you coming all this way, but I am so, so pleased you have come, and you will get to see my father’s cows before they are dispersed to the four winds.’
‘I would like to buy four of them myself, if I can afford them.’
‘Buy them? Truly? I know you are interested in their breeding, but I never thought . . . Oh, Ciaran, it would be wonderful if you do buy even one of my father’s cows.’
‘Maybe you will come and see her every evening.’ He grinned. ‘And then I shall see you too.’
‘I shall not want to keep away, that’s for sure.’ Roxie nodded. ‘You’ll be sick of me,’ she added with a dreamy look.
‘You must know I shall never be that, Roxie. As a matter of fact, I have marked the eight dairy cows I think are the best on paper, as well as two in-calf heifers, but I need to see them in the flesh before I decide, and it depends how much money they make, but the lad I saw told me you were going for your breakfast. Can you spare a few minutes to show me where to look?’
‘Oh, Ciaran, of course I can spare you as much time as you want — well, not as much as I would like, I suppose. How did you get here so early? You must be ready for something to eat yourself.’
* * *
Roxie forgot about her hunger and the hours she had already worked as she showed Ciaran proudly through the groups of animals, pointing out the ones he had marked for particular inspection before he saw them in the sale ring.
‘Do you agree with my choice?’ Ciaran asked.
‘More or less. I’m prejudiced, but everybody has their favourites, haven’t they?’
‘Probably. Which one is your favourite?’
‘It would be difficult to pick one. I like three of the ones you have marked. I would choose any of them. If I could only choose one, I would have number eighty-four. She is a daughter of the Sunwick bull you admire so much.’
‘Yes, I’ve seen one or two sired by him, but some of them are getting old.’
‘One of the heifers you have marked is a granddaughter.’
‘I’ll give that one an extra star, then.
I’ll buy them especially for you, if I can afford them.
Now, I’d better let you get some breakfast. You will have things to do and people to see, but I know now where to look for the ones I’m interested in buying.
Roxie . . .’ He turned to face her. ‘I was hoping you might travel back with me tonight? You’ll be tired, but I didn’t get much sleep myself as I travelled through the night to get here early.
It will be a slower journey home if I have cows in the lorry, and I hope I shall.
We could stop half way and have a couple of hours sleep for safety’s sake. What do you think?’
‘I didn’t know you had your own lorry. I have never seen it.
But if there’s room and if I’ve finished everything I need to do here, I would very much like to come back with you.
I’ve packed a big suitcase with a lot of my clothes to take back and I wasn’t looking forward to dragging it on the trains. ’
So, it was arranged. Roxie took Ciaran in for some breakfast and coffee.
‘Beth and Maggie will look after you,’ she said.
‘I would like a quick shower and I’ll eat mine in my bedroom while I dress, if you don’t mind?
Look after him for me, Beth. His name is Ciaran and he’s special.
He is going to buy my favourite cow to take to Scotland and he’s giving me a lift back tonight. ’
‘Oh, in that case we’ll certainly take good care of him.’ Beth and Maggie chorused together as they gave Ciaran a more careful inspection.
‘Oh, Roxie, I nearly forgot to tell you.’ Maggie called out to her. ‘That Mr Jacobs has been and brought back your antique furniture. He has put everything in the little room next to the office for now.’
‘Oh, that’s wonderful!’ She turned to Ciaran with the happiest of smiles. ‘These are the things I told you Gilda had sold. I had given up hope of ever seeing my treasures again!’
‘Jacobs wasn’t happy at having to return them. He says you have some lovely pieces. Mr Robson had told him he would be accepting stolen property. He says he runs a reputable business so he couldn’t keep them.’
Ciaran was standing close to her, and he turned and hugged her. ‘I’m really glad you’ve got them back, Roxie. I know it was their sentimental value that meant so much.’
‘It was. I couldn’t have replaced them. I feel like dancing now.’ Roxie grinned. ‘But I’d better get a quick shower or I shall smell of cows when I have to stand next to the auctioneers . . . The young one is quite an attractive guy.’ She winked at Beth and then promptly shot out the room.
* * *
As soon as Roxie had disappeared upstairs, Beth poured Ciaran a cup of coffee and sat him at the kitchen table with a freshly made bacon-and-egg roll. She grinned at him.
‘So how special, is special?’
‘I don’t know.’ He gave Beth a smile. ‘How attractive is the auctioneer?’
‘You needn’t worry about him. Roxie could have had her pick of half the men around here, but she has never been serious about any of them. I’ve never heard her say any of them were special either,’ she added, giving him a cheeky grin. ‘Are you going to marry her?’