by Karen Wood
‘Looks as if we’re all back to girl status,’ said Jess, as she helped Shara fill water buckets for the horses. ‘The boys get first choice of all the horses today. Lawson hasn’t even included me as a rider.’
‘He’s just being a control freak,’ said Shara. ‘He can’t hand over the reins to anyone.’
‘Except Lindy,’ said Jess, looking over at Lawson and Lindy, who stood chummily flipping through a clipboard full of paperwork together.
‘What is her secret?’ Shara wondered out loud.
‘They’re together,’ said Jess. ‘I saw them smooching.’
Shara pulled a face. ‘Lawson? Gross me out.’
‘Hey, that’s it,’ said Jess, almost to herself, as a realisation dawned on her. ‘The way to get through to Lawson . . . is via Lindy!’ She smiled a self-appreciating smile, picked up the two full buckets and headed for the horses. ‘I’m a genius!’
‘That doesn’t leave a horse for Jess. Without Dave and Clarkey we need her too,’ Jess heard Lindy say as she carried the buckets, sloshing with water, through the campsite.
‘Just swap her over with one of the other kids after lunch,’ said Lawson.
‘Bit much for one horse, to ride two shifts,’ said Lindy.
Jess’s brain quickly clicked into gear. She knew exactly which horse she could ride, and she knew exactly how to make it happen. She hurriedly took the buckets to the horses and then raced back to the camp.
‘I’ll ride Wal, Lindy.’
Lawson looked up.
‘Umm, if that’s okay with Lawson,’ she added quickly. Best let him think he had as much control over the decision as possible.
‘What, with no saddle or bridle, just a piece of string around her neck?’ said Lawson. ‘That won’t be much chop if any cattle break out.’
‘I can put a saddle on her if you like,’ said Jess, addressing Lawson and then switching her focus to Lindy. ‘Might take a little bit to get her used to it, but not too long – twenty minutes max,’ she said, brimming over with confidence. She had been tightening ropes around Wally’s belly for months. The filly wasn’t going to care about a girth. And she wouldn’t care about Jess sitting on her – that had been going on for months too. Jess could steer without a bridle. And stop as well. She couldn’t see a problem.
Lawson interrupted. ‘You’re very clever getting Walkabout . . . started, Jessica,’ he said. ‘But putting her on cattle is another thing altogether. If you need to gallop—’
Jess turned to Lindy again. ‘None of these cows are going to run, are they? They’re old-age pensioners.’
‘Not all of them,’ said Lindy cautiously.
‘Excuse me, this is my horse,’ said Lawson, sounding irritated, and bringing the conversation back his own way.
Jess stared at him defiantly. ‘Gonna break another one of your promises?’
Lawson ignored the comment and glared back at her. ‘You don’t have a helmet.’
Luke walked up behind him and threw a black helmet to Jess in a classic netball toss. Lawson shot daggers at Luke, who gave him a charming smile in return.
Jess raised her eyebrows at Lawson. ‘What did you bring Wally out here for?’
Lawson didn’t answer her, but she could see the look of impenetrable will beginning to form on his face. She knew she had to do some fast talking. ‘I’ll ride her next to an experienced, older horse,’ she said quickly. When his face only seemed to set harder, Jess lowered herself to begging. ‘Oh, come on, Lawson. You know this is a great way to break in horses.’
‘Well, that rules out Legsy,’ he said, giving Luke a smug look.
‘I’m riding the skewbald this morning,’ said Luke. He smiled at Lawson. ‘Oldest horse here. Guess she’ll have to ride with me.’
‘Better hurry up and make a decision,’ said Lindy, looking amused. ‘Sun’s up. We gotta get these cattle out before they get restless.’ Then she gave Lawson a soft-eyed look and said very quietly, ‘Don’t be so mean.’
Bingo!
Jess watched in amazement as Lawson’s jaw slackened and his will crumbled. ‘I’m not mean,’ he said, sounding like a hurt schoolboy.
Lindy put one hand on Lawson’s chest and cocked her head slightly to one side. ‘Yes, you are, honey.’
Jess had to look away. If she caught anyone else’s eye right now, she knew she would explode with laughter – and that would be political suicide with Lawson. She willed herself to keep a straight face. ‘I’ll accept whatever you say,’ she said with as much humility as she could muster. ‘You have more experience with young horses. I know you want what’s best for Wally.’
‘You’re damn right I do,’ grumbled Lawson, then gave a sigh of resignation. ‘If you can have her saddled and ready to go in twenty minutes, you can ride her.’
‘Thanks, Lawson!’
And Lindy!
Jess raced back to the trailer, fighting the urge to victory howl all the way. She ripped her shorts off as soon as she got inside, dived into a pair of jeans – probably Grace’s, judging by the smell – and jammed on riding boots, not bothering with socks.
By the time she got outside, Luke already had a saddle and was rummaging through some gear in the back of the ute. ‘What bridle do you want?’
‘Just a halter,’ said Jess. ‘She doesn’t even need that, really.’
‘I reckon you should put one on her,’ he said. ‘Piece of string’s not much use when you’re galloping after cattle.’
Bob was in the horse break saddling and haltering horses. He looked curiously at Jess and Luke approaching with another saddle. ‘Did I miss one?’
‘I’m going to ride Wally,’ said Jess, skipping past.
Bob looked surprised. ‘What the boss-man think of that?’
‘He’s grateful for my brilliant horse-handling skills,’ said Jess, smiling graciously.
Bob gave her an as-if look and turned back to his work.
Jess stopped and took a deep breath. It would do no good to go rushing at Wally at a thousand miles an hour. She concentrated on containing her excitement a little, then slowly approached the little Appaloosa filly. ‘Come here, Wal,’ she said softly, lifting the filly’s head from her feed. ‘You can finish that later.’
Luke walked over, ran his hand down Wally’s front leg and picked up her hoof. He ran a hand around the outside rim, picked out a couple of stones, then dropped the foot. ‘I’ll give her a trim at lunchtime. She’ll be right for this morning, though.’
‘Will you teach me to do that one day?’ asked Jess.
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Let’s get her saddled for now. What do you want me to do?’
‘Maybe grab the skewbald and bring him over,’ said Jess. She began leading Wally away from the other horses. Once there was a good distance, she took the saddle from Luke’s arms.
She turned to Wally and showed her the saddlecloth. The filly sniffed it a few times, interested in the smell of sweat from several other horses, then lifted her tail, farted, and tried to reach down and snatch at a piece of grass.
‘She doesn’t seem too worried,’ said Luke.
Jess ran the cloth over Wally’s wither, up her neck, down over her shoulder and then along her back. She dropped the lead rope and let it fall at Wally’s feet as she moved further along.
Once she had rubbed the cloth over both sides of the filly, she retrieved the saddle from the ground. Again she showed it to Wally. The filly ran her soft nose along the seat and then looked up to Jess, snuffling and waggling her lips around, looking for a pocketful of treats.
Jess tossed the saddle up and over her back. Wally waggled her ears backwards and snorted softly, then resumed her search for treats. ‘I didn’t bring any, Wal,’ said Jess apologetically. ‘But I’ll get you some after lunch, how does that sound?’ She reached under the horse’s belly for the girth, pulled it up to the straps and gently eased it onto the third hole, then took a step back and looked at Wally’s face.
The filly seemed bored.
/>
‘Don’t s’pose you’ve done that before?’ asked Luke. His arms were folded and one long leg was crossed over the other as he leaned against the skewbald. He had a suspicious look on his face.
Jess laughed. ‘I haven’t, I promise. She’s just ready, that’s all. I could have done this months ago.’ She picked up the lead rope and swung the tail of it at Wally’s rump. ‘Move around, girl, that’s it,’ she said as the filly moved her hindquarters away from the rope. Jess gently pulled her around and led her out in a spiral. Wally walked happily behind her, occasionally turning and looking at the thing on her back. Jess tightened the girth then led the filly away again, letting her feel it around her belly as she walked.
‘Want me to take her for a quick lead off the skewy?’ asked Luke.
‘Yeah, good idea,’ said Jess.
He mounted the skewbald, took Wally’s rope, and clicked them both up into a walk. Then he trotted the two horses out in a big circle before returning to Jess. ‘Seems pretty quiet.’
Jess led the filly away and found a spot with no trees or rocks on the ground that might hurt if she landed on them unexpectedly. She lifted the saddle flap and gave the girth one last yank, looked at Wally and hesitated.
‘Bring her nose around and yield her hindquarters,’ said Luke. ‘A horse can’t buck while its hind feet are crossing over.’
Jess flexed the filly’s neck gently around til her soft nose touched her girth, and then asked her to move her back feet across. ‘This is easy, isn’t it, Wal?’ she said, and repeated it on the other side.
Jess put a foot into the stirrup and sprang lightly onto Wally’s back. The filly stood calmly. ‘Good girl,’ Jess said, turning her in a few small circles. She looked up at Luke. ‘Right, let’s go count the cattle out.’
Luke looked at his watch. ‘We’ve still got ten minutes.’ He lifted his reins and walked his horse on.
Jess clicked up Wally, who followed the skewbald with a swish of her tail. Jess saw Lawson rummaging around in the ute, and couldn’t help herself. She rode casually past. ‘Got your horse ready, or what?’
He looked up and stalled momentarily, running his eyes over the saddle, the reins, the filly, Jess. He frowned. Behind him, she saw Lindy stifle a grin.
Jess looked at her watch. ‘Nine minutes. You’re cutting it a bit fine, aren’t you?’ She clicked Wally up into a slow jog and headed for the cattle.
24
LINDY GOT MOUNTED and yelled instructions while Rosie and Shara let out the cattle. ‘String ’em out slowly, girls,’ she shouted, then trotted over to Jess and Luke.
‘You guys take the eastern side, watch out for open gates and places where the cattle can stray. Keep your distance and keep them quiet. Let ’em graze, then move on a bit.’ She pointed at Jess. ‘If you have any trouble on that young horse, or if you feel she’s had enough, you get straight off her, okay?’
Jess nodded.
Lindy turned her attention back to the throng of mooing and crooning cattle, who were bustling up against each other, impatient to get out. Rosie and Shara made approach-and-retreat movements on their horses, letting them dribble out in small mobs. ‘Let ’em fan out,’ she called.
‘Come this way, Jess.’ Luke turned his horse and trotted along the dirt road, and Jess clicked Wally up and followed. He called out, ‘You right to canter?’
‘Only one way to find out.’ Jess nudged Wally forward and held the front of the saddle with one hand. The filly lurched abruptly into a frolicking, pig-rooting canter. ‘Whoa!’ The filly’s legs felt all tangled. Jess clicked and nudged her into a more forward stride.
Luke looked back. ‘You right?’
‘Keep going,’ she called.
They cantered until they reached the trees about half a kilometre away, where Luke pulled his horse down to a walk. He waited for Jess to ride Wal up beside him. ‘She’s going great,’ he said.
‘I knew she would,’ Jess beamed.
She saw his eyes run over her and then Wally. ‘Shame you never got to own her. She suits you.’
Jess stroked Wally’s neck. ‘Lawson might own her, but she’ll always be my buddy.’
‘D’you reckon Wally will be all right on her own now?’
‘Yeah, fine.’
‘Work out wide or they’ll bunch up,’ said Luke, getting back to work. ‘We want them to fan right out and graze. Just keep them headed in the right direction.’
‘What about any stragglers?’
‘As soon as they see you, they’ll go back to the herd anyway. Don’t try to chase them on her, will you?’
‘Promise.’ Jess set off along the fenceline, staying a distance from the cattle.
The morning was hot and long, without incident. Luke rode some distance away from her, arcing back and forth around the tail-end of the cattle. She could hear him singing loudly and shamelessly. Jess remembered the quiet, broody Luke she had first met more than two years ago. He was so different when he was out here.
She was, too. Something about the big space out here let her soul breathe.
When the cattle were settled and grazing, Luke rode over to her. ‘I’m going to go and fix up a fence – coming?’
Together they pushed at an old fallen post and pulled the scraps of rusted wire away from it. Luke jammed a strainer post under it and pulled some pliers out of his saddlebag. Jess twisted the top strand back onto itself and tightened the wire by turning it on a stick, the way Rosie had once showed her. Luke used his foot to ram the strainer hard up against the fencepost to keep the whole arrangement tight. When he finished, he looked around at Jess.
He smiled. ‘You’re just totally meant for me.’
She stood there staring at him, his bare arms hanging from his faded blue shirt, his neck, lean and brown, his throat swallowing and his face, open and somehow completely vulnerable.
He looked down, suddenly shy, and turned back to his horse. ‘Better keep an eye on the cattle, I s’pose.’ He reached for his stirrup.
She reached out and took hold of his shirt. ‘Where are you going?’
He stood still.
Jess pulled him around. ‘What’s wrong?’
Luke looked to the distance, avoiding her eyes. ‘I’m not used to this, I s’pose.’ He looked suddenly confused.
‘Used to what?’ She looked at him with an equal measure of confusion.
He looked down at her, laughed suddenly and put his hands around her neck, pulling her close and pushed his nose into her ear. ‘Sorry. I’m an idiot,’ he said.
‘You are.’ Jess put her arms around him. He squeezed her tight and she stood relishing the soft worn fabric of his shirt against her cheek and his chest rising and falling beneath it. She could have stayed like that for hours.
‘Cattle are wandering,’ he murmured into her hair.
‘Mongrel things,’ she whispered back.
By noon Wally was beginning to tire, and Jess knew she felt in need of a drink and a rest. The aroma of Mrs Arnold’s cooking bread wafted for miles, reaching Jess a good half-hour before she could see the trailer and the ute, and setting her belly rumbling. The cattle seemed to smell it too – Jess could have sworn they ambled in that direction of their own accord.
At a large shaded reserve, Jess and Luke let the cattle stop walking and drop to their bellies beneath the trees. They knew the routine.
Jess dismounted and gave Wally a rub on the neck. ‘Good girl,’ she said, leading her to some shade. ‘I knew you could do it.’ She looked into the filly’s eyes and saw her own reflection. ‘You’ll always be my buddy, won’t you, girl?’ Wally rubbed her face on Jess’s arm, begging her to take off the bridle.
As Jess began tying her to a tree, Lawson called, ‘Leave her saddled for a minute.’ He was unsaddling Chocky by the ute.
Jess let go of the girth straps that she was about to unbuckle. ‘She’s really tired.’
‘I won’t do much, just a quick ride.’ Lawson gave her a good-natured frown. ‘She is my fill
y, you know, and you’re doing all the fun bits.’
He came over and took the reins from Jess, then swung up into the saddle. Wally walked off dutifully after a moment of reluctance and gratefully stopped when Lawson leaned back a little in the saddle. He turned her about a couple of times, asked her to trot a circle in each direction, then pulled her back to a halt.
He dismounted, yanked the girth undone and pulled the saddle from Wally’s back. ‘Nice job, Jess,’ he said, sounding impressed. ‘She’s going real soft.’
‘Thanks,’ said Jess, taking the saddle from him. She swallowed her pride. ‘And thanks for letting me ride her. I knew she was ready.’
‘Give her a good rub down and take her back to Bob,’ Lawson instructed. He gave Wally a slap on the shoulder and walked away.
She called after him. ‘Lawson, wait!’
He stopped and she ran after him. ‘Have you heard from the station about Opal?’
Lawson’s face softened and Jess instantly felt a wave of nausea rise up from within her. She knew that look. ‘What? Is it bad?’
He half-shrugged. ‘She’s not worse and she’s not better. There’s a vet that does regular stops in the area and he dropped in and looked at her yesterday. He couldn’t find anything either. But she’s just—’ he hesitated. ‘Well, she nearly killed the vet. Opal’s not right in the head, Jess. She’s dangerous.’
‘But Mrs Arnold managed to hook up with her.’
Lawson gave her a rare look of sympathy that made her want to hit him.
No. Don’t look at me like that.
She pulled herself together. Getting angry at Lawson, she had learned, got her nowhere. ‘Are you still going to let her out onto the station?’