Chapter 18

Andrew’s final week at the farm was definitely different in one very interesting and pretty way. On the Monday night he met Mac’s daughter. During his initial conversation with her Andrew discovered that her father’s full name was MacKenzie and so was hers! She had laughed at his confusion and said everyone called her Kenzie to differentiate her from her dad. Kenzie was funny, unpretentious and interestingly curvy. Now a year ago he would have been a tongue tied, blushing fool. Now see how he had grown, he was no longer tongue tied!

It was nice to talk to someone his own age, or at least closer to it. Kenzie had just turned 17 the previous month and had left school. She worked on a neighbouring farm to Harry’s and was a country girl through and through. Andrew had no idea what she made of him.

Dinner was tasty and there was lots of it. She sat with Andrew and her father waiting for them to finish. Andrew told her he would wash up but she said it was her job and he couldn’t persuade her to let it go. While she was washing the last of the dishes in the kitchen Andrew spread out the latest invoices on the dining room table and started to enter them into the farm’s books. The Strachans had nothing automated when it came to their finances and everything was carefully entered into several journals. When Kenzie came through to say goodbye she looked surprised.

“What are you doing Andrew? Should you be looking at the Strachan’s papers?”

Her tone was more than slightly scandalised.

“I have been helped Mrs. Strachan with the paperwork side of the farm since the first day I got here. I think it was their way of keeping me busy if I was a liability on the farm.”

He laughed at the thought.

“Later I would sit and work at them in the evening listening to the football on the radio. Sometimes I can play my music but Harry hates rock so it is normally on the nights he is not here.”

“I never would have thought that they would get you to help with all the paperwork. You said you were 14, right?”

Andrew nodded.

“Is that not too young to be doing all this?”

Her hand swept over the table.

“Mrs. Strachan taught me well. I think she just wanted the company to moan about all the government forms they have to complete, the government sure loves its paperwork.”

Kenzie changed focus.

“What music do you like and play that Mr. Strachan hates?”

“All sorts. I make tapes of my own LPs and get a variety of tapes from a friend. I am into rock and so is she, but she has different favourite bands. I haven’t cared for some of the stuff but most has been great.”

Kenzie eyed him.

“Is she your girlfriend?”

“She is just a friend. She will be 19 in a couple of months. I am like her annoying younger brother except we are not related.”

Kenzie now looked confused. 14 year old boys did not have 19 year old friends that are a girl.

“I have a tape with me of a Canadian band called Rush. It is a live album. Do you want me to play it?”

This was the first time Kenzie had heard Rush. The live album had a great energy. Andrew particularly liked 2112, a long rambling dramatic song in several parts. Although musically very different the concept reminded him of Genesis or Yes, both of whom Tony had introduced him to two years earlier. As the album played on the tape Andrew worked his way through all the paperwork. The only thing left was a large cheque for the lambs which the Strachan’s hadn’t received before they left. Mrs. Strachan had shown him how to fill in deposit slips for the bank and so he carefully filled it out and clipped the cheque to it. Their bank branch was in Lanark, a further 30 minutes away from Edinburgh. Just then Mac came back into the farmhouse and looked surprised that Kenzie was still there.

“What are you still doing here? I thought you would have been away off home hours ago.”

“I was listening to a rock album with Andrew, Dad. It was interesting to watch him do all the paperwork. I have been working with the Fieldings for more than a year and I never even realised there was so much paper work. I am going to ask Violet if I can start to learn that part of the business.”

Her father looked at her and then at Andrew with interest tinged with suspicion. Andrew decided to change the subject.

“Mac, do you think we will have time to head over to Lanark tomorrow. They got the money for the lambs today rather than last Friday. I don’t want the cheque to sit for more than a week before it is cashed in case there is any problem. We will be away for an hour and the bank closes at 3.30.”

Mac looked troubled.

“I agree that we should get that off to the bank right quick like. I have too much to do tomorrow and Wednesday isn’t much better.”

Before he could go on Kenzie interrupted.

“I could take him Dad. If Andrew is ready at 1.00 then we should be back by 2.00. Violet won’t mind if I am a few minutes late back from my lunch.”

She looked at her father to see what he would say. Mac was clearly against it. But to his credit he thought about it and knew that the only way the money was going to get to the bank was if Kenzie took Andrew.

“Let Violet know, don’t just come back late and expect her to be okay. Off you go now Kenzie, we all have a busy day tomorrow.”

He looked like he wanted to say something to Andrew but he mumbled goodnight and went off to his room.

The following morning was as busy as usual but Andrew had the cows fed and the milking shed cleaned without a problem. He drove the ATV over to the fields on the west side of the farm where the barley was swaying in the wind, golden and ripe for harvesting. He had spent an hour or two with Harry in the cereal fields but not much more. Harry had kept Andrew busy with the livestock, work around the farmyard and all the paperwork. Mac and Harry checked the cereal fields, discussed the yields, and spent a long time on the health of the crop. Josephine had told Andrew this was Harry’s passion.

Other than the small ATV, which Andrew alone appeared to use, he had been kept away from most of the other mechanical equipment on the farm. But in the last couple of weeks Harry had shown him how to drive the tractor and he had spent time making sure that Andrew could drive it in a straight line at a steady speed. Harry, as usual, had given no indication of why he was doing this. Now it became clear. Andrew was to pull grain trailers alongside the combine harvester. Mac would be driving the harvester and they would be in contact through a walkie-talkie radio. Andrew’s job was to keep up, keep a straight line, don’t cause the machines to crash, make sure the barley was going into the trailer and not being spilled on the ground, and letting Mac know when to stop the flow when the trailer was full. It was like a tennis match. HIs head swivelled back and forward constantly. Mac knew that Andrew didn’t need to be distracted so he kept the comments on the walkie-talkie radio to a minimum. Harry had three trailers so rather than take a full trailer back to the farm, empty it and then return which was time-consuming, the three trailers were brought to the edge of the barley fields and were just swapped out when they were full. Mac would ferry them back to the farm while Andrew deposited the money at the bank with Kenzie.

It was not perfect but Andrew managed not to screw anything up. Keeping the tractor straight was probably his biggest challenge. However hard he tried, when he was looking over his shoulder to check on the grain in the trailer he would start to slowly veer off. He got better but it was not arrow straight!

At 1.00 Andrew had folded the cheque and deposit slip and put them in his jacket. It was hanging on a peg in the corner of the tractor cab. Kenzie came out on the main road that ran alongside the barley fields and he jumped down, climbed over the stone wall and got into her car. Even before they were moving Mac had climbed into the tractor and started to haul the first trailer back to the barn.

Andrew found Kenzie refreshingly different. She was not stupid but had no interest in schoolwork or academic studies. She was very practical. Her mother had Multiple Sclerosis and in the last few years it had been getting progressively worse. Kenzie helped around the house and had been working on farms from the age of seven onwards. She would follow her Dad around, picking up knowledge about working on a farm. She had been hanging out with, and around, farmers her whole life. Once she started high school she was doing paid work after school and weekends in several farms in the area. When she left school at the end of May she had started working full time at the Fielding’s farm close by to the Strachans. Andrew enjoyed talking to her. They could not be more different but hit it off and the journey over to Lanark was fun. Mind you she had only passed her test three weeks earlier so the drive was a little hair-raising. The teller at the bank looked at Andrew suspiciously when he came in to deposit the lamb money.

“This is for the Strachan account.”

It was more of a question than a statement.

“Yes, it is.”

Keep it short and sweet.

“Mrs. Strachan always makes the deposits.”

Andrew could see her small town gossip antennae twitching.

“Barley harvest. She is helping Harry. Asked me to come as she can’t spare the time.”

This answer at least got the teller starting to process the deposit slip. She completed the receipt and was about to hand it over to him when the last question arrived.

“I didn’t know she had a nephew working there.”

Meaning who are you exactly and what is your relationship to the Strachans?

“My mother is a friend of Mrs. Strachan. I am working there over the summer helping around the place.”

There you go, you nosy cow, some fresh gossip to share over a sherry in the pub tonight! He was able to make his escape. Kenzie had waited in the car thankfully. Andrew retold the interrogation by the teller on the journey back. They laughed, sure that it was the same the world over. Strangers were commented upon. Things got a little more interesting on the journey back. It was a warm summer’s day, or at least what passes for one in Scotland, and Kenzie was in shorts and a tee-shirt. Her skin had the deep tan of someone who works outside a lot. Andrew look hot and sweaty in his long sleeved shirt and jeans.

“You should change when we get back. You must be sweltering in those clothes. Do you want me to run you to the farmhouse so you can change?”

She was just being kind and helpful.

“Thanks but I need to keep my arms and legs covered. My skin burns easily.”

Andrew tried to deflect any further questions.

“Slap on some sun screen. You should be fine.”

“No thanks. I am hot but I don’t want to risk getting burned. I have survived all summer. I only have a couple of days to go.”

She looked over at him and then shrugged. Mac was waiting when they got to the fields so she dropped Andrew off and said she would see him tonight at dinner. Conscious of her father watching Andrew waved and headed back to work. They got six more trailers harvested that afternoon. Andrew left Mac to haul the last three back to the barn and went to milk the cows and refill the food and water on the beef herd. He was back in the yard as Mac unloaded the last of the barley into the silo. The barley was removed by a giant industrial vacuum cleaner. It was the only way Andrew could think to describe it. There was a big pump that sucked the grain into the silo. It was pretty powerful and had several filters to catch debris, twigs, and bits of stalks. Andrew was amazed how much crap came out of the filters at the end of the day.

Finally they sat down to dinner. It was later than normal and he was glad he had done the paperwork the previous night. It was going to be an early night as tomorrow was more of the same without the trip to Lanark thrown in. Andrew recounted his experience with the bank teller over dinner and Mac just snorted.

“Bloody busybody. You did a good job of not mentioning that they are away. No need for anyone to know that.”

Andrew nodded. Dinner was again excellent and he helped Kenzie clean up. He went straight to bed earlier than usual and slept soundly. Andrew was surprisingly sore the next day, in his neck and shoulders. He guessed all that twisting while driving the tractor had taken a toll. No point in moaning as the work still had to be done. He made a quick breakfast for Mac and him and made up sandwiches for lunch. Mac said he would help Andrew with his work this morning. Harvesting was a two man job and the quicker Andrew was finished then they would have more time working in the fields. Mac went and checked and fed the beef herd while Andrew milked the dairy herd. As Andrew cleaned the milking shed Mac dealt with the milk tanker driver getting the last two day’s milk loaded and away. They were done and out in the barley fields before 10.00.

Farmers are constantly concerned about the weather. Andrew had sailed through the summer oblivious to this fact. Probably because it was never really discussed around him. As they were heading over to the barley fields Mac commented that there was a threat of thunder showers at the end of the week. He wanted them to work late both that night and the next to try and get the harvest in before the rain. Andrew shrugged. If that is what was needed then okay. He laughed to himself, all he did was work and sleep. When Andrew got back home on Friday he would have another week of that, although a very different kind of work.

Andrew had to focus as they started harvesting but he could do some thinking as long as he didn’t get too distracted. He had never worked as hard as he had that summer, not even the summer two years earlier. He hadn’t had a single day off the entire break. Andrew stopped and went back over the weeks. No he was right, he had worked the weekend before camp, had the week of camp and then had worked Monday to Friday at the farm and the weekend with Brian Campbell. He laughed to himself, so much for being a lazy teenager.

The day passed quickly. They changed up the routine. They only used two trailers. Andrew drove the ATV back to the yard and Mac followed with the full trailer. Mac dropped off the full trailer and stayed to empty it into the silo. Andrew would return and get the other trailer. And so it carried on all day. They stopped and once again dealt with the cattle. As soon as the milking equipment was cleaned they were back out to the field. They got several more trailers harvested and Mac was pleased. He figured they could finish with another full day the next day.

It was a pair of weary men, well more a man and a boy, that trudged into the farmhouse. A lovely dinner was on the table but there was no sign of Kenzie. Andrew assumed that she must have gone already. Then they heard her voice.

“I think they have finally come home. Let me check.”

Her head popped round the doorframe.

“Andrew, Leslie wants to have a quick chat.”

Then she disappeared back down the hall and Andrew heard her start up again.

“Yes, it’s them. He’s just washing up. He’ll be here in a second. Yes, it was nice talking to you. I found out so much.”

That caught his attention. ‘Found out so much’? Oh, Oh. Then he heard Kenzie giggle. Even more Oh, Oh. Blushing furiously as only he could Andrew went into the hall to get the phone. Kenzie handed it to him sweetly. Hmm.

“Hi Leslie, sorry I wasn’t home when you rang. I was working late on the barley harvest.” He explained.

“Don’t worry about it. I spent the time talking to Kenzie”

There was a long pause as she waited for him to say something.

“Yes I heard her comment about finding out so much. Exactly what beans have you been spilling?”

Andrew was too tired to be mad and he wasn’t even sure he was mad anyway.

“Oh, nothing too scandalous. We didn’t get to any bed bath stories.”

Leslie was laughing out loud and it was great to hear her voice and to hear her sounding so happy. Suddenly he had a lump in his throat.

“You can tell me all about it on the weekend. I need to go and eat dinner and go to bed. I probably have the same long day ahead of me tomorrow. It is great to hear your voice and to hear you sounding so happy. I miss talking to you. I realised today that I will have worked every single day of my summer break, other than the CCF camp. I hope that I can get everything finished for your dad before the end of next week. I need a couple of days off.”

“I miss you too Andrew. I think that is why I was telling Andrew stories to Kenzie. I will see you on Saturday and we can catch up, okay?”

“Sure. See you Saturday.”

Andrew went back through to the dining table to discover that Mac had already eaten and headed off. Kenzie was sitting waiting for him when he sat down.

“It has been a tough year for you Andrew, hasn’t it?”

She asked quietly. Andrew looked over at her, his mouth full of delicious roast beef. She carried on.

“It was comical how our conversation started. All I knew was that you had a friend called Leslie. I knew there was more to the story but you hadn’t shared it yet. She thought that I worked here all the time and that we had been working together for six weeks rather than three days. Leslie started talking and referencing things which made no sense to me. After five minutes of confusion she realised that I didn’t know your background. I had already understood that you had survived cancer but other than that I was all confused. She gave me the short version.”

She stopped for a second before carrying on.

“I am sorry about Faith. It must have been tough.”

Unbidden tears formed in his eyes and he had to blink them away.

“I never would have guessed that you are barely six months removed from cancer yourself. You have a strong powerful body and other than your short hair there is no indication. I guess your comments about keeping covered up from the sun make more sense now. I know that it seems like we have been gossiping about you but boy, is that girl proud of you. She said to me that she likes to tell Andrew stories. Don’t be mad at her.”

Andrew finally stopped shovelling food into his mouth and wiped his lips and hands on the napkin.

“I am not mad at either you or Leslie. It is interesting hearing you talk about me. Yesterday when you were suggesting I change I was faced with the dilemma of telling you about the cancer or not. I don’t like to mention my cancer so I usually deflect the discussion. I am so fair that worrying about burning is easily believable. I am glad you got time to talk to Leslie. She is a fantastic person and is my best friend. I wouldn’t be doing nearly as well as I am without her help. I will have to get her to tone down the ‘Andrew stories’ though.”

He smiled and then yawned widely.

“Anyway, get out. I will see you tomorrow. The dishes can wait for a day.”

Andrew got Kenzie out, locked up and was asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow. Thursday was identical to Wednesday; long hours getting the last of the barley harvested and into the silo. They completed it though and he sat down at the dinner table with Mac and Kenzie for another late meal. They ate while Kenzie watched them. Once Mac had finished he looked over at Andrew.

“Thought you should know something. When Harry told me some 14 year old kid was going to help on the farm this summer it seemed like a mistake. Especially when he told me what you had gone through. Didn’t think you would be worthwhile and wouldn’t pull your weight.”

Andrew looked at him wondering where this was going.

“I was wrong, you work hard. And not just grunt work. You keep the milking shed spotless and deal with the tanker guys. I didn’t realise how much you were helping with the paperwork as well. You were a big help this summer and it let Harry take some time off for the first time in forever. Tomorrow deal with the cattle in the morning and then catch up on the paperwork. I will go and check the planting that Eddie has been doing.”

Lachlan Edwards was the other farmhand.

“Hopefully he hasn’t screwed it up. I’ll see you before you go at dinner time.”

Mac stood up and reached out with his hand. Andrew scrambled to his feet and Mac’s big meaty hand enveloped his pale slimmer hand. They shook and he was off. Kenzie was looking startled.

“That might be the longest speech I have ever heard my Dad make. You really must have impressed him.”

Andrew didn’t know what to say to that so he just shrugged.

“You don’t know how to deal with praise do you?”

He snorted.

“Not really. I am a complete nerd. Why do you think they let me help with all the paperwork? All I am good at is passing exams.”

“I think there is a lot more to you than just passing exams. Like I said, Dad does throw out compliments willy nilly. You earned that praise.”

Suddenly she looked shy.

“I hope that you work here during your school breaks next year.”

At this she leapt up and took the dinner dishes through to the kitchen leaving Andrew sitting stunned looking at the doorway. What on earth did she mean? Did she like him? Him? His confidence dissolved around him like snow on a warm spring day. He could feel his heart racing. Did a young woman like him? What should he do? Kenzie came back through while Andrew was still sitting there, his head spinning with all these questions.

“I am off Andrew. Hopefully I will see you tomorrow before you go.”

And with a last look at him she was off home. It was too late to call Leslie but Andrew desperately needed to talk to her and go through this conversation. A woman might like him. Sleep was a long time coming that night.

HIs final day as a farmer passed comparatively slowly. Andrew went through his morning routine without any problem. But the time dragged as he sorted through what little paperwork there was. He was finished by 2.00 in the afternoon so he went out on the ATV to find Mac and see if there was anything left to do. Eddie had managed not to screw up the planting and so Mac was happy. They went back to the yard and Mac showed Andrew how to calculate the yield of barley from each field. Mac had made notes on the volume of grain that went into the silo from each trailer and from which field the barley in the trailer was from. He knew the acreage of each of the fields. The rest was maths so Andrew was happy. They calculated the yield from each field and left it on the dining room table for Harry to review together with the rest of the paperwork from the week. His dad was coming at 6.30 to collect him so they started the evening milking early and had it complete by the time he got there. Mac would clean up the milking shed after Andrew was gone. Andrew shook his hand again and thanked him for all his guidance that week. Mac nodded. Just as Andrew was about to go Kenzie arrived to make her dad’s supper. She shyly smiled at Andrew as he waved goodbye. He was not sure who was blushing more.

As usual with his father there wasn’t much chat between them as they drove back into Edinburgh. Andrew had thoroughly enjoyed his time on the farm and had learned a lot more than he thought he would. Going into it Andrew had no idea what to expect and imagined that he would be shovelling cow shit all day or something like that. As it turned out once he had proved himself he was trusted more than he ever thought possible. Andrew liked the feeling of doing good work and being trusted.

He chatted to his parents that evening about working at the farm all summer and how he had coped that week. It was another 65 hour week but without Harry’s guidance and control. They laughed as he retold for the third time the small town bank teller story. Andrew thought he was exaggerating it with each retelling. He was off to bed early again so that he could get up for a swim. He missed swimming every day and despite being tired wanted to be ready when Leslie arrived.

So at 7.00 the next morning he was in Leslie’s car heading to the pool. He had nearly hugged her he was so pleased to see her. This weekend was no different than many of the previous ones but he felt closer to her and simultaneously had missed her at the same time. They both were full of chat that morning and their conversation jumped all over the place on the way to the pool. The swim was great, he felt strong and swam the entire hour without a break. This was a first for him. Normally he would pause for a minute or so between strokes and catch his breath. This time however, when Andrew finished his first 1000m of front crawl he just went straight into the backstroke and when that was done he went right back to front crawl again. He managed 2400m combined in the hour and was both pleased at the distance and disappointed he hadn’t managed to get to 2500m. After they had showered and were on the way back to her home Andrew finally got the chance to talk to Leslie about Kenzie.

“So you and Kenzie had a good chat on Wednesday night.”

Let’s throw the dart at the board and see what it hits.

“Em, yes we did. I didn’t realise that you guys had only just met. I was taken aback when she answered the phone and seemed to know who I was. We just started chatting about you. As I talked I realised that I missed seeing you and having relaxed time to talk. It feels like all we have done is have hurried chats, often like now, in the car. I should have been more careful about what I said and it definitely wasn’t my place to talk about your cancer. I’m sorry Andrew.”

She glanced over at him looking worried.

“It’s okay. We had a nice chat on both Wednesday and Thursday evening. That is why I brought her up.”

Andrew took a deep breath.

“I got the impression that she liked me.”

Leslie’s head whipped round to look at him.

“Really. Wow, that’s great. What did she say?”

She was barely paying attention to the traffic now.

“Alright calm down. Focus on the road and I will tell you. It will take all of 20 seconds. You know what I am like. I could be out to lunch.”

Andrew asked her to hold off on the analysis until he was done. He proceeded to recount the conversations of the two nights. Once he had finished he went back and explained how he had missed the ‘powerful body’ comment on Wednesday and how the comment on Thursday about working there again next year had thrown him for a loop completely.

“I had actually been doing okay talking to her. I think I was too tired to care but when she said that comment and then shot off to the kitchen I immediately reverted back to old Andrew. No confidence, questioning everything. Was I imagining it? The full gamut. You remember the stories.”

Here he finally stopped and twisted round so that he could look at her as they talked.

“As my source of knowledge on all things female, can you give me your perspective please?”

“Powerful body Andrew. Really, for someone who is as smart as you, you sure can be obtuse sometimes. Yes Andrew. Kenzie Baird liked you and was letting you know it. I understand that you will find this surprising but listen to me and more importantly when you get home look in the mirror. You think of yourself as a puny 100lb 13 year old who then managed to get weaker and smaller through cancer treatment. Andrew, that was seven months ago. You have exercised every day during these seven months and have spent the last six weeks working 12 hour plus days on a farm. You are probably one of the strongest people in your year. Not the bulkiest, I don’t think you are ever going to be huge but you are tall, and getting taller and you have broad shoulders. Even just this summer they seem wider. You are going to start to attract attention. You need to start to mentally adjust so that you can cope with the attention. It is going to start, believe me.”

At that moment Andrew thought about his self-worth. What you think highly about yourself and what, when it is challenged, that feels the most personal attack. All his life he had been smart. From an early age Andrew had shown himself to have above average intelligence. He had been in the brightest group at school for the last four years. This was who he was, Andrew the nerd. He also knew he was lousy at sports. From the earliest time in the playground when a group of five or six year olds would kick a ball around Andrew had demonstrated a consistent and notable lack of foot-eye coordination. He was sent to be the goalie a lot. Then during gym at school when they were playing softball he discovered that his hand-eye coordination was worse than his foot-eye. He wasn’t interested in exercise, or hadn’t been until recently, and he wasn’t any good at sports. This was who he was. Last summer, that was an accurate self-assessment and was how others saw him as well.

Now his coordination had not improved over the year but it was a shock to discover how he thought about himself was no longer accurate. It wasn’t a hit to his self-worth rather it was a boost. He was bamboozled. Leslie could tell that Andrew was doing his usual overthinking and she drove on patiently waiting for him to process all this and say something.