Chapter 6

Jill wasn't old enough to drive on the road yet, so a friend came by to pick her up in the morning. Once she was gone, Wal asked them all to sit at the table again.

"Eddie, today is very special. From today, you are a full time employee of the farm. Like we talked about, soon you'll be a part owner, but that's all in the future. For today, welcome aboard." He leaned across the table, and shook Eddie's hand.

"Eddie, I took today off my job so I could share this day with both of you." His mother looked at him with a very proud smile on her face. "I can't tell you how happy it makes me, to know that you want to take on the farm."

"Today, your mum is going to come with us, and we are going to do only what has to be done. The rest of the time, we're going to review the farm from top to bottom and make plans. You know that we need to earn more money now that you are full-time."

Eddie nodded. "It's a great day for me too. I've been looking forward to this as long as I can remember."

Wal turned to Sarah. "Sarah, are you happy to tag along with us for the day?"

"Oh yes, master, I'm a farm girl. I don't understand a lot of things here, but I will do what I can."

They all smiled at her, and she was filled with pleasure to know that she'd said the right thing. And when Wal reminded her, "Wal, Sarah, not master. No one is your master now," she felt comforted. If only she knew what would happen to her family.

Eddie and Wal hitched up a trailer to the tractor, and they spent the rest of the day inspecting the farm, planning future capital works and discussing what changes they could make to their livestock load given their pasture yield and water allowance. Eddie was keen to make his mark by trying something new, like llamas, but this would require quite a lot of new fencing. Danni and Sarah sat on the trailer or in the shade and talked, or walked with the men. When they wanted to catch the sheep to inspect them, Sarah was thrilled to prove that she was nearly as capable at herding the sheep as The Dog, and they were all pretty impressed by the way the apparent slip of a girl threw herself at the sheep and held them down.

When they stopped for a picnic lunch they praised her sheep skills, which made her feel great. But it wasn't long after that she curled up in a miserable ball, missing her brothers and sisters, worrying about them. She listened to Eddie and Wal talking about the farm equipment and their plans, using all sorts of words she didn't know, and it just reminded her how out of her place she was. She was still struggling with the idea of using Wal's first name; he was old enough to be her dad, or even grandad, and he was a land owner at that. She thought how much she was going to have to depend on this family, especially Eddie, to survive. She really didn't want them to throw her out, so she'd have to work very hard to make them happy.

Eddie came over and stroked her hair. It was real nice, and she looked up at him and smiled. "Missing your family?" She nodded, feeling tears in her eyes. "Anytime, any of us will give you a hug, okay? Even that old grump over there", he said, indicating his dad. "We're trying to imagine what it must be like for you, and I can't."

In the middle of the afternoon, Wal drove them back to the house. Eddie showed Sarah that if you stood in the middle of the trailer in a classic surfing pose, his dad would do his best to make you fall over by changing speed and direction randomly. It was game they'd played for years, and Eddie hadn't fallen over since he was about twelve. Sarah didn't fall over either, because Eddie held her up, but she and Danni were both killing themselves laughing by the time Wal slowed down because they'd got to the shed.

Eddie showed Sarah how to belt herself into the Jeep, and then they headed off to school to pick up Jill. Not long before the school, as they crested the hill behind the school, Eddie heard Sarah gasp, and when he pulled over, she said "Eddie, that's where I live." She pointed to Scattered Rock Creek, which ran along the side of the school. "On the other side of that creek, further down. All the land on the other side of the holding belonged to that horrible man." Though he hadn't really owned it, of course.

Eddie looked at her. He could see the look in her eyes. "Well, we don't have time to go exploring today. How about we come back tomorrow morning and walk along the creek?"

Sarah turned to him with a big smile. "Really? I'd like to do that."

They picked Jill up at the gate of the school. She rushed over, jumped over the door of the Jeep into the back seat, leaned forward, and gave them both a big hug. "Four more days, and then I'm free!"

Eddie laughed and started down the road. As he hit third gear, Jill let her hair out so it could blow in the breeze, and screamed out "Shoppppiinnnnggg!"

Eddie glanced at Sarah. Jill was the most expressive, affectionate person he knew. While she could be quite emotional at times, mostly she was a happy-go-lucky person who believed in having as much fun as she could. Sometimes she could be hard to take, but Sarah was sitting there with a big smile on her face. "What's this shopping thing?"