It
was a cold damp morning when twenty-three-year-old Hayley Stock left the
farmhouse at Beacon Farm, but she was chuckling as she crossed the yard to the
barn because the kitchen was full of the living dead, all suffering the effects
of overindulgence at the Beaumont Manor the night before, she was chuckling
because she didn’t suffer with hangovers after she gave up drinking two years
earlier.
Beacon was the third largest
of the five farms on the island covering an area in the southeast, bordered by
the Beacon River in the west, and the Spanish River in the east and the rugged
coastline to the south from Beacon Rock to Spaniards Point.
On
that morning the diminutive freckle faced, auburn haired Hayley was headed to
the far southwest corner of the farm on one of the quadbikes with her dog
Willow, checking for strays.
There
was a storm front heading their way and that area of the farm was prone to
flooding so they wanted to gather the flock closer to home, they didn’t want to
lose any ewes with lambing time just around the corner.
Nikki
said she would join her with the drone as soon as her eyeballs stopped itching.
Hayley
wasn’t from the island, she was born and raised in the vicinity of Highfinch
where her family had a farm, but she was the youngest of six so she was the
baby of the family and felt cossetted, but also felt like the gofer about the
farm, so she said to her parents that she needed to get out and get some
experience in the real world where there wasn’t a safety net.
They
were very understanding and even got her the job at Beacon farm, because Katie
and her mum were distant cousins.
Katie
was reluctant at first, not knowing what the girl was like and wondering if she
would be more trouble than she was worth, but they were desperately short
handed at the time so she agreed and couldn’t have been happier with her
decision.
Hayley
loved the island and had been treated as one of the family by the Harrison’s,
but they also gave her responsibilities.
The
Beacon River splits into three once it passed Eagles Crag, the first one passed
to the east of Beacon Rock, the second to the west of it and formed the
boundary between Beacon and Longlake farms, and the third dissected the latter
farm.
It was the Beacon River that
would be the source of the expected flooding following the arrival of the
storm, so it was essential that she clear any ewes in the wedge of land
surrounding Beacon Rock.
It was so called, because a
beacon was built on the rock to warn of the impending arrival of the Spanish
Armada, but it was never lit due to the fact that the weather was so bad that
the sentry’s couldn’t see past the end of the island let alone a fleet of
ships, and that was precisely the type of weather that was on its way again.
It took about an hour for her
and Willow to gather up a dozen ewes and drive them over the stone bridge to
the safe side of the river and through the gate.
She
was just about to cross the bridge to continue the search when Nikki arrived on
the other Quad with her dog, Charlie.
“How
are you doing?” Nikki asked
“Wow,
how can you see through those eyes?” Hayley asked and laughed.
“It’s
not funny”
“It’s
a bit funny” Hayley said “from this side of them”
“Don’t
make me laugh” Nikki said “it hurts when I laugh”
“Ok”
“So
how are you getting on?” Nikki asked
“I’ve
found a dozen so far; I was just heading back to have another look” she replied
“Ok
let me put the drone up, that’ll narrow down the search area” Nikki suggested
After
about twenty minutes Nikki had located two small groups so she went towards
Beacon Rock where she’d spotted three ewes and Hayley went southwest after a
group of six down by the gated bridge that led to Longlake farm.
Thanks
to Nikki and her drone she went straight to them, and Willow quickly had them
under control, but she was drawn to the sound of another shepherd working their
dog, it was too close to have been Nikki and it didn’t sound like her, so she
walked towards the river and onto the gated bridge, and when she reached the
gate she spotted him, or maybe not, why would he be on the island?
But
it was him, Jamie White, on the other side of the river, and they had a history
of sorts as they once shared a very passionate alcohol fuelled kiss when she
was at agricultural college, after which she made it quite clear she would have
liked the kiss to have been the beginning of something, but his interest seemed
to be somewhere else, and not in her.
Jamie
was in the year above her and them shouldn’t really have been in the same
orbit, but she had admired him from afar until that end of term party when she
got to grips with him, it was his last year at college, so it was her last
chance, because she would probably never see him again.
She doubted very much if he’d
remember it, but she’d never forgotten it, and it was when she was reminiscing
about that special kiss, that he turned to look at her and it caused him to do
a doubletake.
“Hayley?” he exclaimed and
began to walk towards her “Hayley Stock?”
“You
remember me?” she asked, and he laughed
“Why
wouldn’t I?” he said “We had a … moment, and as I recall it was a very
passionate moment”
“Yes,
I agree, that’s how I remember it” Hayley said “And yet I still ended the
evening alone”
“Kevin
Bateson” he said and grimaced
“What
does he have to do with anything?” She asked
“He
drank too much and ended up in hospital with alcohol poisoning” he replied “and
me and a couple of others stayed there with him”
“Oh,
I see”
“He
nearly died” he said solemnly
“I’m
sorry I didn’t know” she said
“I
understand now”
“I
haven’t had a drink since that night” Jamie said
“Nor
have I” Hayley said, but she had quit for a very different reason, that night
they kissed was the first time she had been drunk, and although she didn’t
regret the under the influence kiss, she didn’t like the lack of control she
felt, or the hangover, so she chose not to put herself through it again.
“I
didn’t know you were from the island” She added wanting to change the subject
“My
family have farmed here for four generations” Jamie said,
“What
about you? how long have you been here?”
“A
few months” She replied, just as Nikki’s Quad appeared in the distance.
“It
looks like you’ve been found” he said
“So,
we’ll have to cut our catch up short”
“Yes,
that’s a shame” she said
“Well,
we could always continue over a coffee” he suggested
“Where
do you suggest?”
“How
about the Galleon in Spaniards Creek?”
“When?”
“How
about Friday?” Jamie asked
“Who
were you talking to?” Nikki asked
“Jamie
White”
“Oh,
he’s a hottie” Nikki retorted
“And
we’re meeting for coffee” she said smugly
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