Family Farm Read Free Page A

hair about her face.
    They had been young then: Claire was sixteen, three years older than Izzy. Even with the age gap, they still got on like a bonfire. Claire had loved to dink Izzy on the bike, and they’d had their fair share of stacks. She’d been born a daredevil, fearless – something Izzy had tried to aspire to.
    Izzy’s head swam with memories. Claire had been her best friend as well as her big sister. She had to admit that she’d idolised her, although she’d never confessed it then.
    A magpie squawked outside her window, competing with a heap of screeching pink and grey galahs in the distance, and she caught the smell of fresh toast. Mum and Dad must be up already, she thought.
    Flinging her arm out of the bed, she checked her watch. ‘Bugger.’ She sat bolt upright. It was already six a.m. Izzy had planned to be up early to do a tour of the farm with her father. She must have been more tired than she thought after all the driving. Five days it had taken her to get back home, not to mention a lot of petrol money and one flat tyre.
    Throwing back the sheets, Izzy swung her slender legs out of bed and planted them on the old wooden floorboards. Stretching out her arms and bending her neck, she stifled a yawn and stood up. It was warming up and high temperatures were expected. The flies were already buzzing around, trying to find a cool spot. Izzy stepped towards a white melamine cupboard and grabbed out a pair of khaki shorts and a dark-blue singlet. Quickly she dressed and put on a pair of thick socks, as well as her boot guards, and strode out of her room.
    Mum was in the kitchen alone.
    ‘Where’s Dad?’ Izzy asked.
    ‘He’s just out fuelling up the ute. Here, eat some breakfast first. Your father’s already had his.’ Jean finished buttering some multigrain toast, then reached for a pan on the stove and transferred two eggs onto the bread. ‘There you go, love.’
    ‘Ah, Mum, you’re a legend.’ Izzy settled herself on a stool at the breakfast bar and began to dig straight in.
    As Izzy and Bill drove from one dam to the next, the morning sun sparkled against the golden tips of the wheat and heavy heads leant over in the gentle breeze. An impatient Tom pushed his head out past Izzy to the open window. Little mounds of woollen bodies lay dotted over dry feedless paddocks, trying to conserve energy for the warm day ahead.
    The final paddock came around too soon as they checked on the last mob of sheep. A blurry haze had spread out before them as the heat intensified in the late morning.
    ‘It’s gonna be a hot one at the clearing sale today,’ said her dad suddenly.
    Lifting her head from its comfy position on her arm, Izzy turned to her father. ‘What clearing sale? You didn’t tell me there was a clearing sale on. Whose?’ she asked curiously.
    ‘Ray North’s. He’s retiring early after having too many shitty years back to back.’
    Izzy nodded. She knew Ray and his wife. They lived about twenty-five kilometres away. ‘Who’s interested, Dad?’
    ‘Johnno’s already leasing most of the land and Perkins the rest. Ray just has his machinery and sundries to sell. Thought we could go in and have a look. He still has that yellow ten-tonne Volvo truck I wouldn’t mind getting, if it’s in my price range. Plus there’s probably a few other things that might be of interest. Best go give our support as well.’
    They settled into silence. Another family was leaving the district while their farm merged with others around it. Towns shrunk, schools closed and local businesses battled. It seemed the way of the world, Izzy thought sadly as she rubbed Tom’s ears. She wondered what Pingaring would be like in another ten years. She pictured a derelict town with tumbleweeds rolling past.
    It took them most of the morning to drive around the farm checking on sheep and dams. Plus Izzy made her dad detour to other parts of the farm, just so she could see every square inch of it. She had missed it