“Yeah, yeah, pull the other one.” Dan puffed out a breath. Ted was setting him up.

“I’m not joking, Dan. You of all people know what a struggle the last few years have been.”

Dan could feel his own face tighten and he scratched his head under his hat. Ted was being serious. “I know the fire was a setback but the sheep…we’ve been doing really well.”

“We have and I’m not abandoning our partnership but we will have to reorganise where we keep the stock in the future.”

“That will take some doing.” Especially if things go pear-shaped here, Dan thought. He was glad he’d never confided in Ted about the possible outcome of his father’s will.

“It all depends on the sale,” Ted said. “I’m sorry to load more on you. By lightening my worries, I’ve probably added more to yours. I know we’ve got most of our joint stock at my place but it will take a while for the sale to happen. And the bright side is that I should eventually be in a better position to inject more capital into our partnership.”

Dan tried to keep his expression calm. Ted’s news was devastating in more ways than one. It was sad that another farmer was leaving his land and the life he had always known, but Ted’s eventual money wouldn’t be soon enough to help Dan out of his current situation.

“Sorry, mate,” Ted said. “I know this is a lot to take in. There’s no need to do anything till after Christmas but I wanted you to hear it from me. The district rumour mill will spread it soon enough.”

“But where will you live? You and Heather love the farm and the kids have so much room.”

“It will be sad to leave the place but we’re not going to move out of the district. We can adapt to town life. It will be easier for Heather to get to work and run after the kids.”

“What will you do?”

“Well, like I said, there’s our sheep stud to work on. Then there’s plenty of work I can get on farms about the place. Heather’s job is nearly full-time. Without the financial drain of the farm, we reckon we can survive on her wage and whatever I can make.”

“I’m sure you’ve thought it through.”

“We have mate, we have. In fact, my head’s hurting from all the thinking and discussions we’ve had since the fire.”

“You’ve been doing it tough.”