Paula badly wanted to do all she could to make her partnership with Dan a success. She didn’t know much about farming but she did understand accounting. She smiled to herself. I’ve obviously passed the paperwork side of my apprenticeship, she thought.

* * *

“You coming to the game tomorrow?”

Dan shut the gate as the last sheep skittered through and ran after its mates down the track. He smiled at his young working man, Tom. He was normally not much of a one for conversation but he loved his footy. Last week they’d won the semi and now they were playing in the grand final. “Won’t be much of a game, will it?”

Tom grinned back. “You just want to be out there yourself.”

“Not me, mate.” He put on a fake hobble as they walked back to the shed. “Football crippled me for life.”

“Ah, Dan,” Tom said. “You were brilliant before your knee op. You could still be playing.”

“I’ll leave it up to you younger blokes. We might come and watch though. Paula hasn’t been to a country footy grand final. Not sure if she’ll be up to seeing grown men cry when you lose though.”

Tom drew himself up. He was actually a couple of centimetres taller than Dan when he didn’t slouch. “We’ll flog ’em.”

Dan saw the flash of fire in his usually gentle brown eyes.

He clapped his hand on Tom’s shoulder and gave it a playful shake. “Win or lose, you make sure you front up for work on Monday. We’ve still got lots to do before harvest.”

“I’ll be right.”

“You’d better go home and get some rest. I don’t want to be told off for overworking the star ruckman before the big game.”

“Thanks, Dan. See you tomorrow.”

Dan watched Tom fold himself into the old ute and drive away. The local football team had made it to their first A-grade grand final for many years. If they won, it would be the first time since the teams from several local towns had amalgamated into one, about twenty years ago. They were playing another inland team but the game was to be played on neutral ground, in the other direction, at Wallaston

He should take Paula and make a weekend of it. With harvest about to begin, it might be their last chance to get away for a while and Rowena was still around to check the animals. He rubbed a hand across his forehead. Preparing for harvest always set him on edge. It was a cat-and-mouse game with the elements. You always had a rough idea of when the season would begin but it was never entirely predictable.