Kate stretched her arms skywards and threw back her head. ‘I’m happy, Mam, that’s all. Danny’s not going to get the sack and me dad’s going to get the job of repairing the Squire’s motor. So he’ll be happy with his head stuck under a motor car.’

Esther snorted. ‘Aye, I might have known – just when harvest is upon us.’

Kate smiled, “Night, Mam.’ And before Esther had a chance to berate her daughter further for her lateness, Kate gave her a peck on the cheek and ran indoors. She was up the stairs, through the nursery where Lilian now slept, and into her own small back room before her mother had got her breath back.

Harvest was upon them. Every evening and on her time off from work, Kate hurried into her outdoor work clothes and ran to the fields. Here, the old traditions survived. Neighbour helped neighbour at harvest and the horses from Brumbys’ Farm were in demand.

‘I’m not having them new-fangled tractor things in my fields.’ Esther vowed, and Kate would see her stepfather smile fondly and hide his disappointment. ‘It’s bad enough at threshing with the steam engine . . .’

Kate listened to the conversations that were repeated every year and smiled, winking at her stepfather behind her mother’s back, knowing he looked forward to the winter days when the huge machine would come into their yard to start the threshing.

‘Why don’t you persuade Mam to get a tractor?’ Kate encouraged her stepfather as they walked out to the fields. ‘She would if she knew it would make you happy.’

Jonathan smiled. ‘Maybe I will when the horses get too old . . .’

‘Oh, there’s Danny,’ Kate said suddenly, feeling the familiar ripple of pleasure as she saw him standing high on top of the wagon, spreading the sheaves as they were passed up to him by the men below. In the early evening sun, his muscular body, stripped to the waist, glistened with sweat. She began to run, and then, remembering suddenly, glanced back over her shoulder. ‘Don’t you forget, Dad, when the horses go – it’s a tractor we want.’ She wagged her finger at him and grinned.

Jonathan smiled too, but then he glanced at Danny and back at her, and she saw the smile fade from his face. ‘Kate . . .’ he began, but, filled with the desire to be with Danny, she waved and said, ‘See you later, Dad,’ and was gone.

Through the bright days of late summer, the two young people were filled with happiness, revelling in the secret they shared, planning their future.

‘Mebbe Squire would let us rent a farm of our own one day.’

The look in her eyes softened lovingly. ‘Is that what you really want, Danny?’

He wrinkled his forehead. ‘I reckon. Would that suit the new Mrs Eland?’