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Back The Library Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. THE LIBRARY
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. Questions for your Book Club
  55. Acknowledgements
  56. About the Author
  57. Become an Aria Addict

I dropped to my knees and with a few shoves turned him onto his side. I whacked his back to try to clear the blockage but nothing happened. I tried not to look as I stuck my finger in his mouth in an attempt to clear his airway – like I’d seen Maggie do with the newborn lamb. Nothing.

‘Shit! Dad!’ I shouted at him, partly in fear and desperation.

I gave him a mighty thump on the back and he vomited. Proper rocket blast chuck-up. It was disgusting and it was everywhere. But he started to cough and gasp for breath. He was alive.

22

MAGGIE

Maggie did her last check on the sheep and the new lambs were all feeding well. Two more ewes had produced two more lambs midmorning and both births had gone smoothly, which she was grateful for. She had three female lambs, which she’d keep and add to her flock but that would probably be as many as she’d be able to manage. She was still tired from the weekend and was planning on turning in shortly. Generally she tried to stay up until eleven o’clock. If she went to bed any earlier she usually woke up in the early hours and couldn’t get back to sleep. It was a curse of being older, some afternoons she would be beyond tired but two in the morning she’d be bright as a button.

At this time of year she made sure she stayed up later because she liked to do a last check on the sheep and lambs before she turned in. Although she doubted she had any more who were pregnant. It was getting too late for any more lambs now. Colin was clearly a dud. No wonder the farmer who owned him wasn’t in a rush to have him back. Useless article.

Maggie checked she was all locked up and took the keys out of the door so that if she died in the night Savage would be able to get in without breaking a window. She’d always assumed it would be Savage who would find her; he was the only person who had a key. But they weren’t in any sort of regular contact so it could be anybody. She wondered how long it would be before anyone missed her. How long after that before someone could be bothered to go all the way out to Furrow’s Cross to check? She reckoned about a month by which time all the animals would likely have died of dehydration. For that reason she tried hard not to dwell on it. She was actually in fine fettle. It wasn’t like she was planning on turning up her toes anytime soon it was simply one of the odd things you considered when you spent too much time on your own.