Summer Down Under (30 page)

Sam watched while the grader picked up a
fleece, walked to the end of the platform and threw the fleece out
like a fisherman throwing a net. The fleece stayed intact and lay
neatly spread out over the table that was positioned next to the
platform.

“Then,” Jack continued, “the other graders
will pull off any stain from around the outside of the fleece and
decide what the quality of the fleece is.”

The three men Jack referred to, deftly
handled the fleece, pulling small portions of dirty wool from the
edges, throwing those pieces to the ground.

“Once they have decided on the quality, it
gets thrown into one of the wool bins over here to be packed into
bales. That’s my job.”

He pointed to the divided sections that were
filling up with wool. Sam had wondered how on earth a team of ten
men were going to shear thousands of sheep in a week, but now she
could understand it. These guys worked so fast it was
mind-boggling.

“If you fancy having a bit of fun,” Jack
said, “try taking a running jump into one of those bins.”

Sam raised an eyebrow at him.

“Go on,” he said. “Try it.”

Sam thought about his suggestion for a
moment. She decided she’d try anything once, and had to admit the
soft deep wool did look inviting.

Sam walked to the wall furthest from the
fullest bin and ran towards it twisting as she jumped. She let out
an excited squeal as she landed on her back in the soft wool. It
felt wonderful, her whole body floating in baby softness. She had
never experienced anything that soft before. She had no idea that
raw wool felt like that. Sam lay in the bin making snow angels in
the wool. Jack looked at her and laughed.

“Told you,” he chuckled before he got back to
piling wool into the press.

Sam treated herself to a few more running
jumps into the wool pile. She was feeling like a little kid in the
first snows of winter, but it was a lot warmer and less likely to
soak you through to your skin.

Sam stood and watched the flurry of action
for a while longer, then realized what the time was and headed back
to the house to finish off dinner.

Dinner went smoothly, much to Daniel’s and
Sam’s amazement. Everyone was at least full by the time they had
finished eating. There were no complaints either. The shearers
wandered off to their cottage after first thanking Sam for
dinner.

Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for her,
yet. She had a good feeling about what the next day would bring.
Daniel went off to shower and told her he would help dry the dishes
when he came out. Sam picked up Lucrecia and set about washing the
mountain of plates.

“Want to take a ride with me?” Daniel asked
as they finished drying the crockery and setting up the dining
table for the next morning.

“Where are we going?”

“I left something at the shearing shed.”

“Sure, I’ll come with you.”

It was still fairly light outside. The sun
had not quite set, but there was an enormous moon rising. It was so
big it felt like you could just reach out and touch it.

They wandered out to where the bikes were
kept and Sam got on behind Daniel. It reminded her of when they
were in Bali. It was a balmy evening for this time of year, a
gentle warm breeze blew softly around them.

“Hold on.” Daniel said as he kicked the bike
into gear.

Sam wrapped her arms around his waist, buried
her head between his shoulder blades, and breathed in his familiar
spicy scent. It felt good to be this close to him. She wondered how
she would ever manage to part herself from him in the
not-to-distant future.

It took them a few minutes to arrive at the
shearing shed. Daniel took her hand as she climbed off the bike and
led her through the back entrance of the shed. The back wall of the
building was actually a big sliding door. It had been moved over to
open up the whole wall. Sam walked in beside him.

“So what did you leave in here?” Sam
asked.

Daniel shot her a sheepish look. “I have a
confession to make.”

“Oh, and what might that be?”

“This,” he said as he took a running jump
into one of the wool bins.

Sam laughed as she watched a grown man making
snow angels in the wool just as she had done earlier that the day.
He lay there like a naughty school kid who was playing truant.

“I couldn’t help myself,” he chuckled. “I
used to spend my days as a kid doing this during shearing, but this
time I’m the boss and can hardly get away with doing it in front of
the guys.”

Daniel’s expression changed, and he gestured
with open arms for Sam to join him. Warmth flowed through her at
the fun he was having. She took a run and jumped in right next to
him, letting out an excited squeal as she landed.

They lay, side by side, letting the soft wool
envelop them. Daniel turned on his side and propped his head on his
hand; they looked at each other for the longest time. It was as if
they needed to say things to one another but couldn’t quite find
the words.

The moon was now rising in front of the
opening in the shearing shed, and they had ringside seats. Sam sat
up, better able to take in its awesome beauty, never before having
seen a moon that big.

Daniel scooted himself behind her, sitting so
that she was able to lean back against his chest his legs lying
against the outsides of hers. He wrapped his arms around her waist
and let his hands relax loosely on her stomach. The crickets had
started to sing outside.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he whispered in her
ear before nibbling a very sensitive spot on her neck. Sam let out
a moan of appreciation as tiny shocks of electricity shot down her
spine.

“Yes, very beautiful.” she breathed.

As they watched the moonrise, Sam could feel
Daniel’s hot breath beside her ear as he nuzzled his head next to
hers. Suddenly, he got up and stood in front of her holding out his
hand.

“What are you doing?” she asked as he pulled
her up. He had that mischievous twinkle in his eye again. He picked
her up and threw her back into the soft wool again. She let out a
squeal before hitting the wool.

They felt like they were a couple of six year
olds without a care in the world. Daniel backed up several feet,
then started running towards Sam. He dived into the wool pile
beside her, then rolled over laughing.

Daniel propped his head on his hand again and
watched Sam laugh. He fell silent, serious. Sam sensed his change
in demeanor and turned to look at him.

She creased her eyebrows. “What is it?”

He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Thank you,” he whispered.

“For what?”

Daniel looked up and gestured around the
shearing shed with his free arm. “For this. For all of it. I
wouldn’t have been able to do it without you. Thank you for not
leaving me to face this alone.”

Sam swallowed back a lump that had developed
at his words. Her eyes shone with un-shed tears. Didn’t he know how
much she wanted him? That, given the choice, she would never leave
him. She had no words, she just stared into his eyes.

Daniel leaned in, touched her lips with a
tender kiss. He moved his hand to the back of her head, threading
his fingers through her hair. Sam’s heart quickened as he pulled
her closer. They spent the next hour playing hooky from the real
world and all of its responsibilities.

Deciding it wouldn’t be a good idea for the
shearer’s to find them there in the morning, they eventually made
their way back to the house and fell into bed. Tomorrow would be
another grueling day, and it was about to start in just a few short
hours. They were asleep before their heads hit the pillow.

Sam’s culinary skills in the kitchen got
steadily better as each day progressed. She was actually starting
to feel fairly confident with a saucepan after a few days and had
not had any complaints from the shearers all week. The pat on the
back she got from Daniel each day, also boosted her spirits.

“You’re becoming a natural at this,” he said
one evening when they were clearing the table. “I think you’d even
give my mum a run for her money now.”

“Well, thank you for the compliment, but I
don’t think I’d go that far,” Sam answered with a blush.

Daniel had made sure that she felt like part
of the team by keeping her up to date each evening on the shearing
progress. It looked like the shearers were going to hit their
deadline on time, which, to Sam, was a relief. She didn’t relish
the thought of having to cook any more meals than were absolutely
necessary. It did make her feel good, though, being an important
part of something that was such a vital chapter in the year on a
sheep station.

Sam took time off every now and then during
the week to go and dive into the wool bins and be a kid for a
while. Escaping the kitchen for an hour or so at a time probably
helped keep her sane. Snuggling up to Daniel each night, didn’t
hurt either. They were a team, there was no doubt. They worked in
sync with each other, and the shearing was going smoothly. Sam
started to feel like she was truly a part of the station, as a
whole.

Unfortunately, she was never far away from
the nagging thought that, although, she would be very happy to have
the shearing finished and over with, the sooner it was, the sooner
the Miller’s wouldn’t need her help any more, and the sooner she
would have to leave Shalroma, and Daniel.

She didn’t think she could face it until the
day actually arrived, so, like a coward she kept shoving it deeper
inside. Daniel had not mentioned it either, and Sam wondered if it
was something that he ever gave any thought to.

The days flew by. It didn’t seem like the
shearers had been there five minutes, when all of a sudden, the
last sheep was shorn and the last strand of wool pressed. Daniel
and Sam excused the shearers to go and get washed up for dinner
early on the final day. They supervised the loading of the wool
bales onto the truck that had been arranged to deliver them to the
wool sale.

“Well, at least your mum and dad’s
livelihoods are safe for another year,” Sam said as they watched
the truck being stacked with wool.

It had been probably the hardest job she had
ever done, but the sense of achievement that flowed through her at
that moment, was overwhelming. She had triumphed over her complete
lack of experience and sheer terror in the kitchen, to feed a
hungry mob for a week.

Once the truck was safely on its way down the
road, leaving a trail of dust in its wake, Daniel leaned down and
planted a soft kiss on her lips. His eyes full of appreciation.

“Thank you, Sam,” he whispered when he pulled
away. “You made this week a lot more bearable than I ever imagined
possible.”

Sam smiled. Her insides were doing cartwheels
at the feeling of being so needed and wanted.

They got on their motorbikes and headed back
to the house to prepare for the evening. They were going to hold a
celebration dinner for the shearers. Dinner was basically a
mish-mash of food they had left over. Sam placed it all out buffet
style and smiled contentedly as she watched everyone tuck in.

After cracking open a couple of cases of
beer, Daniel and Sam thanked the guys for their hard work. The
shearers lingered around the table for a while, telling stories of
some of the not so smooth sailing jobs they had been to, which made
Sam feel even more of a success.

A few beers later, the shearers excused
themselves and wandered back to the cottage to pack up their
things, ready to leave first thing in the morning after
breakfast.

Sam was planning on putting her feet up for a
day and doing nothing. They had been a nice bunch of people to have
around, but she would not be sorry to see them go, either. She was
looking forward to the peace and tranquility that would once again
embrace Shalroma upon their departure.

Mr. & Mrs. Miller would be back soon and
she wanted to enjoy her time alone with Daniel as long as she
could. She knew that she would not be able to share his bed when
they returned, and, not long after that, she’d be off on her
travels.

They hadn’t heard from Mr. & Mrs. Miller
all week, which Sam now thought slightly odd, seeing as their
livelihood depended on the shearing going well. She hadn’t really
had the time to think about anything other than keeping food on the
table before now, but Daniel said he was going to call them after
the shearers had gone to let them know everything went smoothly and
the shearing was completed for another year.

They finished their usual clean up routine
and set the table ready for breakfast the next day. It was getting
late after having a few beers with the shearers and listening to
their stories.

Sam was standing by the dining table,
checking that everything was ready for the morning, when Daniel’s
strong arms encompassed her waist, pulling her back to lean on his
chest.

“You know, mum and dad will probably be back
any day now,” he whispered, pressing delicious kisses to the very
sensitive part of her neck.

“Hmmm.” Sam agreed as shivers went scuttling
down her spine and turned her legs boneless.

“I thought you might like to take advantage
of the time we have left alone,” he said, in between paying
luscious attention to the nape of her neck.

Daniel led her out of the dining room,
turning the light off on the way out. They made their way, hand in
hand, down the hall and into his bedroom where she had made herself
at home over the past week.

***

When the incessant buzzing of the alarm woke
them the next morning, Sam was relieved that she wouldn’t have to
get up that early for a long time after today. They handled
breakfast like pros and enjoyed themselves knowing it would be the
last time. The shearers filed in for their final meal at Shalroma,
and, as usual, wolfed down the entire lot.