Page 82 of Stockman's Stowaway

‘Will you guys ever use them for mustering, like your other dogs?’ Harper asked Ash as they made their way through the crowded car park of assorted utes, trucks, and four-wheel-drives.

‘No. They’re not built for that. They’re just there to protect our calves.’

‘Is that why you put those dogs in the kennel when Mia and I are having horse riding lessons with the calves?’

‘Help me out here, bro?’ Ash pleaded with Cap, lifting his arms, carrying the camp chairs, while balancing a toddler on his shoulders.

‘We’re not just training you two to be stockwomen, but we’re also teaching the calves to get used to being mustered by stockhorses. And sometimes guardian dogs can be protective, as they aren’t used to our processes either.’

‘So, it’s one big lesson for everyone,’ said Mia smiling up at Cap. She loved everything about station living, the pace, the lifestyle and how no two days were the same.

But today she was in town for the first time in over a month, and switched on her mobile phone. In a matter of moments, it displayed over thirty phone messages and another fifty text messages waiting for her.

Most of them were from Gavin.

Thirty

‘Our tent is this way.’ Cap led Mia, Harper, Ash and Mason through the crowds, past the food stands and stalls selling leather goods, saddles and stockwhips, belts, and hats, as well as displays of tractors, trucks and other large farming equipment.

This wasn’t Cap’s first campdraft, it also wasn’t the first time he’d manned a tent to sell seedlings, or participated in the muster dog trials. But it was the first time he’d done so as a co-owner of Elsie Creek Station, using today’s campdraft to show off their goods that didn’t involve cattle but the other aspects of the cattle industry.

A lot of the other stations had stalls set up as well. There were display tents with handmade quilts and knitted toys for toddlers, beef jerky, jams and chutneys, and assorted woodwork, jewellery and even clothes—including, strangely, a tutu stall. There was something for everyone, from proper no-nonsense steak sangas, rich aromatic coffee, to boot repairs.

The sweet sugary aroma of fairy floss had him inhaling deeply, as Mason squealed, from high on Ash’s shoulders, pointing at a colourful jumping castle in the process of being inflated, with a group of children lining up before the show had even officially kicked off.

On the far side, on a small rise, stood a mechanical bull inside its own fenced arena. It clearly stood out near the beertent, where assorted classic utes and vintage cars sparkled under the sun. Nearby, a group of musicians were setting up at the bandstand, testing their instruments, ready to party late into the night.

‘Here we are.’ Cap steered the loaded trolley under the shade of the simple tent, that was a large rectangular area with simple canvas walls on three sides. He brushed the dirt spilling off a seedling tray from his shirt. ‘I should’ve brought a spare shirt out. Or just worn my station clobber like you.’

‘I should have worn something else.’ Mia twisted her fingers, as she shifted uneasily in the overalls she lived in at the station. He loved her in those overalls, because she loved them.

‘You look comfortable.’

‘Are you?’

He shrugged. It wasn’t often he wore a tie.

‘When are the dogs on?’ Ash held one end of the sheets for Harper as she set up their display tables like they were a fine dining restaurant about to seat royalty.

Cap checked his watch. ‘Not for a while. The gymkhana for the kids is on first, then the junior stockhorse events. The muster dog trials will be on before the senior events.’

‘Jump? Uncle. Jump?’ Mason’s little hands reached up.

‘Not here, mate.’ Cap picked up his nephew.

‘Is he talking about the obstacle course?’ Mia asked.

Cap nodded. ‘I’ve rescued this guy from the dog’s tunnel a few times.’

‘Or plucked him off the high beam when he’d crawled on top.’

‘What?’ Both Ash and Harper stopped and stared in horror.

‘All good. It’s just the dogs’ agility set that Mason uses as a playground.’ And it had been used a lot these past few weeks.

Cap always used whatever scrap he found at stations, from spare tyres, old boards, and empty oil drums to create an obstacle course. Working dogs needed to work, or they’d get intomischief, and he found the obstacle course was the best way to keep them active and stimulated, while fine-tuning their skills in their downtime.

But now he owned a permanent obstacle course. Coming home one afternoon from planting trees with Mia, they found Dex and Bree bantering with each other in a competition to see who could weld up the frames quicker.

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