AVALON

Chapter 61 - The Land

Thankyou gummybearnerd for the cover!

A/N _ hey guys I double sorry today 1) for the wait 2) fo the length. I'm meag busy atm so I'm going ot try to get this book done up to Nathan coming and then end it to start the next one. SO I will be probably writing short ones and then putting them together at a later date. This week in Av's life she is fighting tiredness and things will seem to just build up for her. 

Waiting, drumming my fingers on my leg stifling a yawn, for everyone to find seat on the dry ground, I catch Seth's eye. He looks worried, I poke my tongue at him and gesture for him to sit as well.

Don't know why he would be concerned, I'm used to doing this stuff. Station work has a lot of liasioning involved in its running. Although, to be truthful, I've actually never talked in front of people anywhere near my age before that don't need to pay attention for work reasons or listen to me as I talk horses at sales.

But I'm gathering it will be the same old thing as talking to hands about what is going on with the station for oncoming dry seasons, what they can expect, what ETAs are calculated, grass budgets, road train dates, sale dates, cattle numbers, paddock allocations, feed, camp lists and maintenance stuff.

Pop and I do it normally, in the food hall. Dad expects workers to arrive within in a specified time frame. So generally on the night of that last day, we organize a big get together. I sing at the end just to reward them (I hope it's a reward) for sitting through some of the topics which bore me to the point of impending death. During these talks Nathan gains the magical ability to apparate, because he disappears just before and reappears straight after. Seriously, it's amazing.

Dad watches any new hands with narrowed eyes, arms crossed. Jordan always has something urgently mechanical to do which, miraculously, is repaired once I start singing. Angus cuddles Dell, apparently his work finished after he handed over his mile long notes to me. Dell makes faces at me while I talk, teasing me. Sometimes, she sneaks in and writes funny stuff and as I read them I end up bursting out laughing.

"Right," I smile, when finally all the kids are seated and looking at me. I can see why the teacher didn't put up a fuss to me taking her role. She's already divided her time between her phone and some papers. And I can see that there is one kid there that is going to be a pain in the arse, I watch him until he looks up from whispering to his friend and meets my eyes. He tries to stare back at me. Please and how,may I ask, can he even see out from under that heavily styled hair? It looks ridiculous like he spent four hours this morning trying to look like Daryl pink kitchen mop sweeped over his forehead and one eye. He looks down. Good move.

"G'day, I'm Avalon Smith, I've spent my whole life on my familiy's cattle station in outback Queensland. Just a question first up though, so I can get some persepctive. How long as the real Ag teacher been away?"

I can see why there is only one Ag teacher here, seven sheep including the lambs and a few chickens hardly constitute a full crew, but still if someone else wasn't competent he should have made arrangements. Love to see this teacher deal witha  flyblown sheep.

Animals first.

Always.

A young girl raises her hand. I nod at her to talk. The little pig eyed brute is snickering, I feel like throwing my knife between his legs. Maybe I should give a castration demo. Whatever he said to her makes her swallow and her cheeks turn red.

"I think he's been away for two months or so," she says looking around anywhere but him to confirm her answer.

"And the sheep have been on this paddock for that whole time?" I frown.