Free And Did Those Feet ... by Ted Dawe Page A

few metres forward and the next thing you know the bloody goat thought this was an open invitation to climb onto my back. I tried everything I could think of to break the pattern. I would throw a handful of hay, to keep him busy and then hit the back of the hut at speed hoping to get it over and done with before the goat noticed, but he did notice. He would be around after me, hay still hanging out of his mouth, rearing up all ready for some goat action. I guess you get used to this sort of thing in the country but I was a city boy, and I believe that each species should stick to its own kind. I would stand up and push him away. He would stand off to the side as if he had lost interest but the moment I bent down to drag the sled he was on me again.
    In the end I had to invent a non-bending over technique in order to complete the task safely. I would take a fence batten with me and lever the whole caboodle forward a few inches at a time. The goat would stand off to one side watching carefully as if to say “one false move and you’re mine!”
    Satan totally dominated me.
    When it first happened I mentioned it to Uncle Frank and Aunty Lorna as they were about to go out somewhere in the Landrover. Aunty Lorna did this sort of smile andlooked away. I could see her shoulders moving and thought she might have actually been laughing about what I described. That wasn’t good.
    Uncle Frank was more open. He just laughed, and said, “The lust of the goat is the bounty of God.” It was evidently a bit of wisdom from William B., who seemed to have something to say about most things.
    “Thanks Uncle, like that’s a big help.”
    I could feel my face going red and Aunty Lorna came around the Landrover to try to suck up, I could tell. “Would you like the twins to help you with it?” Which is another way of saying, “Is this job too tough for you, city boy? I’ll get a couple of seven-year-olds to give you a hand.”
    I took a step back to keep her out of range. “No. It’s fine. I can do it. I just thought … oh it doesn’t matter,” and I stormed off.
    You know what it’s like when everyone gets right up your nose?

T HE N EW G UMBOOTS
    SOON after this I was presented with a pair of shiny new gumboots. My size. I could stop wearing Aunty Lorna’s everywhere. It was like I had become part of the family. The gumboot family. It’s soggy everywhere on a farm, and without gumboots you can’t go anywhere. Your bare feet sink deep into the brown stuff and the earth sucks hard. (But at least Uncle Frank had pulled a bed out of Mackthuselah so the three of us got a decent night’s sleep.)
    These gumboots had a bit of a down side too – I should have known. The following morning I was wrenched awake, along with Iain and Jamie, to help with the milking. I have never been up so early in my life. It wasn’t like early morning , it was more like late at night. The other two were used to it, I guess, but I found it really tough.
    “Iain, tell your dad that I am not a morning person.”
    He just laughed and said, “Everyone is a morning person in this house.”
    That seemed to be the end of the matter.
    You probably don’t know, in fact you will probably neverknow, what it’s like to get up at that time in the morning. It’s really dark and wet. After we left the house the only light was from the cowshed. We all stumbled towards it half asleep: only parts of your brain work at that time of the day. Our job was to bring the cows in, which meant walking to the back of the farm and undoing all the gates. The wolves went with us, like enforcers, but the cows didn’t need them. They knew what to do, in fact, I suspect they were looking forward to it. They led the way, we followed, making sure the stragglers didn’t hold anything up. Iain had a sort of businesslike attitude to all this. He was a real farm boy in that way. I could just see him taking over the place when he got older. Jamie was dreamier, a bit like me. He sang all