Following his visit to the Marshall farm, Brady Bent made his way home slowly. Despite the snow on the ground and occasional flurries of sleet, he was feeling warm and elated. The jeans that he had been given were warm due to the fleece lining but his heart was pounding as he remembered the dancing and 'mating' Sylvia and he had shared.
The journey was long and as much as his horse was anxious for her warm stall, he realised this was a time for reflection and the beginning of a new understanding about himself.
He finally arrived back at the farm and stabled the horse in a warm pen. There wasn't a lot he could do out in the paddocks. He had moved the herd to a paddock that had plenty of tree shelter for the cattle and he would have to wait for the family to return before they could move them to the barns for the winter.
After moving some firewood into the house and lighting a fire, he made himself a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs and potato fritters; then settled himself in front of the fire with a big mug of coffee.
He went back through his memory of the previous night and as he remembered how events had escalated he began to appreciate Sylvia Marshall's situation. And then he understood that it had been her sexual needs combined with the adverse weather that had resulted in their 'mating'.
He chuckled as he recalled her outlining animal mating and that he had been so green he had mounted her like a bull. But the softer aspect of their lovemaking felt good and he now realised he was no longer a virgin.
Two days later the roads were open enough for his parents to return home and he realised that he had been lonely without their presence on the farm. He had thought about ringing Sylvia on some pretext but decided against it.
With his Dad's help they moved the cattle to the barns, chopped up sufficient firewood for the cold months ahead and Brady occupied the rest of his time servicing the tractors and the generator that would supply electricity.And the following day the phone rang.
His Dad answered it and Brady soon realised his Dad was talking to Sylvia Marshall. He wasn't able to listen to the conversation and an inner sense warned him to stay quiet.
His Dad put down the phone and turning to Brady he said "You didn't mention your visit to Mrs Marshall while we were away but it seems you did the right thing helping with that bogged cow. Sylvia – I mean Mrs Marshall, was wondering if one of us might be free to give her a hand to fix her log splitter. Grab some tools and I'll run us over in the truck. I'll let Betty know where we are going while you do that."
Brady was elated but also apprehensive at the same time. If Dad was going to be there he would have to watch what he said and how he would act around Mrs Marshall. He soon had his toolbox in the truck and they set off into a cold wind that threatened snow again.
Within 20 minutes they pulled up next to the utility barn where Sylvia was waiting for them.
"So good of you to come at such short notice but I am running out of fire wood and there are only these big logs left that are too heavy for me to drag inside." said Sylvia.
Brady's Dad laughed and said "Well I can lend you Brady to do the repairs and the manual work while I go and check our cattle down in the South paddock back of your place." Brady grabbed his toolbox from the truck and wandered in to look at the old electric splitter while his Dad chatted to Sylvia for a moment then took off in the truck.
He soon figured out the major problem – a large splint from a previous log had wedged into the spring loaded return and he wrestled with it for nearly half an hour till he had it free. After giving it a general check up he placed a log onto the tray and pressed the lever and button that made it work. It graunched along very slowly and came to a stop before the hydraulic arm had reached the log. Obviously there was something more seriously wrong with it.
He worked at dismantling it until he found a broken hydraulic rod and went into the back of the barn to see if there were any replacements. Sadly there wasn't anything that would do and he had no choice but to attempt to fashion a new rod.
Like their own place, the Marshall farm was well equipped with a smithy forge, angle irons, pipe rollers and grinders for emergency repairs and he began to stoke the forge to prepare some scrap iron.
His Dad returned as it was getting dark to see how much wood Brady had split and finally learnt the extent of the problem. "How long do you reckon it will take to manufacture a new rod?" his Dad asked.
"Well it will take the forge about an hour to be hot enough and maybe another hour to fashion the rod; after that it will need to be reassembled, bout 40 minutes, then I can begin splitting the wood."
His Dad looked at his watch and said "Well that could take you well into the night so I had better see if Mrs Marshall has a spare bed for you for the night"
He came back from the farmhouse about 15 minutes later and said to Brady with a laugh "Yep, that will be okay and she has promised to feed you so that you don't die from malnutrition."
With that he took off in the truck back to his own place.
Brady continued to work the forge and it was soon very warm in the small forge area. He stripped off his coat and shirt and soon had a sweat raised. Only a little while after his Dad had left Sylvia approached him and asked "When can you take a break to eat?" He told her 'in about 2 hours if everything goes to plan'. She asked if he needed anything and he said a mug of coffee would help.
While hammering out the steel rod and then shaping it in the roller he felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder but continued until he had the rod inserted in the splitter. It was now quite dark and snow was beginning to fall again.
He decided to split just a few logs for the immediate fire and placed them in a carry box, which he struggled to carry to the house.
As he entered, his shoulder seemed to burn just next to his neck and he hurriedly carried the wood to the pile by the fire. Sylvia noticed his discomfort and suggested he use the big bath tub to soak his tired muscles. He filled it with hot water and then thankfully lowered his tired body into the water. He slid down so that the water covered his shoulder and felt the tension slowly releasing.
Sylvia came to the door and said "When you are ready there is food on the table," so he quickly dried himself, dressed and entered the kitchen. As he sat eating Sylvia noticed he was not able to move his shoulder easily and asked what had happened. "Just a strain probably from hammering the steel,' he replied ' it should work itself out by morning."
