Chapter 63
Matt was impressed. He hadn't given Russell enough credit. He thought having Russell help with the mustering and the loading of the cattle would consist of Russell sitting on a horse watching everyone else work. Instead, Russell proved to be very competent on his mount and had no problems with getting into the thick of things to move cattle into the truck. He was a big help and they finished faster than they thought they would. Matt decided that Russell was going to be just fine living on a cattle station with Kate and their twins. He could handle himself very well.
After a couple hours, all of the cattle were loaded and Tess drove the truck off to meet the buyer.
"You weren't kidding about being a country boy from a cattle district. You knew exactly what you were doing," said Matt.
"I keep telling people I know this stuff, but in the country, you can't usually just tell people, you have to show them for them to believe it. I will admit to being pretty sore though. Rusty was a good horse for me today, but my muscles are, erm, rusty themselves, and Rusty Kaits is definitely feeling sore." Russell stopped for the others to appreciate the puns he had just made, but the others didn't seem to notice the triple pun he'd laid down. He was sad Kate wasn't there for that one. She would have liked it. Russell continued,"I practically lived in a saddle as a boy, but you know, that was a long time ago. I've got a ride with Ben along the Killarney and Kinsella's border set up this afternoon, so I may not be walking well tomorrow, but at least I rode well enough today," said Russell.
"Too bad there's no spare water for a hot tub soak. I reckon you'd enjoy that after all the riding today," said Matt.
"It's nothing a couple of beers won't soothe." Russell was happy. He wanted to be respected by men like Terry and Matt and he wanted to prove to himself he still knew what he was doing.
"Well, I reckon we've earned our lunch this morning. Meg said she would have something ready for us. Good work Russell, you can farm with me anytime," said Matt.
The men were greeted by the leftovers from last night's dinner.
"I'll have lunch with you, but then I'm off to Killarney. I'll go take care of Rusty first so I don't run out of time later. I'll eat this on my way to the stable, though." said Russell as he grabbed a sausage with a slice of bread, took a huge bite, and winked at Meg. "Delicious!"
"I reckon Russell is going to be an excellent neighbor to have,'' said Matt to Meg, and Terry after Russell left. He was happy his wife would have her best friend close by, but Matt realized he was very lucky to have another friend close by himself. "He is a very competent rider and has no problem working hard."
Kate and Russell pulled up to Killarney. Russell parked the car and got out gingerly.
"Woo!" he groaned, "I'm definitely starting to feel those riding muscles come back! My groin muscles aren't happy with me. Worth it though. I think I impressed Matt and Tess by showing them that I actually do know what I'm doing," said Russell.
"Do you want to sit this out? Or you could take a dirt bike instead?" offered Kate.
"No way! Riding has been great the last couple days. I'll let you care for me later tonight. I'm going to be riding a lot more soon. I might as well build those muscles back up. Plus, it's fun. Just don't mention it to Ben and Stevie that I'm hurting. I don't want them to think I can't handle it," said Russell.
"Okay, no sweat. Since you're such a good husband, maybe I'll even give you a groin massage when we get back this evening," flirted Kate.
"Well, how could a bloke argue with that?" replied Russell.
They were greeted by Stevie.
"Hey! Good on you! You're early," said Stevie. "I've got Amos and Moses ready for you."
"Righto. Let's go!" said Russell.
"This is frustrating. Just miles of barbed wire and "No trespassing" signs. I wish we could just cut the wire and go see what it's all about," said Kate.
"We could cut the wire, but whoever does it is gonna hurt for a while. That's an electrified fence," said Stevie.
"Why don't we go up and over it?" asked Russell.
"I reckon even some of the best show jumping horses over at Wilgul can't cover that barbed wire," said Ben "Nor would we want to risk the horse."
"No. I don't mean with a horse. We need an eagle eye view. We need a helicopter. Or a drone," suggested Ruseell.
"Alex would have kept the helicopter around if he was still here, but no one else had a pilot's license, so we got rid of it years ago. I tried flying a video drone around Killarney with Xander last school holiday. It was fun and we got some pretty videos, but we couldn't get very far. The battery kept dying. Kinsella's is 4,500 acres. The battery would die before it got across ten."
"Well, most drones they sell in stores are super lightweight to make them easier to control, but to keep the weight down, they have to use small batteries. If we could get a larger drone, we could increase the battery size," said Russell.
"Where would we get a drone like that?" asked Ben.
"The military uses stuff like that, but I doubt it's available to the public," said Kate.
"You may just have to wait until your appointment," Stevie said.
Russell had an idea, but wanted to research it more before he said anything to Kate.