Random reminder

Press, 26 December 1985, Page 9

Random reminder

SANG FROID The week-end came, fine weather prevailing, and as with most farm jobs outdoor conditions ruled. The tailing of that final mob of lambs had to be done, the two little primary school children gathering up books to be read while their parents tackled the job. , All progressed well — with noise, the dust, the smell, barking dogs, baa-mg sheep frantic calling from lambs momentarily and for the first time repSSfrom their mothers. Alll these signs of activity gave evidence of the job proceeding with a reasonable degree of efficiency and success, two children amused themselves actively at first, frequently disappearing into the nearby belt of'trees, chasing and running, but gradually as time progressed, picking up their books and becoming immersed in the make-believe world within. And there wasJtfie younger child standing near the gafes of the pen, book

in hand, exciting story making her completely oblivious of her surroundings. And there was the pen of ewes now in their first-time separation from their lambs, their eagerness for escape through the opening gate producing a mad dash of heavy, hefty, full-woolled desperate animals.

The parents looked on in horror as the child and the book suddenly became part of that scrambling mess — disappearing from sight, just a blurr of brightlycoloured clothes, tumbling, tumbling... How time stand still at such a moment, one’s mind races terribly, picturing the horror that could be the outcome of such ferocity. The scene cleared, the ewes were away over the green grass, leaving behind one unhurt but very angry child leafing frantically through the pages of her book, muttering furiously about her lost place and interrupted story