Read Online Inherit the Sky (Lang Downs 1 ) by Ariel Tachna - Free Book Online Page A

separate one pasture from another. I spend enough time mending damaged fences where his property meets Lang Downs. The rest of them are his problem.”
“You don’t like him very much, do you?” Caine asked.
Macklin shrugged, his eyes on the road. He waited so long to reply that Caine had given up on getting an answer. “I don’t hate him. I just don’t have any use for him. You’ll understand when we get to Lang Downs.”
The answer he got gave Caine no more information than he’d had when he asked. He’d already decided that was par for the course where Macklin was concerned. Caine opened and closed two more gates before Macklin’s posture suddenly relaxed. Caine looked around, trying to see what might have made the difference, but he couldn’t put his finger on anything. Macklin didn’t provide any explanation either, but when they reached the top of the next rise, he stopped the Jeep and smiled.“Welcome to Lang Downs.”
Caine scanned the vista before him. He couldn’t see anything that looked like it might be the main station, but he saw sheep scattered across the land in front of him, and, tucked into a dip between two hills, he caught sight of a small enclosure with a short chimney on top. “Does someone live there?”
“Not permanently,” Macklin replied, “but we have drover’s huts like that scattered over the property so there’s shelter for the jackaroos on cold nights or in a storm when they’re out with the sheep. Neil is probably already back at the station by now, and Ian is probably on his way, so no one is there now, but someone will be before nightfall. We can’t prevent every problem, but we lose far fewer lambs than a lot of stations because we keep a closer eye on our mob.”
“Do you have trouble keeping men because of it?” Caine asked. “I mean, it sounds like they have to work harder here.”
“They do,” Macklin agreed, “but we pay a fair wage, and they take pride in their work. The ones who don’t rarely last more than a season. The ones who do end up making Lang Downs their home.”
“It makes a difference when it’s home, doesn’t it?” Caine asked softly.
“It does at that, pup,” Macklin said. “Ready to see the rest?” “Ready when you are.”
As Macklin drove on, he pointed out various things to Caine: improvements to the station, reasons for various husbandry decisions, interesting landmarks and formations. Much of it went over Caine’s head where the actual sheep raising was concerned, but he appreciated the cessation in tension and Macklin’s willingness to talk to him about the station. Whenever Caine jumped out to open a gate, he smiled to see the latch in pristine condition and the gate hung well so it swung easily on its hinges.
“That’s the last one,” Macklin said eventually. “We’re almost at the main station now.”
Caine leaned forward, eager for a glimpse of his new home. They topped another rise and the road dipped sharply down into a narrow valley. Buildings stood scattered along the floor of the ravine, neatly framed by gravel roads and well tended flower beds. “This isn’t anything like the other station.”
“No, it’s not,” Macklin agreed.
As they reached the outmost of the buildings, Caine saw people engaged in a variety of tasks, but everyone they passed paused and waved before returning to whatever they were doing. Macklin waved back occasionally, especially to a group of young boys who looked to be seven or eight.“Do they all live on the station?”
“Yes,” Macklin said. “Their parents work here, they were born here, and so they’re growing up thinking of Lang Downs as home.”
“What about school? I mean, Boorowa isn’t exactly a bus ride away.”
“They take classes online through the School of the Air,” Macklin replied, “and we make sure they learn everything else they need to know.”
“That’s amazing,” Caine said. “I had no idea.”
“We aren’t complete savages out here in the wild,”