The ute kicked up dust as we turned into the long gravel driveway of the farm. The ride was certainly a lot less smother going up to the house. The road leading to the farm was surprisingly new but the driveway sure hadn't been fixed in a long while. I guess you could say I was happy to be at my Aunt May's house for the summer. It was going to be so different to my life in college that I might as well be on a different planet but in a lot of ways that was a good thing. College life sure is fun but damned if you get much time to relax.
Pulling up to the house my Aunt May shut off the engine to the old ute, jammed the park brake on and turned to me. She tipped her wide brimmed hat back and flashed me a big smile. "Home sweet home Bobby, I'll get you settled into Dave's old room." Bobby. No one called me Bobby except my Aunt May and my cousin Marie. Maybe it was just the fact that they'd lived in the country all their lives and they never met anyone who got called Rob before. Ah, to hell with it, if I'm living in the country might as well be country. Grinning back I just hopped down from the truck and started hauling my dusty suitcases out of the tray.
Dave's room was pretty big. The entire house was pretty big, it was built back in colonial times and it had high airy ceilings and polished wooden floorboards. Dave was my cousin, Maries sister but he'd broken with tradition and gone to work in the city. I'm pretty sure Aunt May didn't care, she was a tough lady and her and Marie ran the farm just as easily without Dave. My Uncle Pete had died years ago when I was little, lung cancer caused by the god awful amount of cigarettes he used to smoke.
Life on the farm was just how I remembered it; the amount of work was grueling but the satisfaction at the end of the day was surprising. Keeping such a huge farm running was no easy feat but knowing that you'd handled everything on your own initiative with your own sweat and sometimes your own blood was a rewarding feeling. Marie worked in a bar in town 5 nights a week so she was only about to help Aunt May in the mornings, just one of the reasons I was here to help in the summer. I used to love it here when I was little and my Mom bought me up for short trips and paying Aunt May back with a little holiday labor for all of those good times was the least I could do.
There was only really one problem. I'm fairly decent looking guy, typical Aryan I guess you could say, minus the dumb-fuck racism. But I had the blonde hair and the blue eyes and a pretty nice tan. I worked out a little in college, I wasn't exactly toned, but I wasn't hefty either. I don't like to brag but I got my share of action around college. Some of this was down to skill. Hell, girls respect a good lover. Another mitigating factor was the fact that I had what seemed like a million and one fetishes to indulge in and the freakier you get, the less partners your fellow freaks have to choose from. I loved sex of all kinds and I didn't shy away from much. Being used to getting satisfaction in whichever way took my fancy didn't mix well with working a 14 hour day on a farm isolated from the local town let alone a city where I might be able to score some action. My mornings were supposed to start every day at 5.30am when Aunt May would bash on my door and we'd do our first check of the paddocks before breakfast. Lately I'd been starting at 5am, just so I could spank one off before starting the day. It left me just a little more exhausted at the end of the day but I don't think I could have survived without it. Even then, you can guess I was frustrated.
I doubt it showed to Aunt May though. She treated me the same as always. She was a real nice lady my Aunt May. She was tall and loud and obnoxiously cheerful at the best of times. If she wanted you to do something she'd good-naturedly pester you until you agreed just to see her smile or laugh at how easy you were to convince. One Friday we were checking the firebreaks in the paddocks around Sunday Hill when we took a quick breather on a fallen log. Marie was staying in town with her friend for a few days, she'd be back by the start of next week but for now, it was just me and Aunt May. The fact that I felt comfortable sitting quietly with my Aunt was something that I didn't take for granted, nor was her trust that I'd work as hard as she needed me to for the duration of my stay and I was pretty sure that if I got yapping she'd just get us right back to work. Still, speaking up seemed like a good idea anyway. Staring out from Sunday hill over the rolling paddocks, I noticed how tiny the house looked even though it seemed cavernous from the inside. I could barely spot the town where Marie would be working later. "Ever get lonely out here Aunt May? Seems pretty isolated sometimes don't it?" Typical Aunt May, just let out a peal of laughter. "Don't have time to be lonely Bobby. Sure it's a bit emptier since Uncle Pete left but I do have Marie you know. And I get a farm hand in for when I've got a big job to do. I do just fine boy." I nodded quietly. Most people, I may have suspected of covering for actually being lonely. Not Aunt May. If she said she was happy running this farm 14 hours a day then I knew she was happy.
We spent the rest of the morning checking stock and also the firebreaks, since it was starting to heat up and the threat of fire was worse than ever. One of the paddocks around the brook had overgrown the firebreaks and it needed to be cleared. I loved the brook. It was just a smallish stream running through Aunt May's property but we always used to go swimming there, and sinking drop nets for yabbies and marron. Still it was a pain in the arse hoeing out all the overgrown weeds. But Aunt May just pulled her good-natured haranguing on me once again and we got stuck into it side by side. It took hours and the sun was burning down. It was 1.30 in the afternoon by the time we got finished with the entire paddock. Both of us drank greedily from the water bottle in the ute and Aunt May clapped me on the back. "Wish most of the paid workers I hired worked like you boy. We've only got to check one more paddock today so how about we take a little break. Your visit can't all be work." "That'd be heaven Aunt May, I think I'm dying of sunstroke." Aunt May pitched him a water bottle from the fridge in the ute's cab. Aunt May always said that was one of the best buys she'd ever made. I strolled down to the shady area by the brook and leant on the old fence there. There was still a rope trailing off of it where a kayak used to be tethered but that thing had been holed long ago. Aunt May came over and leant next to me.
"Hell of a nice spot 'aint it? Remember when you used to go swimming down here with your sisters and cousins? God this place was full of laughter then."
"Yeah, I remember. Its always been one of my favourite places to relax." I hopped the fence and planted my butt on the bank in the shade near a big pool that lead on too a very tiny waterfall. Aunt May jumped over after me and stood leaning with her back on the fence now.
"Pity we can't go swimming now," I remarked, "didn't even think to bring my suit."
"Ahh well nothing to be done." Aunt May said. Then all of a sudden, "Holy hell, would you look at that hawk?" Aunt May exclaimed, pointing into the sky. I jumped up and for a few seconds scanned the sky before I felt the hands planted on my back as I tumbled into the pool.
"You sneak!" I yelled as I resurfaced and Aunt May sat on the bank laughing uproariously. It was beautiful in the pool but I was hardly going to admit that to the person who'd just tricked me and given me a shove.
"Cmon, help me out you mean old witch."
"Oh, old now am I, and here I was all morning pacing myself so you wouldn't get hurt feelings that your dear ol' Aunt can work harder and faster than you." The friendly insults continued as I made my way to shore and Aunt May bent down and offered me her hand. I don't know what she was expecting but the outcome was pretty obvious. She joined me in the pool pretty quickly. All the sniping at each other forgotten we splashed around in the cool waters of the pool which felt like heaven after working for two hours in the summer sun.
We hauled ourselves out of the pool and splashed our way over to the ute. We were soaked through and out of the pool the wind made us a little cold. And that's when my afternoon started going in a direction I never expected. My Aunt moved to the fridge again and pulled out our lunches in a plastic bag. Dragging a blanket out of the cab as well she started making her way to a hay shed a few hundred yards away. Spreading the blanket over the ground near a fence, she looked up as I joined her.
