It clawed at her stomach to think about it, but really, she owed it to Garth to do it. Swallowing down the bile and bitterness threatening to overwhelm her she decided to go over and see him in the morning as soon as she had a break. No need to make her brother suffer for what happened with her and Mason.
By the time she was dried and dressed for bed, the words were almost organized in her brain.
* * *
"I want to sort out the rest of the fencing down the back paddocks now we are up to scratch with everything else." Tibby's voice broke through the self-imposed silence.
"Sorry, what were you saying?"
"Would you take a look at yourself, girl. Mooning away over what happened won't fix things you know. You should go over and speak to the boy, get it sorted out once and for all."
"No thanks."
"Fine, have it your way then. What I said was, I wanted to go down to the bottom paddock and fix the fences down there now we are caught up with everything else. Then we can let the stock back in there."
"Right. Lead the way then." Sami stood and went to the door to get her hat, skipping down the steps. She would go over to Mason's after work and tell him she had decided to lease him the land. Only if he was still talking to her. If he wasn't she would say her piece and leave him to it.
She helped Tibby put the tools in the ute and sat quietly as he drove down the fence line to the bottom paddock opening and closing gates along the way.
Sami stood at the section of fencing they were working. "Sheesh, I thought we did the most important stuff already. This paddock is crap."
"Crap it ain't. We haven't needed to put the cows down here for a while so it wasn't important in my books. Besides that, it goes under water at the drop of a hat."
The drone of a tractor broke into their conversation. Sami looked up and tipped her hat back, peering over the fence. Mason was driving down the paddock next door with a load of fence posts on the back.
She turned to Tibby. "These are the river flats Mason was talking about?"
"Yep." He looked at her with his mouth set in a firm line.
"Are you pissed with me over this?" She cocked her head and looked at him, noticing how his chin was jutting out in disapproval.
"It's your land, make no mistake about it. I might have approached it differently if it was me."
She crossed her arms and stared at him, anger starting to prickle on the skin at the back of her neck.
"Well, see here where the boy is planning to plant these grape sticks of his, it floods same as our paddock and it's too bloody steep to make working it easy for them. Seems to me it's a lot of money he is outlaying to lose in one decent flood."
"So what. How is that my fault exactly?"
"I didn't say it was your fault. I think you could have come to some sort of agreement with him."
"It just so happens I was going to see him after work and offer to lease the land if he wants it. Not as though I'm under any obligation to do it. Somehow I don't see how he deserves it after using me like he did."
Tibby glanced at her and picked a stalk of dry grass to put between his teeth. "What's stopping you going over now before he starts putting in the posts? Save him some work."
"Did you not hear the last bit I said?"
"Sure did and you're pissed about it, fair enough too but this is business. Don't go getting that and heart stuff mixed up. Never works out from what I hear."
"And you would know all about that I suppose?" Her blood was boiling and Tibby was going to get an earful if he didn't stop.
"What the heck was that?" Tibby turned to the direction Mason was driving on his tractor. A low drone was filling the air. He took off as fast as his arthritic body would let him.
"What is it?" Sami was hot on his heels.
"Tractor rollover."
A cold wave of dread rushed over Sami. Pushing through the fence she ran to the crest of the hill and looked down. The tractor was on its side, the wheels spinning madly. She looked for Mason and saw him on his back with fence posts pinning him down.
Skidding and running, Sami got down the hill and ran to Mason's side. His face was twisted in agony and he was moaning loudly. She crouched down and touched his arm looking down the length of his body to see what damage had been done.
Tibby hurried over as fast as he could and killed the engine on the tractor before leaning down beside Mason. He looked up at Sami, fear showing on his old lined face. They both looked at the way Mason's legs were twisted under two heavy posts.
"We need help. I don't want to risk moving those logs myself."
Sami ran her hands over Mason's chest and found his pocket. With shaking hands she took out his phone and hit the keys. With one hand on gripping Mason's arm she waited for emergency services to answer. In a clear voice she relayed the situation and waited for instructions.
"They are sending the rescue chopper." She looked through the contacts on the phone and made another call. "James, Sami. Listen up, we are down the back paddock flats and there has been an accident, a tractor roll over. We need help to lift the heavy logs off of Mason. He's trapped. Right." She dropped the phone and breathed
