New Horizons

• Aliza Purvis, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2017

The wind blew as we drove down the dusty track to our new property. Prickly pears lined the rocky road. Our old rusty car rattled as though its engine was going to fall out. Dad took one of his hands off the steering wheel and pointed to a house, “There’s the new place Jack”.
“Wow dad, it’s amazing” I said in amazement. As we pulled up I raced to take a closer look. Mum and dad went out that night, but they never returned. A police officer arrived early the next morning to tell us the terrible news. I remember him standing in the doorway, I was just 14 years old and my little sister Lucy was 10. There was no one there to help us, I had never felt anything like this before, but Lucy and I were determined to finish what our parents had started, to work our land and make sure it wasn’t taken back by the bank. I knew I must continue our parent’s legacy.
I was a young boy, taking care of my sister and our farm. Luckily my father Charlie had been teaching me how to take care of the stock, mend fences and of course use my trusty Winchester rifle to hunt rabbits so we had food to eat. Lucy had been learning to cook, our mother Mary was an amazing cook and had passed her skills onto Lucy.
I would ride the boundary fence every day on my trusty horse Kelly, checking stock, water troughs, fences and making sure feral animals weren’t causing damage. One early Spring morning I got to witness a beautiful sight, my favourite ewe Snowflake was lambing. I stood and watched in awe as the new lamb began to stand on his wobbly legs. After about an hour I decided I would move them to the holding paddock near the house so I could keep an eye on them. It was around lunch time when I reached house, so decided I’d grab a quick sandwich and cup of tea before I headed out to finish off the day’s chores, nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. Lucy came running in screaming, “they’re stealing them!”. I raced outside to see several men with dogs loading our sheep onto a green truck, they had cut our fence to get to them. I stood their astonished. Lucy followed me to the paddock, but we were too late, our entire mob was gone. Lucy stood there sobbing, “what are we going to do Jack?” she finally asked. I wasn’t sure what to say, but as I looked back towards the house I saw Snowflake and her lamb, I looked at Lucy and said, “we start again”.