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I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck! This stuff is exhausting. I spent last night trying so hard to think of how to say everything, and I still stuffed it up today. I made it sound like everything Mum and Dad had done was a failure.’
    Malcolm was silent.
    Amanda propped her head onto her fists and asked, ‘So where does that leave us?’
    ‘It means we can go ahead and get the papers drawn up for you to access finance. I’ll get Brian to sign some papers agreeing to this deal – if you want it. Do you?’
    Amanda shook her head, trying to take everything in.‘I can’t get Kyleena up and running in three months. It’s absurd to even think I can make a difference in that time. I can start with the easy-fix things first, like getting rid of the lice and tidying up the sheep, but I can’t turn around the finances or make a profit in that time. Of course I’ll take the deal, though. I’ll have to rethink England. I was already in two minds about it anyway.’
    ‘Well I’ve explained the stringent conditions of the finance, haven’t I? You won’t have a lot of room to move in the beginning. We want a stock mortgage, which will mean with every animal you sell the money comes straight to the bank, and we want a crop lien if you put in a crop. We’ll have a monthly meeting to assess the budget that we have approved.
    ‘And I have to warn you, Amanda, you can’t stray too far from the financial plan that we have agreed on. Head office can easily withdraw the offer of finance. I’ve had to really push for them to agree to this – and I have pushed, because your plan is workable, but you are going to have to prove that you can do this and get the runs on the board. Do you understand all of that?’
    ‘Yeah, I do.’
    Despite her relief at the chance to save Kyleena she felt stricken by her father’s outburst and sad that he didn’t want to be a part of turning it around. And what she was undertaking was a huge risk and she wondered if she’d be able to pull it off.
    Malcolm’s face softened. ‘If you get into trouble with money and you need more, or you want to do something that will make an improvement or help make money later, come and see me. I’ll help you as much as I can. The farming industry needs young people like you – you’ll go far, Amanda, if you work smart now.’
    Amanda listened intently, feeling that he was trying to tell her something else, but she was too tired and emotional to understand what.
    ‘Thank you for your help and your belief in me, Malcolm. I won’t let you down.’ She stood up, suddenly yearning for the wide open spaces of home. ‘When will I have to sign the papers?’
    ‘I’ll call head office now, so in about a week’s time, I’d imagine. I’ll ring you and come out to Kyleena with them.’
    They walked together down the corridor, then Amanda shook Malcolm’s hand, thanked him and stepped out into the street.
    A short time later, Amanda sat in a car park on the seafront, watching the cold front blowing the dark clouds across the sky and the wind whip the sea into a frenzy of whitecaps. The misty rain fell gently, hiding the islands in the Recherche Archipelago, and a lone gull strutted along the beach, its feathers lifted in the wind.
    It had happened. Kyleena was hers. But she didn’t feel the satisfaction that she thought she would. If her dad had passed it over willingly, she was sure she’d feel differently. He’d only done it because he was angry, hurt and didn’t have the strength to farm anymore, not because he thought she could manage Kyleena well. And that made for a hollow victory.
    How could she make her dad see that she wanted his approval? That she wanted for them to work together? She wanted to get along with him, have conversations about farming, and enjoy sorting out sheep and cattle together. But it was pretty obvious that wouldn’t be happening.
    Beside her on the front seat was the Kyleena production plan, or the KPP as she was calling