THE PEOPLE WHO PUT THEIR HAND UP
The meeting that started without them
By Sam Marwood
Part 11 of 12
The couple got to the hall early to put the chairs out, and the chairs were already out.
The urn was on and the doors were open. Inside, the relief milker was up the front, and the room was already well into it. The farmer a few roads over sat in the front row with his arms folded, grinning.
They stood in the doorway with the tea towels and listened.
The farmer on the far side was on his feet. A place out past the river was coming up, he said. One of the relief milker's mates said he'd go out past the river that week. A young woman by the window said she'd start her own list that night.
In the doorway, she caught his eye and smiled. He grinned back.
They put the tea towels on the side bench and took two chairs along the back wall. The hardware store owner gave them a nod.
The talk moved on to the next family's first spring. The relief milker kept it moving, and kept it short.
Halfway through, they slipped out. The hall lights were still on as they drove home.
"Did you want to say something?" he asked.
"I said it all the night we stood up here," she said.
They'd be in the dairy before light.
This is an illustration. The district and its people are made up.
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