Macintyre Farm

One

SEBASTIAN POV

My old pickup truck was expensive to fill with gas but I finally had a potential job.  It took driving for a week before I found a small town where the local feed store let me know one of the farms needed some help.  I was able to stop at various places along the way to make a fun vacation out of my road trip, but had hope this would be the right place to stay for a while.

My parents have always been kind and are supportive but I was the black sheep in a lot of ways.  Tennessee was a great choice for a fresh start.  At least this way I got cooler weather and a change of pace.

Restless, always yearning for something different.  I've been this way my whole life.

The 3 ranches I worked in Texas focused on raising cattle.  After a few years it got to be too much so I would move on then experience the same issues again and again.  I hated seeing how some of the ranch hands treated the animals and hoped to find a place where the focus was crops and not raising animals unless they were given happy lives.

When I was a teenager I helped some family friends at their dairy farm in Wisconsin so it seemed like a natural transition to herd cattle on horseback all day. Now, though... it was time to focus on the labor needed for running a farm, as well.  I heard Raven's Pass had a lot of good sized farms so it should be a good place to check now.  All these years taught me I need to work in a place where the animals are raised ethically so there was a good chance this would be a great home.

I saw a white sign stating, "Macintyre Farm," and turned down the dirt road so I could make my way to a large yellow farmhouse in the distance.

This was the kind of place I needed to be.

Based on what I was told at the local feed store, the farmer had a nice bunk house for his workers and paid better than most places in the area.  Room and board were included, too, with 3 big meals a day as well as snacks available at all times.  Another farmer was at the store and  said the Macintyre's were a good family who were well respected by everyone in the area because of their generosity as well as how kind they were to their animals.  Mentioned they have rescued abandoned or abused horses as well as other livestock which made me even more confident this would be perfect.

The cashier called ahead and confirmed I could meet Austin Macintyre if I headed over now plus grab supper whether or not I took the job.  I had eaten way too much fast food since leaving Clarksville, Texas.  While I loved my truck, it made me uneasy to be on the road so long.  Maybe it had only been a week but that felt like a long time to go without being around animals and feeling the breeze while I rode a horse through a field.

This is what I was made for.  Hard work, big payoff with the satisfaction of seeing an untrained horse trust you or baby animals come into the world.  Maybe starting my own place would work in the future but I would much rather continue working different farms until I found somewhere that feels more like home.

There were a couple of trucks parked alongside the house with a set of comfortable looking chairs on the large wraparound porch. I had to smile as I saw a well tended vegetable garden to one side while a huge red barn was off in the distance.  Vines with perfect looking heirloom tomatoes were ripe, as well as beans and cucumber from what I could see so far.

Even the smell was incredible. Fresh, warm, a hint of straw then the country air.

Once I parked a man about my age came outside and smiled, "Hey, there. You must be the guy looking for a job." His auburn hair was cropped short and he had sunglasses on but seemed like a nice guy in how he handled himself.

I extended my hand and nodded, "Sebastian Miller, but you can call me Bash. Was working at a ranch in Texas until about a week ago when I decided I was ready for a change of pace. Ended up here so figured I'd take the chance."