Babbiloora Brumbies

The 2 hour and 10 minutes Maths Lesson

I tap my pencil impatiently on the table, watching the clock intensely, counting down the minutes and wishing my glare would speed up the seconds. A cool breeze hits my face and

I exhale, relaxing my gaze at the clock and looking at the rotating fan in the centre of the kitchen. Sometimes, in the heat of midday when it's well over 40 degrees Celsius, that fan saves my life.

Unless I'm unlucky enough to find myself chasing a young cow around the outback that I tried and failed to rope, or out mustering a large herd all day.

Beyond the fan, I look out of the open window to see the first group of stock men returning with their group of young cattle, ready for inspection of the owners of the station later that day. If they passed the inspection, then the cattle could be transported away to another holding farm, and me, my family and the workers would receive a few extra dollars on their pay check.

Maybe we could buy some fresh food - it had been a while - and I did crave some fresh fruit, even if it was half rotten by the time it got here. Steak did get boring for lunch and dinner, day after day.

The stock men were moving the cattle to a nearby holding pen. Behind that was a long, tarmac landing strip, where the owners of the cattle stations in the area flew in for a visit in their "fancy planes" to inspect the cattle now and then. Huh. As if those office workers that got sent to "inspect" knew anything about cattle. But now and then, the big boss would stop by for a surprise visit. And then everybody had to be on their best behaviour.

Next to the landing strip was a long, tin-roofed shed where supplies were kept. On the roof, in big, clear writing was BABBILOORA. It said this so the plane pilots knew which cattle station they were at. It's easy to get lost out here in the outback. No-man's land. Miles and miles from anywhere and anything and anyone else.

Behind the shed was the stock horse paddock. A sharp neigh pierced through the dry air, and a fiery red horse paced the fence line. Inferno, my horse. I'll be there soon boy... I thought impatiently, glaring at the clock again. I so badly wanted to be out there, helping to work the cattle with Inferno and the others...

"Amy...Hello? Amy....Amy...AMY!!!" A voice thundered.

I blinked out of my daydreaming, momentarily dazed as I dragged myself back to the farm house, back to the kitchen table and back to the annoying voice on the radio.

"Yes...uh...sorry Mr Wilson, I was..." I stammered.

"Yes, you were daydreaming - again. Now, what is the answer to those simultaneous equations, and remember, to one decimal point!" Mr Wilson ordered.

I looked urgently at the page of scribbled maths problems in front of me, but my mind was blank. It was like I had completely forgotten how to understand the muddled numbers before me. Mr Wilson's annoyed sighs crackled through the old speakers on the radio, which weren't helping at all. I bit my lips in anger. Why should I sit here, doing pointless sums when I could be out there with my horse, working the cattle?

"Amy, I'm waiting!" Mr Wilson persisted to be the most annoying person on the whole earth. It's a good thing he's only a speaker, I thought, or I would have broken his stupid stuck up nose by now! I glanced at the clock again, and smiled when I saw that it was ten minutes over the 2 hour lesson I was meant to have! No way was I doing maths overtime! In one swift movement, I had jumped from the chair, slid it under the table and switched off the radio. I laughed as I heard Mr Wilson's annoyed voice crackle to a stop, chanting "Hello, Amy?! Hello?!" It kind of sounded like an annoyed Dalek!

I sped over to the doorway and grabbed my nice, new cowboy hat. A present for my seventeenth birthday, I would never leave the house without it. I tucked my long, dark brown hair under the hat and pressed it firmly on my head, before running to the paddock to get my crazy horse.

As I approached Inferno, I was sure that these Friday afternoon maths lessons made him almost as crazy as I was! He was restless, waiting anxiously for me by the wooden gate. His mane and tail shone like fiery red flames, and his eyes were full of life. I hurdled the wooden gate, threw on his saddle and bridle and vaulted onto his back. He paced around, waiting for me to open the gate to free him, but I had other ideas. I hauled him around to run at the opposite fence of the paddock, and he quickly understood her idea. I knew my dad wouldn't like me training Inferno to jump over the fence of the paddock, but I would deal with that later. Meanwhile, Inferno was galloping as fast as the red fireball that he is, his eager eyes fixed on the fence. He charged through the herd of other stock horses, all bays and dark browns. He was the brightest of them all. I clutched onto his fiery red mane, urging him even faster. He approached the fence, and lifted his head to size it up.

Then, in three big strides he cleared it effortlessly, flicking his heels up like those proper show jumpers that I watched on the telly. I swore that in another life, he must have been one of the star horses at the competitions, jumping higher than all the rest.

Inferno landed precisely and slowed to a walk, and I stroked his red neck. "Good boy," I whispered, but I could tell that he wanted to run more, and so did I, after that 2 hour and ten minutes maths lesson. Maybe I could help out with the cattle later, and maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't miss me if I went for a quick ride. It was a rare thing, going for a ride for fun and not having to work. And I deserved it. So did Inferno, for waiting patiently. Well, maybe not that patiently...

Nevertheless, I turned Inferno away from the buildings of Babbiloora and headed out into the wilderness. The flat ground was endless, and the afternoon air was cooler now. We headed towards the far mountain range, and Inferno picked up the pace. My dark hair flew out behind me and I inhaled the fresh air, glad to get away. We disappeared into the distance, a red blur on the never ending horizon of the Australian Outback.