Page 59 of Sunrise over Strawberry Hill Farm

‘I see.’

Nico didn’t press the lad, merely waiting to see if he opened up to him. To his surprise, and pleasure, Tyson spoke again.

‘My younger brother’s ill, so Mum has to give him a lot of attention.’

‘And your dad?’ asked Nico.

‘Dunno where he is,’ replied Tyson.

‘Mine’s the same,’ said Nico.

Tyson looked at him in surprise. ‘Seriously?’

‘Oh yeah,’ said Nico. ‘He’s actually a famous footballer but completely hopeless at being a dad. Trouble was, my mum didn’t want to know either.’

Tyson frowned. ‘So who looked after you?’ he asked.

‘My grandparents.’

Tyson nodded. ‘You were lucky then, if you had two people taking care of you. Mum has to work two jobs to pay the bills, so I have to do everything else.’

‘Like what?’ asked Nico, interested to learn more.

‘Shopping, cooking, cleaning.’

Nico thought that it sounded quite a lonely life without much time to play at being a teenager.

‘I don’t mind, though,’ he went on. ‘When Kevin goes into hospital, it’s worrying because you don’t know what will happen. So Mum gets stressed and I like to make sure everything’s okay at home.’

‘Well, good on you,’ said Nico, feeling impressed. ‘I’m sure your mum is very grateful.’

It was a lesson not to misjudge other people’s appearances, he thought. On first impression, Tyson had appeared to be a sulky teenager. But that was far from the truth given the responsibilities that he was given.

It was also a reminder of how grateful Nico was for his own upbringing. Without steady and loving parents, his grandparents had instead provided support love and a home without the additional burdens that Tyson needed to carry by himself.

‘I like it here, though,’ said Tyson, looking around. ‘You’ve got loads of different stuff, like your car and motorbike. I’d love a go on that tractor.’

‘You’ve always liked engineering and machines?’ asked Nico.

Tyson nodded enthusiastically. ‘Yeah,’ he said, his eyes gleaming. ‘When I work on an engine, it’s like I can forget about what’s going on at home. I feel better, not so stressed.’

Nico’s heart cried out to the teenager and he found himself wanting to help him.

‘Well, you’d be doing me a huge favour by trying to get the motorbike going,’ he said. ‘So any time you want to work on it, it’s all yours.’

‘Cheers.’ Tyson suddenly stood up. ‘I’ve gotta get back.’

He quickly swung his leg over the bicycle and rode off without looking back.

Nico recognised all the signs. How isolated the boy must feel. The sense of chaos that an absent parent could cause. The responsibility to make sure everything else ran smoothly.

Helping the lad on his own journey, giving back and feeling like he could make a difference, Nico felt a little lighter as he walked away from the barn.

35

Flora woke up after a really good night’s sleep and stretched out lazily in her bed.

She sighed happily as she listened to the sound of heavy rain against the window. As a farmer, she both loved and feared hearing the rain. Too much flooded everything. Too little and nothing grew.