Side Dish

Chapter Three

Tor only had time for a few moments' rest before a swarm of younger dwin gathered around him, fussing and preening him as they dragged him towards the central circle.

"Tor, I'm so jealous!" El, a bull with just the faintest hint of hair on his upper lip, whined.

"My Gate Day is so far away!" Petra, a cow only a few weeks out of the calving barn, pulled Tor towards the circle with all her tiny might.

Tor pretended to resist their youthful exuberance, but couldn't help getting swept up by their infectious energy. It hadn't been that long ago he was the dwindling buzzing around the ankles of the lucky Gate Day greenhorns.

Now it was Tor's turn to be celebrated. His time to be missed, to wonder what lay beyond the gate, and to see what actually went on up there without having to guess any more.

Tor had been waiting his whole life for this evening. The kids dragged him over the hay bales piled around the circle and made him sit down. The spiky ends of the dried hay poked the back of his legs, but he hardly noticed. Two more bulls and a cow settled in around him in the circle.

"Hi, Tor!"

"Tor!"

The cow squeezed Tor's hand. "Happy Gate Day, Tor."

Tor couldn't remember a time he hadn't known this cow. They left the calving barn on the same day. Her fingers wrapped around his hand sent a tingle down his spine.

"Hi Merryn," Tor said. "I hope you have a good Gate Day tomorrow!"

"Thanks, Tor!" Merryn said.

Merryn held Tor's gaze for a few breaths, and a lifetime of unlived memories flooded his mind. Would they see each other ever again after Gate Day? He didn't know what would happen after the ceremony, where he would go, or what lay beyond the gate. The only certainty he had was his life would never be the same.

"I'm nervous." Her hands trembled–or was that him shuddering?

"Me too." Tor hadn't even admitted it to himself. "I'm scared."

"Of what?" Merryn leaned closer. She still had food pellets in her hair.

"Every day is the same," Tor said. "Now it won't be."

"It'll be okay, Tor." Merryn kissed his cheek. A jolt of electricity shot from the top of Tor's head to the tips of his toes.

Before Tor could say anything else, a younger bull, Kal, hopped to the centre of the circle and cleared her throat. The paddock fell silent, all eyes were on the bull.

"Hello." Kal had a slow, powerful voice. He would probably take Tor's place at the mill. "Tomorrow is Gate Day for Merryn, Ben, Stonks, and Tor. Have a good Gate Day."

Gate Day Eve speeches were never more than that. They didn't need to be. Tor loved hearing it spoken with his name in it for the first and last time in his life. He hadn't noticed how simple the speech was until he'd started reading with Corvus.

The other greenhorns jumped to their feet and shared a hug. Tor watched them, thinking about everything that had led up to this moment – every conversation, day of work, shared look with Merryn. As the party got rolling, Tor slowly backed away, ducking around a corner to keep the reading date with Corvus.

Corvus' stall was in the back of the paddock, tucked behind the fledgling stalls so she could keep an eye on them as they got used to life out of the calving bay.

He poked his head around the stall wall. Corvus had her head buried in a book her eyes racing back and forth across the page. Tor wondered if he'd ever read that well.