Fields

Part 3

"Damn you! Look at what you made me do! I should just leave you here to rot... You and your damned brother." The herder starts pulling him off the ground with a surprising amount of strength, the young man notices, muttering curses along the way.

He takes him inside; the dogs trailing behind. He drops him on a chair in the kitchen. He can see everything is very tidy and clean.

"Why can't you two just leave me alone? Don't you have enough land? I am old I will die pretty soon you just have to wait a little bit more." This makes the young man wince, not from the pain but from the words.

The young man does not always agree with his older brother. He should have never agreed to do this, it's too much. The old man cleans his bigger wounds and ties them with some bandages as best as he can.

"Thank you. I'm sorry we've been doing this to you. It will stop I promise. I'll talk to my brother." The young man says.

"Doesn't matter now, boy. My bull is dead, I can't afford another one and keep my herd healthy. I'll sell to you. Go now." The herder looks, and sounds defeated.

"I'll make this right... Somehow, I'll make this right." He turns away from the old man, determination in his voice and in his steps.

It's early morning by the time the young man leaves, and he notices the tombstones in the herder's backyard, his family. "Beloved parents", "Beloved wife and mother", "Beloved son", "Beloved grandsons". All his family is dead, his son and grandsons died in a car crash, he had heard the rumours. With a guilt filled heart he feels tears welling up in his eyes. He leaves to make things right.

The young man decides to return with a prized bull on his trailer, a peace offering, but all he finds is the herder dead alongside his cows that keep pasturing, dogs by his side. Heart attack the doctor said, but the young man feels as if he had killed the herder himself, nonetheless. So, he buys the herder's land on his own, to keep it away from his brother. He buries the old man in the backyard alongside his family and moves to the city, taking only his scars with him.