Barney: Part 3

By ANTHONY HOLCROFT

"It's only right to protect my brother," said Marsden.

"And I want your promise in writing, But when he dies, or goes away, then you can do what you like with it, Mr Tozer."

That was ten years ago; and Barney was still going strong, even though he couldn't be a day less than eighty. Once a month, in winter and summer, the old man wheeled his barrow a kilometre to the store; and then he wheeled it back again, heavy with supplies.

"I'm not a betting woman," said Alice Tozer, "but if Barney doesn't outlive the lot of us, I'll eat my hat."

Now it was the autumn and Pete had come to stay on the farm while his parents were overseas. Peter was a "loner", or that was the way Alan put it; a solitary sort of boy who enjoyed going off on his own to explore rather than riding on tractors or harvesters. Pete knew the farm itself fairly well, but he'd never really thought about the forest that lay beyond. Now, more than anything, he wanted to see that mysterious Barney.

Publisher: Shortland Publications

Price: $7.85

Age group: 9 years plus

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