The chained gate

The paddock was in the middle of the farm, twelve acres of the best grass in the valley, fenced in old wire and hardwood posts. The gate was chained with three padlocks. The grass inside was knee-high and green in a dry year, and not one sheep had ever been in it.

Jess’s grandfather’s will ran to four pages. Three of them were about the house and the flock. The last page said only: The gate on the middle paddock stays shut. Mum knows why. Her mother had died in 2011.