“Put your back into it boy and make an effort,” James Addison yelled.
Tom grimaced at the irritating sound of his father’s voice as he stuck the pitchfork in the dirty straw on the floor of the stable and lifted it up to throw it out of the stall. Cleaning them wasn’t particularly a job he enjoyed doing at any time if he was honest, but on this day he hated it more than ever.
“I am putting my back into it,” he protested when he stopped to wipe the sweat from his forehead. “I just thought today of all days you might give me a chance to go in to town.”
“To do what?” James went on.
Tom shook his head in frustration. He knew his father was a good man at heart, but the older man’s insensitive nature infuriated him on occasions. As far as James Addison was concerned the farm came first above
