FernFolio

On January 1, 2001, Becky Morley begins to record her thoughts in a new journal, the gift of her father, a Devon farmer. At thirteen, Becky is on the cusp of adolescence, impatient of her school teacher mother’s nagging, and proud that her father has decided she is old enough for three sheep of her own. Her first entries are full of the farm, of her dad’s twenty-five Gloucester cows and Hector, the bull, of the sows, whose names all begin with J, and their many offspring, of the prize-winning sheep, Suffolks and Cotswolds, of her own ewes, whom she has named Molly, Mary and May, of Bobs, the farm dog, and of her horse, Ruby. Becky writes with pride about the birth of her first lambs, and especially of the little ram, Little Josh, whom she must bottle feed, and who takes to following her everywhere.
Toward the end of February, Becky comes home from a rambling ride on Ruby to find her father and mother trying to absorb the worrying news that hoof and mouth disease has been found on a farm 300 miles to the north. All of the animals on that farm, more than a thousand in all, have been slaughtered to prevent the spread of the disease. During the weeks that follow, cases of hoof and mouth disease are discovered on farms closer and closer to the Morleys’ farm and, though her father has taken every precaution to ensure the safety of their animals, including barring access to the farm by anyone other than the immediate family and insisting that everyone dip their boots in disinfectant, anxiety becomes a constant companion to Becky and her parents.
When infected animals are found on the Bailey farm, next door, Becky recalls her rides on Ruby over Bailey land and fears she has unknowingly brought the disease onto their land. The animals are brought in from the fields, in the hope that they will be spared, and Bailey finds herself praying for the first time since she stopped attending Sunday School. She and her father take to checking their animals several times a day, looking for the telltale blisters around their mouths and feet. As the air around the Morleys’ farm grows dark with the smoke of the fires burning animal carcasses on nearby farms, Becky is sent to stay with her aunt and uncle in the town, and it is there that she receives the news that she and her family have been dreading.
Unable to stay away, Becky sneaks home in the night, bypassing the police road blocks that enforce the quarantine around the farm, and find her parents sitting numbly at the kitchen table. The following day, the vets and slaughters, the Angels of Death, come to the farm and kill all of the hoofed animals, the cows and sheep and pigs, and, in the process, pretty much break Becky’s farmer father’s heart. In the days and weeks that follow, Becky learns the full cost of pain and sorrow, and discovers that there are calamities worse, even, than “the worst”.
Based on Michael Morpurgo’s personal experiences during the 2001 outbreak of hoof and mouth disease in Britain, Out of the Ashes is a poignant tale of loss and pain and, eventually, of new beginnings. It reminds those of us who live in urban centres of the important work of farmers, and of their strong ties to the land and its creatures.
FernFolio Editor