Hughie MacLachlan has little to smile about these days but this morning brought him up to the pigs' field in unusual good humour, which was compounded when he managed to lure Betsy away from Bobby and into the trailer before the Diary could get into position to record the moment.
Yes, you've guessed - Betsy looks, at last, as if she is about to produce her litter, so she was on her way to the maternity unit in Hughie's barn for the happy event.
What none of those gathering around the field expected was the reaction from Bobby. While Hughie went down the field to pour the boar's breakfast into the trough, he stood, his head hanging down, staring at the trailer.
There were moments when emotion seemed to overcome him altogether. He dribbled, the pig equivalent of shedding tears, he turned away, he walked - or, rather squelched - around in a circle and came back to stare at the trailer. It was all very upsetting.
As the trailer pulled away, Bobby gave it one last, despairing look before he finally wandered down the field to have his breakfast.
Someone needs to explain to Hughie that, these days, fathers are encouraged to be present at the birth, not left in a muddy, rain-soaked field wondering what's happened to their loved one.
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