Selling the Herd

Text 1: Brackley Mart, by Morwenna Tregarthen

An original novel extract.

The ring at Brackley mart was the same as it had always been: sawdust, diesel, the smell of frightened cattle, and the auctioneer’s voice running on above it all like water over stones. Owen had stood at that rail every October since he was nine. He had never stood on this side of it.

His cows came in two at a time. He knew them by their faces, not their numbers. Bramble, who kicked. Old Meg, who had calved eleven times. The young red heifer that had cost him three nights of sleep in March. They turned in the ring, blinking at the lights, and the buyers leaned on the rail and lifted a finger, or a pen, or nothing at all.

‘Sold,’ said the auctioneer. ‘Sold. Sold.’ The word fell like a gate swinging shut. Owen kept his hands flat on the rail so that nobody would see them. His neighbour Tom touched his shoulder and said something kind, and Owen nodded as though he had heard it. By half past twelve it was over. Outside, the empty trailer rattled behind the Land Rover all the way home, louder than it had ever sounded full.

How does Morwenna Tregarthen use language and structure to show Owen’s sense of loss at the auction?

You should use relevant subject terminology to support your answer.