The Secret Dog (6 page)

It had taken ten days to teach Reggae everything he could in the pen. It had been a real struggle rebuilding it over the winter. But it had been worth it to give Reggae a good first experience of working with sheep.

The fencing of the pen was like a safety net for a trapeze artist. Now they’d have to do without it. Many young dogs found working with sheep in the open just too exciting. They raced around, scaring ewes and lambs. If he and Reggae didn’t work well together, the sheep would run away or even worse, hurt themselves on the uneven ground of the commons. If a single lamb was hurt, he, and more importantly, Reggae, would be in serious trouble.

But there was no help for it. The Gathering was less than two months away. Usually it took more than a year of working a dog to prepare for it. They had no time to waste.

* * *

As they came over the hill, Josh saw that there was a group of eight sheep grazing near the bottom of the valley. Perfect.

‘Stop,’ Josh said firmly. Reggae stopped, though her eyes were focused on the sheep below. Josh attached a long lead, which would trail after Reggae as she ran. Josh knew sheep are much more relaxed about a dog on a lead than one running free.

Josh led Reggae down the hill.

‘Heel.’

He walked closer to the sheep. Then, about ten metres away, he stopped. Still looking towards the sheep, he commanded, ‘Away.’

He’d taught Reggae this command in the pen. Would she remember what it meant?

Reggae started off to her right, then circled behind the sheep. She was keeping a good distance, Josh observed. The sheep weren’t spooked. Josh moved to his left, keeping the same distance from the sheep. Reggae moved so that she was opposite him.

The biggest ewe suddenly noticed Reggae. She started to move towards her. Reggae retreated and barked once. But the big sheep kept going, picking up speed as she went. Reggae went low and growled loudly. But the ewe didn’t stop. The rest of the group was following. Oh no! Why did they have to get such an aggressive sheep on their first run? Reggae would be trampled if she wasn’t careful!

Reggae backed off again and barked several times. But the big ewe wasn’t going to stop for this noisy small dog. Reggae’s ears and tail went up. Josh knew that meant she was about to do something. But what?

She leapt into the air and towards the fast-approaching ewe. And then, in mid-air, Reggae twisted her body and fastened her mouth onto the sheep’s nose. Josh held his breath.
What
was she doing?

The ewe shook the dog from side to side. But Reggae wouldn’t let go. The big ewe stopped. Immediately, Reggae released her grip and backed off about five metres. She just stood there with her eyes fixed on the ewe. Josh realised that she had only held on a couple of seconds, even though it had
seemed
like much longer.

The now wary ewe stood too, her flock behind her. Clearly she had underestimated this dog. But Reggae wasn’t barking or being aggressive. Indeed, she just stood there, eyes alert. Josh saw the ewe’s posture change, from challenging to calm. Reggae stayed alert, and her eyes glanced sideways.

Josh could hardly believe what he’d just witnessed. Reggae had known exactly what she needed to do to turn the threatening situation around!

‘Come by,’ he commanded.

Reggae took a small step to her left. The big ewe took note, then began to turn. Her flock followed. Josh circled to his left so his dog was directly opposite.

Reggae crept forward. One of the lambs started to dance away from her mother. Reggae immediately moved a few steps to the lamb’s right, to stop her from getting away. Josh’s heart swelled with pride. He clicked approvingly. He’d heard men talk about natural dogs but he’d never seen one before.

Reggae took a step forward. The big ewe lifted her head. Keeping low, Reggae crept forward again.

‘Away.’

Reggae crept to her right, and then forward again, her ears flat against her head. When a skittish lamb started to leave the flock, she quickly moved to her left and the big ewe and her group of sheep moved towards Josh.

This was the crucial time. Once the group started moving, any one of them could head off in another direction. Josh and Reggae had to keep them together. Another ewe started off to the left. Reggae immediately backed up and circled to her left, still crouching, ready for action. The ewe rejoined the group.

Together, they manoeuvred the group towards Josh. When they were just a metre away, Josh said, ‘That’ll do.’ He walked backwards. Reggae retreated too.

The group of sheep relaxed and started to graze.

‘Come,’ Josh ordered. He stroked Reggae’s cheek. Reggae closed her eyes with pleasure. Then she rolled
onto the ground and Josh rubbed her tummy. ‘That was brilliant. You’re brilliant!’

They repeated the process once more. This time, it went more smoothly. From the books Josh had read, he knew he mustn’t work her too long this early in her training. Anyway, he had chores to do at home.

‘Kennel,’ he said. Reggae just sat there, avoiding Josh’s eyes and staring in the direction of the sheep. She wanted to keep working. Josh didn’t repeat himself; he knew that would just teach Reggae it was okay not to obey the first time he gave a command. He simply got up and started to jog towards home. Reggae followed immediately.

* * *

As Reggae noisily consumed her dinner that evening, Josh said, ‘I have to admit that when I saw you bite that ewe’s nose, I thought you’d lost it. But it was exactly the right thing! And you released her as soon as she got the message. I guess if you’re a wee dog you’ve got to have ways to make the sheep listen.’

Reggae was finished and came over for a stroke. Josh bent over and blew into her ear. Reggae licked his face. ‘That big ewe could’ve trampled you.’

Suddenly, Josh recalled his mother singing. ‘The harder they come, the harder they fall
 . . .
’ Her lilting, slightly out-of-tune voice came back to him. He couldn’t remember who sang the song. He looked at
Reggae, surprised. Once again, she’d brought back memories of his mum.

Josh embraced the black and white dog. It was starting to get dark beyond the shed door.

It was then that he remembered the envelope in his rucksack. The one containing his school report. It was sealed and he hadn’t bothered opening it. He knew what was inside. Bad news. His uncle wouldn’t be happy.

‘I’ve got to go,’ he said. ‘I’ll be back later, to say goodnight.’

Under his breath, Josh added, ‘I hope.’

Chapter 10

Josh scrubbed the carrots in the sink with the worn bristle brush. They were uneven and gnarled. He didn’t know how they got the ones in the Co-op in the town so straight. One out of ten from their garden looked like that. Surely they didn’t throw the rest away
 . . .

Without thinking, he whistled. After a moment he recognised the tune. It was ‘The Harder They Come’. He smiled to himself.

He started chopping the now (relatively) clean carrots. His uncle came into the kitchen, wearing a clean shirt and trousers, his hair still wet from a freezing cold shower. His uncle thought these showers helped you avoid colds. He was a pretty good advertisement for this theory. He’d only been ill once in the five years Josh had known him.

‘What’s left to do?’ Calum asked.

‘We just need to clean and steam the broccoli,’ Josh replied. ‘I’ll cook the lamb steaks.’

Calum nodded, went to the vegetable larder and pulled out a large head of broccoli. It did well on the island, so they ate quite a lot of it. Fortunately, Josh had grown to like it.

‘Broccoli’s very good for you,’ his uncle remarked as he put it under the cold tap to clean it.

‘Really?’ Josh replied. His uncle told him this almost every time they ate it, roughly a hundred times a year
 . . . 
He moved to the Aga, pulled down a frying pan, and added some oil to it. As it warmed, he went to the meat fridge and pulled out some lamb steaks.

The steaks, broccoli and carrots were ready more or less at the same time. Josh took out a couple of large plates from one of the dark cupboards, and put a steak on each. Calum added the vegetables, while Josh removed a couple of baked potatoes from inside the Aga’s oven. A feast. Calum liked having a special meal on Friday night.

But Josh had a feeling he wasn’t going to enjoy it much.

* * *

They sat at the small round dining table in silence as usual. The envelope seemed be growing in the rear pocket of Josh’s jeans. He’d fluffed the chance to give it to his uncle before his shower.

Now he had to wait until the meal was finished. And his uncle would be angry not only about what was in the report but also the delay in giving it to him. But as the fresh butter from his cousin’s farm melted onto the floury Maris Piper he’d collected earlier from the potato store in the cellar, the smell of the food and his hunger helped him put the envelope out of his mind.

As he watched his uncle mopping up the remaining
gravy on his now empty plate Josh knew he couldn’t put it off any longer. He pulled the now heavily crumpled envelope from his back pocket and handed it to his uncle. His hand shook. As soon as his uncle took the envelope, Josh pulled his hand away and sat on it.

His uncle’s nose wrinkled at the sight of the scrunched-up envelope.

‘You should have taken better care of this. It’s from the school,’ he said, as he got up to search the sideboard for his reading glasses. When he found them, he went to his writing desk and found the paper knife he’d inherited from Josh’s grandfather. He came back to the kitchen table, sat down, and slit the envelope open. His big hands carefully took the paper from inside and unfolded it.

Josh had forced himself to keep breathing as his uncle searched for his glasses, then the paper knife. But now the moment of truth had come. His uncle took his time reading (and probably re-reading) the report. Then he got up, went to the writing desk and pulled out Josh’s last report. He brought it back to the table, and put them side by side. He took his time comparing the two.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he looked up at Josh. His eyes were full of disappointment. ‘Is something wrong at school?’

Josh shook his head.

His uncle looked at him steadily. ‘Your attendance has been good.’ Josh knew he must have searched for something positive to say. ‘But, your work in English, history and maths are still unsatisfactory. And your expected level of achievement has gone down, rather than up in the most important subjects.’

Josh knew all this. What he didn’t know, and was waiting to find out, was what his uncle proposed to do about this.

‘We’ve talked about this before,’ his uncle began. ‘If you don’t get better grades, you’ll never have any choices in life. I didn’t do well at school and when I was eighteen all I could do was work on my father’s croft.’

This didn’t seem so bad to Josh. He liked their life, though it was hard work at times.

‘You have to improve these grades,’ his uncle continued. ‘Which means you’ll have to spend less time on the commons. Until your grades improve, you’ll need to come home after school and study.’

Involuntarily, Josh drew in a deep breath. If he wasn’t allowed to go on the commons, he couldn’t complete Reggae’s training. And if he couldn’t complete her training he couldn’t participate in the Gathering and Reggae would have to stay secret another year!

He absolutely couldn’t let Calum continue in this line of thinking!

‘That won’t be necessary,’ Josh said, with a calmness he didn’t feel, ‘Yvonne, the vet’s daughter, has agreed to tutor me in maths and English.’

Josh’s uncle tilted his head. ‘Yvonne? I’ve heard she’s very clever.’

‘She’s the best in my classes,’ Josh agreed.

Suddenly, Uncle Calum became suspicious. ‘You haven’t mentioned Yvonne before
 . . .
’

‘She helped me rescue a bird a while ago,’ Josh replied. He searched frantically through his mind for what he knew about Yvonne’s schedule. ‘She can tutor me after school one day a week, and another I can go to her house before dinner.’