The Secret Dog by Joe Friedman

Author:Joe Friedman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780857908483
Publisher: Birlinn

Chapter 17

Josh and Calum carried the roll of fencing between them. The dew in the pasture glistened in the early morning sun. His uncle liked to start errands early on a Saturday, which suited Josh, as it meant he was free in the afternoon.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a full roll. Those weighed a ton.

They walked in silence, dressed in their work clothes: loose jeans and flannel shirts. Calum wore a worn grey rucksack, full of tools, U nails, a staple gun and other items they might need.

‘Josh, I’ll be out Thursday night at the Crofters’ Association meeting,’ said Calum. ‘And Saturday a couple of my old friends from the SFU – the Farmers’ Union – will be coming over for a drink and some dinner.’

‘No problem,’ Josh said. That meant he could spend more time with Reggae on Thursday, and maybe see Yvonne on the Saturday.

They walked on in silence. Then Calum began again.

‘I was thinking about the other day. When you found our sheep on the commons. How did you manage to gather two lambs and two ewes and bring them back on your own?’

Josh stumbled. He’d deliberately been vague about the number of sheep that he’d found. How had Calum figured it out?

Then Josh knew – by the state of their fleece and the wounds that Dunham’s dogs had inflicted. Calum must’ve inspected the whole flock. As Calum well knew, it was almost impossible to gather four sheep on your own. Even two was a stretch without a dog.

‘Normally, it would have been hopeless,’ Josh said. ‘But just by chance I had a couple of long ropes in my rucksack.’

Josh was happy to leave it at that. But Calum wasn’t.

‘I still don’t get how you managed to get them together.’

Josh’s mind spun like a hamster on a wheel, rejecting one possible explanation after another.

‘They weren’t that far away. You know the gorge with the wooden fence around it, on the way to Alastair’s house?’

After a moment Calum replied, ‘Yes. Watch this hole here.’

They manoeuvred the roll of wire around the erosion hole.

‘Well, they were grazing against the fence. I had some Polo mints in my pocket. From lunch. I sometimes give them to the sheep as a treat.’

‘You lured them using mints?’ Calum didn’t sound at all convinced.

‘The two ewes had tasted them before. They knew it was a treat. I got hold of the lambs when they came to get milk. It took a while.’

‘I’ll bet it did!’ Calum exclaimed.

‘It was one of those times a mobile would have been handy,’ Josh said quietly. ‘Or a dog.’

Calum ignored the comment about the phone. ‘A working dog would be handy . . . This way.’

Josh wondered what Calum meant. Did he suspect something?

They reached the fence and got to work. Josh stood by one post holding the tape measure as Calum walked to the next one. They needed to replace the whole length.

A few months ago on his way home from school, Josh had seen one of the islanders repair a fence by weaving new fencing into the broken strands.

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