Waffle Hearts by Maria Parr

Author:Maria Parr [Parr, Maria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781406346442
Publisher: Walker Books
Published: 2013-09-19T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Rounding up the sheep – and a helicopter ride

All summer, our sheep wander around up on the mountain doing whatever they like. But before winter comes, we have to head up there and bring them back down to the barn.

“That’s their holidays finally over too, the lucky cods,” Lena usually says. She thinks it’s unfair that sheep get longer summer holidays than people.

This time Lena and I were going to help! I almost couldn’t believe it when we were standing outside on the decking the next day. My whole family were there, minus Krølla. So were Lena and her mum, and Uncle Tor. Dad, wearing his rucksack and his cap, asked if everyone was ready. As we set off up the slopes, Lena and I were able to wave to Grandpa and Auntie Granny and Krølla, instead of standing down there waving up, as we had always done before. Although Lena had never waved up at anyone. She always sat with her back turned when the others went to round up the sheep, as sour as an unripe stalk of rhubarb.

It definitely wasn’t summer any more. The air was sharp and the trees above our heads hung heavy with dew as we passed Hillside Jon’s farm and entered the spruce forest. Lena and I were wearing our wellies, and we jumped in all the puddles we found along the path, like two rabbits.

“You should walk at a steady pace,” said Dad. “Otherwise you’ll just get tired.”

But how could we walk at a steady pace when we were that excited? Our feet ran by themselves!

We soon came out of the forest and up onto the mountain itself. It’s almost flat there and everything looks different.

“It’s because we’re closer to the sky,” said Lena’s mum, jumping from stone to stone with Lena and me. When we turned round, we saw our cove far, far below us. Now and then we spotted sheep. Sometimes they were ours, and sometimes they were other people’s. But we weren’t rounding them up today. First we were going to stay a night in the cabin.

Our cabin is really just a hut, without any electricity and without a toilet. But there’s space for lots of people if they sleep head to toe. I think it’s the best cabin in the world. It reminds me of Auntie Granny, because it seems so happy when we arrive. Soon there were mountain smells surrounding us on all sides. Mum and Uncle Tor were frying bacon on the gas stove inside, and outside Dad was making coffee on the bonfire.

Dad’s so happy when he’s up on the mountain. Then you can ask him about things that you wouldn’t normally dare to ask about, and he laughs almost the whole time.

“You can’t be angry up on the mountain,” he explained when I told him. “Do you know what I mean, Trille?”

I searched my feelings and nodded. Lena thought if that’s the way things were, then Dad should go up on the mountain much more often.

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