Taking Selfies With a Sheep by Jaco Jacobs

Author:Jaco Jacobs
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Published: 2021-10-14T14:34:40+00:00

Chapter 14

It’s a Long Story, Jackson

Just outside the town, we turned in at a farm gate. The name sign next to the gate said Piece of Heaven.

The house was only a short distance from the road. A black-and-white sheep dog came running at us, barking and waving its tail as we approached. Delores peeped out of the window of the Land Rover, looking suspicious.

My grandmother stopped in front of the house and switched off the engine.

‘Er... maybe it’ll be better if Delores stays here for a moment,’ she said.

I nodded.

Was it my imagination, or was she suddenly acting a little strange? Well, stranger than usual, at least. As we got out, she looked in the side mirror of the Land Rover and tidied her hair. The excited dog was dancing around our feet.

We walked to the house, but before we got to the veranda, the door opened. An oldish, bald man in blue overalls appeared on the veranda. He looked at us with screwed – up eyes while wiping his hands on a cloth. A small diamond flashed in his one ear.

My grandmother cleared her throat.

‘Afternoon, Jackson,’ she said.

The man’s eyes widened. ‘Alice?’ he asked, his voice slightly cracking.

My grandmother walked up to him and gave him a tight hug. She whispered something to him, and then she took a step back with a broad smile.

‘This is my grandson, Luke,’ she said. ‘Luke, this is Jackson Davids.’

The brown hand the man extended to me was full of green and yellow paint spots, like his overalls.

‘Come inside!’ he invited. ‘Sorry, I was painting.’

My grandmother gave an embarrassed little cough. ‘Jackson... I hope you won’t mind, but I was wondering, could you put us up for the night?’

Okay, so my hunch was right. Mr Davids didn’t have a clue that we were coming to visit. Nor that we were planning to spend the night. And even less of a clue that on top of that we had brought a sheep along.

‘Of course!’ the old man said kindly, even though he looked perplexed. ‘I... you’re very welcome.’ He looked at the Land Rover and suddenly frowned. ‘Alice, my eyes aren’t what they used to be, but isn’t that a sheep that’s peeping out your vehicle’s window?’

My grandmother laughed.

‘It’s a long story, Jackson,’ she said. ‘The sheep’s name is Delores. And I’d be glad if she could maybe also sleep here tonight.’

He smiled and shook his head. ‘Still as unpredictable as ever.’

‘She’s not my sheep,’ said my grandmother. ‘She belongs to Luke.’

‘The goat pen is behind the house,’ the old man gestured. ‘She can stay there.’

He helped me to get Delores in the pen.

‘What a lovely Merino ewe you have,’ he said to me. He pointed at the field behind the house. ‘This is a small farm – only a couple of acres. I’m not really farming it – I only keep a couple of milk goats. They come home by dusk. Wait, I’ll get Delores some lucern from the barn.’

When Delores had been taken care of, I fetched our luggage from the Land Rover and carried everything inside.

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