Angus and Sadie (20 page)

Authors: Cynthia Voigt

BOOK: Angus and Sadie

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I was the only one! And it was hard! They all growled and snarled and bit. You would have been frightened, Sadie, at all the barking, all the noise, and all those strangers
.

Sadie disagreed.
Maybe not
.

When Sadie argued with him about something she didn't know anything about, Angus tasted angry again, in his mouth. But he wanted to talk about the trial, to remember it again, and Sadie was the only one who could listen to him. He wanted to tell Sadie about it more than he wanted to be angry with her so he let the anger go away.
Maybe not. But probably. But I had to do everything, like when we do training here, only there was a whole row of us doing it at the same time. You know what was the hardest?

The long down?
Sadie guessed. That would have been the hardest for her.

Heel off the leash
, Angus told her.

But you're really good at heel
, Sadie told him.
You like heel
.

I know. It was still the hardest
. He tried to explain.
I didn't know I shouldn't listen when the judge talked
.

But you had Mister there, to help you
.

But Mister wasn't the one who had to do it. It was all up to only me. It was sort of lonely, andâ
Angus was trying to figure out what he wanted to say.

I think I know
, Sadie said.

When I got it right it was sort of exciting, butâ

Like that sheep this winter in the woods
, Sadie said.

Frightening. Because it was all up to me
, he remembered.

I know
.

You know because of that sheep this winter
. Angus was really glad Sadie could understand how hard it had been to be in a trial. He guessed that sometimes it might be all right for her not to obeyâbut he didn't think he could ever learn that. He didn't think he
wanted
to learn that, either. It was like the way Sadie couldn't learn to fetch, he realized. Then he realized something else.
We're not the same!
he said.
We're different!

I know
.

Missus called Angus over, to pet and praise him. “He says you'll probably get a leg next time. Good for you, Angus.” Mister called Sadie over to pet her, too, and to praise her for being good company for Missus. “I hear you were a big help with planting, or at least with the digging. Good dog, Sadie.”

All of the attention, added to being home together, made Angus and Sadie more and more excited, until Mister stood up, opened the door, and said, “Outside, both of you. Go burn off some of that energy while I finish telling your mistress about the trial and the herding dog exhibition. You should have seen them, honey,” he said.

The dogs ran through the door and down the porch stairs. They ran down the path to the barn and back to the garden and then a little way down the driveway. The night was dark, but not at all cold. They ran up and down the driveway, first Angus chasing Sadie and then Sadie chasing Angus. Then they ran in circles around the grassy field behind the garden until they were tired enough to stop.

While they rested in the grass, Angus told Sadie,
It's a bad feeling, feeling frightened. It's â¦ uncomfortable
.

I remember
, Sadie said.

Like you and the cats
, Angus said. Actually, now that he was used to it, he thought maybe he liked Sadie being brave enough to chase after the barn cats. He even liked her brave and clever enough to rescue the sheep from the storm. It could actually be more fun for him that way, and for her, too, even though she could probably never be well enough trained to earn a leg in a trial.

Do you know what I saw?
he asked.

No, what?

There were dogs that herded sheep. Really, they did, they really herded them, and the sheep went where the dogs wanted them to
.

I can do that
, Sadie said.
I did that
.

Angus wanted to object, because it wasn't the same as the dogs at the trials. It couldn't have been. But he couldn't object because it really had happened, and he knew that.
Mister should teach me how, and you, too. Because dogs can herd the sheep together. With two of us, we would never lose any, not ever
.

Maybe Sadie already understood something about sheep that Angus didn't know. He wasn't sure about that, but he knew that if she did, she would want to show him.

Sadie remembered that she had news of her own to tell.
They're having a baby. I know what room the baby will sleep in
. Then she also remembered,
I was a big help!

I thought you didn't like children
.

Sadie explained,
This isn't children. This is a baby
.

Some things Sadie might know about, but others she didn't, so Angus explained it to her.
Babies grow, and when they do they turn into children
.

I don't believe that
, Sadie said, but she knew that while Angus didn't know everything, he knew a lot, so she guessed she should believe it.
Maybe, if it started out only a baby, I could still like it when it was a child. Do you think I could?

It's going to be a lot of responsibility
, Angus said.
And work
.

It's going to be a lot of fun
, said Sadie.

Angus guessed Sadie was right, but he knew he was righter.
Let's go back to the house. But not a race
, he said.
Because we're not racing against each other, are we?

Sadie didn't get it.
I'm racing with you, and you're racing with me
, she said. She barked for the excitement of it all and turned to run.
Let's go!

The two dogs ran back across the field toward the house, with Angus ahead and Sadie catching up.

About the Author and Illustrator

CYNTHIA VOIGT is a former teacher and the author of more than twenty books, including the Newbery Medal winner
DICEY'S SONG
and
A SOLITARY BLUE
, a Newbery Honor Book. The mother of two grown children, she lives with her husband in Maine.

TOM LEIGH is the illustrator of
BONE POEMS
, a collaboration with Emmy Awardâwinning writer Jeff Moss. He lives with his wife, a couple of bossy cats, and five rescued border collies on an island off the coast of Maine.

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Credits

Cover design by Amy Ryan

Copyright

Angus and Sadie

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

www.harperchildrens.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Voigt, Cynthia.

Angus and Sadie / Cynthia Voigt ; drawings by Tom Leigh.â1st ed.

p.Â Â Â cm.

Summary: Angus and Sadie, two siblings that are mostly border collie heritage, are adopted by a young couple and start living on a Maine farm, where they begin to learn sheep herding and come to appreciate how they are different from each other.

ISBN 0-06-074582-7âISBN 0-06-074583-5 (lib. bdg.)

EPub Edition Â© MAY 2012 ISBN 9780062029706

1. Border collieâJuvenile fiction. [1. Border collieâFiction. 2. DogsâFiction. 3. Farm lifeâMaineâFiction. 4. Sheep herdingâFiction. 5. MaineâFiction.] I. Leigh, Tom, ill. II. Title.