Angus and Sadie (9 page)

“See the way they keep looking over, to check up on us?”

“The dogs? The dogs are asleep.”

“No, the sheep. The dogs make them nervous, and so do we. But they're not bolting.”

“Well, it's not as if they were wild animals. A wild animal—a deer, for example—would have run off long since, back into the woods.”

“But they're not tame, either, not like the cows. But—see? They only wander off a certain distance, and then they stop as if there was a fence up here, too, to keep them in, instead of only woods and the steep hill. Maybe it's because they've got plenty to eat right here?”

“I've never understood sheep,” Missus said. “But they give wool. Really, they're as much like a garden as like an animal, if you think about it. We harvest them, don't we? The only difference is, we harvest them in spring, not fall.”

Mister turned to stare at Missus. “You're pretty weird yourself,” he told her.

Then it was summer. In summer, the days were hotter, mostly, and sunny, although sometimes they were gray and rainy. On the farm, summer was a lazy time, with only weeding and watering to be done, and the cows and chickens to be taken care of, of course, and the sheep to be checked up on every now and then, and the training routine to continue. In summer, the leaves on the trees were so thick that they rustled in the slightest breeze and rain fell through them with pitter-pattering sounds. The best thing about summer was the way it went on and on, day after slow day.

Starting in July, Angus and Sadie were fed just twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, and they were trained three times, after breakfast, at midday, and after supper. They were learning to Heel!, with the leash keeping them close to Mister or Missus's left side. When they were heeling, they had to turn whenever Mister or Missus turned, and stop, sitting when they stopped. It took a lot of close attention to Heel! Angus was better at heeling because he was better at paying close attention.

When the summer evenings stretched out warm and golden, Mister and Missus liked to go outside after supper. First, they had training, and then, while Missus sat with Sadie to watch, Mister threw the Frisbee for Angus to catch, and they talked.

“I bet Angus ends up a better work dog than my brother's Lucy,” Mister said. “Don't you think he will?”

“I have no idea,” answered Missus. “But you should praise Sadie, too. She might not be as good as Angus, but she's still good.”

“Sadie doesn't mind,” Mister said. “Do you, girl?”

Mind what?

“I hope not,” Missus said.

Again! Throw again!

During summer the mice and rats found plenty of food outside, so Fox and Snake sometimes came out from the barn in the evening. They watched the goings-on and commented. Of course, they commented loudly enough for Angus to hear and care. Sadie could hear, too, but she didn't care.

Lookit that
, Snake called over to Fox.
Look what he's doing now
.

That is one weird dog
, Fox called back to Snake.
It's not as if he can eat it
.

Snake explained,
You catch it while it's flying. I wouldn't mind trying
.

But don't you see? They have to throw it for you to catch. If you want them to do that, you might as well be a dog
.

Who are you calling a dog?
Snake demanded.

When Angus answered that—
I'm a dog and I'm proud of it. Who'd want to be a cat?
—they ignored him, as if they hadn't even heard him. Then he saw the Frisbee move through the air again, and all he could think about was catching it, deciding if he would jump up—high!—and catch it out of the air, or if he would run—fast!—so he'd be waiting for it as it descended. While Angus was chasing and catching the Frisbee, he didn't hear anyone, not the cats' snide comments, not Mister's praise or Missus's applause, not even Sadie's excited barking. After, when he was running to bring the Frisbee back to Mister, he did hear the applause and the excitement, and he liked that just as much as he really did not like the cats' insults.

Sadie had a special summer job, which was to keep Missus company at the farm stand at the end of the driveway. In the mornings, Mister helped Missus load the back of the pickup with eggs fresh from the chickens and whatever was ripe from the garden. They drove down to a little three-sided building close to the mailbox. The building held two long tables, upon which Missus set out peas, bags of lettuces, green and red peppers, baskets of beans, spinach—whatever she had ready to sell. Sometimes, Missus had made butter, which she kept in a special cooler so it wouldn't melt. All morning, Missus sat in a chair in the shade and read a book or sewed on her quilt, and waited for cars to stop while Sadie, on a leash, napped beside her.

Sometimes the people from the cars paid attention to Sadie. “Hello, dog. What do you have today by way of lettuce?” Sadie would wag her tail and get patted on the head or ears. If there was a child with the customer, the child would run right over to Sadie. Then Sadie would run to hide behind Missus's legs, because who knew what a child might do? “She doesn't like children,” Missus would explain.

“That's pretty weird, for a dog,” the customer would say. “She won't bite, will she? Do you have any of your butter today?”

Am I weird?
Sadie asked Angus.

Sort of. But I'm not—no matter what those cats say
.

Sometimes, when Mister and Angus came home in the evening after a day of fixing fences or clearing fallen trees or working with the tractor in the fields, and after Mister milked the cows, there would be company for supper. Mister and Missus, Sadie and Angus would all go out to the porch, to welcome the guests.

Some guests came with a dog of their own. The guests would sit and talk, and then have supper and talk some more. They might all take a walk together, or throw Frisbees for the dogs to catch, or practice Sit! and Heel! The guests never brought cats, or children, although sometimes they talked about children and having babies. At the end, when it was dark, the guests would drive away in their car, as Mister and Missus, Sadie and Angus stood on the porch watching.

One evening, it wasn't a guest who arrived. Angus and Mister were just coming in from the barn when a car, almost as big as Mister's pickup, drove up. A strange man climbed down from it and waited for them.

Angus didn't like the smell of him, and Mister didn't either, Angus could tell, so he barked twice in warning.
Hey, you. You!

Sadie and Missus came out of the house to see from the porch what was going on.

You better get away!
Angus barked and Sadie echoed him,
Get away!

“Sadie, Sit!” Missus said, and Sadie obeyed. “Sit! Angus,” said Mister, and Angus obeyed, but he kept his eye on the stranger.

“Are these working dogs?” the stranger asked.

“This is a farm,” Mister told him. “We all work here.”

“I meant trialing. But I know what you mean, and I won't waste your time. I know how busy you farmers are this time of year. See, I just bought a condo up on the mountain—we're great skiers, the whole family—and I'd like to do some hunting here in the fall. Deer,” he said.

“I've got cows,” Mister said, “and sheep. And the dogs, too. Our land is posted, no hunting.”

“I saw that. But the property owner can give permission for someone to hunt on his land, can't he?”

“Well, yes,” Mister said. “But I don't want to do that.”

“I should have said, I'd pay you for it.”

“I don't think so,” Mister said.

“I should have said, I'd pay a lot.”

“It's not that I'm hurrying you off,” Mister said, “but my wife has dinner on the table.”

“Here's my card,” the stranger said, and passed a little piece of white paper to Mister, who looked at it, and then put it into his pocket. “Call me when you've had a chance to think things over.” He climbed back up into his big car and backed it around, then drove away.

Mister and Missus, Angus and Sadie all watched the big car go down the driveway, raising dust behind it. “Good barking, Angus,” Mister said.

I had good barking
.

And I helped
.

Mister took the piece of paper out of his pocket, and ripped it in half.

“You really took against him,” Missus said.

“He was throwing his money around,” Mister explained. “And he drives an SUV.”

That started Missus laughing. “You really are weird, you know that?”

Mister laughed, too. “No, I'm not. I'm normal. He's the one who's weird.”

I don't understand weird
, Sadie said.

It's what's not normal
, Angus explained.
It's what's different from me
.

A
fter summer had been going on for quite a while, Mister said it was time to harvest the hay and alfalfa, to use for winter feed and to sell at the farmer's cooperative. Missus said it was time to gather blueberries for jam. The machines that came to cut and bale the hay were large, and loud, and dangerous, and Mister had to give all of his attention to that job. So Missus took both Sadie and Angus with her to the blueberry fields, which were on high land in the hills beyond the woods. To get there, Missus needed the tractor, with a cart attached behind it.

“I like driving the tractor on the old logging trails,” Missus said. “It's an adventure, the way it bounces and lurches. It's a test of my strength.”

“Stick to the roads,” Mister warned her. “I don't want to have to come pull you out of some ditch.”

“There are no roads,” she laughed, “so there can't be ditches. But I'll stick to the ruts.”

“The dogs should ride in the cart,” Mister decided. “They'll distract you if they're in the cab.”

Once Missus was seated up in the tractor cab, and the motor was rumbling, Angus jumped up into the cart. Sadie didn't want to.
Come on
, Angus urged her.
Everybody's waiting for you
.

You said I should stay away from the tractor
.

But this is a cart. Besides, I'm here so you don't have to be afraid
.

I'm not afraid. I don't think I am. Am I?

Just jump!

Sadie jumped in, and Missus started off. The dogs stood on their hind legs, with their front paws on the side of the cart, so they could watch everything.

The bright air was hot and soaked in sunlight. As the tractor pulled the cart up the dirt road, the dogs were knocked gently around and bounced softly up and down. Every time they fell down, they climbed back up on the wooden sides, waiting to be knocked and bounced again. The picnic basket bounced with them, and so did the two jugs full of water, a bucket for gathering, and empty cartons to hold the blueberries.

Fun!
Angus said when he bounced, but Sadie wasn't sure she agreed. It didn't feel like fun to her. It felt like horrible loud noises, and horrible falling over, and horrible tractor smells, and she wanted it to stop. She wanted not to be in the cart. She wanted to be back in the quiet house with Patches.
Oouff!
said Sadie.
Ouch!