The Secret Dog (18 page)

As Josh watched Dunham, he saw his eyes widen slightly. Yes, Josh thought. Be afraid. Somebody
has
seen your dogs hurt some sheep. Me.

Dunham gave Josh a menacing look. Josh smiled.

Dunham’s fate was in
his
hands. For a moment, he enjoyed the sense of power. But it reminded him of what he’d felt when he’d shamed Kearney. And he’d promised himself he would never do anything like that again.

Besides, if he spoke now, everyone would want Dunham’s dogs put down. It wasn’t
their
fault they hadn’t been properly trained. And surely, after this, Dunham would have to make sure they never hurt another animal.

So Josh said nothing. The group fell quiet as people took in what had happened. He imagined they were making a mental note to inspect their own sheep for wounds on the rump.

The vet turned to Dunham. ‘The two people who had the best view disagree with you about Josh and his dog. The matter’s closed.’

He turned to the other crofters. ‘It’s been a good day. Go home and have dinner. And a well-earned dram.’

The crofters chuckled appreciatively.

‘I’ll see you all here at Romesdal at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning.’

The men headed back to their cars and jeeps, talking animatedly in small groups. Josh knelt down and rubbed Reggae’s tummy. Hamish, who’d witnessed the argument between Dunham and Josh at the beginning of the day, paused by them. ‘The two of you did well. Carried a man’s weight. See you tomorrow.’

‘Thank you,’ Josh said, suddenly full of feeling. He had hoped the men would be fair. And they had been. Except for Dunham and a couple of his gang. ‘Up, girl,’ he said and Reggae stood. She was shaking with fatigue. Josh suddenly realised he too was exhausted. Adrenalin had kept him going all day, but now it had run out. They had a five-mile walk in front of them.

‘You two look done in,’ Neill said. ‘Would you like a ride?’

Josh looked at him gratefully. ‘I hadn’t realised how much it would take out of her.’

‘And yourself, I suspect,’ Yvonne’s father replied. ‘I’m glad you had a chance to meet Dr James.’

Josh was puzzled. ‘Dr James?’ he asked.

‘The man who spoke up for you,’ Neill explained. ‘He was the island vet before I came.’

That
’s why everyone had paid attention!

‘My van’s over there.’

Yvonne was standing by it. Reggae recognised her and raced over, her tail wagging. Josh followed.

He stuck out his hand, awkwardly. Yvonne looked skyward and rolled her eyes. Then she gave Josh a warm hug.

‘You did it!’

‘So far, so good,’ Josh said. He was aware the third day of the Gathering, up on the cliffs, was the most dangerous. And he still had Day Two to get through before that
 . . .

‘Let’s get home and fed,’ Neill hurried them along.

That sounded great to Josh. But
his
day wasn’t finished. He had a difficult conversation ahead of him. One which would decide Reggae’s future.

Chapter 29

The sun was still shining as Josh tied an exhausted Reggae to the fence outside his uncle’s house. There was no point in trying to keep her secret any more. Either Calum had already heard about her, or he would in a minute.

Josh paused outside the front door. He looked fondly at Reggae, then beyond her to the loch at the bottom of the hill. The tide was in. He examined the water. He knew he was just delaying the moment of reckoning. But maybe he’d see a dolphin – that would be good luck.

But even his sharp eyes couldn’t pick out a dolphin in the flat water. He sighed and turned towards the door. He couldn’t put it off any longer.

‘Wish me luck.’

He entered the house, stopping for a moment to remove his boots in the hallway. Then he went on to the kitchen.

Calum was bustling around, preparing dinner. Josh could see he’d made an effort. There were several pots on the cooker, and he could smell roast chicken in the oven. His favourite.

‘We have to talk,’ his uncle said, without taking his eyes off the roast potatoes he’d just removed from the Aga.

So he knew.

‘Do you mind if I have a wash first?’

Calum looked at him for the first time. Josh tried to read his face – he didn’t
seem
angry
 . . .

‘Of course not.’

Calum always washed off the day’s dirt and sweat before eating. But it wasn’t just that. Josh needed a moment by himself. All the tension and emotions that he’d kept in check had suddenly hit him. He and Reggae had accomplished so much. Surely, it couldn’t all go wrong now
 . . .

In the bathroom, Josh took off his T-shirt and cleaned himself with a flannel. He climbed up to the loft and found a fresh shirt. Then he returned to the kitchen.

Calum was serving out the food onto their plates. Josh suddenly realised he was starving. He knew Reggae must be hungry too, but this wasn’t the moment to ask to feed her. Not while her fate was still undecided.

As usual, they sat in silence. After their years of living together, Josh could usually read his uncle’s moods. He still couldn’t
see
any signs of anger. Rather, he would swear his uncle was upset. Really upset.

Josh stared at his plate. Up until this moment, he hadn’t really considered Calum, or how he’d feel when he discovered Josh had kept a dog secret from him. The only thing that had mattered to him was keeping Reggae.

For the first time, he imagined what it must have
been like for Calum
 . . . 
to hear from
someone else
about how Josh had joined the Gathering with a sheepdog he knew nothing about. His uncle was a terrible liar, but to save face he would have pretended he’d known. But what must he have
felt
? Humiliated? Shamed? Betrayed?

His mind went back to the conversation with the vet. ‘Are you sure you want to do it this way?’ That must have been what he was trying to tell him. That he was just thinking about himself.

In spite of the appetising smells that filled the kitchen, and the plate of roast chicken in front of him, Josh suddenly wasn’t hungry.

He remembered his first meal here in this kitchen. It had been roast chicken too. And just like now, his uncle had been silent. It wasn’t at all what Josh was used to. Reggae music blaring out of his mother’s cassette player, her chatting away or inventing games to encourage him to eat his vegetables
 . . .

He was, he recalled,
scared
of this big, silent, serious man. He hadn’t understood why his uncle wasn’t talking to him. And he’d decided it must be because his uncle hated him. Hated being saddled with a skinny, sad, seven-year-old city boy.

Had he ever stopped being scared?

He was frightened when he brought his school reports home – though all his uncle ever did was to try to find something positive to say. He was anxious when he had to ask for new shoes, or a bigger jacket for his school uniform, even though his uncle never refused. And of course, hadn’t he hidden Reggae’s
existence from Calum for so long because he was scared of what he’d do?

Josh glanced furtively at the other side of the table. Calum’s plate was almost as full as his own. He must be pushing food from side to side too
 . . .

Josh felt a sick feeling in his guts. He couldn’t remember his uncle
ever
losing his appetite.

He’d made this gentle man an enemy, and for what? For being used to eating alone? For not being able to buy him everything he wanted? Or for not being as warm and funny as his mother?

‘Someone who does a man’s work needs to eat like a man,’ Calum said softly.

Even after all this, his uncle’s voice was gentle. He looked,
really looked
, at his uncle. His head was bowed, as if he’d been crushed by a heavy weight.

He’d
done this – by not trusting Calum to be fair. Without thinking, Josh jumped up from his seat, and ran over to the other side of the table. And for the very first time, he hugged Calum. He blinked back tears.

‘I’m so sorry,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just wasn’t thinking
 . . . 
of you. Just about keeping my dog, Reggae.’

‘There, there,’ Calum said, patting Josh on the back awkwardly. ‘You did what you thought best.’ His voice was thick with emotion.

After a bit, Josh sat down and stared at his food, his heart still heavy.

‘My sister
 . . . 
she loved reggae music, didn’t she? You named your dog after that
 . . .
’ Calum said.
‘“Reggae”,’ Calum said the name hesitantly, as if trying it out in his mouth, ‘must be hungry.’

‘I’m sure she is.’

He climbed up to his room and found Reggae’s bowl and the secret cache of dog food. When he came down, his uncle was standing.

‘Let’s see her, then.’

They went out together. Reggae was fast asleep. But as they got nearer, the smell of food woke her. Her tail started to wag. Josh filled the plate and put it down in front of her. Reggae waited. ‘Go,’ Josh said. He saw his uncle smile slightly. Then his uncle knelt down and tickled Reggae under the ear as she ate.

‘Small, isn’t she?’

‘I think she was the runt of the litter. I found her by one of the rivers on the commons.’

They watched Reggae finish the tin of food.

‘You rescued her,’ Calum said, getting the picture. ‘And you knew how I felt about pets.’ There was a deep sadness to his voice. As if he felt misunderstood. And hurt.

‘I should have asked,’ Josh said. ‘I should have asked properly.’

His uncle blinked as he ran his finger down the bony bit between Reggae’s eyes. She closed them, enjoying the attention. After a bit, Calum nodded slightly, almost to himself. ‘I hear “Reggae”,’ he said the name a bit less hesitantly, ‘did really well today.’

The words just rushed out of Josh. ‘She did everything I asked. Even things we’d hardly had a chance
to practice, like gathering a singleton. We were on the Old Road and she drove the sheep and kept them together like nobody’s business.’

‘She must have had a good trainer.’

‘It wasn’t me,’ Josh protested. ‘She’s just a natural dog.’

‘Even natural dogs need good trainers,’ Calum persisted. ‘How did you learn?’

‘There’s lots of videos on YouTube. And lots of advice on the web and in forums. And the library had two books too.’

From Calum’s puzzled look, Josh realised that he didn’t know what forums were. Or YouTube for that matter. Josh took some time to explain them, and to answer his uncle’s questions. He didn’t want to exclude Calum from anything to do with Reggae, ever again.

‘You’ve been very resourceful and very ingenious.’

Josh blushed.

‘
. . . 
The patience I learned from you helped too,’ he said.

Calum looked at him, surprise written all over his face. It was as though it had never occurred to him that Josh might learn anything from him.

‘I’ve tried to be a good
 . . .
’ his voice trailed off.

‘You
have
been!’ Josh protested. ‘I just never
 . . .
’

Then neither of them said anything for a while.

Calum broke the silence. ‘You didn’t bring the sheep in using Polo mints
 . . . 
Or save the scraps for a wounded animal
 . . .
’

‘I
hated
lying to you. It’s just that I had this plan
– I had to keep her secret until she proved herself at the Gathering.’

He was just making excuses. He owed Calum more than that. ‘I was a coward. I’d understand if you wanted to punish me.’

Calum looked at Josh a long time. ‘It was wrong to lie to me. But now you’re taking responsibility for what you’ve done.’ He paused. ‘At your age, that’s all I can ask.’

Josh leant over and hugged his uncle again. ‘I promise I’ll never ever do anything like this again.’

Josh felt Calum tense. Maybe he didn’t like being hugged. Josh let go. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘It’s not you, Josh. It’s just that my family
 . . . 
we weren’t very physical with one another.’

Josh gazed at Reggae and thought about his mum. How she had hugged him and kissed him at every opportunity. She must have been trying to be different with him from how she was raised
 . . .

‘We have some decisions to make,’ Calum continued. ‘Like where we put the kennel.’

Josh could hardly believe his ears. ‘Do you mean it?’

Chapter 30

The last day of the Gathering was the one crofters dreaded. It started on the cliffs and was the severest test of man and dog. An over-eager dog could cause sheep to panic and go over the edge. And dogs had been lost when the crumbly cliff face dissolved under their feet as they tried to get behind a lamb at the cliff’s edge. Josh had had nightmares about it.

But it was an opportunity for Reggae to prove herself, and for him to complete the Gathering and make money to help Calum with her keep.

He’d never spent any time on the cliffs with Reggae because getting to that part of the commons involved them crossing a major road, and then a forest which walkers and tourists used a lot. The cliffs and the rocky land leading up to them were just beyond the forest.

Josh and Reggae had been promoted to the top of the cliff. Dr James, the old vet, walked with him as they climbed to their starting point. Josh had discovered his first name was Hugh, but he didn’t feel it was right to call him that.

‘It’s a compliment to you and your young ’un,’ Dr James was saying. ‘But unless I miss my guess, she isn’t used to cliffs.’

‘We’ve never been up here.’

‘The cliffs are a wild and beautiful place. But they’re dangerous too. Especially for those who don’t know their ways. Let my experienced dog lead the way today.’

‘Thank you,’ Josh said, relieved.

For some reason, Josh didn’t feel shy with Dr James. He plied him with questions about what a vet would do in different situations.

But every so often Josh had to interrupt him because Reggae was drifting too close to the cliff’s edge. She was totally without fear, and just didn’t seem able to let another dog – even Hugh’s old Border – gather ‘her’ sheep.