The Secret Dog (9 page)

Now there was just lunch and one more class to go. He headed for the library and was completely absorbed in watching a video showing a dog trainer teaching ‘driving’ when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He looked up. Yvonne. Her face was flushed and her lips tight.

‘What’s going on?’ she demanded.

‘Going on?’

‘You know what I mean. You’ve been avoiding me all day. And yesterday.’

‘Quiet!’ the librarian shouted. Yvonne flushed even deeper. But she didn’t take her angry eyes off Josh. Everyone in the library was staring at them.

Josh’s brain felt as if it had short-circuited. Why was Yvonne making a fuss? He was giving her ‘space’, wasn’t he? He couldn’t compete with the likes of Eric.

Yvonne’s face got darker. Somehow she managed
to whisper even louder than she had spoken earlier. ‘I asked, what is going on?’

Josh blurted out, ‘But you like Eric!’

For a moment, Yvonne looked bewildered. Then in quick succession, a light came into her eyes, she looked up at the ceiling and sat heavily on the chair next to Josh.

‘Is that what this is all about?’

‘I didn’t want to get in the way,’ Josh explained.

‘Get in the way of what?’

‘You and Eric.’

‘Me and Eric what?’

‘You like him
 . . .
’

Yvonne rolled her eyes. ‘We’re doing a maths project together.’

‘He’s smart, like you.’

Yvonne giggled. The librarian gave her another look. ‘You’re getting me in a lot of trouble,’ she whispered, as she tried to get control of herself.

‘I don’t mean to.’

‘Do you really think I’d disappear the day after I met your lovely dog?’

‘People
do
just disappear
 . . .
’ Josh blurted out. And suddenly his eyes started to water. Desperately, he fought back the unexpected emotion.

‘Oh,’ Yvonne said.

His hand felt the whisper of her touch. He turned away towards the computer monitor.
Why
did all these feelings about his mother keep coming up? On the screen, he watched the trainer kneeling, rubbing his dog’s tummy. Somehow this calmed him.

Yvonne continued to sit next to him, watching him intently.

The bell rang.

‘Are you okay?’ Yvonne asked.

‘He’s really good,’ Josh said, pointing at the trainer in the video.

Yvonne sighed, nodding. Then she persisted. ‘Are
we
okay?’

Josh nodded but he didn’t meet her eye. He didn’t trust himself to speak.

‘Do you want to walk to music class?’ Yvonne picked up her bag.

Josh closed the browser and stood.

* * *

A few days later, Josh powered up the steep valley slope, with Reggae bounding along by his side. Just above the secret valley, he stopped to survey the surrounding area. There was no one in sight.

Josh knelt down so that he was on Reggae’s level. He could feel the warm sun on his face. ‘Today, you’re going to learn how to drive sheep,’ he told her. ‘That’s when you work on the same side of the sheep as me. In the Gathering, once we’ve collected the sheep, we get behind them and drive them to the pens where they’re tagged and treated.’

Josh led Reggae down the slope, until they were relatively close to a group of sheep. He stopped. Reggae’s body tensed as she awaited the command to go off to her right.

‘Heel,’ Josh said. He took a step forward. Reggae stayed where she was, looking off to their right. Josh turned and gave her a stern look, pointing to his side. Reluctantly, Reggae took a step forward.

Josh took another stop. Reggae hesitated again. She was still expecting to do an outrun.

Then, with a terrible shock, Josh became aware of somebody coming over the hill! Somebody with two dogs. He’d been concentrating so much on Reggae, he’d forgotten to keep an eye out.

‘Down!’ he whispered urgently and he followed his own command, plunging to the ground. Had they seen him?
Had they seen Reggae?

He had to get them both out of sight! He lifted his head and looked around. There were a couple of tall gorse bushes not too far away. They could hide behind them.

‘Come,’ he whispered, and he started to crawl along the ground on his stomach. Reggae wagged her tail and crept along by his side. To her, this was a wonderful new game.

Safely hidden behind the bush, Josh tried to compose himself. Who was this person? And why was he in
his
valley?

Chapter 14

Josh felt like a mouse trapped by a cat. But who was the cat? Kneeling, he peered through the yellow gorse flowers.

From this distance, all he could see was a dark, hooded man with heavy eyebrows. He was shouting angrily at his two dogs, who were running around wildly and barking. The man wasn’t looking in his direction. Josh breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn’t been spotted.

As the man came down the hill, Josh got a clearer look. His heart sank. It was Dunham, a man who was hated and feared, both for his fierce and uncontrolled temper and his shady practices. Josh had heard many stories about Dunham told by his uncle’s friends over late-night drinks. How he’d been caught stealing wood from someone’s forest – and almost beat to death the man who found him at it. And how he always remembered a grievance, seeking revenge even years later.

Josh had no trouble believing these stories, because Kearney was Dunham’s son. A bully cut from the same mould as his father.

Why had Dunham sought out such a hidden valley? A place far away from where he lived?

Josh watched as Dunham placed himself in front
of a small group of ewes. Josh tickled Reggae behind her right ear. Fortunately, he didn’t have to worry about
her
making any noise.

Dunham’s dogs were running back and forth on long leads, barking excitedly. They hardly paid any attention to their master’s commands.

He shouted their names, again and again. Eventually when they came to heel Dunham struck each dog hard on the head. Josh inhaled sharply. What was the point of that? It would just teach them not to come when he called the next time.

Josh took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He hated to see animals badly treated. Especially Border collies. And it wasn’t just the dogs
 . . . 
What would these bullied and badly-trained dogs do to the commons sheep,
his
sheep, the ones he’d been using to train Reggae?

‘Away,’ Dunham ordered. The two dogs headed straight for the sheep, barking loudly. Alarmed, the ewes scattered. It was then Josh saw the green markings on the right thigh of several of the sheep. They belonged to his uncle! They must have escaped onto the commons through the broken fence Calum had been muttering about mending for weeks. Using the long leads, Dunham hauled the dogs back. Then he hit them again. ‘To the right, you stupid mutts.’

Dunham ordered the dogs off again. This time, at least they went to their right. But rather than finding the balancing point, one dog charged one of his uncle’s ewes and bit her behind the ear. The other dog jumped on the back of a young lamb, also
with his uncle’s mark, who bleated in shock and pain. When its mother rounded on him, both dogs attacked her, tearing off mouthfuls of fleece. The ewe and her lamb cried out in pain.

Dunham watched the attack in silence. Then he called the dogs. Eventually, ears low and heads down, they returned. He patted them on their side.

‘That’s right,’ he said. ‘Show ’em who’s boss.’

Josh couldn’t believe what he’d seen. How could Dunham think it was all right to treat sheep that way? Didn’t he realise those animals were his uncle’s? In fact it didn’t matter who they belonged to. It was a serious crime to mistreat sheep.

Josh sat down heavily behind the gorse. His uncle’s ewe had been attacked for defending her own lamb. He couldn’t let this go on. But then he remembered what Dunham had done to the crofter who found him stealing wood
 . . . 
Josh shivered, in spite of the warmth of the day. If he interfered, he – and Reggae – could be in serious danger.

Josh wished suddenly he could just call his uncle on a mobile. But the mobile phone he’d been promised the previous Christmas had never appeared. It probably wouldn’t have worked out here anyway, he consoled himself. The reception would be terrible so far from a mast. There was nobody he could call for help. It was up to him.

The sound of frantic barking interrupted his thoughts. Dunham’s dogs were now chasing a young lamb up the hill. Josh spotted the green marking. Suddenly the lamb disappeared.

She’d been so frantic she hadn’t looked where she was going! She must have fallen into a hole. Dunham called the dogs and sent them on another outrun. He didn’t even bother to check if the lamb was all right.

Over the years, Josh had found several sheep who had broken their legs in such holes. What kind of an animal rescuer was he if he allowed this to go on?

He began to examine the area behind the gorse bush.
If
he was going to interfere, he didn’t want Dunham to think he’d been sitting here, watching him. He had to appear from somewhere else, as if he’d just come upon the scene. That would be the best way of protecting Reggae, and himself.

Josh could see a slight depression in the ground, not too far behind the gorse bush. It seemed to run along the ground up the side of the hill. If he could get to the depression, maybe he could crawl along and appear from someplace else?

Reggae made a soft noise in her throat. She was standing right in front of him, gazing at him with her head tilted. He knew that look. She was concerned about him. She licked his shirt. It was soaked! He hadn’t realised that he was sweating.

Then Josh understood. He was thinking of going up against the most feared man on the island. No wonder he was sweating!

‘I’m okay,’ Josh whispered, rubbing between Reggae’s eyes.

But Josh knew he
wasn’t
okay. He was about to take the biggest risk of his life. And Reggae somehow knew it.

She licked his face, her head still tilted.

‘All right,’ Josh said softly. ‘I
am
a bit frightened. Wish me luck.’

Josh took another glance through the gorse bush. Dunham and his dogs were on the other side of the valley now, facing the opposite way. This was his chance.

‘Down. Stay.’ Then he got down on his belly, and crawled towards the lower ground.

Chapter 15

Josh couldn’t crawl any further. The lower ground that kept him hidden from Dunham ended just a few yards ahead. He turned his head to try to work out the distance he’d come. Was it far enough away from the bush where Reggae was hiding?

He didn’t know. But he did know that if he continued to crawl, he’d be visible, and
that
would be a disaster. Would the story he’d worked out – that he was going to his Aunt Gertrude’s house – convince Dunham? It was true she spent a lot of time on the mainland, but he was pretty sure she was on the island now. Would Dunham know better? He was aware of a tremor in his legs. Did he really want to do this? As if to answer his question, a chorus of squeals and cries came from the sheep in the valley. Dunham’s dogs were at it again.

One
 . . . 
two
 . . . 
two and a half
 . . . 
Josh gathered himself and stood up. He started walking, as casually as he could, on an angle across the valley and away from Dunham. If his plan didn’t work
 . . . 
he didn’t want to think about that.

The next time he heard the dogs barking, he turned toward Dunham.

‘Hello, Mr Redlin,’ he shouted, as cheerily as he could manage. His voice cracked as he said
Dunham’s name. Don’t show how scared you are, he told himself.

Surprise, anger, guilt and fear flitted over the man’s face in quick succession.

‘Getting your dogs up to speed for the Gathering?’ Josh called, as if he’d just arrived on the scene. He walked towards Dunham and his dogs, in what he hoped was a neighbourly way.

Dunham moved swiftly to intercept him, trying to prevent Josh from getting too close to the sheep. As Josh had planned, this took him – and his dogs – further away from where Reggae was hidden. Josh stopped and waited. His knees felt like they’d turned to Play Doh.

‘Lovely day for it,’ Josh said, when Dunham got close enough to talk in a conversational tone.

‘Yes,’ Dunham’s answer was curt. ‘What are you doing here?’ He wasn’t bothering to hide his hostility.

‘I’m on my way to my aunt’s.’

Dunham clearly didn’t believe him. He glanced at Josh’s trousers. Josh looked down at them. They were coated with dirt from crawling along the ground! He was horrified. ‘I tripped and slid down a slope,’ he improvised.

‘Front first?’ Dunham asked sceptically.

At first, Josh didn’t understand what he was getting at. Then he realised all the dirt was on the
front
side of his trousers. Because he’d been crawling.

Dunham’s dogs were growling, as if reflecting their master’s aggression. Josh had to change the subject. He knelt down and showed them the back of his hand. ‘Lovely dogs,’ he said, warmly.