Angus and Sadie (5 page)

Mister yelled and chased after him, but Angus was much faster than Mister, especially in the woods, where he could run low to the ground and Mister had to crash through, carrying the heavy chainsaw. Running fast and low, Angus left Mister far behind.

At last, Angus found the noise. It came from an animal that smelled like the pen behind the barn, so he knew it must be a sheep. The sheep had fallen down into a steep gulley and gotten tangled in some bushes at the bottom. She was thrashing with her legs, trying to get free, trying to stand up, making high bleating sounds.

What are you doing down there?
Angus asked.
Get out of there! You better come back up!

The sheep kicked its legs, bleating in fear and misery.

You have to get up
.

Bleat! Bleat!
The sheep struggled even harder, as if, instead of helping, Angus had just made her more frightened.

Angus didn't know what to do. But he was sure that Mister would understand what was wrong and fix it. Angus turned back the way he'd come and ran to find Mister.

Running from opposite directions, Angus and Mister almost crashed into each other. Mister demanded angrily, “What got into you, Angus? You're a bad—”

Then he heard the thrashing and bleating, and he lifted his head to listen. “What?” he asked. “What's that?” He set down the chainsaw and ran. “Come on!” he called, and Angus followed close behind him.

Later, Mister told Missus all about it while they were eating supper and the two dogs were lying in front of the oven. “The silly thing had got herself tangled up in vines and undergrowth.”

“Good thing it wasn't barbed wire,” Missus remarked.

What's barbed wire?
asked Sadie.

Something bad
, Angus answered.
It catches your legs
. He thought some more.
It hurts
.

“And every move the silly thing made just got her more tangled and more tightly caught,” Mister said. “So she panicked. Well, sheep do that.”

“Would you have found her if Angus hadn't?” Missus asked.

“Maybe.” Mister paused and thought and then said, “Maybe not.”

“Good dog, Angus,” Missus said. “You're a smart one, aren't you?”

Yes. I am
. Angus's tail thumped against the floor. He was feeling proud, and happy, too, because he had helped Mister.

“If Angus hadn't been there, the poor silly thing might well have died before I noticed she'd gone missing and went looking for her in the part of the woods where she'd gotten herself trapped. But Angus saved the day.”

“He saved the sheep at least,” Missus said, and they both laughed. “The day isn't over yet,” she added, and they laughed again.

After he had eaten some more, Mister said, “You know what that means. There's a break in the fence around the spring pasture. I thought I was finished with fences for the year.”

“You're never finished with fences on a farm,” Missus answered.

You're smart
, Sadie said to Angus.

And I did a good job of saving the sheep
, Angus answered. He liked being the dog who saved the sheep. That was the only dog he wanted to be.

Am I smart?

Not as smart as me
.

Maybe when I get my cast off
, Sadie said.

Probably not
, Angus told her.
But don't worry. I'm here to take care of you
.

“On the other hand,” Mister said, “Angus didn't come back when I called him. He just kept on running away. It's time that dog had some training.”

“What about Sadie?”

“It's time for both of them. They're more than three months old. Doesn't the cast come off next week? Shouldn't we make a couple of appointments at the vet's? We'll start training after that.”

Did you hear?
Sadie asked.
Did you hear that? I'll be able to run! I'll be able to run with you!

I can run faster
, Angus warned her.
I'm bigger, and stronger
.

I know
, Sadie said.
But I won't have a cast! I'll be able to run! I'll be able to run with you!

T
hey all went into town together to go to the vet. Angus and Sadie were too big now for their box, so they rode behind the seats, climbing back and forth, over and under each other, to look out the windows.

“Settle down, you two,” Mister said.

They didn't know “settle down,” but they understood his tone of voice. Mister didn't like what they were doing.

“They're just nervous,” Missus said.

“They don't know enough to know to be nervous,” Mister said.

“Maybe they do,” Missus said. “How do we know what they know?”

As soon as they entered the vet's office, Angus and Sadie were suspicious. There was something about it they didn't like. It smelled bad in a nasty, sharp, clean way, and the floor was slippery. It wasn't the farm. It wasn't home.

“It's going to be all right, I promise,” Missus told Angus. “Dr. Anderson is a very good vet, and you'll have Sadie for company.”

“You'll both be back home tomorrow,” Mister told Sadie. “You'll have Angus for company.”

They could tell that Mister and Missus were worried, too.

What's going to happen?
Sadie asked.

It'll be all right. Missus said
.

What will be all right?

We'll be home tomorrow
.

When's tomorrow?

Angus wasn't sure.
Soon
. He was too worried to want to talk anymore.
Very soon
.

As it turned out, Angus was correct. But before tomorrow came, they all went together into a bright little room to meet the vet, a man in a white coat, who crouched down to stroke their whole bodies, and look at their mouths, and pull gently on their ears. It wasn't petting, but it was nice. “They look grand, Mr. Davis,” he said to Mister. “Are they eating well? Are they lively enough?”

“More than lively enough,” said Missus.

“Well, they would be. They're part border collie,” the vet said. “You can leave them here with me, now. We'll do everything—shots, cast off—while they're unconscious. That'll be the easiest for them. Come back anytime after seven in the morning. Somebody's always here by seven. They'll be ready.”

While the vet was talking, Angus stuck close to Mister's leg and Sadie stuck close to Missus.

I want to go home
.

Me, too
.

“I'm not too happy about leaving them,” Missus said.

“Not to worry. This is just routine,” the doctor said.

Routine
, said Angus.
It's just routine. Everything's going to be fine
.

All right
, Sadie said.

Mister and Missus gave the doctor the leashes and let him lead them away, and it turned out that Angus was right again because when the doctor talked to them, they fell asleep, and when they woke up they only wanted to go back to sleep again, so they did. Then Mister and Missus were there to take them home.

In the truck, Missus said, “I bought you new collars, because you're bigger now. Red for Angus and green for Sadie.”

I feel wrong. Bad
.

Me, too
.

“They're color-blind. They don't care what colors they wear.”

We should go to sleep
.

All right
.

When the truck stopped, and the dogs were lifted out, for a minute they were so glad to be home that they felt fine. Missus put the new collars on them. “You both look very handsome,” she said, and she petted them both on the head and the ears. “And, see? You have name tags, too, so you can't get lost.”

Home!

Look! I have my own leg!

“Name tags won't keep them from getting lost,” Mister told her.

“You know what I mean,” Missus said. “I mean, anybody who finds them will know they belong here, with us.”

“If they get lost around here, they're more likely to get found by coyotes or bobcats than people,” Mister said. “That's why it's important for them to learn to come when we call them, and stay when we tell them to.” At the vet's Mister had bought a choke chain collar and a book for dog training.

Look at me! The cast is gone!

Sadie tried to run over to play with Angus, but her leg felt funny now. It felt as if it didn't know what it was doing. She took off toward the garden, and then turned right—and that leg didn't know how to turn. So she fell down. She scrambled up and tried again, more slowly.

I feel bad
, she realized.
Not my leg
.

I feel worse than you
, Angus said.
We should go to sleep
.

All right
.

They lay down together in the grass by the porch steps, where the sun could warm them and the barn cats would leave them alone.