Flash the Sheep Dog Read online

  The farmer grinned, “Aye, he’ll need to be if he’s to run the hills. Have patience, lad. He’ll learn in time.”

  At last Tom manoeuvred Flash behind him.

  “Now, Tom, every time he tries to pass in front of you, wave the stick from side to side before him.”

  “So that’s what the stick’s for?” Tom remarked.

  “Aye, but keep giving him the word of command too.”

  “Come behind, Flash!” Tom kept repeating, waving the stick like a sorcerer making an incantation over a cauldron. Flash looked bewildered as he followed the movement of the stick from side to side, but he made no attempt to break away.

  “Not so fast, lad! You’ll have him mesmerized,” John Meggetson chuckled. “Now try taking a few steps and see if he’ll follow you.”

  Still moving the stick, Tom gave a little tug to the lead, saying loudly, “Come behind, Flash!” Flash bounded forward to the right but the waving stick warned him back. He darted to the left but again the stick was there. After several more ineffectual attempts to get round, he gave it up and meekly followed behind Tom.

  “He’s learning,” Uncle John approved. “Now, keep him at that for ten minutes at a time, twice a day, no more.”

  “What do I teach him next?” Tom asked eagerly.

  “Nothing, lad. One thing at a time till he’s mastered it.”

  Tom’s face fell.

  “You see, Tom, a pup’s like a child. He can only stand so much teaching at a time. Short lessons of ten minutes repeated twice a day and he’ll learn fast enough,” Uncle John explained. “Don’t confuse him with too much to begin with.”

  “All right,” Tom agreed, but he still looked a bit disappointed.

  “When’s he’s finished his lesson you can give him a pat on his head and say he’s a good dog. That’ll give him confidence, but no cake, mind!” There was a twinkle in Uncle John’s eye. “You can take him off the lead now and let him have a good free scamper in the paddock. I must awa’ to the sheep.”

  John Meggetson summoned Jeff with a whistle and set off at a steady pace towards the nearest hill while Tom continued the lesson with lead and stick. Before the end of the time the little dog seemed to grasp what was required of him. He made fewer darts to elude the stick and began to trot obediently behind Tom. At the end of the lesson Tom stooped and patted the dog on the head. “Good dog, Flash!”

  In delight Flash rolled over on his back, waving all four paws in the air. Tom took the lead off him and in a second Flash was on his feet and capering madly about Tom, leaping in joy at his freedom again. Tom let the little dog run round the paddock for a while, then he turned towards the gate. The dog followed him. “Come behind, Flash!” he cried, waving the stick. The dog retreated a step or two and fell in behind.

  “I do believe you’d follow me of your own accord if I let you out through the gate,” Tom said aloud.

  “Not yet, Tom! You’ve not had him long enough. He’s got to learn obedience first.” It was Aunt Jane speaking. She had come out to see how the lesson was going. “If he got loose he might run away to the hills and goodness knows when you’d see him again.”

  Flash went scampering after a bumble bee and Tom took the chance to nip through the gate and close it. The little dog stood forlornly at the end of the paddock.

  “Watch this, Aunt Jane!” Tom cried. “Flash! Flash!”

  The dog came bounding towards him.

  “Guid sakes! He knows his name already,” Aunt Jane exclaimed. “He’ll be a wonder dog, that one!” But she was not looking at the dog but at Tom, a different, transfigured Tom from the unhappy silent boy who had come to them at first.

  Uncle John insisted that only Tom should feed Flash and when, each evening, Tom put down the dish of meat for the dog and called his name, the dog appeared instantly.

  “Aye, he’s learned his name and to come to you now,” Uncle John remarked when Flash ran up without hesitation. “The next lesson we’ll take him off the lead, but you must still keep the stick to direct him and give him the usual command, ‘Come behind!’ Always use the same words, so the dog gets used to them.”

  After making a round or two of the paddock Tom slipped off the lead and cried, “Come behind, Flash!” For a moment Flash seemed surprised at the lack of the restraining lead, then by newly acquired habit he fell in at Tom’s heels and trotted solemnly round the paddock, keeping a wary eye on the stick which warned him not to venture too far in front.

  “Grand! Grand!” Meggetson commented. “He’s learned his first lesson weel.”

  “Can I take him out for a walk now without the lead, Uncle John?”

  The farmer shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “But you said he’d learned his lesson,” Tom protested, slightly rebellious.

  “Aye, but he’s got other lessons to learn first. There are far ower many sheep on those hills to let him loose yet. It he gets running wild among them, scattering them, he’ll always want to chase sheep, not herd them.”

  “What lesson next, then?” Tom asked.

  “He’s got to learn to lie down on his stomach at the word ‘Down!’ Then, if he’s working wi’ sheep, you’ve got control over him.”

  Tom looked perplexed. “How do I teach him that?”

  “Put the lead on him again.”

  Tom snapped the lead on Flash’s collar.

  “Now press downward on his collar, saying ‘Down!’ quite clearly as you do so.”

  Tom gently forced the little dog into a crouching position saying “Down!” in a loud voice. Surprised, Flash obeyed, but immediately tried to rise again. Tom repeated the pressure again and again.

  “Now pat him on the head when he does stay down of his own accord,” Uncle John instructed.

  At about the twentieth try Flash seemed to get the notion of what was wanted and stayed crouching at Tom’s feet. Tom patted him affectionately and praised him, and Flash shot out his tongue and licked Tom’s hand.

  “Practise ‘Come behind’ and ‘Down’ several times a day, Tom, off the lead in the paddock, but until he has learned absolute obedience you mustn’t let him off the lead outside the paddock.”

  “Can I take him for a walk on the lead?” Tom asked.

  “Aye, ye might do that, but take the stick and see he keeps behind ye. Go down the farm road by the river and keep him well away from the sheep. We’ll introduce him to them later on.”

  “Can’t I run him on the lead?”

  Uncle John smiled. “A bit of exercise’ll be good for both of you. The minute you slow down to a walk, though, see he jogs behind you. That’s his place and he’s got to know it.”

  Tom and Flash scampered down to the river. Mrs Meggetson came to the gate. She shaded her eyes against the setting sun and watched the pair of them.

  “He’s a different laddie since that dog came to the farm,” she pronounced. “Flash seems to have given him a kind of purpose.”

  “Does he help you round the farm as he promised to do?”

  “Oh, aye! He took a hand at scrubbing out the hen houses today without being asked. I shall miss him when he goes to school.”

  “School? That’s another problem.” Uncle John frowned a little. “I doubt if Tom’s going to take kindly to school if he has to leave Flash behind at the farm.”

  “There’s a week or two yet till the school opens,” Aunt Jane said easily.

  When Flash had thoroughly mastered his two lessons and was quick to obey the words “Come behind!” and “Down!”, Uncle John said, “Now it’s time he got used to the sheep. We’ll try him loose in the farmyard first, though, with the gates shut.” There was a twinkle in his eyes.

  Tom made sure the gates on the steading were closed before he slipped the lead from Flash’s neck. He wondered how his uncle would try out Flash without any sheep present. Just then a number of ducks began to waddle in procession across the farmyard to a small pond. Flash flew at them, barking. The ducks scattered, quacking angrily.

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nbsp; Horrified, Tom yelled at the top of his voice, “Down, Flash! Down!” fearful of his uncle’s wrath.

  Flash hesitated, looked desperately at the ducks, then stopped in the middle of his run and crouched low, growling a little. The ducks huddled together in a corner of the farmyard and stood there, lifting one flat webbed foot and then another, letting out indignant quacks. Flash, his head raised between his forepaws, never took his eyes off them. They seemed to be mesmerized by him.

  “I’m sorry, Uncle John! I’d forgotten about the ducks when I let him off the lead,” Tom apologized.

  “I hadn’t!” Mr Meggetson said. Tom was surprised to find his uncle chuckling. “I wanted to see how Flash would go on with the ducks. Look at him with his eyes fixed on them! That dog’s got the eye all right!”

  “The eye?” Tom looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s a power some sheep dogs have, Tom, the power to hold the sheep in one place just by staring at them. They don’t all have it, but the dogs that do, they make the champions.”

  “And Flash has it?”

  “Look at him, lad! The ducks darena’ stir from the corner for his eye being fixed on them.”

  Tom could hardly hide his delight at this information.

  “Call him off now and see if he’ll come at your bidding,” his uncle suggested.

  “Flash! Flash! Come behind!” Tom cried in his most commanding voice.

  Somewhat reluctantly Flash rose to his feet and took his eyes off the ducks. He trotted obediently to Tom who pointed to the ground at his feet and said “Down!” Flash obeyed and Tom stooped and patted him.

  As if released from a magic spell the ducks began waddling quickly towards the pond, fluttering their wings now and again to quicken their pace. Only when they were safely floating on the surface of the pond did they quack defiance at Flash.

  “Aye, the dog’s learned obedience to your command,” Uncle John commented. “For such a young dog he’s shaping very weel indeed. You can let him herd the ducks to the water now and again. It’ll be fun for both o’ you, but be sure that he doesna take hold o’ the ducks wi’ his mouth, or your aunt’ll no’ be sparing wi’ her tongue on either of us.”

  Tom and his uncle grinned at each other. It was as though they had entered into a secret alliance.

  “Wait a wee while and we’ll try Flash wi’ a few sheep,” Uncle John promised.

  The summer days wore on and though Tom sometimes sighed for his beloved Thames and the teeming crowds of London, the longing to go back became less intense whenever he looked at the little black dog with the white chest and muzzle and the white tip to his tail. Flash would not be parted from Tom and followed him everywhere. Soon Tom was able to take him for walks without putting on the lead, though he still did not take him among the flocks of sheep on the rounded green hillsides.

  “When Tom goes to school that dog’s going to be miserable without him,” Aunt Jane predicted.

  “Aye, there’ll be a bit o’ bother wi’ the pair o’ them, I’m thinking,” Uncle John surmised. “Maybe I should have a word with Mr Donaldson, the schoolmaster, about the lad?”

  “That would be a good idea,” Aunt Jane agreed.

  A letter arrived for Tom from Kate in America. She wrote about her wedding and her new home.

  “Hymer managed to get an apartment for us. It is a nice small flat with a living room, a kitchen, bathroom and one bedroom. He couldn’t get anything bigger, though he tried. I’m sorry, Tom, that we can’t get you over here yet awhile till we have a bigger place with two bedrooms. Apartments are hard to find in the city. If something turns up, though, Hymer says you can come then. In the meantime I hope you are settling down well at Birkhope and that Aunt and Uncle will not mind having you for a while longer.”

  Tom’s face set hard when he read the letter, but he passed it to Aunt Jane without a word and rose abruptly from the table. He went down to the river and called Flash to follow him. He stood moodily throwing pebbles into the water. It was plain Kate did not really want him. He wondered if she ever would do so and whether his uncle and aunt would get tired of him staying at Birkhope? Flash looked up anxiously into his face and whined. Suddenly Tom stooped and put his arms about the little dog. “Whatever happens I’ll have you!” he declared fiercely. “No one is going to take you away from me. You’re all that really belongs to me.”

  When he got back to the farmhouse neither Aunt Jane nor Uncle John made any comment on the letter, though that night at supper, Aunt Jane put an extra large piece of apple pie on his plate and Uncle John asked Tom if he’d like to walk up the hill and look at the sheep with him after supper and take Flash too. On the way he talked to the boy about Flash, as if anxious to take his mind off the letter.

  “It seems a good chance to introduce Flash to the sheep,” he said, “but ye’ll need to keep him on the lead yet till he’s got used to them. It wouldna’ do for him to go after them like he went after the ducks.”

  When they reached the first small flock on the hill Tom said “Come behind!” very sternly and Flash obeyed, eyeing the sheep between Tom’s leg and the poised stick.

  “Walk Flash on the lead round the sheep and let him have a good look at them,” John Meggetson instructed Tom.

  The puppy quivered and strained a little at the lead but Tom held fast and walked him several times round the sheep bunched together on the hillside. As they moved round, the sheep kept moving round too, keeping their heads to the dog, watching him warily but not trying to break away. Flash never took his eyes off them.

  “What did I tell you? Yon dog has got the power of the eye,” Uncle John said with satisfaction. “You can take him a bit closer to them, but dinna’ let him run at the sheep.”

  Tom went closer in several times and Flash behaved well, walking behind him sedately on the lead.

  “That’s grand,” Uncle John approved. “Tomorrow we’ll start him learning to drive a few sheep in the paddock.”

  Somehow, when Tom went to bed that night, Kate’s letter did not seem to matter so much and he thought far more about the way Flash had reacted to the sheep.

  Next day, Uncle John had a few sheep placed in the small field known as the paddock, which was next to the house.

  “Keep the lead on Flash yet, but let him drive the sheep bit by bit into the corner of the paddock. Make him go down on his stomach every few steps so that he does not frighten the sheep but moves them along quietly.”

  Tom led Flash towards the sheep. The dog, still on the lead, ran forward two or three yards. The sheep began to move away towards the corner, then Tom cried, “Down!” In an instant the puppy was crouching on his stomach, his eyes glaring at the sheep. The sheep stood still, watching him. Another move towards them and they bunched towards the corner. At each move of a few yards Tom ordered Flash to go down and the little dog obeyed, though once or twice it was rather reluctantly, as though he would like to hurry up the job. At last the sheep were penned in in the corner.

  “Weel done!” Uncle John said. “Now take the lead off him, Tom, but tell him to stay down and we’ll see what happens.”

  Tom bent down and released the dog, pushing Flash’s head down as he did so and saying “Down!” Like a miracle Flash obeyed!

  For a couple of minutes neither sheep nor dog stirred, Flash holding them by his steadfast stare, then Tom put the lead on him again and the spell was broken. Flash gave a burst of barking and strained at the lead.

  “Quiet, lad!” the farmer said. “Quiet, Flash! The best sheep dogs dinna’ bark unless they want to call the master’s attention.”

  With a final bark and growl Flash settled down.

  “That’s shown Flash the power he has over the sheep. No’ bad! No’ bad!” From John Meggetson “No’ bad!” was the highest praise. “Ye’ve to keep at that drill now, Tom, for two or three weeks till Flash is quite sure what is required of him. I’ll leave a few sheep in the paddock every day but ye must never let him run at them and scatter
them.”

  Through the warm summer days the training went on and Tom and the dog became more and more absorbed in each other. Out on the hills the green grass took a tawny tinge and the heather buds appeared.

  “Ye’d think that dog knew what the lad was thinking. Tom scarcely needs to say a word to him,” Aunt Jane remarked one evening when Tom was out for a walk with Flash.

  “Aye, the lad’s done far better than ever I thought he would,” Uncle John agreed. “Mind, though, he’s got the best o’ material to work on in Flash. That dog comes of the best strain of Border Collies.”

  “All the same the boy should have some companionship besides a dog and two old folk like us,” Aunt Jane said thoughtfully.

  “Weel, the time’s getting near for the school to take up.” Uncle John sounded not altogether pleased with the thought himself.

  “True enough. It might not be a bad idea if Tom got to know one or two of the other pupils before he goes to the school. He’s like a kind of foreigner, ye know, and he might feel strange with the other children at first and they’d feel strange with him.”

  “What can we do about it?”

  “Perhaps you should take Tom to see Mr Donaldson the schoolmaster. There’s the minister’s laddie, too. He goes to the school. Maybe Tom might get to know him.”

  “They’re all a fair step away,” Uncle John pointed out.

  “Have ye no’ got a car, man?” Aunt Jane asked impatiently.

  “Ye’re surely never meaning I should take the car out just to go round visiting folk?” Uncle John sounded incredulous.

  “I am indeed!”

  “Guid sakes, wumman! Ye’ll have us calling like the gentry yet!”

  “Look here, John Meggetson!” His wife pointed her knitting needle at him. “I’m a patient woman but there are times when even I could get up and shake you. Maybe I’d like to see a bit of company too.”

  “But there’s many a day when you go to the Friday Market at Peebles wi’ me and you get a turn round the shops then. Oh, aye, and Mistress Bain from Cairnwold Farm picks you up in her car on Tuesdays to go to the Women’s Guild,” John Meggetson expostulated.