Terry and Sandra stood silent, as the room grew darker. They said nothing, what was there to say? Why? Are you sure? �It happened� said Rob. �Really it did, it was horrible� his voice rose. �They were just lying around the place, dead!� he started to shake; the very large carving knife fell to the floor. �I didn�t get the food I�m sorry�they were just lying there with no necks and I just ran!� Rob pleaded. �It chased me into the trees and I had to wait until it went away! And I forgot the wood, and I forgot the food, I�m so sorry!� he beseeched them �Relax!� said Sandra, putting her arm around his large shoulders. �It�s ok� she said �you�re safe now.� Motioning to an empty chair she said, �Sit down and relax, we�ll be alright in here.� Then, right outside the door, a torturous howling started. * Outside the cottage the Phillips sheepdog sat on his haunches and bayed his frustration. He should have been more vigilant; the human had gotten down out of the tree and found his way here. Howl went the sheepdog! The Sheepdog�s name was lucky. He had always been a good dog and his family had treated him like an honorary human. He�d been trained never to touch a human either, but the one in there had to die. He just had to! But how? Howl went Lucky again! * �Whatarewegonnado? Whatarewegonnado?� howled Rob. �It�s out there waiting!� �It ripped them up! It ripped them up! It ripped them up!� murmured Rod from his chair. He hadn�t moved or stopped saying the same thing over and over since the Sheepdog outside had started to howl. That was twenty minutes before and now Terry was panicking. �Shut up!� Sandra shouted to no avail. For another ten minutes Terry panicked, Rob murmured, the sheepdog howled and Sandra pleaded for peace. Then the Sheepdog stopped and the men did too. Everything was quiet again, and they looked at each other. �It�s stopped� whispered Terry. �I know�sh!� said Sandra, �We have to think of something to do� she said, walking over to the window. The cottage was small with only two rooms off the kitchen. There were no weapons, except the very large carving knife Rob had taken from the Phillips farm. There was no axe or saw for getting wood which was one of the reasons Rob had gone to the Phillips place in the first instance. All there was was a pitchfork with two of its four prods broken off. Two would have to be enough. There was little they could do. Stay in here and freeze, escape to get help, or kill the dog. The answer was pretty obvious. They were going to have to kill the dog. �We�re going to have to kill it� said Sandra turning to the other two. �How?� asked Terry, �It killed a whole family and nearly got Rob, and he�s a big guy!� they both looked at Rob, he look very big right now. �We have to though� said Sandra, �we can�t stay in here forever waiting. We have to have a plan!� They both looked again at Rob who was rocking back and forward murmuring. He wasn�t going to be any help. * In the corner sat Rob, his eyes flitting between Sandra and Terry. They were whispering about bait and from behind. They were going to use him to trap the Dog and kill it. Well screw them! He wasn�t going to let them open that door. The very large carving knife! Where was it? Sandra had put it on the table. Rob could reach it easily, so he did. He held it behind his back and waited, waited for them to try something. * Outside the door, Lucky waited patiently. He wasn�t going to move this time; he was going to stay right here until he could get at that man. There were others in there too. Perhaps they were like him? It didn�t matter. His stomach was in agony there was blood pouring freely into the earth at his side. He was filled with anger and guilt. He should never have let this man escape. Just then his ears pricked! There was a rustling behind the door. Lucky rose to his full height and leaned onto his back legs waiting to pounce. * Rob watched them. Terry had his hand on the bolt and Sandra had the pitchfork grasped tightly. It was obvious what they wanted to do. Terry would pull the door and with the door open the sheepdog would only be able to see Rob! Then when it was attacking him and tearing his flesh, Sandra would get it with the fork! Well he wasn�t going to let that happen. Rising from his chair he advanced on Sandra. Meanwhile, Terry was opening the door. It left a widening black hole in its wake. Rob strode up to Sandra whilst her attention was on the door and swung the large carving knife around in a wide arc bringing it down into Sandra�s shoulder. Sandra dropped the fork and Lucky entered, flying through the air with such force, he knocked Sandra and Rob to the ground. In a snarling frenzy the sheepdog went to work on Rob�s neck and face as he screamed and flailed ineffectively. Grabbing the pitchfork, Terry thrust it into the sheepdog�s back! Once! Twice! And a third time! Then everything was quiet. |
| (c) Eanna Cullen |
| Sheepdog-2 |