Free The Secret Dog by Joe Friedman Page B

 . . .  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 saidDunham’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,