Chapter Text
“Cheeky, could you take Dog to the bottom paddock, please? There are some ewes down there I need to move into the house paddock. Rangi and I will be doing some work up here, and we’ll see you in about an hour. Is that alright with you?”
“Yes, OK Wallace. Are you coming, Dog?”
“Are you coming, Dog? Damn hussy – I see what your game is, and the Grey Ghost of The Forest[1] refuses to yield”. Dog crouches and refuses to make eye contact, and then tries to creep up the hill behind Wal. 50 metres along, though, Wal turns back and says “Dog, enough of this palaver. I told you to go with Cheeky, now just do it. She doesn’t know what she’s doing, and I can’t be everywhere at once. Be a sport, mate.”
“Fine, but don’t blame me if I *accidentally* make her trip in the mud” sulked Dog. However, he trotted down the hill, making sure he stayed on the opposite side of the paddock to ensure that Cheeky Hobson didn’t think he’d given an inch.
He got through the gate, and slunk around to the back of the mob, intending to bunch them up and move them through alone. He, the Scarlet Manuka, didn’t need any help from some sweet-smelling, painted townie sheila to move a bunch of ewes between paddocks. And so long as she stayed out of the way, he’d get it done, too.
Cheeky, on the other hand, walked along and stood in the middle of the gate that the Dog was trying to move the stock through. After 15 minutes, when the mob kept scattering as they approached the gate, and Cheeky inadvertently stood there saying “Here sheep, here sheep”, Dog was more than frustrated. He sat off to one side, panting with exertion. Then he had an idea; what if he could distract the stupid woman with something, and get her out of the way?
He looked around for a diversion. Bingo! There was a huge mud puddle just under a small rise. If he could get her to run over there, and lose her balance (or even just her hat) into that mud, he’d be well satisfied. He’d cop it from Wal, of course, but all was fair in love and war. He didn’t like this sheila, and he didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her (which, being a dog, was not at all). So he trotted over beyond the rise, and pretended to dig at something. Then he barked, looked at Cheeky, and dug some more. She did amble over, taking all the time in the world, and looked over the rise gingerly. Seeing that there was nothing actually there, Cheeky and the Dog locked eyes. She rolled hers, and then proceeded to turn around.
Dog bolted like a streak of lightning around behind the mob, trying to push them past her, but the perfume – or something – freaked them out, and they split again. Cheeky, meanwhile, had gone back to her original position, and Dog stopped immediately. “What is wrong with this woman?” he thought – “is she that dumb that she thinks she’s helping?” Well, there was no help for it. They had limited time to get this work done, and he would not allow her to sabotage it.
So, he approached her slowly, then at a run, trying to see if she would move. He even tried to cannon into her legs once or twice, but she just glared at him. By this stage, Cheeky herself was getting just as annoyed. She hadn’t asked to make an enemy of this mutt, but he was insanely jealous, and it was all getting a bit much, to be honest. So, the next time Dog came swooping in, she grabbed for his collar. That was a big mistake, as Dog turned and bit her – hard. This wasn’t just a warning nip; this was intended to hurt.
Cheeky yelped in pain, and yanked her arm back, which limited the damage. But he’d still bitten hard enough to rip through her sleeve, and to leave a cut about 4 inches long. It was bleeding slightly. She wanted to kick him, and then she paused. She was a better person than that, for a start, and she suddenly realised that Dog’s act had given her a trump card to play with Wal. So, she simply glared at Dog, and he glared back. Then, having made her point, Cheeky turned and stalked across to sit on a tree stump, then raised her arm to limit the bleeding.
Dog used the opportunity to move the mob through the gate, and then barked at Cheeky “Shut the bloody gate, or we’ll lose them again.” By some miracle, Cheeky got the message, and walked across, shutting the gate with her other arm.
Having finished his work, Dog trotted over to a water trough and slaked his thirst. It was a fairly warm day, and he’d worked hard. So, Dog walked over to one of his favourite places to sit in the heat; it was in front of a water tank and well shaded, and a slow dribble from the tank dripped onto Dog’s back, helping to keep him cool. Wal was aware of the leak, and had intended to fix it for months, but there was always other work to do, and never enough money.
Cheeky was still on the tree stump. By now, the bleeding had stopped, and while it still hurt, it wasn’t as bad as Cheeky had feared. Yes, there was a gash, but it wasn’t deep. She thought about her trump card, and then sighed. What was she doing, trying to compete with a Border Collie for his master’s heart? It was to be expected that the little fella felt jealous. Cheeky had learned from Wal’s Aunt Dolly that the Dog had been born in the dirty clothes box in a bathroom cupboard at Dolly’s holiday home for cats in Tauranga[2]. Brought up by female cats, he was confused, and when handed over to Wal, it was love at first sight for the both of them.
They’d been together for years, and she hadn’t been around. The thing was, Cheeky knew she had to make a call on things soon. She’d been in this town for five years, having bought out the hair salon from her cousin, but the business wasn’t going anywhere, and she knew it. At the same time, she dreamed of having a family, and she thought that might be possible here. Yes, she had flirted with Spit Murphy and a bloke at the tennis club, but she wasn’t serious about either of them.
Wallace Footrot, on the other hand, intrigued her, and she couldn’t work out why. He was the simplest of creatures, really – what you saw was what you got. He was happy living as he did, and he was both hardworking and kind. But it was this same slow, easy-going and gentle nature that meant Wal would neither discipline his mad mutt when he came between the two of them, or indeed take the initiative in the relationship. And a girl didn’t have time to wait for years. If he wasn’t going to propose, then she’d move to Tauranga, and leave the salon behind.
She looked over at Dog, and pondered. Yes, she could make a big song and dance about this, and try to land Dog into trouble, but to what end? The dog would go from obvious delight to a darker shade of feeling, and she’d have to live with that if they did get married. Besides, apart from having Wal yell at the dog, what else would actually happen? Nothing – those two needed each other.
Cheeky blew out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding, and wondered about why the Dog had bitten her today – what did things look like from his perspective? Yes, he didn’t like her before, but he’d never so much as nipped her before. So, she’d really gotten up his nose (snout?) today without actually trying to. Why? She thought back over the series of events. Dog had slunk down the hill, moved behind the sheep, and then run back and forth quietly, snapping at heels when needed. She’d seen him doing it dozens of times, but she’d always been paying more attention to Wallace than what the Dog was up to. Now she replayed it in her head. She’d stood between the sheep and the gate – and the sheep had kept splitting in half when they got close to her. Dog had had to race around to either left or right to keep them from bolting, but to no avail.
OH…. she suddenly realised. It was her! While she’d been trying to help by calling the sheep, it turned out that they’d been scared by her presence. And poor Dog had even tried to both move her by distraction and by nudging her away from the gate. The poor animal was still sitting there panting – he must be exhausted, she thought. Now I get why he bit me; he was just trying to do something he’s expert at, and I kept buggering it up for him! Cheeky suddenly felt rather ashamed of herself, but also a bit bashful. She was sorry for what she’d done, but was she really going to go and apologise….to a dog?
A random thought crossed her mind “And what happens if you don’t?”. She’d already been thinking about how she’d manage to live here if she turned Dog into an enemy, and she wasn’t willing for that to happen. If she broke up with Wal, it would be for human reasons, not for this. Cheeky looked at the sky, and giggled. Well, she thought – if I’m going to do this, at least no-one else is going to hear it.
She walked over towards Dog, who just panted. He didn’t look as angry now, although he did let out a little warning woof, just in case she was tempted to try to grab his collar again. “Dog” she began hesitantly. His ears picked up, and he looked at her. “I’m – I’m sorry for what happened back there. I didn’t understand what you were trying to do, but I think I get it now. And I want us to be friends. I know you are close to Wal, and I’m not trying to get between you…”
Cheeky stopped at this point, because a low moaning sound came from under the ground. Cheeky didn’t understand immediately what was happening, but the animals did. Dog went into a frenzied episode of digging, but he wasn’t fast enough. Everything that followed happened rapidly. The first tremor of the earthquake lifted him off his feet, and threw him upside down. Cheeky kept her footing, being larger, but to her horror, she noticed that the water tank had moved position, and was now teetering on one corner. “Dog” she screamed – “Come here!”, but the mutt just glared at her, and kept digging. Cheeky acted on impulse – she ran forward, hoping to get Dog out from under the shadow of the water tank. But then the second, much bigger tremor arrived, and the tank came free of its perch just as Cheeky reached the side of the tower. She screamed as she fell – and the tank came down directly on top of her.
Dog had bolted when he’d seen how close she was – “What does this silly cow want now?” had flashed through his head, and he’d made it out uninjured. He bolted and hid in the roots of a nearby kauri tree until the earthquake had passed. The dust made it hard to see, but Dog was a bit confused. In all of the noise, he’d thought that Cheeky had simply given up and gone back to the house. After all, she seemed indestructible, and he hoped that after today, she’d get the message that she wasn’t welcome.
As Dog padded back the few hundred metres to where she’d been standing, he noticed the water tank was lying on the ground, and he started to jog. As he got closer, to his horror, he saw a leg sticking out from underneath it. “Cheeky!” he thought, and frantically started to dig, but he couldn’t make any headway. The tank had nested into the hollow he had been digging – and Cheeky had fallen under the tank. Dog ran around frantically, barking like mad. But she didn’t respond.
Dog was distraught – and ran around for a minute chasing his tail, a stress reaction he’d learned from his earliest days at the cat farm. “Think, Dog, think – who can help?” Then it occurred to him; he’d better check that Wal was safe, but Wal was two kilometres away. Aunt Dolly was back at the house, though, and she’d know what to do.
Dog tore down the hill as fast as he’d ever run in his life. He barked all the way down, and kept it up when no response was forthcoming. Eventually, Aunt Dolly opened the door. “Yes, Diogenes[3]?” she said mildly. Dog was so upset he didn’t even care that she’d used his hated real name. He jumped and down, and yanked on her apron with his teeth. She wasn’t remotely pleased at that. “Stop that at once!” she roared, and Dog desisted. Aunt Dolly was a country woman, and not remotely afraid of dogs. Having said that, she also recognized the panic in Dog’s movements, and followed him up the hill.
As soon as she saw Dolly’s leg, her face paled, and her legs buckled. She wasn’t overly keen on the girl, but it wasn’t as if Wallace was going to have all that many suitors stuck out here. Regardless, she needed help, and fast. Aunty Dolly called out “Cheeky! Darlene! Can you hear me…. it’s Dolly!” With a speed Dog hadn’t thought she was capable of, Dolly sprinted back to the house, and called the ambulance. She explained the situation, and hung up. They had said they would take about an hour, and she knew full well that Cheeky didn’t have an hour.
She called Cooch, who answered in his usual low drawl. “Cooch, Aunty Dolly here. Darlene’s caught under a water tank that fell during the earthquake. Bring your tractor over here as fast as you can – the ambulance is an hour away and we have to get her out." She hung up the telephone, then ran out to the garage, and started up one of the quad bikes. She drove it up the hill, and said to Dog “Stay here, and keep digging on the top side of the tank, not the bottom”. Then she accelerated up the hill to find Wallace and Rangi.
[1] https://www.liquisearch.com/footrot_flats/main_characters
[2] https://www.footrotflats.com/the-characters?character=dog
[3] https://www.liquisearch.com/footrot_flats/main_characters