Born to Race

Chapter 11

Snowy and Falcon were taken to a farmhouse deep in the countryside. There was a paddock with two horses and a herd of cattle.

Snowy had never seen cattle or horses before. She wagged her tail and barked in excitement. They drove up a driveway and parked outside the house. Then The Master leashed the three dogs and they jumped off the truck. He then led them to a row of cages. Cages like the ones Falcon and Snowy had been in. The dogs hesitated, tucking their tails as other dogs pawed at the mesh and wagged their tails while barking.

"It'll be safe, it's comfy in there," Major assured them.

Snowy and Falcon jumped into the kennels. They sniffed their new cages, finding a comfy bed in the darkness of a box in the back of the kennel. They both wagged their tails. Snoy had not felt safe in a cage since. It was strange, and new, and the dogs' barks seemed to stop after the man raised his voice. But the voice was not mean, it was calm and not hurtful at all. Major jumped into his cage next to Snowy and Falcon. There were four other dogs. A border collie, two short haired pointers, and a Cocker spaniel.

"Falcon, Snowy, this is Shep the sheepdog, the two shorthaired pointers are Rocky and Scout, and the cocker spaniel is Moose."

The dogs all barked and wagged their tails in a friendly greeting. Snowy was unsure what to do. She was not used to this.

"The dogs in my old pack were not as welcoming as you," she said. "Where are we?"

"The Master is a hunter, he takes us hunting dogs into the woods to hunt for deer or ducks or rabbits. Sometimes foxes if farmers are having a problem with them," Major said.

"So the sheep dog hunts as well?" Falcon asked.

The dogs seemed to laugh, barking in amusement. Major shook his head.

"I herd The Master's cattle for him," Shep yapped.

He was a young dog, probably three or two years old. The cocker spaniel looked young too, probably a year and a half.

"I see, so what will The Master use us for?" Snowy asked.

"Your greyhounds, so you'll probably catch rabbits and foxes for him," Moose answered.

Snowy liked the sound of that. Falcon did to, as his tail began to wag and he titled his head curiously.

"Rabbits? Rabbits are my favourite to chase! On the race track we had to chase a live rabbit. That was...the say Tiger...died," his tail and head fell, remembering the crash on the track and Tiger's injured body.

"Hey, we're sorry your friend died, that must have been terrible!" Shep whined.

"Yeah, we escaped that night, now we want to return and rescue the others," Falcon said, a determined glint in his eye.

"Well, if The Master lets you go, but do you really wanna leave?" Major asked. "Why not stay a few days, get up your strength."

"You're right, we haven't had a real home or loving owner before, we lived in cages that did not provide much warmth or safety, and our master whipped us."

"How horrible!" whined Scout, her brother whined sympathetically and out of fear.

"We were born on another farm, where the farmer would host dog fights and cock fights. It was horrible!" the male shorthaired pointer said.

"Some humans are just cruel," Major barked in a gruff voice. "Let that be a lesson to all you youngsters, don't trust every human you meet."

Major's words stuck in the greyhounds' heads, they knew the old retriever was wise. He had been a hunting dog for most of his life, it appeared. And they were happy that they were not the only ones that had issues with humans.

The dogs were let out of their kennels as the sun set. Shep went to bring the cattle into a barn. While the other dogs played and practised their hunting skills.

Major grabbed a stick and carried it away from Moose. The spaniel pup jumped up and tried to chomp his face playfully. Rocky and Scout were play fighting several feet away. Their eyes rolled back as they smacked each other with their paws.

The Master returned after herding the cattle into the barn. He then whistled loudly for all the dogs to listen.

Shep jumped into his kennel and went to the box at the back to curl up and sleep. The other dogs jumped into their kennels one by one and The Master shut them. He said goodnight to the dogs and headed into his house.

"We can try and continue the journey tomorrow, or maybe we will stay for a bit," Falcon said, yawning from tiredness.

Snowy agreed and curled up in her bed. Shutting her eyes as she drifted off to sleep.