I Promise (Wattys 2016)

Sheepdog Trial

On the morning of the trial, Victoria woke up bright and early. She took a bath and then gave Bailey one. He was getting to be very big. He was probably full grown by now. It was nearly Christmas, and it was snowing out. The sheepdog trial would be very cold. Bailey had never seen snow before. When she and the dog headed out, Bailey didn't want to put his paws in the snow. When he first did, he yelped and tried to back into the house. Victoria tried not to laugh and coax Bailey into the snow. It took a good five minutes. However, soon Bailey was bounding through the snow. Victoria shook her head and laughed. She buckled James' old belt around Bailey, then set off for the trial.

There were a lot of people at the trials. A lot of women were there, too, but they were only watching. Victoria was the only woman entered in the trials. She signed in before going to where the other entrees were. They were all learning what to do on the course. What had to be done was that there were eight sheep. Four had collars, and four were unmarked. The dog had to get the sheep into the pens and separate the ones with collars from the unmarked ones. The judges would score based on how well they had thought the dog and handler did, how long it had taken the pair, and how many mistakes the pair made. Victoria had a feeling that she and Bailey wouldn't win. No matter how well they did, the judges opinions would be warped because she was a woman.

While they waited for their turn, Victoria stroked Bailey to calm both herself and the dog down. She could tell Bailey was stressed out because of all the noise and the other dogs who were here. The dog who had tried to start a fight was here. He had done the best so far. When it was their turn, Victoria knelt down and ran her hand over Bailey's fur.

"Just try your best and we'll be fine." She whispered. "Ready?" Bailey barked and wagged his tail. Victoria chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."

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James knew it had to be close to Christmas. His work had become much more hard now that it was winter and he was out in the cold all day. Many of his friends (not including Jamie and Charlie) had fallen ill already. They had been taken away and James hadn't seen them since. He had no idea where Joey and Topthorn were. He hadn't seen them since that first day he had started working. James had a feeling that both his friends and the horses were probably dead. James was getting very depressed. He just wanted to see Victoria. This would be his first Christmas without her. Greta sensed something was wrong and nosed him. James rubbed her head and smiled sadly at her. This was why he liked dogs so much. They couldn't say anything judgmental, they didn't care what you looked like, and they always knew what to do if you were scared or sad.

"Thanks, girl." He said. "I just really missed Victoria, you know?"

James took his locked out and fumbled to get it open. His fingers were numb, and the coldness of the metal wasn't helping. After some time, he managed to get it open. He looked down at the picture of Victoria and smiled at it.

"Psst!" He heard someone say. James looked up. The guard who he had made friends with was standing by the fence, but he wasn't looking directly at James. "Get over here!"

James walked over to the fence. "What?"

"Don't look at me. We can't look like we're talking. I've already gotten in trouble for fraternizing with you." The guard said. "Just act natural. Throw the dogs a stick."

James picked up a stick and threw it for the dogs. The dogs sprinted after it. James' ears focused on what the guard was saying to him.

"How would you like to send a letter to your wife?" He asked.

"What, really?" James asked, forgetting what the guard had said. He turned to grin at him.

"Keep it down!" The guard hissed. He slipped a pen and paper into James' hand. "Write the letter tonight and I'll do what I can to send it in the next few days."