Red In The Morning

Chapter 8

Bitzer stood at the sink, washing the dirty cups and saucers the sheep had left behind them.

The old lady had sunk back into the armchair, turning on the TV to see the news.

Bitzer's paws were in the hot soapy water as he used a sponge to wipe off the stains from the cutlery.

When he came out to the living room, he dropped his cup of tea. Before him, on the screen was a missing animal news story. But that wasn't what frightened him. What it was, was that the animal was a wolf from the local zoo.

The news anchor said that if there was any sighting of the dangerous animal, to call the emergency hotline.

Bitzer was horribly afraid for the sheep.

~x~

Back on the farm, the flock were inside the barn playing cards. Shaun himself was just leaning on his head sadly, as he thought of Bitzer and how the dog chose a stranger over him and the flock.

Shaun just couldn't understand why? Bitzer was his best friend.

It had started to get dark as the cold sun sunk away behind the hills in the distance.

Blondy came into the shed, pouring sheep feed into the large metal dishes. The sheep all hurried over to it, gobbling down their dinner, but Shaun's appetite was gone.

The skinny leader sheep gave out a big sigh, and walked away from his flock. He opened the barn door, and sat on the stone war, staring out into the cold cloudy night.

Timmy noticed his absence and followed his cousin to the freezing outdoors as well. He bleated at Shaun, and Shaun smiled sadly to him. He lifted him onto the space beside him, and Timmy gave Shaun a warm hug.

Soon the sky was completely black, with only the moon breaking through to give light.

Timmy's mother opened the barn door, and waved her son in. Timmy sighed, and jumped off his spot, toddling over to his mum.

Shaun remained there, though, as he gazed at the white moon that lit the sky in a pale soft light.

~x~

Bitzer settled himself down on the mat before the fire, and the old lady handed him a chicken bone for dinner.

He chewed it happily, and when all the meat was gone, he gnawed the bone with his teeth.

The old lady watched sweetly, and patted him on the head again. She brought over a blanket and waved it over him, letting it settle over his body.

Bitzer fell into deep peaceful sleep.

However the dog bounced awake a few hours later when he heard a howl in the night. His ears listened carefully, and a second loud aggressive howl filled the countryside with terror, as it had an unwelcome dangerous visitor.

Bitzer jumped onto his feet, and ran to the front door, unlocking it and gazing out to the frosty world.

And that's when he saw it. A silhouette of a large wolf could be seen high up on the hill. The large predator looked down over the countryside, sniffing the air and licking its mouth when it smelt prey.

THE SHEEP!

Bitzer froze up in terror, watching the wolf run down the hill towards the farm.

~x~

Shaun was getting sleepy up on that wall, and decided that he should probably head back indoors.

He hopped off the stone ledge, and headed back to the barn, when suddenly the wolf jumped over him and landed right in front of the door.

And that's when Shaun realized that his dream had been a prophecy. He bleated afraid, and turned to dash away from the predator.

The wolf charged after him. Shaun fled to the farmhouse cat door, and rammed through it. He stumbled back on his legs as the wolf smashed its head in after him, but the big animal was too large to fit through. The wolf suddenly got an idea, and pulled its head out of the cat door, turning its gaze at the barn.

Shaun watched through the window terrified. He looked around the dark house for some sort of weapon. He spotted an ax and climbed through the cat door, the large ax in his hooves.

The wolf crept towards the barn of sleeping sheep, until it heard something hit the metal pipe of the house, hard.

The wolf turned around, and saw Shaun standing there with a large ax being gripped in his hooves,

The wolf licked its frothing mouth, and began approaching him.

Shaun was terrified, but he swung the ax forward, the wolf swooping under it to avoid injury.

Shaun almost lost his balance from the attack, and lifted the ax up into the air again for protection.

Without warning the wolf lunged through the air, Shaun not having enough time to react.

The wolf landed on him, slamming him to the ground. Saliva dripped from its mouth onto Shaun's face and the sheep bleated for help.

Just as the wolf was about to bite his neck, it was rammed off. The animal toppled to the ground, and Shaun looked to his side, seeing Bitzer there with raging eyes.

The wolf stood back on its all fours, and growled at him. Bitzer growled back, Shuan getting on his legs and hiding behind his friend.

The wolf leapt through the air and Bitzer ducked, the large animal hitting the ground. But it jumped again and this time pinned Bitzer with its large body.

Just before the wolf bit off Bitzer's head, it flared its body around in agony.

Bitzer looked up and saw Shaun had swung the ax into the wolf's neck, piercing him with the sharp metal.

The wolf gasped heavily before dropping dead onto Bitzer.

The dog lay there uncomfortable, before pushing the wolf off him. Shaun gave him a hand up and the two of them panted there from the exhausting fight.

When the two looked into one another's eyes, they both smiled, before giving each other a warm hug.

When the two let go of each other, Bitzer saluted Shaun and began to head back to his new home.

Shaun's mouth opened, gob-smacked at Bitzer's choice.

The sheep grew angry and yelled at Bitzer, frustrated with his friend.

Bitzer turned around, seeing the outraged Shaun, and the dog only shrugged his shoulders. What else could he do?

The loud commotion outside had led to the lights of the house to be turned on, and Blondy came out a matter of seconds later to see what was wrong.

He rubbed his eyes, mistified when he spotted the dog, alive and well.

Bitzer growled angrily at Shaun., but the sheep didn't care. His friend belonged here, in the farm.

Blondy lifted Bitzer up and gave him a big hug, thankful he was alive and well.

He led the dog inside, and Shaun waved cheekily to Bitzer.

But that wouldn't be the last of it all.