Read Online Dark River Road by Virginia Brown - Free Book Online Page B

middle of town. He’d helped Dempsey mow the lawn so many times he knew every place the geese had their nests, but this time of year there weren’t any babies. Soon the wild geese would fly away like they did every year, lifting off in a wide vee like an arrow and going to wherever it was they went for the winter.
    A lake sat in the middle of the park, with benches around it and reeds and cattails along the shoreline. Geese and ducks floated in the middle or pecked for food among the reeds, and on occasion, huddled greedily near anyone foolhardy enough to bring old bread out to feed them.
    Chantry had a healthy respect for the geese. They nipped pretty hard, and once an old gander had gotten him down on the ground, beating his big wings and pecking him so hard in the back of his head it’d drawn blood. If Shadow could herd geese, he could herd anything.
    At nearly four months, the pup had that gangly look to him, all legs and attitude. Chantry didn’t expect much this first time, just wanted to see what the pup could do. Some dogs had it in them to naturally herd. Some had to be taught. He’d read up on it, but he didn’t have much free time or the equipment required to really train him. He’d have to improvise.
    “Sit here,” he told Mikey, and lowered him to a bench not far from the lake. “We’ll see what he does.”
    He knelt beside Shadow and unsnapped the lead from his collar, but kept a firm hand on him. Shadow fixed him with a steady gaze, his clear eyes attentive. Black floppy ears pricked up a little like he knew something new was about to happen. As a blue merle Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dog he had a blue-gray base coat with black and liver spots, white fur on his chest and toes, and his legs were dark. Fully grown, he might get to seventy or eighty pounds and stand over two feet high at the shoulder. Right now, he was all pup.
    “Okay boy, here’s what you’re gonna do,” Chantry said and pointed to several geese at the edge of the lake. “Fetch.”
    Shadow already knew how to fetch a stick. He’d have to learn how to fetch stock, bring them around from pasture to pen despite obstacles like fences and open gates. Catahoulas used a different approach to herding, more of an intimidation technique. Large animals like cows would be the eventual goal, but for now the gaggle of geese would do.
    Already intrigued by the feathered prey, Shadow bounded forward. Bred to handle wild cattle and boar hogs in rough country, Catahoulas were also used in hunting coon, bear, or anything else a man might want. A few geese should present no real danger, even to a pup.
    Diving right into the middle of the geese before they could scatter, Shadow let out an excited bay that was still high-pitched instead of the deep call it would be one day. Angry hisses returned the greeting. A big gray-feathered goose darted toward him with long neck out and thick bill meaning business. Shadow stumbled over his big puppy feet trying to get out of the way and went down, rolling while the goose stabbed him sharply a few times. Yelps rent the air.
    “Oh help him, Chantry,” he heard Mikey call, but he stood still and waited.
    Another goose darted in, pecking fiercely at the pup. Shadow got to his feet, clear eyes rimmed in white and looking wide as dinner plates in his blue face. Some people said dogs don’t have expressions, but if ever there was an expression of surprise on any canine face, Shadow had it now. He backpedaled a few feet, hind legs slipping into the water. A third goose joined the fray. Water splashed, feathers flew, and in a couple of minutes, Shadow emerged from the water with new resolve. He darted at one of the geese and it half-flew, half-ran out of reach. He went after it. Chantry watched closely in case it looked like the pup would go in for a kill. That’d be trouble.
    But Shadow retreated just enough, coming around fast enough the goose didn’t catch him again. In stalking mode, he drove it forward a