Snip
An original story
By George Albert Morrow
Smashwords Edition © Copyright 2010 by George Albert Morrow
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All rights reserved by George Albert Morrow. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of any and all applicable laws.
Original © Copyright April 17, 1995
Revised Oct. 21, 2008 and May 24, 2010
“Come here little fellow,” as two hands reached down and pulled Snip from beneath the seat. Snip was a small fur ball of a puppy, about the size of a football. “It’s time you got acquainted with the family.”
Barney the barn cat watched as the master took the small dog into the house. Barney was a Manx, bob tailed and hind legs higher than his front. He could wheel on a dime, climb trees with the speed of a squirrel. He was white with splotches of gray and a couple splotches of tiger stripe. He went running off to tell the others about the puppy. First he went to Lucy, the matriarch of the farm. “Lucy, do you know what just came? I bet you can’t guess?” said Barney with a smirk on his face. “Let’s see,” said Lucy. “Would it be a puppy?”
“What’s this talk about a puppy?” asked Curly the goat dog. Curly was a dog of questionable breeding although his integrity was intact. He never wavered from his responsibilities and knew his job well and performed his duties as any good goat dog could do. He was black with a white blotch on his chest and he stood about knee high to a medium sized man. Though he was not old in years he was wise because of the inherent wisdom and training he received from Lucy. The Master had picked well when he picked him.
“It is true!” said Lucy. “There is a new puppy.”
“What do we need a new dog for?” asked Curly. “Especially a puppy who will just get in the way and chew up things? And the training will probably be left up to me!”
“No it won’t, this is a house dog” replied Lucy.
“Why do we need a house dog?” asked Curly. “We’ve never needed one before. The Master has always protected the house.”
“But as of lately you know the Master has been gone a lot, and besides the Mistress will soon have her child” said Lucy.
Snip was about six weeks old when he arrived at the farm and he was not allowed to venture outside the back yard because the gates were always closed. When he was about ten weeks old the gate had been left open so he found his opportunity for escape. Making his way through the gate and into the barnyard, noticing the mother hen scratching and teaching her chicks how to hustle for food, he started towards her. Before he could get within 10 feet of her and her chicks she puffed her feathers up like a blow fish and came at him. Snip was so startled he didn’t know what to do. Fear struck him and panic came upon him. He turned to run but only ran into the garden fence. There, cornered, the hen took her aggressions out on him, flogging him with her wings and pecking him with her beak. Just then, when he thought there was no escape from this unreasonable creature, two hands reached down and he heard a gentle voice say soothingly, “You’ll be okay Snip. But you shouldn’t be messing with those chickens.”
The hen strutted away with her head high. The puppy nuzzled into the soft arms of the Mistress and was thankful she was there.
Snip did not leave the yard for several weeks although he did see a three legged dog limping by on occasion. One day when Snip was about three months old his curiosity overcame him and he ventured out of the yard once again. He was halfway past the garden fence when out of the corner of his eye he saw his enemy, the hen. He didn’t want anything to do with her so he took off running as fast as he could around the corner of the garden, through the metal gates and into the field. Looking over his shoulder not paying attention to where he was going he ran right into Curly. “Hey what are you doing out here?” Curly asked with an angry reprimand. “You’re supposed to be at the house.”
“There was this thing that was big and mean and she has a whole bunch of little things around her that walk on two legs, they’re not dog at all.” Just then the mother hen and her chicks rounded the corner of the gate. “There they are now” said Snip. Looking down at Snip with a queer look in his eyes Curly asked, “Is that the big mean thing that you are afraid of?”
“That’s it” said Snip “although it didn’t look as big and mean as it did when he was being attacked.”
This is some kind of watchdog Curly thought to himself. “That’s a hen and her chicks, just stay away from them and they won’t bother you.”
“You need to get back to the house where you belong” said Curly. “Everyone has a job to do here and your job is at the house.”
“Well what is your job Curly?” asked Snip. “My job is to take care of the goats and make sure nothing happens to them even if it means my life” replied Curly.
“What is that old three legged dog’s job, to hobble around and have people feel sorry for her?” asked Snip.
Deep within himself Curly could feel the anger come up. With a growl in his voice he spoke, “You speak without knowledge about Lucy, in that dog beats the heart of kings. She might not be much to look at now but before the loss of her leg she was one to be reckoned with. She saved my life.”
“How could any old three legged dog save your life?” asked Snip.
“Well, she hasn’t always had three legs.” said Curly. “I was only but a pup of nine months, it was early in the spring and a mist hung over the pasture. It had been a hard winter and the coyotes were down early. The goats were kidding and the coyotes smelled the afterbirth. Four of them jumped the fence and came at the flock, but before they could reach it Lucy stood between them. With fangs bared, showing them that she meant business and warning them to stay away, she had told me to stay with the flock and not to let anything happen to them short of my own life. The coyotes paid no heed, they kept coming, good sense had lost them because of their hunger. She didn’t wait for their attack, she attacked first. With strong jaws she snapped and grabbed and slashed with her fangs. She fought them to a stand still. When it was over one was dead, one was mortally wounded and two ran and jumped the fence. She stood there in a daze. I had never seen her with the hatred that was in her then. She was almost delirious, finally collapsing. Not only did she save all the goats and the kids but she saved my life too for I was no match for the coyotes. When the Master came he found her lying in the field limp. I thought she was dead. He picked her up in his arms and carried her away. The next time I saw her she had lost one of her legs where the coyotes had grabbed a hold of it and twisted it. It could not be repaired. She carries her badge of courage with her now and she wants no one’s sympathy for she did what she had to do. The master takes care of her the same as he will take care of all of us if we do our jobs.”
One day Barney heard a barking noise that woke him up. Lazily rolling over on his back and then onto his side, looking down he saw Snip barking at a bale of hay. “What are you barking at, trying to scare that bale of hay?” asked Barney.
“I’m practicing” said Snip.
“Practicing for what, the great hay scare?” asked Barney.
“I’m practicing to scare those chickens, you think I can scare them?”
“You’re scaring me to death” replied Barney with a yawn. “I probably won’t be able to finish my nap.”
“You really think I’m ready?” asked Snip.
“Oh, you’re ready. You should go right now and take care of that chicken” Barney said with a smirk on his face.
Snip sat under the elm tree with his head hung down. “What are you feeling so down about?” said a voice. It was Lucy.
“Oh you wouldn’t understand” replied Snip.
“I might” replied Lucy.
“Well” said Snip “I was practicing to scare those chickens, but when I got out there and I started towards the hen, she came running at me squawking and carrying on so that I became afraid and ran away. A tear dropped from his eye. He was disappointed in himself for being a coward.
“Did you really do all those things Curly said you did?” asked Snip.
“I don’t know. What did he say I did?” replied Lucy.
“You know, about the coyotes and the loss of your leg” said Snip.
“I guess I did” said Lucy.
“Weren’t you afraid?” asked Snip.
“I guess I was” replied Lucy “but I don’t know. There was no time for fear.”
“I wish I was brave” said Snip.
“You will be brave when your time comes to be brave. Inside of you runs the blood of the noble wolf.”
With head still down Snip thought for a moment. “I may be part wolf but I’m still afraid of those chickens!”
It had been a year and a half since Snip had come to live on the farm with the Master and the Mistress. The Mistress had had her child and spent most of her time taking care of him. Snip was allowed to go anywhere on the farm but he always took a wide birth around the chickens.
One day a man stood looking over the fence. He had noticed the woman was there alone with the child. There was the dog but that was of no consequence to him. He had handled dogs before and this one didn’t seem too vicious. He had watched the place for many days and he noticed the dog always stayed away from the chickens. And if he was afraid of chickens, he would be afraid of him. In this, man was the essence of evil. There was nothing good about this man and worst of all he didn’t know it. He had no morals, no scruples, and no feeling for any other living thing. He only thought of himself and his own selfish desires. That same day the man came into the yard with the pretense of looking for a job. The Mistress was outside in the yard tending her flowers. Snip was lying beside her. When the man approached, the smell of the man filled Snip’s nostrils. Snip retreated to the corner of the house and looked around with a deep growl in his throat. He could sense the badness in this man. The Mistress stood up and greeted the man as she would anyone. After conversing with the man she told him there were no jobs available for him. As the vagabond walked away, he thought to himself that his suspicions were confirmed. The dog was a coward. He would return tonight and rob the house.
Lucy stood beside the corner of the barn and watched the man walk away. She hobbled over to where Snip was standing. “He may return” said Lucy. “Stay in the house and stay awake.”
“I will” replied Snip. Snip was concerned that he would be brave enough to take this man on if he should return. That night the child was cranky so the Mistress slept upstairs with the child. Snip did not sleep. He patrolled the house and every little creek made him alert. Then came the noise at the window, the sound of breaking glass. Snip approached where the sound came from, but he retreated. “What is wrong with me?” thought Snip. “Why don’t I attack now?” “Am I a coward?” The man came through the window just in time to see Snip’s tail disappear around the stairway. Snip went up the stairs and through the door where the Mistress and her child were asleep. When the man saw the dog retreating up the stairs he was sure it was a sign of cowardliness. Taking care of the dog would be easy he thought to himself. And that would be the first thing he would do.
Snip lay close to the bed as the man came up the stairs. The stench of the man filled Snip’s nostrils. His heart started to beat faster. He felt himself wanting to crawl under the bed but he kept his fear in check. It was his time now. The Mistress woke up. She could hear the deep growls in the dog’s throat. She knew there was someone in the house. The man walked down the hallway with a club raised. He would take this dog out with one blow. But as he opened the door of the bedroom there was no whimpering pup. There was a full sized wolf standing in front of him with his hackles raised and his fangs bared. Snip could not be pushed any further. This was where he would make his stand to protect his pack. The blood of the wolf had come to life and every muscle was like a band of steel and the tendons were like woven cords. As the man raised the club to strike, Snip lunged at the man pushing him back. Lunging again, he knocked the man down the stairs. Now the man lay on his back with Snip standing over him, one front leg above the man’s right shoulder and one leg below his left. Snarling and slashing with his fangs just seconds above the man’s nose, only waiting for the command from the Mistress to do away with him. Now the man, killer of dogs and robber of women, lay cowering below the dog crying and whimpering like the coward he was. The command to recover came from above Snip’s head. Looking up he saw the Mistress holding the child. This was not the command that Snip wanted and reluctantly he backed off. “Get up very slowly and walk toward the door” said the Mistress to the man. “If you ever come back to this property again I will not call the dog back and I will not be responsible for what he will do to you.”
The man opened the door and walked out knowing he had been beaten. A deep growl came out of Snip’s throat as the man walked out the door. Snip moved up to the threshold to hurry him on his way. The Mistress sank down on the stairs with the child in her arms. It was over and Snip had done what was expected of him. What the man had taken for cowardliness was only caution. Snip came back into the house and climbed the stairs to where the Mistress was sitting. Snip placed his head upon her lap. She rested her arm across his neck and patted his shoulder. “Thank you Snip” she said.
The next day when Snip was out by the fields, Curly and Lucy came up to him. Lucy had pride in her eyes as Curly spoke.
“Heard you had quite a night last night.”
“The wolf came out in him” Lucy said.
“It may have come out” said Snip “but I’m still afraid of those chickens!”
The End