so much work to do that he had very little time to spend with his son With only two sisters for company on an isolated farm David could be a handful at times Boredom easily set in and he was always getting into trouble for his antics His imagination and his bad taste in practical jokes were always the cause of friction between he and his sisters He could tolerate Sarah but he had no time at all for Emma He thought she was from another planet today David asked smirking at his oldest sister refuse to talk to him after Friday’s performance He is so embarrassing Emma pouted turning away Emma was referring to the teasing or more accurately abuse David and his friends had subjected Emma and her boyfriend to when he had spotted them walking hand in hand on the way to class Steve was a fair target in David’s Mom tell him to mind his own business I Emma meeting Steve at lunchtime again 12
Emma don’t give me any grief David You’re a jerk Emma snapped storming off to mind although he had been forced to make a quick escape when the almost six-foot Steve had decided he had had enough and went after his new love’s younger brother whispered or I’ll tell them what I saw you doing on Wednesday and how that didn’t look like Steve to me even though it was hard to tell for sure with you all over him her room Sarah followed Emma scowling at her brother as only sisters know how to this bickering barked Mrs Davies Eat your breakfast David looked out the window again His dad had just climbed over the fence next to the large barn where they stored most of the winter hay The barn was also home to the family’s hens He was David give it a rest I’m fed up with all 13
Nope everything seems okay Mr Davies Hey Dad everything alright David asked carrying the double barreled shotgun he usually took out to scare off unwanted visitors Foxes and crows were the usual targets David opened the kitchen door and ran out to meet his dad Any problem with the sheep replied That fox must have left Those chickens woke me up again last night What a noise Just wait until we get ourselves a new dog next week That’ll scare him off David’s old family dog had disappeared two weeks ago Nobody knew what had happened to him David’s dad had guessed he had fallen down some old foxhole and not been able to get out He had been a good dog for making sure the local foxes were kept at bay But now he was gone It had upset David The dog was often David’s only companion on the farm and they had spent a lot of time together 14
Do me a favor Davy will you Mr Davies Morning where’s my coffee Mr Davies Sure Dad David replied running off to the shouted as he kicked off his boots outside the kitchen door Go and get me half a dozen eggs from the barn I could do with a couple of nice fresh boiled eggs I’m starving barn happy to help his dad demanded jokingly as he opened the kitchen door Where it usually is in the pot Help yourself Mrs Davies replied cleaning up the girls dishes I hope you took off those dirty boots They were both stopped in their tracks with a sudden chilling scream from the barn Daad Daad Help Help Get out there John that’s David 15
