Rose in a Storm by Jon Katz Read Free Book Online

grain out, then he came back and opened the gate to let them run to the troughs. It was a potentially dangerous situation, especially for someone who seemed anxious and confused—Rose understood the importance of appearing confident and decisive, no matter what. The animals believed she was in charge, so she was.
    Some of the steers weighed more than two thousand pounds and could easily crush or trample a person. Sam was never around these animals without Rose. When the dog saw that Katie was out in the pasture alone with them and a grain bucket, it was so different from the way Sam did it that it drew her attention and set off an alarm.
    She left the sheep and rushed around the corner and into the open door of the barn. She was running fast now, right past Winston, who clucked and huffed in surprise. Rose came rocketing out the other side. She saw that in the middle of the pasture, holding a grain bucket, trudging to the trough—seemingly unaware of two steers and five cows closing in on her from behind—was Katie.
    Cows should not be moving that fast, should never be that excited, never get so close to people. It was not yet a stampede, but it could become one at any moment.
    Rose barked and saw Katie’s head turn. Then she ran out in front of the steers and cows, who were starting to build up a head of steam. She darted close to Brownie, the largest steer, nipping him on the nose, surprising and distracting him. Shecircled around, and leapt up and bit his tail, causing him to bellow and turn, slowing the animals behind him.
    Surprised, Katie shouted in alarm. She reacted quickly, throwing the bucket away, the grain spilling to the ground, and then walking fast toward the open door of the barn.
    Brownie lowered his huge head to swing at Rose, but she was well back, circling and nipping. After a moment, she ran over to join Katie in the barn, and the door swung shut. The two of them stood there with Winston and the chickens in the dark corner of the barn, hay stacked all around them.
    Katie’s eyes were wide, and she was breathing heavily. She had a hand on her heart. Rose sat down, and Katie looked at her.
    “What are you thinking? That I’m foolish?”
    Rose tilted her head, so that her ears could more easily absorb this sound, and she puzzled over the tone of voice. It was not a command, or a reproach, but the tone made her curious.
    Katie sank down onto a bale of hay, and for once Rose did not back off or growl, but stayed close, meeting her gaze.
    “Thank you, Rose,” Katie said softly, a new tone of voice. Rose recognized it as affectionate, a tone of praise and appreciation she sometimes heard from Sam.
    She knew what Katie was trying to communicate, and for the first time, her tail wagged and she let Katie reach out to pet her, licking her hand two or three times. But she withdrew before Katie could touch her.
    “Well, well,” Katie said. “So Sam was right. Once somebody works with you, then they have a purpose in this world, huh?”
    *   *   *
    N OW , A POWERFUL GUST of wind blew snow and ice into Rose’s face, and she shook it off, brought sharply back into the present. She felt the wind, and a numbness in her paws, which was rare. There was a chill that ran down her spine and caused her to shake, as if it were summer and Sam had turned the hose on her.
    She turned from the stump and began to trot homeward.

FIVE
    W HEN R OSE EMERGED FROM THE WOODS AND APPROACHED the road in front of the farm, she found it completely covered in snow. Since she had left the farm, a vicious squall had set in, and it was more obvious once she was outside the cover of trees. The snow was now falling more heavily than she had ever seen it. It was already deep enough that it was brushing the fur on her belly.
    She imagined the sheep and other animals beginning to panic, not because the snow was that deep, but because it was falling so thickly that it had become like a wall, surrounding everything. The farm animals had