Page 5 of A Second Chance in Seabury
Sheep?! Wait, that wasn’t right!
Surfacing a little further from her dream, Hannah frowned as she blinked awake, only to spot a pair of eyes in a wide, woolly face staring right at her. She shook her head, wondering if she was hallucinating.
Maybe she was coming down with something?!
Hannah blinked again. The sheep blinked back. There was something slightly unnerving about its steady stare.
‘Who are you?’ she muttered.
Blink.
‘Stop looking at me like that,’ she huffed. ‘Thisismy garden, you know!’
The sheep blinked again, then—just to prove that it was real and not a figment of her imagination—it let out a loud and rather definitiveBAAAA!!
‘Shh!’ she hissed, struggling to sit more upright in the deckchair and praying she wouldn’t get eaten in the process… by the chairorthe sheep!
‘BERNARD?!’
The yell made Hannah jump, and the deckchair gave an ominous creak beneath her. She hastily struggled out of its depths, scrambling to her feet just as the thing collapsed in a pile of wood and canvas.
The sudden movement made the sheep take several steps backwards. It shook its head in apparent disgust. Hannah eyeballed it, wondering whether it was gearing up to headbutt her or something.
‘Bernard?! Where are you, you woolly sod?!’
The voice was deep and male and sounded like it was coming from somewhere right behind her. Hannah turned this way and that, but she couldn’t see anyone. She frowned and shook her head. Maybe she reallywasstill dreaming.
Just as Hannah was contemplating dashing back indoors to hunt for a thermometer to check for a fever, a large, booted foot appeared on her side of the boundary hedge, kicking its way through a gap in the undergrowth. It was promptly followed by a pair of scruffy jeans… and then, an equally scruffy man.
Hannah watched in pure confusion as the intruder struggled to free himself from various bits of tangled bush before turning in her direction.
‘There you are!’
Hannah raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t sure if the man was talking to the sheep… or to her!
‘Oh,’ he said, clearly spotting her for the first time. ‘Hi.’
‘Hello,’ she muttered, crossing her arms tightly.
Mr Eaves.Of course it was him. Who else would be cheeky enough to climb through a gap in the hedge and disturb the best nap of her life?!
‘I’m really sorry,’ he said, running a distracted hand through his hair and then pausing to remove a stray leaf. Picking it out, he stared at it in wonder, as if he couldn’t quite work out how it had got there. Then he let go, and they both watched as it fluttered down onto the grass.
‘You were saying?’ said Hannah, doing her best to swallow down an inexplicable urge to laugh.
‘Just… sorry… about him,’ he said, nodding at the sheep, which was standing as bold as brass between them on the lawn. ‘I reckon Bernard might be part goat. Turns out he’s a bit of an escapologist.’
Hannah glanced at the sheep. It stared back at her before turning to Mr Eaves.
‘BAAA!’
‘Right,’ Mr Eaves nodded. ‘Yes… let me just get him back next door.’ He raised his arms in the air and waved them around vaguely.
Hannah bit her lip, doing her best not to giggle… something that got even harder when Bernard shot a look at her. She could swear he raised a disdainful eyebrow before scuttling off in the opposite direction.
Several minutes later, Hannah’s face was aching with the effort of stopping herself from laughing. It was like there was a dam waiting to burst as she watched Bernard leading Mr Eaves on a merry chase up and down the neat garden paths.
‘Come on, boy,’ puffed Mr Eaves, still hot on Bernard’s hocks. ‘Just… get… back…’
