Jon Katz, of Bedlam Farms, has written a very powerful novel, using his very own Border Collie, Rose, as the narrator of this tale. Surely, based on one or more storms that they have encountered at Bedlam Farm.
Rose is focused on the sheep, during lambing season, when a storm of immense proportions hits the farm that she lives on with her farmer/person Sam.
Sam does all he can to prepare for the oncoming storm, but injures himself after falling off the barn roof. Painfully, and slowly, Sam is able to drag himself back to his home, with some assistance from Rose.
Rose's main purpose on the farm has always been to herd the sheep, but now with Sam injured she realizes that she is the only one who can gather all the other animals to safety, a chore made difficult by the fact that the animals are hungry, thristy and scared of what's going on.
In a surprise move, Rose accepts "old dog" who has been wild since his owner (a friend of Sam's) died several years before - Sam had tried to care for "old dog", but "old dog" never trusted humans after his owner's death. Rose realizes that she needs an ally to fend off the coyotes, who will eventually attempt to attack all the animals for their survival when they realize that the human, Sam, is not there to scare them off. At some point, Rose realizes that "old dog" is her father, they bond and work together as best as they can to keep the animals safe. But some things are just part of nature, not all will survive.
Don't know how he did it, but while reading this, I did feel as if Rose really was narrating this story. Boy, was it cold!
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