Chapter 19
A rescue mission? No, no, nope. She wasn’t, she couldn’t.
She couldn’t go and rescue the sheep. For one thing, how would they even get the animal back to where it had come from?
Winding down her window, she stuck her head outside and looked up and down the road.
There wasn’t a sheep to be seen, well, apart from the one in front of them, so how would they know where to return it?
It wasn’t as though it had just escaped from a field full of the cloudy creatures.
Scarlett slumped her shoulders, realisation hitting her like a ton of bricks.
Of course, Claudette. It was Claudette. They weren’t far from Meadowfield; in fact, if her sense of direction was any good, then Little Mead would be just up around the corner.
That and the fact Claudette had a penchant for escaping.
She wound the window back up slowly, pretending not to have heard Rowan calling her to help. Twisting a strand of hair that had worked its way from her messy bun around her forefinger, she watched as he attempted to usher the sheep towards a broken fence leading into a field.
Once again, Rowan looked up towards her, his expression one of confusion. He was probably wondering why she hadn’t jumped out of the van straight away when they’d spotted the sheep, and who could blame him? It was weird, she was well aware, but what was even weirder was her sheep phobia.
She bit down on her lower lip, the taste of blood pooling in her mouth as she unravelled her hair from her finger and tucked it behind her ear.
What was worse – that he thought she was a heartless animal hater who didn’t care if the sheep ended up as roadkill, or that he thought she was weird when he found out about her phobia?
Weird. She’d much prefer he thought she was weird rather than an animal hater. Besides, she couldn’t very well sit here in the comfort of her van and watch him slip and slide across the slush, could she?
Plus, she owed it to Nicola and Charlie to make sure Claudette was safely returned to Little Mead.
They’d put her up when she’d needed it and even accepted little Thelma.
Taking a deep breath, she swung the van door open and jumped out into the slush covering the road before she could change her mind.
As she slowly neared Rowan and Claudette, Scarlett could feel her heart hammering in her chest. After developing these feeling towards the fluffy walking clouds as a child, she’d always avoided visiting farm parks or going for country walks without first checking whether the route would take her through fields of sheep, and now she was walking towards one.
She glanced over her shoulder at the safety of her van before fixing her gaze back on Claudette, every cell in her body fighting against her, trying to rationalise the situation.
Claudette was just a sheep, a sheep who ate grass and whatever else, but most definitely not meat and not humans.
And although cases had been reported worldwide of sheep causing harm and death to humans, they had mostly involved angry rams, not an escapee sheep called Claudette who was used to people and most definitely not dangerous. At all.
Not dangerous.
‘Scarlett, she’s coming your way,’ Rowan called softly from the other side of the road as Claudette turned and trotted towards Scarlett.
See? Nothing to worry about. She was trotting, not cantering, or running, or anything.
Just a little trot, just like a harmless jog.
Scarlett froze as Claudette came towards her before turning and heading towards the gap in the fence into the field.
The field, which she was pretty sure was too far out to belong to Little Mead, the field which stretched right up to the brow of the hill and likely down again.
The field that if Claudette went into, they’d never be able to catch up with her again and return her home.
Clenching her fists, Scarlett felt the urge of adrenaline push past the fears and ran towards the fluffy creature, unsure of what she’d actually do when she got there.
As though stunned by Scarlett’s movement, Claudette halted and dipped her head towards the grass verge, once again nuzzling the light dusting of snow from the ground and beginning to eat.
This was her chance, this might be the only chance they had of securing Claudette. Scarlett slowed to a walk, and when she reached her, Claudette looked up, her eyes fixed on Scarlett’s, and Scarlett frowned, feeling the fear she’d felt ever since she was a small child slowly easing.
Not fully, but enough to allow her to reach out towards her, her hands sinking into the thick, woolly covering.
As she gently gripped Claudette’s fleece, she looked up to see Rowan jogging towards her, and nodded towards the van parked a few metres away.
‘Can you open the side door of the camper, please? I think this is Claudette who lives up at Little Mead.’
Without saying a word, Rowan opened the door before jogging back to her, and between them they managed to manoeuvre Claudette into the van before Scarlett slid the door back into place and leaned against the cold metal.
Taking breath after breath, she tried to slow her heart rate; she could feel her hands shaking and her legs begin to wobble as it hit her what she’d done.
She’d faced her fear. She’d not only got up close to a sheep, she’d even touched one.
Standing in front of her, Rowan held his hands out towards her. ‘Are you okay?’
Nodding, Scarlett slipped her hands into his and held on for dear life.
‘You’re shaking.’ Rowan frowned and looked down at their hands.
‘I have a sheep phobia.’ Scarlett could hear her voice shaking, but she continued.
‘You have a sheep phobia?’ Rowan raised his eyebrows.
‘I do. I did. I think that helped.’ She nodded toward the van. There wasn’t a sound coming from Claudette, so whether she’d settled onto the rug or was busy munching on a cushion or something, she had no idea. ‘It sounds daft, I know it does.’
‘Hey, it doesn’t sound daft. We all have our fears.’
‘I know, but a sheep? I mean, I know how it sounds, they’re just fluffy clouds, right?
’ She tilted her head. The last person she’d told had laughed directly in her face, ridiculed her for being able to pick up the biggest and hairiest of spiders without batting an eyelid and yet being so scared of a common farm animal that she ended up shaking and freezing to the spot.
Heck, even Tyler had laughed at her when he’d questioned her after realising she always turned Wallace and Gromit off as soon as Shaun the Sheep filled the TV screen.
He’d guessed and laughed at her, and he’d usually been so kind, so caring.
She shook her head. Yes, kind and caring, so kind and caring he wanted to share those particular attributes with more than one woman.
‘Well, yes, they seem harmless enough to some people, but fears don’t always make sense. People often don’t even know why they’re scared of something, but it doesn’t change the reaction.’ Rowan gave a small, reassuring smile.
‘Umm.’ Scarlett turned away and walked towards the other side of the van before pulling the door open and sitting behind the wheel.
Once Rowan was inside too, she continued.
‘I know exactly why I’m scared of them. When I was little, maybe four or five, my parents took me to Wales, and we followed a walk the caravan site manager recommended.
Only we must have taken a wrong turn because we ended up walking right next to the cliff top.
I mean, right next to it. I clung to my mum’s hand so hard, and she positioned me on the side furthest away from the cliff edge, but I could still see the sheer drop beside us. ’
‘That sounds terrifying.’ Rowan quietly shifted position, so he was facing her.
She nodded; she could picture it in her mind’s eye right now.
The sea at the bottom of the cliff, the waves pounding against the rocks, but that hadn’t been the worst of it; she’d never forget seeing the white fluff of a sheep emerge from the waters as the waves pulled the sea back before unleashing them again.
She just hoped the poor thing had had a sudden end.
‘And then, out of nowhere, this sheep came barrelling through the grasses on the other side of us, heading straight toward me and my mum. Looking back, I know the poor thing must have been equally as terrified and it wasn’t aiming for us or anything, it was just speeding down through the grass, the incline of the hill propelling it forward. ’
Rowan reached out and laid his hand on the sleeve of her coat.
‘And then, what felt like a millisecond before it would barrel into us and knock us over the edge, my dad grabbed its fleece and held it.’ She shook her head.
If her dad hadn’t noticed it when he had…
If her mum hadn’t then yanked her hand back just in time…
‘When I was younger, I relived it time and time again through my nightmares.’
‘I can imagine. A close call like that would make anyone cautious of sheep.’
‘Yes, you’re right. It would do.’ Scarlett looked down at his hand still on the sleeve of her coat and without thinking laid hers on top, the warmth of his skin against hers. ‘Thank you for understanding. And for listening. Most people just laugh.’
‘Well, I won’t laugh.’ Rowan smiled as he looked down at their hands.
‘Sorry, I…’ Scarlett went to draw her hand back, but instead, Rowan turned his over and interlaced their fingers. Meeting his gaze again, she gave a small smile. ‘Your turn.’