© 2012 Aaron Atkinson

Trading Up

Just as Uncle Bill was crossing the barbed wire fence at the end of the field, Indie caught a whiff of pheasant and frozen into a solid point. I looked a couple feet ahead of her nose and saw the rooster’s tail betraying his hiding place as it poked out of the clump of grass.

Uncle Bill un-straddled the fence and readied himself for the shot. I kicked the grass and a beautiful South Dakota rooster rocketed into the morning sky. With a bang, the wing-broken rooster fell back into the grassy marshland. A quick retrieve brought it to hand where it was shortly dispatched. High-fives were shared and photos were snapped.

Later in the day as we stopped on the side of a gravel road for lunch, Uncle Bill made himself a cheese sandwich. I’ve never fed Indie, but she must have spotted a likely target as she sat attentively at his feet while he ate. She occasionally tapped his leg with her paw, reminding him that she was there waiting.

Eventually Uncle Bill threw down a small piece of crust which Indie devoured without chewing. Encouraged by the fact that her efforts were working, she resumed her begging.

“Now we’re even,” said Uncle Bill.

Moments later he dropped the last couple bites of his sandwich for Indie to eat.

“And now you owe me another one.”

2 Comments

  1. Posted November 6, 2012 at 12:19 pm | #

    Classic Bill. One-liner, followed by another one-liner

    Now let’s teach him how to wear a ball cap.

  2. Aaron Atkinson
    Posted November 6, 2012 at 3:47 pm | #

    Yep and yep. Earlier in the trip I mentioned to him that he was liable to lose his hat if a wind picked up. “I’ve got another,” he replied, and there went that lesson. 🙂

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