‘Should be careful what you wish for, Dad.’ Billie gazed balefully out of the window.
He gave the horn another blast. One or two of the fuzzy obstacles turned to look at the car, but they didn’t seem inclined to move, despite the alarming noise coming from it. ‘They really are the stupidest creatures…’
‘They’re unbothered, I’ll give them that,’ Zoe said.
‘Bloody hell…’ He got out of the car, leaving the engine running.
‘Do you think he’s stressed?’ Billie asked with an unmistakable note of sarcasm in her voice.
‘Whatever gave you that idea?’ Zoe replied, matching her energy.
‘You’re not stressed, are you?’
‘Not yet. I can’t say I won’t be happier when the sheep move, though.’
They both watched from the back seat of the car as Alex began to flap his arms, trying to shoo some of the sheep out of the way. It was almost comical to see how roundly they ignored him.
‘How are you doing?’ Zoe asked, turning her attention back to Billie.
‘I’m fine. It’s Dad we need to worry about. Look at him. God, I wish I could…hang on…’ She got out her phone and began to film him.
Zoe had to smile. It was good; it meant she wasn’t in too much pain yet and wasn’t panicking – which was more than could be said for poor Alex.
‘Wait till I show him this,’ Billie continued. ‘I’m going to keep it, and when the kid is older, I’m going to show them.’
‘It’ll certainly beat fusty old family snaps. Maybe I should go and help him. They don’t seem very bothered by him, do they?’
‘No. Dense, that’s why.’
‘Who? Your dad or the sheep?’
Billie grinned as she stopped filming. ‘It’s hard to tell right now, isn’t it?’
‘A bit. Don’t tell him I said that. I ought to go and help him.’
‘I think you might make it worse.’
‘How so?’
‘You might confuse them if there’s two of you shouting. They’ll move in a minute when they get bored of standing there.’
‘I wouldn’t be so sure of that. You’ve driven past fields of sheep before, right? They’re generally pretty static, aren’t they? You don’t see them racing around – why do you think they’re so fat?’
‘That’s the wool.’
‘Be that as it may, I’m going to see what I can do.’
Alex was busy wafting his arms at the head sheep. At least, it seemed to be the leader of the pack, though none of the others seemed to be paying it any heed.
‘What do you need me to do?’
Alex did a double take. ‘Where’s Billie?’
‘I sent her to the off licence for some beer. Where do you think she is?’
‘Sorry, I meant…is she all right in the car by herself?’
‘She’ll have to be for a minute. It seemed more sensible to leave her and lend a hand here than watch you try to do this on your own.’
