The Tale of Rescue Chapter Sampler

8/20/2019 The Tale of Rescue Chapter Sampler

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is is a work of fiction. Names, c aracters, p aces, an inci ents aree t er pro ucts o t e aut or s mag nat on or, rea , are use ct t ous y.

Text copyright 2015 by Michael J. RosenIllustrations copyright 2015 by Stan Fellows

A rig ts reserve . No part of t is ook may e repro uce , transmitte ,or store in an information retrieva system in any form or y any means,

rap c, e ectron c, or mec an ca , nc u ng p otocopy ng, tap ng, anrecor ing, wit out prior written permission from t e pu is er.

First e ition 2015

Li rary of Congress Cata og Car Num er 2014949722 - - - 1 -

1 1 1 1 1 1 4 1

Printe in S enz en, Guang ong, C ina

is ook was typeset in Centaur M .e i ustrations were one in waterco or.

an ew c ress over treet

Somervi e, Massac usetts 02144

v s t us at www.can ew c .com


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I woul say that this story is inspire by an e icate

to my own dog, Chant, an Australian cattle dog, a rescue —

but that small honor needs to be extended to all the animal companions

who rescue each of us from the lives we imagine that we lead.

. .


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C a e On

is is a tale a out a cattle dog. S e ad a name,

ut only one person knew it and usually e called

er wit erding words like as and wa t nd ye nd t at’ o. Mostly e called er wit w istles.

T is eeler ad een orn in t e farmer’s

arn. S e ad lived t ere, wit an always

anging erd of cattle, er entire life. As ader mot er. As ad er mot er’s sire. Eac and

every cow knew t e lack-ticked cattle dog y


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er stares and y er arks — t e ig -pitc ed

yelps t at signaled an intruder; t e w ining yodel

of excitement w en t e farmer appeared; t e

grum le- uff t at meant “pay attention” or

“freeze”; t e staccato woofs t at forced t em

to retreat or split apart; t e muffled yips aser paws flicked in a dream. T ey knew t e

rake and jab of her nails against their hides, the

pinc and grip of er teet nipping t eir eels

to get t em moving. (Yes, t at’s w y cattledogs are also known as eelers.)

Bred wit t e stamina to work for

ours — maneuvering a large erd, a cattle dog

ig t run seventy-five miles in a day — s eived for t e ours spent wit t e farmer.

Cast! S e gat ered up t e cattle.

ye S e veered around left of t e erd.


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Away! S e flew around rig t.

Loo ac S e instantly alted, pivoted,

nd das ed in t e opposite direction to locate

missing animal.

At dawn and at dusk, s e focused all

er attention and funneled all er energy intoarc ing t e cattle from pasture to pasture,

from barn to corral. Although the cattle dog

weig ed fifty pounds and eac of er forty cows

weig ed more t an a t ousand, t ere was neverquestion of w o was in c arge. T e eeler

directed, stopped, separated, and gat ered more

t an 40,000 pounds of cattle wit arks,

stares, nips, and a swiftness and agility t atllowed er to c arge among t e erd’s 160

egs, weave under t eir ellies — under t eir

ilk- eavy udders — an even c am er onto


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t eir ony acks. It was not easy work, ut it

was t e work er kind ad een red to do. It

was t e work s e loved.

is is also a tale a out a mot er, a fat er, and

t eir ten-year-old son. T ey, too, ad names, ofourse, ut no one else in t is story knew t em.

A family from Florida, they had rented

ca in in t e foot ills of t e Appalac ian

Mountains. W en t e mot er ad lived inio, near y cousins ad ooked t e ca ins at

t is lodge one year and cele rated New Year’s

Eve t ere. W ile ot parents ad grown up in

t e Midwest, t eir son ad never experienced awinter wit snow. T e lodge ad recently een

renovated, according to friends, so it sounded


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ike t e ideal c oice. Indeed, upon arrival, t eir

timing seemed perfect: suns ine, mild tempera-

tures, and lig t flurries to fres en t e full foot

of snow t at already carpeted t e countryside.

ne near y field — a distinctly defined rect-

ngle — was polka-dotted wit its of driedornstalks poking t roug t e w ite. Ot er-

wise, as far as the horizons, the snowy ground

was untrammeled: not a footprint, not a tire

track — and certainly none of t e gray slusnd spattered mud t at ordered t e weaving

roads t at conducted t em to t e lodge.

T e family rented cross-country skis and

partly glided, partly stomped, across t e land-scape; t eir overlapping parallel tracks left an

empty musical staff on t e lank pages of t e


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smoot fields. Later, t ey returned on foot and

t eir oot prints added t e notes.

T ey uilt a family of snowmen —

fat er, mot er, son — exactly t eir eig ts! T ey

orrowed sleds from t e lodge; t ey joined a on-

fire and roasted ot dogs; t ey stockpiled a moundof snow alls and waged a midnig t snow all

fight. The paired hearts of deer tracks stamped in

t e snow, stalactites of icicles along t eir ca in’s

tim er eaves, snow angels, frost-crazed window-anes — t eir snaps ots captured every wintery

t ing t ey’d never encountered in Florida.

On t eir last vacation morning, a lanket

of t ick, wet snowflakes ad settled on every-t ing w ile t ey’d slept. T e snow spackled

t e evergreens’ oug s. T e snow w itewas ed


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t e porc c airs and t e picnic ta le. It even

erased t e telep one wires. Only ints of color

peeked t roug : a yield sign’s yellow, t eir car

roof ’s lue. Anot er few inc es ad piled onto

t e foot or so of snow t roug w ic t ey’d

een tromping. Out t e ca in’s windows,t e ground glistened like finely grated dia-

onds — the sand at the beach near their home

did t e same t ing — w en t e sun pried a ole

in t e cloud cover.Before reakfast, t e family decided to

ike t e alf-mile to t e lodge. But no sooner

ad t ey undled into t eir parkas, scarves,

oots, and gloves, t an t e sky disappeared.ilting ack t eir eads and gazing straig t up:

dense, strangely eautiful confetti of snow


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locked everyt ing ut itself from view. A sud-

den gust w oos ed t e flakes sideways for a

few seconds, and t en, just as a ruptly, as if

it ad second t oug ts, allowed t e snow to

stream downward again.

In Florida, in years past, t e family adwitnessed raging tides and relentless storms

nd thrashing hurricanes, but nothing like this

snow’s dramatic antics. T ey ad never experi-

enced a w iteout.


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The Tale of Rescue

Michael J. Rosen

illustrated by Stan Fellows

www.candlewick.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-tale-of-rescue-michael-rosen/1121108111?ean=9780763671679http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Rescue-Michael-Rosen/dp/0763671673/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1429722605&sr=1-1&keywords=tale+of+rescue+rosenhttp://www.indiebound.org/book/9780763671679

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The Tale of Rescue Chapter Sampler