Brave Janet Reachfar (Herself and Janet Reachfar)

Brave Janet Reaehfair

f\ ^

by

JANE DUNCAN

Pictures

by Mairi Hedderwick

i

1 jU.S.

US1861020 Duncan Brave Janet Reachfar

US1861020

j

Duncan Brave Janet Reachfar

uJ

° o s CL .

UJ

t— en

2 PUBLIC LIBRARY EORT WAYNE AND ALLEN COUNTY,

IND,

CO

OQ

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

5T0

3 1833

00704 8603

Brave Janet Reachfar by JANE Pictures

©

DUNCAN

by Mairi Hedderwick

1975 by Jane Duncan copyright 1975 by Mairi Hedderwick First American edition 1975 Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved

Text copyright Illustrations

©

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Duncan, Jane. Brave Janet Reachfar. During a sudden snowstorm, Janet ventures out onto a forbidden hill to rescue a lost sheep only to wind up

SUMMARY

needing help First [1.

:

herself.

published in

London under

Snow — Fiction]

1.

PZ7.D899Br ISBN o-S 1 64-3 130-2

title

:

Herself and Janet Reachfar

Hedderwick, Mairi, [Fie]

illus. II. Title.

74-8693

A Clarion Book THE SEABURY PRESS

NEW YORK

J

1

Everybody her

called Janet "Janet

home was named

Reachfar" because the farm which was.,

"Reachfar".

Highlands of Scotland and looked

The

nearest house to Reachfar

It

lay

down

on top of

towards the

a hill in the-

sea.

was two miles away but Janet never

U.S.

1861020

~.-/

V felt

lonely.

She

also

father

who

fff

She had her dog called Fly and her

Angus.

had her family: her grandfather and grandmother, her

and mother, her aunt and her

did

ferret called

special friends,

most of the work about the farm.

Tom

and George,

Janet's grandfather

was

a little deaf.

He

was very

old,

with

a

long white beard, and he

spoke very seldom and went about the farm by

imself Janet saw her father only in the evenings, for he

another farm

all

day.

managed

Her grandmother, her mother and Aunt Kate

were usually too busy

to talk to Janet very

grandmother who, Janet thought, must be the

much — especially busiest

woman

her

in the

whole world.

Granny was always bustling about and "laying down the law" or being "on about" things, as George and Tom called it. Only they did not

call

her

"Granny" when

she

was on about things

— they

called her "Herself".

t

One noonday

in spffig,

when Janet and

her family were sitting

at

the big kitchen table having their dinner, the sun suddenly seemed

and the sky went dark. Big

to disappear

past the

flakes

of snow began

to fly

window.

"I told

you

this

was coming," Granny

said,

and

it

was

in

her

to rain

and

"Herself" voice.

Granny always seemed

when

there

was going

to

to

be

know when a gale.

it

was going

George and

Tom

said that there

man who lived in the brown jug on the top shelf of the dresser who told Granny about the weather, but Janet knew that this was not true. One day when everybody was out of the house, Janet

was

a little

had climbed right up and looked insid|^pl nothing in

it

but

a

few

nails

and

a

deaosp^W^

jiifc

and there was

"I told

me. You

you," Herself

know

best

all

said again,

"but none of you ever

the time."

This was not true either. Janet thought that everybody

was always "I said

listening to Herself

it

was too

High Moor and

me now shelter

that

of the

She spoke

all

the time.

You

at

Reachfar

could not help

early in the year to put the sheep out

the East Hill," Herself

you have

to

Home Wood as if

listens to

went

on.

go and bring them

on

it.

the

"So don't blame all

back into the

again."

everybody was arguing with her but nobody was

saying a word.

Everybody was watching

the snow,

which was \.«

growing thicker and thicker and

piling

up on

the frames of the

windowpanes. "//

Candlemas

Herself finish

the

said.

be bright and fair, half the winter's

"And Candlemas

this

to

come and more"

year was like a day in June. So

your dinner, George and Tom, and fetch the sheep back into

wood." 'Yes, Mistress,"

Tom

and George

said together.

They put on from the rack

their

heavy coats and mufflers, took and

in the passage,

Fan, out of the barn.

Then they

set

their tall sticks

called their sheepdogs,

Moss and

off towards the gate that led to the

High Moor. Janet followed them with Fly, but she did not go further than the gate. The High Moor was a forbidden place.

"We will

gather the big flock off the Heights

said at the gate. till

we

get back.

"Those

Run

first,

Tom," George

ewes on the East Hill will have

thirty

along into the house, Janet, out of all

to wait

this

snow

and cold." Janet and Fly turned back

go

into the house.

nobody ever

down

the farmyard, but they did not

There was no point, with Herself on about

listening to her.

.

MP

t

P

n

>•

W

it i

n

urif:

i

•'

•

/

n

Janet

>* I

4

went

into the stable and climbed

Betsy's manger, while Fly lay

Stroking Betsy's

was

a

magic

sort

face,

down on

up

to

a sack

by

sit

the wall.

Janet thought about her grandmother. She

of person

— something

like a witch,

ugly or wicked witch. She was rather beautiful, abouts" did not

last

for very long,

into the person they called

Almost magically

wise.

Granny,

sight. It

really.

who was

Her "on

gentle and wise.

Granny always seemed

seemed

but not an

and soon she would turn back

you had been and what you had been up

away out of her

on the edge of

to,

to

know where

even when you were

to Janet that

far

Granny knew not only

about the weather, but about every single thing in the whole world. Janet gave Betsy's neck a final pat and climbed

manger, saying inside her head the rhyme that

had made:

she,

down from

Tom

the

and George

When The Herself

Angus, her

of us are

When Janet

to.

go

to

better out.

into

to the

Granny by

tea-time, but

barn to have

a chat

with

want

to be

ferret.

Angus, however, made

moment,

three

would have changed back

meanwhile Janet decided

chatted

Herself is on-about

shut

them

it

quite clear that he did not

spoke to him, he opened

again, snuffled,

tightly. Janet shut his

his

pink eyes for

a

and curled himself up more

box and went through

the door at the end of

the barn into the byre.

Maggie, the big black cow, was lying on her

among head

a

the

warm

straw. She

shake and her

and lean against her

tail a

fat

side in her stall

was more welcoming. She gave her

twitch, inviting Janet and Fly to

warm

sit

down

body. Then she went on chewing her

cud, her big tongue flicking round and round inside her mouth.

r

*«v*

Feeling the

warmth of Maggie,

Janet began to think of the poor

sheep out on the cold East Hill. She could not stop thinking about

them.

It

would

take

Tom

George and

a

long time to bring

from the High Moor. The ewes on the East

flock

very long wait.

.

.

Hill

down

the

would have

a

.

Suddenly Janet stood up. She buttoned up her coat and put on her

woollen hood and gloves. "Heel, Fly," she

warm

said as they left the

steamy byre for the snow and cold of out-of-doors.

The ever.

East Hill

was

The wind kept

a

long

way

trying to

off,

and today

it

seemed longer than

blow Janet and Fly backwards

as

they

plodded through the deepening snow on the path through the wood.

At

last,

of the

though, they came to the

wood

onto the bare

hill

little

where

gate that led out of the

the

snow was

comer

like a thick

cloud

of feathers. '9

When Janet fingers

too

went

took off her glove to undo the latch of the gate, her

stiff

with the cold. The East Hill was

— but Janet did not intend

on to

it.

to

go

right out

on

a

to

forbidden place, it,

not

right

out

"

"Seek, Fly!" she

George. "Sheep!

said,

Go

waving her arm

or

body seemed

to

seek!"

The dog crouched low, slide

Tom

at the hill just like

so that her dark furry

under the blowing snow. She ran out onto the

hill,

while Janet

waited in the shelter of the trees by the gate.

Soon

the sheep began to

come towards Janet. "One, two,

she counted as the woolly creatures galloped one the

narrow gateway, baa-ing

as if to say

three

—

by one through

thank you for the shelter of

the trees.

"Twenty-nine," Janet

more, Fly!

Go

seek!"

said

when

Fly

came

to look

up

at her.

"One

Fly disappeared into the

When

came back

she

paws up barking

she brought

to Janet's chest all

snow again and was gone

the time and

no sheep with

for a long time.

her.

She put her

and then began to dance round and round,

making bigger and bigger

her further and further out on the

circles that

took

hill.

She wanted Janet to follow her but Janet was not sure about Besides being forbidden, the East Hill under the blowing

this.

snow was

very wild, bare and frightening. In the end, though, she decided to trust Fly

who

always

knew

the

way home. She

shut the

and stepped out into the deep snow and driving wind.

0*

?

\

*

*

•

'

*>

\

'

\

little

gate

She was completely out of breath and her legs going to break with tiredness when,

hummock

to dig the

who

close to

its

Fly nuzzled into a

weak

tired voice as Janet

and Fly

snow away. Fly dug very quickly with her

paws, making the snow Janet

last,

they were

of snow and exposed the head of a sheep.

"Baa-aa," the sheep said in a

began

at

felt as if

fly

up

in a

cloud behind her. But

it

fore-

was

found the baby lamb, quite newly born and tucked mother.

in

/

"Stop, Fly," Janet

lamb and began and follow

to

said,

for she

knew

that if she picked

walk away, the mother sheep would struggle

lamb

inside,

and fastened the

coat again with the lamb's head sticking out between the

began

free

her.

Janet unbuttoned her coat, put the

buttons.

up the

When Janet

two top

and Fly started to walk away, the mother sheep

to struggle hard, baa-ing pitifully.

It

seemed she could not

get up.

.//*'

/

'*"

*

.'

I

/'

.'

..,

s

** T^

\i

:

They

all

Janet had

began

no

to

walk with the snow blowing behind them.

idea of the

way home

but that did not matter, for not

only was Fly there but George and

Tom

As they walked, they began

make

to

they reached the gate into the farmyard to Herself as soon as they

went

as well.

a it

Its

the East Hill gate.

mother's leg was stuck

And

that

is

why we

was

into the house

Janet found the first-bom lamb

Near

rhyme, and by the time

iu

are late.

some wire

finished.

They

told

it

Herself looked from

Tom

to

George, and then on to fanet with

the lamb's head under her chin. This

look she wore

when

was her suspecting look — the

she suspected that Janet,

George and

Tom

had

been up to something.

"Baa!" the

"That sternly. it

is

little

lamb

said in a small voice.

enough of your

silly

rhymes and nonsense," Herself said

"George, take that lamb out to the fold to

its

mother where

belongs."

"Right away, Granny," George

said,

beginning to undo Janet's

coat.

"This very minute, Granny,"

Now that

on

Tom

said.

knew that everything was all right. But she also knew wavto the fold with the lamb, George and Tom would

Janet their

be calling Granny "Herself", for she was

still

laying

down

the law.

"And you "and

sit

take those

down

at

wet things

the table beside your

Janet did as she

was

in,

no

was saying

sense at

went on, "Sometimes all,

in their heads.

It is

a

I

think

putting sheep out, taking

and prowling about among the snow and the cold

had no brains

to fanet,

mother where you belong."

told and Herself

the people of Reachfar have

them

off," she

wonder

that

as if they

some of them don't

get lost in the snow."

Janet's

miother was very quiet and spoke always

She spoke now. "If they got

have nobody

to scold.

lost in the

That would be

in a soft voice.

snow, Granny, you would terrible,

wouldn't

it?" she

said.

Herself looked

at

Mother, and Janet watched her change back into

Granny. Mother could always make her do

Granny smiled first

at Janet.

lamb of the spring

"But you

find that lamb."

are a clever girl, finding the

like that," she said.

be very hungry after %o\\\^ such

this.

"Eat

a long, long

a

way,

big all

tea.

You must

by yourself,

to

Granny took

the lid off the big black pot

With

supper soup.

the firelight shining

she did look like a witch

magic it

that

for a

you had gone

— a wise,

on the

on her

fire

face

and

and white

kind sort of witch

you had done

forgiven.

Janet Reachfar ate a boiled egg, a scone with butter,

with raspberry jam and factory tea.

of shortbread.

-..-

4

HIE

a piece

¥

'&>>

P% M

.

ft

.