Barry Read Online Free Page B

good because the snow did not form little balls on it as it did on the coats of the longer-haired dogs that sometimes visited the hospice. Those poor dogs got cold and stayed cold.
    One fine night, I was padding along in the snow in front of Michel when I came to a sudden halt.
    I could not have said what stopped me like that. Perhaps it was a stillness in the air and the earth, even more arresting than the stillness of the snow. Michel stopped, too. He swung his lantern toward me.

    “What is it, Barry? Are you dawdling tonight?” he asked. He was not angry with me. But he was curious. I was curious, too. Something was happening. Something in the earth that came up through my feet and filled my body with the force of its presence.
    Something was coming! Something huge and heavy and cold!
    Suddenly, ahead of us, a good distance away but close enough that we could see it, a great rumbling torrent of snow came rushing down the mountainside. The silence was filled with a mightythundering that shook the earth. Michel called out and turned away to hide his head behind the collar of his coat.
    Then the thundering stopped and the earth grew still again. I no longer recognized the way ahead. It was buried in a deep layer of fresh snow.
    I confess that I could not help myself. I whimpered and cowered. Michel shook the snow off his cloak, then bent down and hugged me.
    “You will be all right, boy. You have just witnessed your first avalanche,” he said.
    And I knew with every bone in my body that it would not be my last one, either.

H IDE-AND -S EEK
    More avalanches followed. When the avalanches hit, the older dogs—Old Luc and Marius and Father—would go to the front door to wait while the clerics got ready. The clerics put on their cloaks and hats and took their long sticks in hand. Then the dogs would lead the way out into the snow with the clerics following behind, dragging their long sleds.
    I would wait anxiously by the door. SometimesI waited all day for them to come back. Once Marius returned alone. He barked and barked.
    We need more help!
he said.
    Is it bad?
I asked.
    Some men are trapped in an avalanche!
Marius said. He panted from the long run.
    What will you do?
I asked.
    Brother Martin and Brother Gaston came to the door.
    “What’s wrong, Marius?” asked Brother Martin.
    Marius grabbed Brother Martin’s hand in his mouth and pulled.
    Brother Martin looked at Brother Gaston and said, “It seems we are needed.”
    Brother Martin, Brother Gaston, and two marronniers donned their heavy cloaks and got their long sticks. I said to Marius,
What’s happening outthere? Tell me, what do you do when you go out on a mission?
    You will find out soon enough, Barry
, Marius said.
    The brothers went outside and each drew a sled from out of the shed. They followed, one after the other, in Marius’s paw prints. I stood in the yard and watched until all five of them disappeared into the whiteness.
    I sighed. I was nearly full-grown. Why couldn’t I go with them?
    Someone stroked my head.
    I looked up into Michel’s kind face. “What is the matter, Barry? Do you feel left out?”
    I whimpered. Michel understood me so well.
    “Your first birthday is coming soon. Your time to take part is nearly at hand,” he told me.
    I was still waiting by the door when I spied therescue party in the distance. On each sled was a body bundled in black wool blankets, bound by ropes.
    Michel and others inside the hospice sprang into action. I stood by and watched, trying to stay out of their way but wishing I could do something to help. They heated big pots of wine on the fire. They got heaps of blankets and dry clothes ready. In the kitchen, the clerics on duty prepared a thick savory soup. They filled two big basins with water and ice and snow.
What was that for?
I wondered. The hot wine and dry blankets and soup I could understand. But surely the travelers had had quite enough of ice and snow!
    By the time the rescue party drew their