Das Sheep-Team

Josh gathered us all for a meeting.

Josh: “Things haven’t exactly been smooth between us lately. George always believed in team-building in situations like this. How about we try something like that?”

Jamie (thought bubble): “Josh and I… a team?!”

Claire: “What do you have in mind, Josh?”

Gillian: “Honestly, not a bad idea. If it worked for George, why not?”

Josh had organized everything. Friday morning at 7 a.m., we met in the yard. Landon was already there with a trailer — inside were eight sheep.

Landon: “Alright, folks. Here’s your team-building exercise. A brilliant business idea, by the way. You’ll bring these eight sheep back to my herd in the Everwind Fields. On foot. Time limit: eight hours.”

We had to figure out the best route ourselves. The boys were confident we’d manage easily.

Claire: “Eight sheep, four of us. Two each. Let’s number them with spray paint so we don’t lose track.”

Jamie: “The shortest way would be across the frozen Silversong River. But going by Valedale Lake would be safer.”

Josh: “Safer? There are wolves near the lake. For them, sheep are a feast.”

Gillian: “I’ll help you number them, Claire.”

We finally decided to walk through the apple grove along the river and use the bridge. The river was frozen, but crossing it seemed too risky. At first, everything was fun. We laughed, planned, worked together. But keeping eight sheep together wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Jamie: “Claire, watch number three!”

Claire: “Jamie, number one is heading off!”

Shortly after the apple grove, Jamie stopped us.

Jamie: “There are wolves ahead. We should cross the river here.”

Gillian: “That’s a long stretch over the ice…”

But the wolves made the decision for us. Reluctantly, we led the sheep onto the frozen river. At first they resisted, but together we managed to move them forward. The opposite bank was already in sight when suddenly the herd panicked and started running. Then we heard it. A crack. The ice broke — and one sheep plunged into the freezing water. I grabbed it by its wool just in time.

Claire: “Hold on, Gillian! We’re coming!”

Jamie: “Josh, get the others across! We’ll pull it out!”

Josh: “Be careful! You could fall in too!”

Claire and Jamie reached me, and together we managed to pull the sheep back onto the ice. Soaked and freezing, we finally reached the other side — with all eight sheep.

Josh: “That could have gone very wrong. You did great.”

Claire: “That was really close. But we did it.”

Gillian: “Alright. Let’s bring the girls home.”

Jamie: “We all did well. I’m freezing. Let’s move.”

The rest of the way was short. We returned the sheep safely to Landon’s pasture.

Claire: “That was an amazing experience. I’d do it again anytime with this team.”

Gillian: “So… are we a good team or what?”

Josh: “We’re not just good. We’re perfect.”

Jamie: “Yeah. We are, Gillian.”