Reef - Chapter 1

Reef, the collie dog, lived in a village far, far away from the crowded towns and cities of Scotland, way up in the Highlands where the winds could be fierce, the mountains were jagged and the nights were so brightly lit with stars that you could see to the horizon even at the witching hour. She was born there in a farm just up the road and, after she was adopted by the family MacNeacail down at the inn, she had lived there all her live long days.  

She was a roaming kind of dog and known to all who lived in the village, from Mrs Paterson down at the post office to the MacMichaels who ran the farm over the hill. She knew every street in the village and felt like she owned them. She knew the children's route to school, and often accompanied them in the mornings when they'd feed her bits of toast as they walked along, even though they knew they shouldn't. She knew the bookshop's opening times, and they'd always lay out a bowl of water by the door as dogs weren't allowed inside. She didn't mind as she was more into adventures than reading, being a dog and all, but she'd pop along for a pat and a drink whenever she felt thirsty.  The chip shop and the hotels various were great in the evenings, especially down at the Arch which was right next to the sea and where people would throw sticks for her and she could bark at the ferry as it chugged in and out from the little jetty.

Reef had many friends in and out and up and down her little world. And when the tourists came she had many friends more. At the end of each day, she'd run back up to the Ceilidh Place, the hotel which the MacNeacails ran for a business, and she'd bark at the door to their private quarters and be let in with a clap and a cuddle and a biscuit, and always the same question from Big Bob, 'Well, Reef, what have you been getting messed-up in today?'  She always had an answer to that, and that answer was usually 'woof!'