Roy's Redemption

Chapter 2

            Years later, Roy became an active teenager who played every sport he could play. He played football, baseball, basketball, golf, and he even ran track. When not playing sports, he raised chickens and turkeys for 4-H and helped his parents around the farm as much as possible. One of his favorite hobbies was hog hunting. Over the years, he learned everything he knew about hunting from his dad. 

Bandit had also become the top dog on the farm. He could round up the cattle almost by himself, and when they went hunting, there was never a time when Bandit did not find a hog or even a pack of hogs. Bandit had even won awards for how he would get birds when they were dove or duck hunting. His eyesight and sense of smell were locked in. Bandit would protect the house and the farm when not rounding up cattle or hunting. Numerous times, he brought back dead snakes or rats up to the house. One evening when Roy was out in the back pasture he almost stepped on a rattlesnake. When that snake curled up and was about to strike Roy, Bandit was there in a heartbeat. He bit down on the snake and instantly started shaking his head. This went on for a couple of minutes, and finally, when the snake was dead, Bandit laid the dead snake down in front of Roy’s feet. He was the best dog Roy, or his dad had ever seen. Bandit could do it all. Bandit was truly the brother Roy never had. 

Of course, there were other times when Bandit didn’t fare so well. There were a few times when he passed by the wrong snake or critter. Roy and his dad always knew when something like that happened. Bandit would return with his eyes swollen nearly shut or some other body part swollen or bloody. If he got into it with the coyotes, he would return to the house with bite marks and scratches all over his coat. As he got older, he gained quite a few scars on his coat from his battles with the coyotes. Then there were the other times when Bandit would go head-to-head with a skunk. Bandit always won the war but everyone else knew he lost the battle. That stench would not go away for what seemed like weeks. 

Every chance Roy got, he would go hunting. Not always hog hunting but he would hunt deer, doves, ducks, coyotes and any other animal he could find out on their small farm. Bandit was always there with him. That dog was an excellent hunter. Roy’s dad always said Bandit was the best dog he had ever seen, and he claims to have raised hundreds of hunting dogs.