A STRANGE SICKNESS

When everyone had had enough to eat, Naya led Nicky and Paulina to the middle pen. All the sick sheep were there. They were eating, but they looked tired. Wool was falling from their backs, dotting the prairie with white tufts.

“Moldy mozzarella!” cried Nicky. “The Great Shearing will take place in less than a month, and we won’t have any wool to sell!”

“What’s the Great Shearing?” Paulina asked. She pulled on a pair of plastic gloves and carefully picked up samples of soil and grass to analyze.

“These are wool sheep,” explained Nicky, reaching down to hug one. “Every year at the end of the cold season, we shear them — that is, we cut off their wool. Once all the sheep are sheared, we sell the wool to factories, who use it to make sweaters, dresses, and blankets.”

“Poor things!” Paulina exclaimed. “Does the shearing hurt them?”

“Oh no, of course not!” Nicky replied. “As long as it’s done well, and gently. It’s kind of like getting a furcut.”

Paulina wanted to pet the sheep, but the closer she got, the more nervous the sheep became. They stomped their hooves and pressed against one another.

Paulina tried to reassure them. “It’s okay, little ones! I just want to see if you’re okay.” She turned to Nicky. “Are they acting like this because they don’t know me?”

Nicky shook her snout. “No, there’s something wrong. They’re usually very friendly. If they get frightened, they just run away. I’ve been around sheep my whole life, and I’ve never seen one stomp its hoofs before.”

Nicky was worried. The sheep were obviously sick, and the Great Shearing was coming up soon. There was no way her parents would be back in time. It was up to her to take care of things.

Nicky shivered. She was just a mouseling. How could she take on so much responsibility? But on the other paw, how could she not? If she did nothing, the sheep would just get sicker. They might even die. She had to do something! But what?