Fiona and Tim

Fiona was a slow and silent child, but with seven sisters her parents had little time to give her. Tim, a puppy born at the same time, knew better and guarded Fiona carefully. Like twins they were, in a mutual bond of love and respect. He would guard her and she could command him with the wave of her hand. Only after a near fatal accident did Fiona's father realize that she was a deaf mute but "not dim or daft or half-witted...and he knew that she could work a dog. And he knew that even if she did not have a son, he had someone who could help him work the sheep."