This book takes us back to the same locale of the previous book, "The Running Foxes", and many of the same people, such as Jasper and his Irish Setter, Nell, Dai Evans the veterinarian, and Ned Foley the sometime poacher but lover of all things wild. However, on this trip to Bruton-under-the-water, we also come to know Pete Lanark the sheep farmer and his family, most noticeably the youngest, Johnny, who is five.

But much of the story revolves around a Border Collie pup born in the wilds to a sheepdog who abandoned her cruel master. Rex learns her distrust of humans, and through his unwillingness to submit, risks being shot as a possible sheep killer.

Ms. Stranger has again woven a lovely story of an earlier time with a partially new cast of characters and situations. Her books have a way of enveloping you as you read, making it hard to close the book and leave her world behind. ( )