Tedi woke up just as Cross walked across the room to take him for his walk. He hopped down from the window sill. Tedi had been enjoying his dream but he was ready to go out for a walk.
” You ready for your walk, Teds”
That’s what Cross called him now after many years, and Tedi liked it. Only Cross was allowed to call him that and only in private.
“Where do you fancy going today, hopefully that joint care is doing some good, and we might get down to the lake today. What do you say?” Cross bent down and rubbed Tedi’s head.
The joint care was working and Tedi thought that he would like to go down to the lake , but slowly.
It was early Spring and the House and Gardens were starting to look their best, the place was just coming alive with blossom and the birds singing their mating calls. Cross and Tedi walked across the lawn towards the drive and where they would go over the bridge and down to the side of the lake. They both took it slowly. Tedi sniffing the grass and the flowers, Cross waiting patiently and enjoying the surroundings. The weather certainly was improving.
” Better for my old bones ” Tedi thought to himself as he sniffed his surroundings.
They arrived at their favourite place , the bench where a long time ago they had done the photo shoot and the photographer, Arthur had fallen in the water after Tedi had persuaded him to get in the boat. That incident was funny at the time, and everyone thought Arthur had got what he deserved, but there had been consequences, which thankfully Tedi was still here to think back on.
“Revenge is not sweet” Tedi thought, and then quickly moved on as it was a nice morning and he wanted to think of happy things.
Cross had some cushions and blankets and they made themselves comfortable and sat looking at the view of the house on the other side of the lake.
Tedi settled down on the bench beside Cross , who opened his bag and took out a flask of coffee. Tedi laid his head on Cross’s knee and fell asleep.
A few minutes and he was dreaming again.
He was back at the Grand Show on day two , visiting the reptile in the main house.
The reptiles fascinated him and scared him at the same time. Tedi decided to follow Ben Needham while he was doing his rounds after all the visitors had gone. Trinnie was not impressed.
After a busy second day , Tedi accompanied Ben on his rounds to make sure all the reptile exhibits were fed and watered and their enclosures cleaned and made secure. Trinnie went off in a huff with the other dogs to stay in the accommodation that had been set up in the Orangery for them. Trinnie had seen the three green tree pythons wrapped around the branches of a tree in their vivarium and that was enough for her. She was not going with Tedi, she was going to be safe in the Orangery.
Ben told Tedi to stay close and do what he said. Tedi and Ben started at the ground floor and worked their way up. The first enclosure they came to was the “Aldabra Giant Tortoise” which needed to be fed special grasses and herbs which Ben replenished along with fresh water and some more hay which they could eat or use for bedding. He brushed the inside of the enclosure and checked the temperature and the humidity. All was well so they moved on.
The next exhibit was a big glass tank which contained a Green Anaconda, now this was scary, it was a big tank and all Ben had to do was to turn off the lights in the tank, thankfully, the care notes for the snake said that it had been fed a week ago with some dead rabbits , so Ben didn’t need to open the top , he just checked that the lid was secure and turned off the lights after checking the water filters and heating was working. Tedi looked at the anaconda while Ben completed his tasks, Tedi shivered, and just before the lights were turned off , it stared at him. It was very scary, but Ben had did his checks and the snake wasn’t going anywhere.
The next exhibit was the Diamondback Rattlesnake, Ben looked at the notes and the snake would need to be fed. So he took some dead frozen mice out of the bag he was carrying and got ready to drop them in the tank. He had to open it from the top and this did disturb the two snakes within, who made loud rattling noises to warn any predators off, this again frightened Tedi and he moved away from the glass and waited at a distance for Ben to finish. Once the Rattlesnakes had saw the mice they moved towards them and devoured them.
“They must have been hungry” Tedi thought and gulped. Perhaps Trinnie had been right , this was all very frightening, but he couldn’t go back , he had to stay with Ben.
There were lots of lizards, chameleons and iguanas to be checked on the ground floor, so Ben got on with what he needed to do and then signalled to Tedi it was time to go upstairs.
Tedi and Ben went up to the big aquarium upstairs, this housed the Yacare Caiman’s from South America. They were very like alligators , Tedi had seen them arrive , but had only had a glimpse. Now he could see them in all their glory, they were big. One had actually shed it’s skin and the skin was lying in the water. At first Tedi thought the Caiman was ill, but Ben looked at wonder at the skin and said that he’d get the keeper to remove it tomorrow.
” Wasn’t it amazing , it was a good sign that the Caiman was relaxed enough to shed it’s skin, wouldn’t do that if it was frightened.” Ben spoke out loud, as he saw Tedi staring.
Next were Ben’s favourites the Spiders and Ben was in his element. These were kept in various rooms on the second floor along a long corridor. Tedi dutifully followed Ben in and out of the rooms looking at all the exhibits. One of the bathrooms had been used for the exhibit ” House Spiders”, and the bath had one or two in them and there were a few webs in the corner.
” Just like normal Tedi thought, Ben dutifully counted the spiders in each room , just to make sure that all the species were accounted for .
Ben knew Tedi was curious about his eight legged friends. Tedi had behaved very well and Ben decided to let him get to know one of his spider friends a bit closer. One of the exhibits was Ben’s own collection and when Ben entered the room where his Mexican Red- Knee Tarantula was kept he had an idea.
He took Charlie out and held it gently in his open hand and then knelt down gently , so that Tedi could see it more closely. Tedi looked at Charlie and Charlie looked at Tedi.
“See Tedi, they aren’t really scary are they?”
Tedi gulped , he was hoping it wasn’t going to jump at him.
Ben said ” Would you like to give Charlie a piggie back Tedi?”. Tedi moved away .
” Well maybe it’s not a good idea, still just look isn’t he beautiful.” Ben smiled.
“Tedi looked again and then thought better of it and moved closer to Ben. The spider was relaxed and Tedi signalled to Ben , that it was OK , he’d let the spider sit on his back.
Ben gently placed the spider on Tedi’s back, it stayed put and didn’t move, Tedi’s fur was a bit strange for it’s sensitive feet, but Charlie liked the warmth coming from Tedi’s body.
Tedi stayed quite still and didn’t move, Charlie though gently walked up Tedi’s neck and towards his head. Ben gently reached down and took Charlie off him as he was on his head and one of his legs was covering Tedi’s eys Ben smiled.
“You did very well there Tedi, you can now consider yourself a spider carer. You’ve helped me on my rounds and you got close to Charlie. You are quite a dog!”
Tedi wagged his tail at him, he knew not many other dogs would be as brave as he was, but Tedi was Head of the House and he knew he had to be brave and understand things that other dogs wouldn’t. The spiders were part of the exhibit and he felt that he had done his bit, he would never be scared of anything again. Much as the spider had seemed scary , it was really gentle”.
It was then he heard Cross’s voice.
“Come on Ted, I’ve had my coffee, we need to get back to the House. Did you have a nice dream, you’ve got a smile on your face.”
Tedi rolled over on his blanket and had a good stretch, Cross rubbed his tummy and got the circulation going in his paws.
When Cross stood up, Tedi hopped down and Cross picked up the blanket and the flask and headed back to the House with Tedi.
If there was a biography about you, what would the title be?
Of course Paige Turner could be a sleuth private detective living by her wits in downtown Los Angeles,saving her World one clue at a time.
Or indeed as I originally envisaged she could be a lady sitting on a shared piano stool turning music notation pages for a forgetful piano player in a sleazy bar in Soho.
Either way, Page Turner seems a good title for an everywoman or everyman biography.I suppose we all do it.
Happy Valentine’s Day.Namaste and Thank you for reading.
Feck, my parents were brilliant wonderful people, and what does age matter. Life takes it’s toll and my father never reached my age and my mother was heartbroken he was no longer by her side for the rest of her life. That influenced me a lot.
It’s life, and all I have is memories of both of them. They were hardworking and intelligent people who made the most of the choices life gave them.
I assume this post is aimed at younger people and that what their parents did when their parents were young is important.
I see it slightly differently , we all have a life to live and we can’t or should not follow in others footsteps, that was the lesson my parents taught me. They were individuals, they choose a path and they encouraged others. What they were doing at my age is irrelevant.
Back in your box, algorithm!
😉 Thank you for reading. Namaste and may your Sentient Being Be With You.
Allenby’s career was in shreds, once his methods entered the Public Domain.. He was indicted for murder in at least 30 Countries. The legal cases alone would keep him occupied for a lifetime. The Court of Human Rights in the Hague would deal with the High Level Health Officials from many Countries who had also been involved in aiding and abetting Allenby.
It was an immense task, but the evidence and the stories of those affected were prolific and all were united against Allenby’s Eugenic Policy. Most of the Professor’s staff turned against him as they were unaware of his torture and denaturing policy, they had been convinced that the Professor was saving the World.
Meanwhile, in the UK , due to Sandy’s Documentary and the outrage it generated. There was a rapid change in the Archaic Eugenics Laws that had been introduced and within three weeks , Alex was able to come home to his family. Alex is growing up to be a strong and confident child and his prognosis has improved thanks to the work of Dr King and his fellow researchers.
Gerry and Millie consulted with Dr King and decided to try for a baby. A few years down the line they had a girl and a boy. Dr King’s research was helpful in making their decision and he continued his Medical Career as he always intended, to cure and help people.
The film came to life on the big screen ,the audience were very keen to see what the fuss was all about. They were immediately impressed by the stunning images of Allenby’s Establishment and the glass fronted buildings, that filled the screen. The beautiful mountains that surrounded the facility had been captured by drone footage, it was a truly stunning image.
Sandy appeared as the presenter looking so much healthier in the film than she had when she collected her award. She began to talk about her experience and said that it was her second visit to Allenby’s Institute and they were taking the opportunity to follow up on some of the events that she had seen on her first visit and that she hoped to gather the evidence that would portray her experience and the Research that was being pursued by Allenby and his team into the human genome.
Gerry, Allenby and Millie were all seated in the front row together as the film started.
As the film progressed Gerry began to sense Allenby’s unease, he was becoming more and more agitated. It was not the film that Allenby imagined.
After the initial introduction, the aims, objectives and most importantly the methods employed by Allenby became obvious and increasingly morbid and dark. The body toll mounted and the footage was unforgiving. The images of interrogation and torture that had been secretly filmed were upsetting , and the audience found it repulsive and some of them were in obvious distress.
Dr King’s role was explained in detail and the operation to help him escape was described. At this point Allenby tried to get up and leave, but a nearby Security Guard persuaded him to sit back down again.
Allenby turned to Gerry ” You’ll pay for this Gerry, I assure you. I have very powerful friends.”
Millie looked quizzically at Gerry as the Security Guard glared at Allenby and held his hand on his shoulder.
” Get off me .” He muttered, but had to sheepishly sit down. The audience noted the confrontation and recognised the Professor as one of the protagonists in the torture scenes. Allenby’s entourage were scattered among the auditorium and could not assist him, some indeed were learning for the first time the type of man that they were working for.
Dr King’s worn face appeared on the screen. Sandy had not seen this footage as it had been filmed in Japan. Sandy and Martin had moved out of their seats and went back to the Green Room.
” I was held prisoner in Professor Allenby’s establishment. I was not there under my own free will. I was captured and kidnapped from where I was working with children I had in my care . They are probably dead now, we will never know what happened to most of them. The Professor and his like decided that they were an inconvenience and all trace of them must be eradicated from the planet because their D.N.A. does not match the profile for the future envisaged by people like Allenby. I am a doctor, I treat illness and I am an expert geneticist, I do not destroy because I cannot cure.”
Dr King continued speaking
” Professor Allenby is acting like God. There is no such thing as perfection in Humanity. Genetics the good and the bad are part of us and of our future. I have friends and colleagues who have been tortured and killed by Professor Allenby and his associates for beliefs that I don’t understand. He’s killed healthy people who disagreed with him. He and what he stands for is the real danger to us. I am very lucky to have got out alive. “
“We tried to save as many children as we could , but we were mercilessly hunted down, pursued. Fortunately , we have our backers too, and thanks to them we have been able to save some children. Without those good people, this young man would not be alive today. Say hello Alex.”
Alex climbed onto Dr King’s lap. He smiled and waved at the camera.
The audience gasped and some began to cry.
“Alex has a genetically inherited disease passed on through one of his parents. At the moment there is no known cure. I was making good progress with his treatment, which was interrupted when I was captured , but we’re back on course now. You’re feeling a lot better , aren’t you Alex?”
” Yes, thank you , I do feel a lot better.” Alex looked up at Dr King.
” Alex’s mother is Sandy , the journalist who bravely investigated and made this film. Alex was taken from her as a baby and would have been “denatured” had our Organisation not stepped him and saved him. Our actions are not illegal or a danger to the future of this planet. We are behaving as Human Beings should.”
Alex tugged at Dr King’s arm and said.
” Can I say hello to mummy and daddy now. Dr King”.
“Yes of course you can.”
Alex , waved and blew a kiss to the camera.
” Hello Mummy and Daddy, I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.”
Some of the audience had tears running down their faces and Gerry realised that Professor Allenby could be in danger from the crowd. Meanwhile Sandy and Martin were hugging each other.
“Martin , he’s safe with Dr King , we couldn’t hope for better!” Sandy cried.
Suddenly Gerry walked into the Green Room.
“Sandy , Alex is safe now and Allenby’s question and answer session has been cancelled. Professor Allenby has left the building. The crowd were very angry, there’s a lot of influential people out there. They don’t like child killers.” Gerry put his arms around Sandy and Martin.
Millie had followed Gerry, she had tears in her eyes. She stood quietly and looked at the group silently and moved gently forward towards Sandy. Sandy looked at her and unfolded herself , she gently touched Martin’s face and wiped her eyes with her fingers and turned to Millie to talk to her.
” Sandy that was an amazing, a brilliant piece. I didn’t know about any of it, Gerry told me nothing. I don’t suppose he could have. It wouldn’t have been safe for you or your little boy. “
“No , Mills, you’re right.”
” Allenby told me that Gerry was the carrier.” The tears ran down her eyes.
“What?” Sandy didn’t know what to say.
” Alex is his son.”
” Yes. Millie , you’ve guessed right, but what happened was way before you and Gerry , remember Alex is almost five now.” Sandy thought it best to be forthright.
” Oh I know what an alley cat Gerry was . I’m glad something good has come out of his antics. He did have a dreadful reputation. ” She laughed.” I only got him because he was getting old and tired.”
Gerry overheard her and looked around, he took his arm off of Martin’s shoulder, unsure what was going to happen next. He had been neglecting Millie recently.
“Mills, what are you saying ? I’m a burnt out old man?”
Millie looked across at him and smiled. “Bit singed maybe?”
“Thanks.” Gerry looked deflated as he began to explain.
“I’m sorry I had to keep it all under wraps, the less people who knew, the better chance I had of pulling it off. Sandy didn’t even know the whole story , you just weren’t well enough.” He looked at Sandy.
“No I wasn’t , Gerry, you have done a wonderful job and I’m grateful.”
” There’s going to be a lot more work to do now, I don’t think you’ll be able to do all the travelling involved Sandy. Perhaps Millie could take it on now.”
Sandy nodded her head in agreement and said ” Yes, Gerry , that’s a good idea, but it’s always the same with you, work, work , work. What I want to know is when I can have Alex back in my arms again. I think he’s just found himself a new Auntie, Auntie Millie.”
Millie looked at Sandy.
” I’d love that , you read my mind Sandy!. It will be great practice for when we have our own. Allenby told me that you are a carrier Gerry , and as the Law stands we can’t have children. That has got to change.”
” You saw the audience Gerry , there was a lot of anger there about what has been happening.” She looked Gerry straight in the eye and said . “Nobody is going to say I can’t have a baby with you.”
Gerry could not filibuster his way out of this as he normally would and just rush off to another meeting.
Despite her frailty, Sandy rallied and gently took them aside and spoke to them about Dr King and how wonderful he was.
After they had listened to Sandy , Gerry realised Sandy was extremely tired and said to Martin that perhaps it was a good time to take her home. They went to get their things.
Gerry and Millie later discussed what they needed to do.
” I’ll set up a meeting with Dr King, but we have to have a change in the Law before we can get him and Alex over here. I need you to keep the momentum going on this Millie. There’s going to be some fallout. Allenby will be in touch with his powerful friends and will now be working on destroying our story. I need my little Miss Dynamite out there.”
Millie noticed that Sandy and Martin were just leaving , she put her hand on Sandy’s thin shoulder.
” Yes , I’ll follow through on your work, we’ll nail those bastards to the wall.”
Gerry looked appreciatively at Millie, he had always admired her feistiness.
The four of them said goodnight and Martin and Sandy went out to the chauffer car that Gerry had organised to take them home.
thenotsomightyom 