©GeraldineBanksApril2025
Tedi woke up from his dream, the day he arrived safely back at the House after the kidnapping was one of the best days of his life. He lay on his sofa in the drawing room enjoying the moment . Trinnie was beside him and only stirred when she sensed he was about to open his eyes.
Once she knew he was awake, Trinny leapt down from the sofa and went and got a drink from the bowl of water, some of the other dogs stirred and they all decided to go downstairs and see what was going on. Tedi rolled over on the sofa , he would rest a little longer. There was no rush.
Tedi heard a bit of commotion downstairs, the dogs were obviously very excited about something. Probably Mrs Graham had put out some leftovers , or perhaps James had appeared to bring them out for a walk. Tedi rolled over on his back and thought.
“All in good time”.
He stretched his paws and yawned. As he did so , a young boy about sixteen years old appeared at the door and walked towards the sofa. It was Tommy , he was back to visit from boarding school. Tedi immediately jumped down from the sofa and ran over to Tommy. Tommy picked Tedi up and gave him a big hug.
” Hello, my boy, how are you?”
Tedi licked his face. He was very pleased to see Tommy, the school term seemed so long but now they could be together for at least a little while. Tommy put Tedi back down on the floor.
” A bit stiff I see, oh well, a gentle walk will do you good. I need a bit of fresh air.”
Tommy carried Tedi downstairs and put him gently on the floor.
Cross and Lettie appeared, they were married now and had two children, they lived on the Gatehouse at the entrance to the estate. They were both just starting work and were delighted to see Tommy.
Cross , Lettie and Tommy all hugged each other and Tedi was very excited and pleased. Meanwhile James arrived to take some of the other dogs out.
” I’ll take one of the buggies , don’t think Tedi will make it all the way around.” Tommy said to James as he gathered up all the other dogs.
” No, you’re right, I’m just taking this lot for a good run around the fields, catch up later.” James smiled.
Tedi followed Tommy out the door , his days of running around in the fields had long passed and he loved going out in the electric golf buggie with Tommy.
On Tommy’s first day back from school, Tommy and Tedi had the same routine , they would go and visit the place on the estate where Bruno, their friend was buried.
Bruno had lived a year on the estate , he had to have a lot of treatments from the vet during that time, but he was very happy and Tedi had showed him lots of the places that he knew, but even Tedi could see that Bruno had slowed down a lot. Bruno treatments sometimes made him very tired, but he was never grumpy and would always make the effort to go out on their walks.
However as time moved on Tommy realised that Bruno needed help to get around and that is how they started using the Buggie. As Bruno was quite big , they got a special trailer and Tedi and Bruno would sit on it and gaze out at the countryside.
Eventually though they had to say their goodbyes to Bruno, and he was laid to rest in one of Tedi and Bruno’s favourite places, which had a view of the House and the Lake.
Today the buggie without the trailer trundled up a steep incline towards the spot where there was a bench to sit on and a small headstone for Bruno. They had left the driveway and were on the grass. Tedi sat on the seat beside Tommy , it was a bit uncomfortable and he was thrown a lot from side to side , he loved it and he occasionally gazed at Tommy.
” You alright” Tommy would say and Tedi would look up at him with his big puppy dog eyes.
” Not long now”
As soon as they arrived at the top of the hill, Tedi hopped out, he could sense Bruno’s presence and he was excited to be in their special place. Tommy walked over to the bench , which had a little plaque on it .
” Bruno’s Bench”
Tommy sat down and stretched his legs as he was getting quite tall. He gazed at the view, it was magnificent , the sun had nearly risen completely and the lake glistened.
Tedi scurried around and sniffed and licked, while Tommy sat and relaxed.
The estate would be Tommy’s when Tedi passed, a Trust had been set up and Tommy would inherit the Palace and the Estate. Cross knew that he could trust Tommy, especially after what Tommy and Tedi had been through together. The estate would be in good hands. Cross realised that Tommy saw the beauty of what he would inherit, it wasn’t about the land or the money. It was a special place to all of them and Tommy would ensure it was looked after.
The End
thenotsomightyom 