Cross sat by the phone on his desk and gazed out the window from his office hoping to get some news on the whereabouts of the dogs. He distracted himself by looking at the view up the long drive to the House . In the far off distance he thought he saw a small dot moving closer to the house and gradually the small dot became a silhouette of some large dogs, a small dog and a little boy. Dawn had broken and the birds were chirping. The sun was rising behind the little group and the grey drive gradually became bathed in sunshine and appeared to glow beside the trees that lined it . As the colours of the day returned, Cross realised that at the front of the little group there was a little white dog leading the way.
“Teds!”
He immediately got out of his chair , ran out of his office and down the stairs to the front door. He was shouting.
“They’re back, they’re back!” He sprinted down the drive way.
Lettie and the Cook heard him, the Cook appeared out of the kitchen with her hands all covered in flour as she’d been baking bread. Lettie realised what was happening and went and got some camera gear and some dog collars and leads from the storeroom.
Cross ran as fast as he could and as he got closer was getting more and more out of breath.
Meanwhile Tedi and the others kept their pace as they were very tired and just wanted to keep going particularly for Tommy’s sake as they knew he needed proper food and a bed. The little boy had done very well , but they were scared he might be sick and knew that he certainly couldn’t run. So they kept walking and everyone stayed together.
James was out walking his new arrival who began to pull on his lead and whine when he saw his friends.
” Hey boy, what’s up?” James said to him, and then looked in the direction the dog was pulling.
” Wow, Good Boy, you want to go and see your friends, steady!” James held the dog on the lead but started heading towards the little group.
Tedi meanwhile had spotted Cross running towards him, it was the best sight ever, he still stayed with his little group but Tedi had a smile on his face, he was home, very tired, very hungry and he thought he might have picked up some fleas or tics and would be so grateful to have his regular worming tablet , but he was home.
Cross reached him and picked him up off the ground in his arms.
“Oh my boy, it’s good to see you!” Cross picked Tedi up and hugged him ,Tedi was light as a feather and had lost quite a bit of weight . He put him down when he noticed the other dogs and the little boy were not too sure what would happen next. Tedi was safe but were they?
“And these must be your friends, come on , come on into the house, you look as if you could do with a good meal!” Cross, though , realised that he would need to contact the doctor and the vet as soon as possible.
James arrived with the other dog and Bruno in particular was very pleased to see him, the other dog let Bruno know that everything was fine here, there was good food and the people were very nice and there was plenty of room for everyone.
Lettie arrived with some collars and leads but they weren’t necessary, all the animals were so tired that they just followed Tedi. Lettie noticed Tommy and his rucksack , she walked over to him and said.
” Hello, what’s your name?”
” Tommy” Tommy said looking up with his big eyes at Lettie.
“Do you want me to carry your rucksack, you look very tired, do you want some breakfast?” Lettie smiled at the little boy.
” Yes please” Tommy replied.” Be careful though it’s got a little fox in it , I rescued it , I’ve given it water and a little food, it’s got a sore leg.”
Lettie , took the rucksack, which wriggled and took Tommy by the hand and began to lead him up to the House. They were just passing by James and Lettie looked down at Tommy and said.
“I’m going to give your little Fox to James, he will look after it and we’ll go and see him after you’ve had breakfast and a bath , is that alright?”
James let the dog he was with , off the lead as it obviously wanted to be with the other dogs and he watched as they all nuzzled each other, glad to know they were safe. He took the fox and when he got back to the House put it in a secure cage with some food and water and made it as comfortable as possible. He then took one of the House vehicles back to collect the dogs who now they knew they were safe were resting on the grass. When he arrived back with the vehicle the dogs all hopped in straight away and Tommy got in the front with Lettie and James.
Once back at the House, word had got around that ” Tedi was back”.
Trinnie was the first down the stairs, but she couldn’t believe how thin and unkempt her Tedi had become. She went over and sniffed him and licked his face, he in turn greeted her and let her know he was very glad to be back home. Then all the other House dogs appeared and there was utter pandemonium
Meanwhile James went and rang the vets as all the dogs would need to be assessed, and Cross and the cook arranged food bowls and water bowls in the drawing room along with some cushions and blankets that the dogs could lie on. The sun shone through the big curtained windows of the drawing room and it was warm and clean and Bruno and his friends could not believe their luck. They ate a little and drank, but mainly they wanted just to lie in the warm sun and have a sleep.
Tedi , Cross and Lettie went upstairs to the office with Tommy. They would have to decide what to do with the little boy, but in the meantime , what he needed was a good bath and to go to bed. They’d get the doctor to visit in the afternoon.
” Thank you , ” was all Tommy could say, he was very tired and barely could stay awake. They found some fresh pyjamas and tucked him into bed near Lettie ‘s room and Lettie stayed with him just in case he woke up and needed something. In truth Tommy had been too tired to eat.
Cross held the phone and talked , as Lettie looked on.
“Yes a small boy with four or five dogs, including a small terrier. Where? Where are they now? They escaped? You managed to capture one of the dogs. Look give me your address and we’ll come and meet you at the barn. ” He glanced at Lettie, and signalled that they would go over there in the car together.
The farmer whose barn Tommy and the dogs had taken shelter in had seen the story on the News that morning about the dog who had been kidnapped and escaped from it’s kidnappers and seemed to be making his way home cross country from London with some other dogs and a small boy.
So when he went into his barn to get some rusty old equipment that he was planning to clean up and sell, he was surprised when he heard a dog bark and looked up to see a little boy running towards him holding a rucksack, followed by three other dogs and a small terrier. They ran by the farmer and out the barn door.
The dog that had barked and had warned the others stood his ground as there was no room to get by, so the farmer thought quickly and ran out of the barn and closed the door behind him. The farmer just had time to see a white tail and the head of the little boy disappear around the corner of the stone wall surrounding the farm and run onto the road. The farmer thought about following them in his car ,but he decided it was useless. The feature on the News had said to ring a number if you had any information, so that is what he did.
When Cross and Lettie arrived and talked to the farmer , they were very happy to hear some good news, and they arranged to take the dog that was in the barn. They told the farmer that James would collect him later that day. They also had a look at where the dogs had ran around the stone wall. They could see paw prints and the footprints of a small boy. After following the prints for a short while , they realised that the little group were long gone. Cross found the spot where they had crossed the road and ran into the undergrowth, Cross couldn’t follow, but he checked his GPS on his phone and he reckoned that they were heading in the right direction to get back home. He just hoped they would be safe on their journey.
Tommy, Tedi and Bruno along with the other dogs had kept going until they were well away from the farmer. They were now in fields and countryside and they were making their way through open fields which had crops in them. Tedi was sure of his navigation now and there wasn’t any need to follow roads, the terrain was flatter and easier and there were lots of small brooks and rivers that the dogs could get a drink out of.
Tommy was very tired ,he wasn’t too sure where they were going , but he did his best to keep up and knew if they needed anything that there were built up areas in the distance, which were sure to have shops or petrol stations. As it was after their experience at the barn , for the moment they all wanted to stay clear of anyone. They missed their friend , but what could they do? Tedi thought that if he could get home , then they could search for him then, Bruno agreed. They couldn’t go back now.
They made good progress , they had been travelling by daylight and it was about three o’clock in the afternoon. They had came to a stile and they all crossed over it but they were so tired they decided to rest up, and found a sheltered area under some trees and lay down together. It was a beautiful day and the sun was warm. They all fell soundly asleep.
They were rudely awoken by the sound of dogs barking and the horses and people running from the other side of the field. They watched in amazement at they saw the red coats of the people on the horses and the hounds running in all directions barking , not knowing quite in what direction to go. One lady went to jump a fence and fell out of her saddle with a thump on the ground. This stopped the progress of the hunt somewhat as some of the riders stopped to see if the lady who had fallen was alright, others jumped off their horses to catch the stray horse, who had kept going for a short distance after losing it’s rider but was now standing around not too sure what had happened. It was easy to catch.
Tommy then noticed the fox, it was moving slowly along the edge of the field , obviously looking for somewhere to hide and keeping an eye on the people in the red coats on horses. The hounds had lost the scent and that is why they were confused.
The fox clung to the hedgerow and almost seemed to be crawling on all fours. Bruno thought about distracting the hounds, but Tedi said it would be too dangerous, that the hounds as a pack could be very vicious and they might attack Bruno. Luckily the fox had made it to the other side of the field and was hunkering down in a hedgerow.
Tedi , Bruno and Tommy looked on as they watched the lady who fell off her horse remount and the hunters and their pack began to regroup.
They hoped that the fox would stay where it was and not move and indeed , the hunt changed course and went off in the opposite direction with the hounds braying and running around trying to find another scent.
” Stay where you are little one, you’re safe.” Tommy said out loud, but speaking to himself. The dogs had lost interest in the fox and wanted to go back to sleep.
After the hunt had disappeared, Tommy decided to check out the area where the fox was. It was still light and the dogs were fast asleep. Tommy walked over to the hedgerow and once he had cleared away some undergrowth he saw the fox laying low on the ground, it was injured , there was dried blood on it’s back leg, and it looked in pain. Tommy didn’t want to leave it there , so he gave it some water and the last bit of food that he had left in his rucksack. The fox was very thin, so Tommy decided that it would fit in his rucksack, he would take it to safety and see if he could make it better.
That evening , they set out on what Tedi knew would be the final leg of their journey home. Tedi could almost smell home. It took a few hours and it was dark when they arrived at the outskirts of the estate. Tedi was relieved, but the estate was quite big and it would still take some time to reach the House.
Meanwhile , Cross and Lettie were back a the House awaiting any news. James had picked up the stray dog and had settled it in one of the kennels. All they could do was wait and hopefully hear some good news soon.
thenotsomightyom 