Tedi rolled over onto his tummy on the posh velvet padded chair that was his favourite in the State Drawing Room of the Palace. All the other dogs were asleep and Trinnie was beside him in her favourite chair. Meanwhile the dream Tedi was having continued and he began to growl and his paws flicked backwards and forwards as if he was indeed running.
Tommy and Tedi had heard the man and woman downstairs who came to look at the puppies. Tommy got washed in the bathroom and signalled to Tedi that he would bring him outside. They walked down the stairs and passed by the couple who were looking at the cages where there were a number of female dogs who had either recently had litters or were about to have them.
” Oh , do we need to get a puppy? Look at that nice little dog , can’t we get that one, look he’s house-trained and he’s walking so nice with that little boy”. The detective said out loudly , turning around to pet Tedi.
The two detectives realised who Tedi was.
” That one’s not for sale, he’s the little boy’s dog, special he is , Tommy wouldn’t be parted with his little dog would you ? Tom.”
Tommy looked up and shook his head, he wondered who the man and woman were who were looking at the puppies.
The dealer who was selling the pups said. ” Now rung along , you let the dog out in the garden and get some breakfast, good lad.”
” Shame, he would have been ideal. ” The two detectives looked at each other.
Tedi and the little boy disappeared downstairs and out through the back of the house.
Back at Police HQ, the detectives who had been looking at the puppies and had indeed purchased two of them were now in the meeting room.
” You’re not getting those on expenses!” Chief Superintendent Napper said gruffly.
“No Sir, we just wanted to keep our cover straight, and anyway I couldn’t leave them there, some of those dogs are in a hell of a state. We need to raid the place.” The puppies licked the police officers faces.
” Well, looks like we know where our little Lordship is and there’s nothing to stop us now. ” The Chief summarised the situation. ” We best move quickly as we don’t want to lose them. Lets put our plan into action.”
So just after lunch, the kidnappers had a knock on their door and all hell let loose.
The plain clothes officers who entered the building, knew exactly where to go, they had weapons because the police knew that this group, as they were involved with drugs, as well as illegal puppy farming could be dangerous and sure enough once the criminals realised that it was the Police all hell let loose. They ran into different rooms and into the garden trying to hide evidence and escape if they could.
Meanwhile Tommy and Tedi were upstairs in Tommy’s room looking out into the garden below.
Tommy heard the word “Police” and said to Tedi, “We got to get out!”
In the chaos , Tommy and Tedi ran by everyone on the stairs and out the front door and down the street. Tommy was so small and the Police and the gangsters so big and everyone was fighting that no one saw them leave.
Back at base, once the raid was over and the relevant agencies contacted. Chief Superintendent Napper was not happy.
” Great Job on animal welfare, rubbish job on solving the kidnapping, where is the little dog now?”
” We’ve checked the cctv and the bodycams , it looks like Tedi escaped down the street with a little boy. None of the others we arrested will say anything about who the boy is and they won’t admit that the dog is theirs either. We’ve got a description. Should we go public?” One of the officers said.
“Great !” The Superintendent said exasperated ” The Police are after a little boy and his dog, the News will have a field day. What a mess!” Chief Superintendent Napper barged out of the room. Thoughts raced through his head. No he was not going public, but he knew he had to get hold of Cross and tell him what had happened. What would the kidnappers do now? Would they still try to get the money off Cross? That was a possibility. No , no publicity. He quickly turned around and went back to the room.
” Guys, we need to keep the lid on this a bit longer, I’m going to speak to Cross , in the meantime let the uniforms and anyone else you know in London keep an eye out for the little boy and the dog. Great if we find him, but if not the kidnappers are going to still be looking for him. We need to find them first, or keep the kidnappers sweet, they’ve got to think that we still think they’ve got the dog.”
The opening day of the Great Show arrived and the Tedi had the job of pulling the ribbon at the door of the House to tell everyone that the Show was open. All the villagers had entry tickets and the rest of the tickets had staggered arrival times to ensure everyone would have a good day. It was sold out.
When Tedi reached up and pulled at the ribbon which covered the great door with his paw there was a great cheer from the surrounding area as the door swung open. It was televised on big screens throughout the park and at the locations where the entrance booths were. Everyone around the Park cheered when they saw the ribbon fall to the ground and Tedi excitedly gazed up as the door swung open. Mr and Mrs Graham who had VIP tickets and were standing near Tedi walked through the doors . The whole house was full with animals of all shapes and sizes, there were so many exhibits.
As well as the wild animals , there was a livestock show, with cows, sheep and goats , and of course a dog show, with a special competition for the best “Village Dog”, which gave the “Village Dog’s ” a chance to show off. Which of course they did.
The day was going to be incredibly busy for all the people attending there was so much to see.
Tedi was one of the judges at the The Village Dog Show along with Cross, so after they’d had some tea with the Graham’s they made their way to the arena which had been set up for the Police Dog Demonstration and The Palace Top Breed Show and then various demonstrations by Agility, Dog Behaviourists, Dog Dancing and Flyball.
Tedi and Cross arrived just as the Flyballl was finishing, it was one of the early rounds, so there were no prizes ,but there were a lot of excited dogs. Tedi recognised the Village dogs, they were all hanging around waiting for the “Flyballers” to come out of the arena. Tedi knew this meant trouble, but Cross had him on the lead, and Tedi knew Cross would not understand why Tedi would pull him towards the Village Dogs. Cross would think Tedi just wanted to say hello to his friends.
Tedi gave the equivalent of a dog sigh, which in truth most people wouldn’t even have noticed. He continued to the main arena and walked up the steps to the booth where all the judging was being done.
Tedi was introduced to some of the other judges and the various dignitaries that were watching the demonstrations and competitions. They were all very pleased to be introduced to this famous dog, and in order to enable Tedi to meet everyone Cross took Tedi off lead. Tedi waited a few minutes and finished greeting the local Councillors, then looked up at Cross and went running off to the back of the tent at great speed.
Tedi was in a great hurry to avoid disaster. The ” Flyball dogs ” were with their owners on their leads and we’re just preparing to exit the arena.They were all very tired and excited having enjoyed their game of flyball.
The Village Dogs were however waiting for them to exit the arena and they were going to ambush them. It looked to most people that the Village Dogs were just waiting their turn to enter the arena to be part of the show, but Tedi knew different. The Village Dogs hated “Flyballers” as the called them and thought they were idiots. He had to stop them. The Flyball owners would get very upset if the Village Dogs scrapped with them. The Village dogs were not on leads, some didn’t even have collars on , they were a rough lot really , and just wanted to show off.
Tedi reached the arena and ran in front of the Flyball owner who was first in line and stopped her in her tracks. She was very close to the exit, everyone stopped behind her , no one really knowing what was going on. Tedi waved a paw as a signal to stay and wait there. Luckily the lady understood and waited.
Next Tedi turned and ran towards the exit, he found he could crawl under the tarpaulin to get to the other side where the Village Dogs were waiting. The minute he got out, the village dogs saw him.
“Tedi” ” they all barked!”
Tedi was not pleased, he knew what they were up to .
“Right you lot, you leave the “Flyballers” alone, I don’t want any name calling, I know you think it’s stupid , but they enjoy it and I don’t want any trouble. “
” Aw Tedi, but they’re stupid!”
” No, you are not going to annoy them, you must behave!”
The Village Dogs all looked disappointed, it was too good of an opportunity to miss, but what Tedi says goes, so they all looked at him and said the equivalent in dog language of
“OK”
Tedi turned and squeezed underneath the tarpaulin again and signalled to the lady leading the “flyballers ” that it was alright to exit the arena now.
Tedi led the way and the flyballers walked by the line of village dogs who were mostly quiet , although, there was a few murmuring growls of derision from the back, but Tedi told everyone to keep going and to ignore those ruffians. Tedi knew the growl had came from a little Chihuahua who was always causing trouble and was actually very posh but was always winding up the bigger dogs. Fortunately the bigger dogs listened to Tedi.
When they were clear and the Village Dogs had been called to the ring , Tedi ran back to Cross, who told him that the Village Dogs Show was just beginning. Cross had been watching and when Tedi stopped the Flyball lady, he had a good idea what Tedi was doing. So Cross gave Tedi a tummy rub and said come on boy, I hope you can keep these ruffian Village Dogs on the straight and narrow. Tedi looked up at him and Cross swore there was a smile on his face.
The Village Dogs wandered into the arena like as if they owned it, it was their to time shine and they were going to enjoy it. Their owners accompanied them , some were on lead and some walked to heel nicely. There was a prize for obedience and also the best looking dog prize.
First up was the obedience. The owners did there best to make it look like a proper dog show, but for most of this unruly lot it was impossible. The Judge was in the centre of the arena and it was his job to give commands for the dogs to show what they could do. The Judge had his work cut out because there were dogs of all sizes from a Chihuahua to a Great Dane Cross.
The first command, to walk around the outside of the ring was going well until the Great Dane stopped as he needed a wee. He’d spotted a nice post and decided to head for that pulling his owner with him. Two or three other dogs behind him followed him , pulling their owners too. The rest of the dogs continued walking in a circle, and when the Great Dane had finished , he realised he’d made a mistake and leapt back into the middle of the dogs who had continued without him, knocking two or three with their owners sideways.
The Great Dane was big enough to get his spot back by pushing the Chihuahua out of the way , but the ones that had followed him, after sniffing at the post , couldn’t get back inside the circle and just walked around the outside with their owners. The Judge shouted the next command.
” Sit”
The Great Dane almost sat on the Chihuahua, but it got out of the way and yelped at The Great Dane, who was oblivious and actually sat very nicely so the judge thought. Some of the dogs by now were very tired and the judge got a mixture of sitting and lying down. He looked at the dogs and their owners despairingly.
It was time now for the dogs to be assessed individually, so the Judge walked up to each one and chatted to the owner and for the ones that were lying down instead of sitting, he gave a tummy rub. Which of course was all the dogs wanted.
A very intelligent Collie did all his obedience instructions correctly, and ignored all the other dogs shouting at him that he was a show off. He remained sitting up , and when the Judge came over to him very nicely gave his paw when asked and also responded to the command.
“Lie down”
The Collie didn’t roll over to get his tummy rub.
“At least something is going right ” thought the Judge as he handed the “Most Obedient “Rosette to the Collie’s owner. Both the owner and the Collie were very pleased. Though there were lots of derisory growls and yelps from the rest of the Village Dogs who were actually very jealous.
Added to that they were getting bored and began to bicker amongst each other. They had really lost interest by now.
The prize for the “Best Looking ” was next and it had been a vote from the local dignitaries that decided it . The result and the prize was handed to the judge and he walked back to the centre of the arena. All the dogs were looking at him wondering what was happening next.
The prize for ” Best Looking ” was a bag of treats and as he opened the envelope, the smell of the treats wafted across the arena and it was just too much.
Tedi and Cross looked at each other , but it was too late.
All the Village Dogs, except the Collie ran towards the Judge and jumped up and flattened him into the ground. They grabbed the bag of treats. They began to race around the arena chasing each other as the bag was dropped and then picked up and all the treats went everywhere. Some dogs stopped to eat some and there were scuffles and scraps as the bag burst open and emptied very quickly. Soon there was none left and the owners frantically ran after their dogs and put them on their leads and walked them out of the arena.
Funnily enough, no one ever found out who won the “Best Looking Dog” that day, but everyone enjoyed the chaos of the Village Dog Show, even the Judge after he had cleaned himself up thought it had gone well and that the Collie had been a very deserving winner.
The next morning Cross headed out to see the ” family lawyer” and Tedi headed off back home to Mr and Mrs Graham as he did not want them to worry about him. Cross let Tedi out for what he thought was just a toilet break , but Tedi ran off across the grounds. Every now and then he looked back at Cross calling him , but he kept going. Cross knew that Tedi lived close buy from the Post Code on his collar tag, but he didn’t know exactly where. For now the priority was to speak to the Lawyer, which he was happy to do so , he had a feeling the little dog would be back. The Palace was his inheritance.
Tedi bounded through the small garden of Mr and Mrs Graham’s cottage.
Mr Graham spotted him before he got in the house and stopped him in his tracks.
” Where have you been, we’ve been worried sick, little one”
Tedi sat down and gave his paw to Mr Graham and looked up with his big eyes.
Mr Graham’s heart melted. ” Oh , you, I don’t know what you’ve been up to all night, but I for one am glad that you’re back safe and sound. Now don’t do it again, you hear! Come on let’s tell your mum you’re back she’ll be over the moon. You and I might get sausages for breakfast eh? ” The man and his dog headed into the kitchen.
Later that afternoon the Graham’s got a phone call; it was Cross , by making a few enquiries in the village Cross had established where the little puppy lived and arranged to visit Mr and Mrs Graham at their cottage and explained over a cup of tea the momentous news.
Tedi was the rightful owner of the Palace , and all the Estate relating to it. Everything was in Trust for him. There could be no legal challenge against the Estate as the paperwork quite clearly stated that it was a Trust for the Benefit of Marmaduke and his heirs. Tedi was Marmaduke’s heir there was no doubt about it. It would take a couple of months to remove the incumbent Australians, but their skullduggery had been discovered and they would be moving out and Tedi would take up his rightful place. Tedi’s adventures were just beginning.
That morning over a cup of tea, toast and sausages, the Graham’s couldn’t believe what they were hearing , but with the sad realization that their puppy most likely would be a visitor to their house , rather than “their little dog”. Tedi would have a much bigger role to play in the village and possibly further afield. They both agreed that Cross was the man to help him fulfil his destiny, and The Graham’s were grateful for that and the fact that as Cross explained, the threat of losing their home had gone forever.
It took a few months to remove the Australians , the Law was quite clear, however , and once the Media heard about the story then Cross and Tedi’s life became hectic and the villagers looked at the Papers excitedly when they saw pictures of those wicked Australians being evicted.
Before the Media Onset, Cross had researched through the Dogs Trust what had happened to Tedi’s brothers and sisters, as Marmaduke was known to have had a litter with his beloved Maisie. He was able to trace all the litter and once the owners heard the story, they were more than happy for their dogs to live in the “Big House ” as long as they were allowed to visit their dogs ocassionally. So , soon Tedi was reunited with Tizzie, Duke, Trinnie, Blaze and Marmie. Cross told their owners not only could they visit , but the House had a lot of rooms and they were more than welcome to stay for a Holiday with their dogs should they so wish.
And so began life at the big House for all the dogs and the people who knew them.
thenotsomightyom 