Lucy

by Chris Coppel

  They continued the run, passing through an odd, stone-terraced area on which were dotted a series of rectangular ponds, some with fountains in their centre, some simply filled with still water. Though man made, the structure was very serene and pleasing to the eye, especially situated amongst the natural beauty of the park. A few geese were sitting next to one such pond, and though they didn’t recognise them, it was quite obvious by their ragged state that they had been present at the previous night’s party. One of the birds tried to raise a wing in greeting, but the effort was clearly too much for it, so it settled for a weak honk instead. Lucy nodded back, fully understanding the poor creature’s woes.

  They trotted down a few stone steps and began the return leg of their jaunt around the opposite side of the lake. They came to the bridge again, and to their surprise, another tunnel almost identical to the one on the other side. This one at least smelled better. None of them were tempted to try out its acoustic qualities.

  The run began to take its toll, and as they made their way towards a small wooden structure on the water’s edge; the noise level from their panting reached a new high. Poor Rodney began having difficulty keeping up and as Lucy offered him words of encouragement, she realised that the little terrier had, by reason of his short legs, actually run almost double the distance of any of them.

  “Will you look where we are,” Lester voiced with surprise, as he gestured beyond the wooden structure.

  They all looked in amazement at the tiny island just off the shore and realised that they were standing next to the old boat house.

  “Looks pretty quiet over there,” Hans said smiling, knowingly.

  They slowed their pace to a sedate walk and reached the nearest point of land to the island. They stopped and listened. They all began smiling as their sensitive ears picked up the distinct sound of a large flock of birds snoring deeply away within the safety of their sanctuary.

  Suddenly, Pru drew in her breath. As Lucy turned to see what had caused this reaction, she saw the look of shock on her friend’s face.

  “Pru? You alright?”

  Pru continued to stare at something further along the shore without saying a word.

  Lucy tried to see what it was that was causing her to act in such a strange manner, but aside from a small flock of pigeons and a lone human sitting on a bench, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

  Pru began to walk down the shore as if in a trance. The others turned from the island and watched her, wondering what she was up to.

  The flock of pigeons rose into the air and Pru kept going, seemingly oblivious to their flight.

  The lone human turned at the sound of the birds’ departure and Lucy could see that it was a female, and that she had recently been crying. She spotted Pru as she looked back towards the lake then suddenly stiffened. Her expression turned to one of stunned amazement, similar to Pru’s.

  The biped slowly got to her feet and faced Pru, who’d stopped in her tracks some distance from her. They stared at each other for the longest time. The female’s face began to light up in a blaze of joy.

  “Pru?” She called out with slight hesitation. “Baby, is that you?”

  Pru moved towards her, slowly at first, then as the biped took a step forward, she broke into a mad, hair-whipped run. Suddenly, they were wrapped in each other, and even from where she stood Lucy could see that both were crying openly.

  “Think they know each other?” Rex asked, trying to cover his own emotions with a little humour.

  As she continued to watch the pair hug and reacquaint themselves, Lucy felt a sharp stab of longing to feel her own Man’s embrace. She was suddenly very homesick and turned herself away from the others, as she too shed a quiet tear.

  After a moment, Pru broke away from her mistress’ hug and ran over to the others.

  “I’m going home now,” she said between tearful gasps. “Thank you. Thank you all for everything. Maybe I’ll see you in the park one day when we go for our walk.”

  With that, she trotted back to her mistress, and as the other dogs looked on, the two walked off the path. With their blonde hair billowing out behind them, the pair traversed the park and vanished into the impersonal vastness of the city.

  Seeing the two of them together, Lucy understood that their relationship was not one of dog and mistress, but of best friends, as they chatted and laughed comfortably with each other.

  Once they were out of sight, the remaining six looked at each other with expressions of mild confusion, until Rex stretched himself then turned to face the group.

  “I hope you lot don’t think that gets you out of finishing our little run?”

  They all laughed as Rex again set a pace, and the six dogs resumed their morning jog - though now with slightly heavier hearts at the loss of one of their own.

  CHAPTER 17

  The rest of the day was spent close to the cave as each animal tried to rid him, or herself of the previous night’s aftereffects.

  During one nap period, Lucy dreamed that she was back in Burden Dell. At first it appeared as it always had to her - a gentle clearing of long, sweet grass nestled between the aged and sheltering trees of the woods. In her dream though, something was different. She turned and looked in every direction, unable to sense what exactly was wrong. Finally, she realised that where normally there would have been gentle, background sounds of birdsong and wind, now there was a steady hum of city noise. Lucy looked at the line of trees to try and locate the origin of the unwelcome sound and saw that the trees themselves were not what they appeared to be. They were in fact buildings. Man-made structures that looked like trees. She spun around to check the other side of the dell, only to find the same thing, except now the trees, or whatever they were, had moved closer than they’d been only moments before. She looked about her, and realised that the strange structures were slowly, but very deliberately, hemming her in.

  She awoke with a start, causing Angel who was dozing next to her, to jump as well.

  “Sorry,” Lucy whispered, embarrassed.

  “Bad dream?” The Spaniel inquired.

  Lucy nodded, then shook her head with enough force to hopefully rid her mind of the dream’s remnants.

  “Oh my,” Lucy said, as a smile began to form on her sleepy features. “That was most unpleasant.”

  Angel grinned at her with a mix of affection and mild peeve for having been woken up by her. “I was dreaming about a huge steak all to myself. I had just started to eat it when you woke me.”

  “Well,” Lucy said. “Serves you right for not sharing doesn’t it.”

  This brought laughter from everyone in the cave. Lucy smiled proudly at her audience then noticed a missing face.

  “Where’s Rodney?”

  “He went out to check on dinner prospects,” Lester replied as he stretched out his little frame in typical, post-nap style.

  “You know,” Rex said with a look of concern on his muzzle. “The little chap’s been gone quite a while. We may have to send out a search party if he’s not back . . . ”

  “If who’s not back?” Rodney said cheekily as he stepped into the cave.

  “About time!” Rex smiled at his tiny friend.

  “Well, I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news,” the terrier began. “First of all, the bins at the restaurant are out. For some silly reason, they’ve put up a fence around them. There’s no way in, I checked. I did a quick scout of the park and I’ve got to tell you that, unless you’re ready for a diet of nuts and berries, there’s no food here.”

  “But that’s terrible,” Angel interrupted. “What will we do? We must eat. I mean how will we . . . ”

  “Will you please let me finish?” he chided gently.

  “Sorry,” Angel said, as she lowered her head back onto her front paws.

  “If you don’t mind a slight risk and are ready fo
r a small adventure, I may have the solution.” Rodney’s eyes sparkled as he spoke.

  “We’re listening,” Rex said, cautiously.

  “Okay, I’ll need volunteers,” he began. “What we’ll do is . . . ”

  He laid out the plan in surprisingly, well thought-out detail. It was definitely risky, but Rodney was convinced that what he had in mind could be carried out successfully as long as they were careful.

  Fully briefed, Rodney, Rex, Lester, and Lucy left the safety of their lair, and under cover of darkness, made their way diagonally across the park towards the lights of the city.

  For security reasons, Hans stayed behind to guard the cave. Angel had desperately wanted to join the group, but was, as Rex had explained as gently as he could, too small to be effective in the operation, and lacking in the necessary speed and manoeuvrability should a rapid escape be needed. She had clearly been disappointed, but had taken it surprisingly well, and had simply stretched herself out on the floor of the cave and wished the team God’s speed.

  The team reached a road which seemed devoid of traffic. They crossed it with caution anyway, as one could never trust people once they got into one of their noisy vehicles. It was as if even the mildest and most passive of individuals could be instantly transformed into raving lunatics, forcing their smelly machines down peaceful roads as if possessed by some crazy force.

  Once across the quiet street, they came to a truly terrifying intersection of roads. They saw vehicles of every conceivable shape and size converge from five different directions, all avoiding certain destruction only by means of observing red and green lights on posts, strategically placed before them.

  “Don’t worry,” Rodney shouted above the din. “We don’t have to deal with that.”

  The others looked very relieved as Rodney led them off to the right and to a tunnel that passed under one of the streets. They all stared at him uncertainly.

  “Come on, you’ve done it before,” he coaxed. “It’s just like the one that got us to the park the other day.”

  “Yes, and the bad bipeds were waiting for us, weren’t they?” Lucy said with conviction.

  “They won’t be down here, I promise Goldie. I already checked earlier. We’re safe.”

  After taking a moment to summon their courage, they cautiously descended the concrete stairs. Once at the bottom, they were relieved to find the tunnel empty of people. They took a few hesitant steps, then burst into a mad gallop, reaching the far end of the tunnel and the rising stairway at the end in record time. They laughed at their own nervousness as they climbed up and out onto another section of road. Rodney led them at a brisk pace around a corner and saw a huge building that was decorated with, what to Lucy, looked like millions of little stars that seemed to cover every surface of the structure.

  “Wow!” Lucy heard herself exclaim.

  “Not bad is it?” Rodney said as he continued pushing the team along the front of the immense edifice. They passed window after window of merchandise as well as not very realistic copies of humans, all standing in odd, unnatural poses.

  “What is this place?” Rex asked in a voice filled with awe.

  “I haven’t the faintest, but it’s quite something isn’t it?” Rodney replied.

  “Ha . . . Har . . . Harro . . . Harrods . . . that’s it, Harrods,” Lester announced with pride.

  The others came to a stunned halt. Lester had stopped long enough to read the name of the store from the gilded lettering on a set of brass-framed doors.

  “You can read?” Lucy asked in an astonished tone.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Rex said. “Dogs can’t read.”

  “I can, actually,” Lester replied meekly. “Not very well, but I can usually put the words together.”

  “You’re not suggesting that you understand biped talk, are you?” Rex demanded.

  “No, of course not . . . well actually, that’s not true. I can sometimes pick out a word here and there.”

  “Come off it,” Angel exclaimed. “No non-human understands biped talk.”

  “Sure, they do. I bet you understand when they say your name, right?”

  “Well . . .” she responded, hesitantly.

  “Of course, you do,” Lester said. “We all do. That’s the start, then you just concentrate on what they’re saying and eventually, you begin to pick out patterns. The trick is to look them right in the eye when they’re speaking. It’s amazing what you can tell from the words that way.”

  “Can we talk about this later?” Rodney said impatiently. “We have a mission to complete.”

  The others all nodded their agreement and followed him past even more of the store’s beautifully arranged windows. No more was said about Lester’s boastings as their focus returned to the task at paw. They reached the end of the block and waited as Rodney checked their route.

  “Okay. We’re almost there,” he whispered. “You know what to do?”

  They all nodded. Rodney gave his tiny frame a good stretch then signalled for the others to stay close. They moved along the next block, carefully staying tight against the building, seeking out the shadows with every step.

  “There it is.” Rodney pointed with his muzzle past the next building, to a brightly lit doorway. “Can you smell it?”

  The others all raised their noses, and after a brief moment spent filtering out the other city odours, locked onto a very tasty scent indeed.

  “You ready?” Rodney asked, excitedly.

  They nodded their heads enthusiastically as their noses twitched in joyous anticipation of the delicious goodies to come.

  “Right then, let’s do it!” Rodney yelled, as he dashed towards the light.

  He reached the entrance and took his position by the open doors as the team lookout. The other three followed him in, and as prearranged, split up to carry out their specific assignments.

  The place was a small biped feeding shop specializing, if the huge displays were to be believed, in hamburgers, fried potatoes and other odd-shaped items that were breaded and forced between two tasty-looking buns. There were around ten customers milling about, whom Lester immediately herded into a corner by baring his teeth and growling menacingly. The startled staff watched in horror as Rex and Lucy vaulted the counter, and with the aid of a couple of fierce barks, forced them against one wall.

  Their luck was definitely in. The staff had obviously been in the process of packing a couple of large orders before being interrupted. Lucy checked and could see that there were two plastic carrier bags loaded with square, plastic looking containers all filled with food. She gestured for Rex to grab one as she grabbed the other. They were heavy but just manageable. They dragged them off the counter and across the white, tiled floor.

  As they neared the door, one of the patrons, a large and discontented looking male, bravely barred the two doors by closing them from the outside then leaning on them.

  They were trapped. Lester tried push the doors, but biped’s weight was simply too much.

  As Lucy looked back into the restaurant, she saw that the patrons were beginning to lose their earlier fear and were slowly edging towards the trapped animals. She turned and looked frantically towards Rodney, who was leaping in place yelping to no avail whatsoever.

  Suddenly, the man at the door let out a blood-curdling scream. Dogs and humans focused their attention beyond the doors and saw an immensely proud-looking Spaniel with a large piece of trouser leg dangling from its mouth. The human ran off, limping and cursing as he went.

  Lester held the door open for the others as they charged out into the night.

  As they ran towards the tunnels and the park beyond, each one praised Angel from the bottom of their still anxiously, beating hearts.

  All she could say, was, “Too small, too slow? Really?”

  They made it back to the park, and despite one of
bags rupturing and losing a good number of plastic boxes, their haul was substantial. Once they reached the cave, they divided up the containers prior to opening them to make it fair. Nobody knew what they were getting until each container was opened.

  They were startled to find that, tucked inside the buns and under the breaded batter, was real food! Lucy found chicken, and Rex managed to locate some fish. Most of the containers, however, contained thin circles of cooked ground beef that weren’t that bad once you’d shaken off the rather strange pink goo that was centred on each one.

  They ate to their heart’s content. They finished off the meat, the buns, the fried potatoes, even the strange pastry-like tubes filled with something akin to fruit. As they ate, they regaled Hans with stories of their expedition. With each new telling the details became more elastic as they expanded to quite astonishing dimensions, while somehow still allowing the story to stay intact.

  The team became warriors, while the bipeds were depicted as the feared and undefeatable foe, and as for the captured food - well, it may as well have been the Holy Grail itself, such were the embellishments!

  Finally, sated and exhausted from their recounting and feasting, the six dogs didn’t even have the strength to clear away the debris from the meal, and simply collapsed on top of the mass of wrappers and containers.

  They slept the sleep of the victorious.

  CHAPTER 18

  Even in her sleep, Lucy heard the sound of human voices. There were a few of them, all speaking in gentle coaxing tones. She opened one eye and saw Rodney and Rex standing at the cave entrance, staring nervously outside.

  “What is it?” Lucy asked in a sleepy voice.

  “We’re not sure,” Rex answered. “It doesn’t look good.”

  Lucy got to her feet and joined them at the entrance. Through the wall of water, they could make out a large number of bipeds encircling the cave. Suddenly, the water stopped flowing, and in almost miraculous fashion, the fall simply ceased to exist. The three dogs were now standing in the unsheltered entry to the cave, clearly visible to the humans. Without the liquid shield, Lucy could clearly see that there were at least a dozen humans, all male, and all attired in almost identical, dark-blue uniforms. Each one wore a tall, domed hat with decorative silver work on the front.