by Chris Coppel
Captain Salty’s biped then stepped forward and spoke a few words, at which point, Angel’s human walked forward with her in tow. They stopped in front of the elegant female and were each given a small metal thing attached to a piece of colourful ribbon. The two bowed (as instructed in rehearsals), then walked back to re-join the others.
After another couple of words from the captain’s biped, it was Rodney’s turn. Lester was next. Then it was time for Lucy and Rex. She suddenly felt slightly nervous but could not for the life of her think why.
Her Man and Cook led the two dogs into position in front of the female. As Lucy looked at her face, she suddenly remembered her. She had been the one sitting and drinking from a dainty cup when the corgis had led them through the palace. In a flash Lucy’s simple mind put the pieces together, and realised who the elegant biped in fact, was.
As the Queen of England placed the ribbon around her neck, Lucy felt her chest swell with almost immeasurable pride and joy. She gave the Queen a happy tail wag then gracefully stepped back with her man and re-joined the others.
The crowd surrounding the forecourt began to applaud and cheer. At first Lucy was puzzled as to what exactly they were cheering about, but then, as she looked down the line and saw Angel, Lester, Rodney and Rex, she understood that they were the ones being honoured that day.
She glanced over at the elaborate fencing and at the crowd beyond. Lucy noticed that among the throng of humans were many familiar faces from the animal world. She spotted a pair of cats as they dashed from shadow to shadow. They stopped for a moment and gave Lucy the unmistakable Los Gatos salute, then just as she was about to wave back, Bob and Rye vanished into the crowd, completely unnoticed by almost anyone.
She then caught sight of Pru. She was beautifully groomed and attracting a fair amount of attention on her own.
“You should be in here with us,” Lucy called to her.
“No, I shouldn’t,” Pru replied through the fencing.
Lucy knew that Pru meant just that. She didn’t want the adventure or the ceremony. She was happy simply being beautiful. As she continued to scan the onlookers, she saw still more faces she recognised. She saw the kind biped from the underground train. She saw some of the policemen from the park. She even spotted Rumple, the kindly dog from the police kennel. He lifted a paw in a wave and Lucy noticed his entire coat begin gathering at his shoulder.
She was about to turn away from the fencing when she spotted someone else. At the far end of the forecourt, where the crowd was much thinner, she spotted an angry looking biped chastising his dog as they walked away. She could not be certain, but from a distance, the dog looked to be a Rottweiler. Somehow, she knew who it was. She silently wished that Hans would someday find happiness somewhere in his life.
As she turned back towards the gathered dignitaries, she realised just how much help so many strangers had given the dogs, without asking for anything in return. She knew that there was a lot of bad in the world. She had certainly seen some of it during her adventure, but she’d also found that there was also a lot of good out there as well.
She had to smile to herself as she again realised just what she’d been through and how much she had learnt. For one thing, the world was far bigger and more exciting than she’d ever imagined, and she’d only seen a fraction of it. She began wondering if she would ever get to see any more it when the crowd began murmuring and pointing excitedly to the sky above.
Lucy raised her head and immediately saw the reason for their interest.
Flying towards them at low altitude, was a squadron of geese. In perfect formation, the birds flew by in salute to their canine friends. In the lead position, Vol led his fellow aviators at roof level over the forecourt then tipped his wings and smiled down at the dogs as he led the others in a gentle banking turn back towards the park and their sheltered island.
Lucy looked at the faces of her friends once more and, as had become almost habit recently, found herself focusing on Rex with his hard, strong features. She felt her heart beat faster at the mere sight of him, but also at the joyful realisation that their life together was only just beginning. As if sensing her gaze, Rex turned and looked back into her eyes. His face broke into a huge and amiable grin as he nodded his fine head back at her, acknowledging and returning her own sentiments. She then let her eyes drop to her own belly, which had recently begun to swell. For some reason, just looking at her new bulge made her recall the dream she’d had of her playing with a litter of puppies.
“How odd!” she thought to herself as she felt a warm blanket of almost indescribable contentment envelope her.
Lucy couldn’t have been happier.
THE END
Author’s Note
Lucy is not a horror novel. If you are a fan of my darker books (Luck, The Lodge, Legacy, Lakebed) you should be warned that although there are a few scary moments in this book, it is not a horror story in any way. It is a gentle adventure story of self-discovery, initiative, and the power that can develop when strangers all pull together towards one common goal.
I wrote the original story of Lucy in 1995. The main character was called Amy at that time. The book was published in 2005 specifically for US school libraries under the title Far From Burden Dell. It got some rave reviews and hardly any sales! After some investigating, I found that the publisher did no real marketing other than placing the title in a couple of school-book catalogues. After some pushing on my part, she agreed to list the book on Amazon, but without an eBook version and any promotion, it soon settled into a quiet life of extreme obscurity. Soon after, the publisher was taken ill, and her business closed.
I always loved this book and did everything I could to get the rights back so that I could try my hand at promoting it. My requests fell on deaf ears. It wasn’t until two years ago, when the publisher passed away, that I was able to speak with her family and have had the rights revert back to me.
Since that time, I have brought the story up to date, tweaked a few areas, renamed the lead character, and retitled it.
Lucy is the story of a pampered golden retriever who is snatched from her home in Sussex. Imprisoned in the slums of London, Lucy and a ragtag band of escaped hounds must navigate the terrors of the big city and try to find a way back to their respective homes.
When I wrote this book, I was years away from becoming active in animal rescue and adoption. This outpouring must have been an early indicator that our four-legged friends would end up playing a big part in my life.
I am a better man for it.
Author’s Bio
Chris believes that stories should be able to transport the reader to different places, where they can experience events and dimensions that have never been considered. Chris is able to write gentle fable-like adventures as well as opening the pages into dark and terrifying stories where dimensions co-exist with indescribable evil.
Chris Coppel was born in California and has since split his time between the USA and Europe, living in California, Spain, France, Switzerland and England.
Chris has held senior operations positions for both Warner Bros. and Universal Studios. Chris also held the position of Director of Operations for UCLA’s Film School where he also taught advanced screen writing. Chris and his wife Clare spent many years helping animal rescue with Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. Before joining Best Friends, Chris was President and Managing Director of the Home Entertainment Division of Testronics in Los Angeles.
Following in his father’s footsteps (Alec Coppel wrote Vertigo among many other successful movies) Chris has written numerous screenplays as well as several novels.
Chris is also an accomplished drummer and guitarist.
OTHER BOOKS BY CHRIS COPPEL
LUCK
THE LODGE
LEGACY
LAKEBED
LINER
COMING
SOON
LINGERING
LIKENESS
LOGISTICS (A CHRISTMAS STORY)
LUNACY
Visit chriscoppel.com to see what’s new.