The Fox of Richmond Park

by Kate Dreyer

  ‘Never… I knew the power of numbers. I heard what happened there and vowed to never let it happen here. But somehow… without even knowing… without even organising…’

  ‘It’s funny, Edward,’ Sophie said, ‘We should thank you. Because if you’d killed me and Jake straight away you probably would have carried on ruling, for who knows how many seasons. No one was brave enough to stand up to you on their own, but you brought the whole park together in one place. You organised us. You tried to get them to turn on each other, and on me. And it nearly worked. Everyone believed you, and Sid wasn’t enough to persuade them, but you screwed over the one animal who would have lied for you. And when she turned on you, everyone was gathered to watch. We couldn’t have planned it better ourselves.’

  Edward closed his eyes and exhaled again.

  ‘But I refuse to feel sorry for you,’ Sophie continued. ‘Because all this happened without us even knowing about the other park, which means Vince died for no reason at all.’

  Edward was silent.

  Sophie looked at the dwindling crowd of animals, then at the blue sky, then finally at Jake. ‘I think it’s time we got some sleep.’

  Jake helped Sophie up, taking some of her weight on the back of his neck.

  ‘Sid, are you staying?’ Jake said, once Sophie was stable. ‘You’re very welcome in the cemetery, but I’m sure Edward won’t mind you digging somewhere else if you’d rather,’ he laughed.

  ‘Oh, perhaps one sunshine, Sid will stay? Maybe two? A long journey it is, back to Sid’s sett. Very kind, you are. Very kind.’

  The remaining residents dispersed after giving Sophie their get-well wishes. Edward didn’t move, but opened one eye to watch them leave. Jake helped Sophie as they made their way back to their den, with Sid ambling beside them.

  After a while, Jake broke the silence. ‘Listen, I don’t know if this means I’m forgiven… I wouldn’t blame you if not. I’ve made some terrible mistakes. Things Vince would never have done, and—’

  ‘Shush, Jake. It doesn’t matter now. Edward manipulated everyone.’

  ‘Not you. You stayed strong the whole time.’

  ‘He got me to hate you for a while,’ Sophie said.

  ‘By telling you what I did. Vince would never have made a deal with him, gone behind your back, got your friend killed…’

  ‘Stop beating yourself up. Vince was a good fox and, yes, you did some stupid, awful things, and maybe we can’t go back to exactly how things were… Alice is dead and I won’t ever forget that. But…’ She took a deep breath before continuing. ‘I won’t let Edward destroy us. I know you did it all for me, and I love you. I love you because you’re Jake, not Vince.’

  Jake sniffed and smiled. ‘Okay.’

  ‘And you love me, right? I’m a wonderful, wise vixen, remember?’ She smiled back.

  ‘Of course. And beautiful and brilliant. Don’t forget that.’ Jake laughed, then gave her a gentle nuzzle. She pressed her snout into his warm neck.

  Sid frowned at them both. ‘On second thinkings, Sid might stay for just the one sunshine.’

  16

  The evening arrived, as it always did, and Rita led Vince and Arthur past the station where she had jumped on the train with Del and Laurie the day before. Arthur’s experience of trains was almost zero but, unlike Vince, he showed no signs of fear, asking Rita question after question about them: Where did they come from? Where do they go? What colour are they? How big? How fast? Could he ride one, maybe, one day?

  After a while, Arthur grew tired. His short legs were not built to carry him long distances, and Vince was surprised he’d made it so far from Regent’s Park without complaining, but he was a tenacious little thing, his only goal to explore London. Not surprising, really, that Rita was happy to chat to him hour after hour, and vice versa.

  Despite Vince’s urgency to get to Laurie, they all agreed to walk at Arthur’s pace, stopping whenever he needed a rest. Arthur was grateful, but clearly felt bad for holding them up. At times, Vince could tell the little hedgehog was panting, desperate for a break, but kept going without a word.

  The only animal they spoke to on the way was a ginger cat named Sherbet, and Rita did all the talking, explaining about Laurie and Hampstead Heath.

  ‘Socks, you say? Hammersmith?’ Sherbet said between licking his paws. ‘Rings a bell, but strictly the Haringey patch, me. Down to the tracks, up to Turnpike Lane, no more, no less.’

  ‘Right, but you know the cat, sorry… Official Feline Administrator… In the next patch over, right?’ Rita said.

  ‘Yeah, I know a few. Hawking does Crouch End that way, Princess Whiskers in Wood Green that way…’ He pointed his paw.

  ‘Okay, so can you give them all the message and tell them to tell the next cats over? Then maybe it will eventually reach Socks,’ Rita said.

  ‘That’s not a bad plan, you know. Which way is Hammersmith?’

  ‘South-west. Quite far that way.’ Vince pointed in the general direction.

  ‘Right you are. Well, I’ll tell Hawking, he knows the OFA in Holloway…’ Sherbet started to nod, then his smile stretched into a grin. ‘Yeah, I think this might work, you know.’

  ‘Thank you so much,’ Rita said.

  ‘No worries, always a pleasure to assist anyone in my patch. If you ever find yourself back here, you ask for Sherbet. That’s me.’

  The group continued on their way, relieved that they had done their best to let Socks know how Laurie was and passed on the story of the Solstice Riot at Hampstead Heath, which they hoped would eventually reach Richmond Park. They only wished, for Laurie’s sake, that she’d had a chance to see Socks one last time, but Rita assured them all that she would sort something out. Vince was less optimistic, but went along with it.

  They walked in silence for a while as the moon scoured the sky, full and round. It was nearly gone by the time they arrived at Tottenham Hale station.

  Vince looked around the desolate, grey space. ‘This is it? So, where’s Laurie?’

  ‘Well, here’s the thing…’ Rita began.

  ‘I knew it,’ Vince snorted.

  ‘… we have to get on a train.’

  ‘What do you mean, get on a train?’ Vince pulled a face.

  ‘It means we ride the train along the rails, right, Rita?’ Arthur squeaked excitedly.

  ‘No,’ Vince said, without thinking. He started to pace back and forth. ‘I… I can’t. I just can’t. Why don’t you go and find Laurie, Rita, and… and just bring her back here or something?’ It was a ridiculous suggestion, but as far as he was concerned, no more ridiculous than Rita’s.

  ‘She’s in a nature reserve, Vince. As in, reserved for nature. Doesn’t that sound like somewhere you want to be?’ Rita said.

  ‘Yes, but…’ Vince closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath. ‘Not on a train. You saw me walking over that bridge at Hampstead Heath, and we weren’t even near the tracks then.’

  ‘You won’t be near the tracks. You’ll be on the train,’ Rita said, cocking her head to the side.

  ‘And where is the train?’ Vince said.

  ‘On the tracks…’ Rita mumbled. ‘But if you think about it, if you’re scared of getting hit by a train, then surely the best place to be is on a train?’ She waved her wings for emphasis.

  ‘I really don’t want to discuss this. Have you even thought about how we’d get on board? With humans around?’ Vince sat down. ‘You’re only one little bird. If a human sees all of us together on a train, they’re going to freak out, aren’t they? What if one of them picks us up and takes us somewhere, like Del did with Laurie? Then we’re in a right mess.’

  Rita tilted her head and frowned. She clearly hadn’t thought it through.

  ‘Exactly!’ Vince sniffed.

  ‘Maybe they are like the roads…?’ Arthur piped up. ‘Busy in the daytime but empty at night.’

  ‘I think you might be on to something,’ Rita said. ‘I can watch from the roof and see how
busy they are. I doubt there will be any now, but there might be some early in the morning. The first one has got to be quiet, right? Most humans don’t wake up with the sun like animals do.’

  ‘Yes, and then we can get on the quietest part and hide somewhere. I’m good at hiding,’ Arthur said.

  ‘Wait… We’re not actually going through with this?’ Vince said, mouth open.

  ‘Vince, you know we are. You can do this. What would Laurie be saying if she were here right now?’ Rita said, hopping closer to him.

  ‘Well, that’s a stupid question, since we’re only here because—’

  ‘Vince!’ Rita said. ‘Come on, hypothetically, what would she say?’

  ‘That I’m being a poodle,’ he mumbled.

  ‘Yes. And are you a poodle?’ Rita said.

  ‘I don’t know what—’

  ‘Ugh! Just shut up and find somewhere safe to wait while I watch for trains, okay? You can do this. We’re going to help you. It’ll be fine.’

  ‘Yes, Rita,’ he mumbled, then under his breath said, ‘Laurie’s right again, and she’s not even here.’

  *

  Vince crouched under a bench, Arthur beside him, as Rita paced the metal roof of the station. They had been waiting and napping for hours, but sunrise was not far off now, and Vince was answering more of Arthur’s questions to try to take the hedgehog’s mind off his empty belly. The nearest bins contained only a few oily scraps of paper and plastic, and insects and worms were nowhere to be found. On the odd occasion that Arthur fell silent for a while, Vince kept himself occupied with thoughts of Laurie, the nature reserve and frogs.

  Rita’s talons clacked on the roof as she hopped across it, then flapped over to the bench. ‘Some humans have arrived,’ she said. ‘They’re unlocking doors and uncovering things. Won’t be long, now.’

  ‘Hope so,’ Vince said, his own stomach starting to growl.

  From the station, a faint voice echoed through the still, early morning air.

  ‘The next train to arrive at platform two will be the four fifty-nine service to Stansted Airport, calling at Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Harlow Town…’

  ‘That’s it! That’s our train! We need to go!’ Rita squawked.

  ‘Go and check for humans,’ Vince said.

  ‘Alright, but don’t dilly-dally.’ She flapped back to the roof. Vince and Arthur crept towards the station entrance. The barriers were closed, but they didn’t reach the ground, so they could easily sneak under. But getting into the station wasn’t what Vince was worried about. And worried was an understatement. Vince felt sick to his stomach, and his fast-approaching hunger didn’t help.

  ‘There’s no one here, guys,’ Rita shouted.

  They crawled under the barriers and, once through, Vince peered down the platform. It was, indeed, completely empty.

  ‘I told you,’ Rita said, fluttering down from above. ‘Come on. The train’s nearly here.’

  The rumble vibrated through Vince’s bones. Arthur walked towards the edge of the platform with Rita. Vince stayed put. He couldn’t see the rails from where he was, and he didn’t really want to.

  The voice spoke again. ‘The train now arriving at platform two is the four fifty-nine…’

  ‘Come on, Vince,’ Rita said sternly.

  He shook his head. ‘I’ll… I’ll wait until it’s here. I don’t want to… fall on the tracks or anything.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous – you won’t fall on the tracks. Look, Arthur’s not scared, are you?’

  Arthur shook his head.

  ‘Arthur’s braver than me,’ Vince said.

  The train screeched into the platform and Vince edged backwards until he was almost back under the barriers. The doors opened with a hiss and a man stepped out. Vince’s heart thumped in his ears. Rita flapped through the open door into the carriage, then hopped to the edge and called out. ‘It’s empty! Quick!’

  Arthur followed her, but stopped at the edge. The gap between the train and the platform was too wide for him to cross.

  ‘Vince, Arthur needs help, come on!’ Rita yelled.

  Vince took a deep breath. The train beeped. He ran towards them, eyes on Arthur.

  Don’t look at the tracks. Don’t look at the tracks.

  The doors started to close. He pushed his snout underneath Arthur’s backside and lifted. The doors thumped together and Rita disappeared from view. Arthur’s front feet were pressed against the slippery train as he balanced on Vince’s nose. Rita’s voice came through, muffled by the solid metal between them. ‘Broxbourne! Get to Broxbourne!’

  The train lurched and pulled away with Rita on board. Arthur yelped, his front paws sliding across the white metal. Vince opened his jaws and twisted his neck to catch him, but Arthur panicked and curled up. Spines jabbed into the roof of Vince’s mouth and he flinched, dropping Arthur onto the concrete platform. He rolled. Vince lunged with his paw to stop him, but he was too slow. Arthur dropped over the edge and bounced onto the train tracks.

  *

  Four stags hovered around Edward in the early morning mist as he tried and failed to stand up for the third time. He’d made it through the night, the stags standing guard around him, but he was in agony. The throbbing in his hind leg had worsened hour by hour, spreading across his entire flank, the pain now excruciating. His breath came out in short pants, drops of spittle hanging from the tip of his lolling tongue. Streaks of foam covered his chestnut fur, whipped up from his frantic staggering and falling. The wound on his throat was still raw, his constant struggling pulling at the damaged flesh.

  He didn’t want his stags to see him like this, but rather them than the rest of the park. Once he was fit again, he could sort this mess out. Over time, the residents would learn to trust him again. He would apologise for his mistakes, make amends. He was the only animal who could rule Richmond Park. Surely they could see that? A few days and nights of anarchy and they would all come crawling back.

  ‘I think you should rest, Edward. It looks… bad,’ one of the stags said.

  ‘I’m fine. Where are the rest of you? That skinny stag, and the ugly one? Where are they? You, go and get them. Bring them here.’ He collapsed onto his side, blood oozing from the burning wound on his throat.

  ‘Er… They’ve… Er…’ The stag looked down at his hooves.

  ‘Spit it… out,’ Edward gasped.

  ‘Quit.’

  ‘Quit? What do you… mean… quit?’

  ‘Quit… Er… Their service. To you. They’re with their families. They said they won’t help you anymore. They—’

  ‘Enough,’ Edward grunted. ‘I want all of you to—’ Edward’s ears pricked along with those of the rest of the stags. The unmistakable sound of a car engine.

  The stags backed away from the sound, leaving Edward exposed on the grass. ‘Get back here! Protect me!’ His chest pounded and saliva dribbled from the corner of his mouth.

  A shape came into focus as the engine grew louder. A car. One of the large square ones, driving across the grass. It stopped some way away and the engine cut out. A door opened and a human jumped out. His top half was covered with a dark-green material, his legs with grey.

  Edward composed himself, speaking slowly between long breaths. ‘Ah, you see… One of the wardens has come… To help me. They must have heard I was hurt. The visitors are probably… Concerned.’

  The man approached. He was carrying something.

  Edward filled with relief and relaxed. ‘See? He’s got something for me. Medicine, probably, or something to strap my leg up. Didn’t I tell you I’d be fine?’

  The stags retreated further. ‘Cowards,’ Edward shouted. ‘The humans are here to help the deer, you know that. Listen, human, I appreciate your assistance. It was that damned badger, you know. Came out of nowhere…’ The human was nearer now, and Edward could make out more detail. The object under his arm was not medicine. Or something to strap up his leg. Edward’s eyes bulged. The stags bolted into the trees.


  ‘No!’ Edward panicked and tried to get up, tumbling back to the ground as his wounded leg skidded from under him. He roared in pain. His heart raced at woodpecker speed. ‘No, help me, please. It’s just my leg. I’ll be fine if you just…’

  The human frowned and shook his head. ‘Poor bastard.’ He lifted the shotgun to his shoulder.

  ‘No, human! Stop! Stop!’ Edward scraped frantically at the dirt with his hooves and pulled his front end up onto his forelegs.

  The man braced and the gun made a click.

  ‘Stop! Don’t you understand? I am in charge here!’ Edward shrieked.

  The shot boomed over the park. Pain exploded across his chest as the bullet ripped through his lungs. Edward sank to the ground, his last breath rasping from his bloodstained lips.

  *

  ‘No, no, no, no, no… Arthur!’ Vince crept to the edge of the platform and peered over. Arthur was still curled up, resting on the gravel between the wall of the platform and the closest rail. The sight of the tracks made him queasy enough, but seeing Arthur down there almost made him vomit. He snapped his head back and reversed.

  Arthur let out a squeak. ‘Where am… Oh no! Vince! Help me! Vince!’

  ‘Don’t worry, Arthur, it’s okay. I’ll get you out; just stay away from the rails, okay? Don’t touch the metal bits, do you understand?’

  Arthur’s voice wobbled. ‘Okay.’

  Oh, Mother Nature. What do I do? And Rita’s on her own on the train…

  He sat back on his haunches and looked around. Where was a human when you needed one? He walked the length of the platform, searching for something he could reach down with. A plank of wood, a rope, anything… He kept close to the building wall, not daring to walk anywhere near the yellow lines that warned him away from the edge.

  A noise made his ears twitch. A beep, followed by a whirring. The gates. Someone was coming in. He hid behind a bench and watched as a woman, led by a knee-high dog on a long, red lead, strolled onto the platform and towards him. She wore a thick, brown coat with a brightly-coloured, patterned scarf around her neck and a wide-brimmed hat on her head. On her other arm, she carried a large, black bag in the crook of her elbow. She sat down on the next bench and pulled out her phone.