by Megan Rix
‘Woofer’s too badly injured to walk,’ George said as Tiger Lily lay down next to her friend and nuzzled him with her nose.
‘Well then he shall ride,’ said the king. ‘There’s room enough on my horse for two small dogs and the Court physician shall tend to his needs.’ He looked over at Teeth and Claws. ‘I see you now have many dogs,’ he said.
‘They’re turnspit dogs from the palace kitchen, sir,’ George told him. ‘Without Teeth and Claws we’d never have found Tiger Lily and Woofer. They tracked their scent through the city.’
‘How amazing,’ the king agreed. ‘I should very much like to see their tracking skills. They should be playfellows for the royal dogs from now on, as should dear Woofer once he’s fully recovered.’
George looked over at Annie. Her head was down and in front of the king she was suddenly very shy, not at all like her usual self.
‘Annie made the biscuits that the royal dogs like so much, sir,’ George said.
‘Did she indeed?’ the king remarked.
Annie, not sure what she was supposed to do in the presence of such greatness, jumped up, curtsied and blushed. Instinctively she smoothed down her hair, at the same time attempting to say that yes, indeed, she was Annie, and what an honour it was to speak to His Majesty. But no words would come out of her mouth and she could only open and close it silently.
‘I’ve often thought we should employ a cook at the palace for the royal dogs,’ said the king as he took off his cloak and wrapped Woofer in it.
George smiled. Woofer would be OK now. But then he had another thought. If Teeth and Claws were to be royal playfellows and Annie the royal dog chef, then what about him?
The king must have been a mind reader because he answered George’s question before George had even asked it.
‘And you, George, are now Assistant Keeper of the Palace Dogs, both royal and otherwise. James Jack would have no one else for the role,’ he said as he carried Woofer to his horse.
Woofer weakly wagged his stub of a tail and George couldn’t think of anything that he would like more than to work with the dogs.
‘Thank you, Your Majesty,’ he said, his eyes shining. Gran would never have believed it. Thinking of her made him sad but then he imagined her busily making pottage up in heaven and he didn’t feel sad any more.
‘Make haste to return. I think you’ll find things a little different in the palace kitchen where you used to work,’ said the king as he rode off with Woofer and Tiger Lily.
When George, Teeth, Claws and Annie got back to the palace kitchen, followed by the raggedy cat, there was a sound coming from it that George had never heard in there before – Geese; six of them, all looking quite at home.
The goose in the turnspit wheel didn’t seem to mind the work at all as it strutted round and round. In fact the bird looked quite proud of its new role.
‘They’ve got wood tar and sand on their feet. That’s how they’re protected when they walk to Nottingham Goose Fair from all over the country. It gives their feet more of a grip when walking in the wheel too,’ a man with thick sandy-coloured locks told George and Annie. For a moment the hair confused George but then Humphrey lifted it off like a hat and he realized it was a wig.
‘You’re back!’ George cried, throwing his arms round his friend.
‘Of course I am. It doesn’t take that long to get to Nottingham and back.’
‘So that’s where you went?’
‘But the geese didn’t have to walk here from Nottingham, did they?’ Annie asked him.
‘Oh no,’ Humphrey laughed. ‘They rode home in style in the carriage with me!’ He turned back to George. ‘Didn’t anyone tell you I was going there to buy geese to work the turnspit wheel?’
George shook his head.
‘Honestly, sometimes I think you and I are the only ones with any brains around here.’
‘They were probably too scared of Master Vogel,’ George laughed. He was glad the chef had gone now.
‘Yes. Can’t say I’m sad to see the back of him either,’ said Humphrey.
Leopold, the Archduke of Austria, had commanded him home and everyone was happy to see him leave.
Teeth and Claws went to sniff ‘hello’ to the five geese that weren’t in the wheel but when the birds hissed at them they quickly retreated.
Tiger Lily came racing into the kitchen wagging her tail and as George followed her up the stairs, the cat slipped into the kitchen, ran over to Old Peg on her stool and jumped up on to her lap.
‘Hello, cat,’ the old lady said, and she stroked her until the ragged-tailed cat purred.
In an anteroom off the king’s apartments Woofer had now been treated for his injuries and was fast asleep. A silver bowl of water and some tasty snacks had been set down beside him.
Once Woofer was well enough, George took him for short walks in the Privy Garden and, as he got stronger, for longer ones in St James’s Park.
Woofer still wasn’t too sure about the large pelicans over on Duck Island but he wasn’t scared of the thirty chickens that had now made their home in the park and he wagged his tail at the baby goats.
The king gave Woofer’s sapphire collar back to him. ‘It was always his to keep,’ he said.
‘He does look very smart in it, Your Majesty,’ George grinned.
A few months later there was great excitement in the palace when Tiger Lily gave birth to three puppies. Three perfect mixtures of Tiger Lily and Woofer mewled and snuffled as their mum licked them and Woofer wagged the stub of his tail.
For the first few weeks their eyes and ears were closed but once they opened, the puppies were up and about and full of life. They tumbled over each other, exploring the room they’d been born in and crunching up the biscuits Annie made especially for them with their sharp little puppy teeth. Annie was more than happy with her new customers and loved working in Humphrey’s kitchen.
The puppies caused laughter and havoc wherever they went and George, Annie and James Jack were kept very busy.
The king’s bathtub was a popular place for splashing in and the king’s old wigs became favourite chew toys. His Majesty didn’t mind a bit. He was too busy organizing food and shelter for his homeless subjects and talking to planners about a new London. A London that would be safer for its people, where there would be less overcrowding and more sanitation.
‘We’ll rebuild the city,’ he said. ‘And we’ll make it better. A place all people can call home.’
Woofer gave one of his distinctive deep barks.
‘Sssh, Woofer,’ George said.
But the king only smiled. ‘And better for dogs as well, of course,’ he added.
Afterword
Researching the Great Fire of London has been fascinating. I’d never have imagined that there used to be frost fairs on the River Thames when it froze over. Or that a small dog had such a crucial role to play in the seventeenth-century kitchen. I am of course indebted to Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn for their diaries of the time that were so enlightening.
The response from children to the idea for this book was very enthusiastic and I hope I have done it justice.
King Charles the Second’s love of dogs is well known, but less well known nowadays is the kitchen dog or turnspit as they were known. These short-legged little dogs worked to turn the kitchen wheel that perhaps inspired today’s hamster wheels. Sadly the original turnspit dogs died out when they were no longer needed to turn the wheel any more. We do know that Glen Imaal terriers (like Woofer in this book) claim to be their descendants. Some sources say they were related to corgis (like Scraps in this book) and some that it was just any short-legged, long-bodied mixed-breed dog (like Teeth and Claws).
These hard-working little dogs were considered so lowly, little more than kitchen utensils, that no one thought to keep accurate records of them and there are lots of conflicting descriptions of what they looked like. I wish I could have met one of them. I’m sure they’d have loved to play with my do
gs and could have been dog-treat taste testers too. Have a look at the end of the book for recipes of a couple of Bella and Freya’s favourite treats!
Dog Treat Recipes
Make sure you ask an adult to help you, especially with the bits involving a hot oven!
The first recipe is very much like the one Annie in the book would have used to make hardtack or ship’s biscuits for the sailors back in 1666. My dogs happily crunched them up, but the longer they’re left out in the air the harder they get. The sailors would have soaked them to soften them a little before they were eaten, otherwise there would have been a lot of broken teeth! Soaking also got rid of the ‘weevils’ or maggot larvae from the biscuits. (My dogs probably wouldn’t have minded eating those too. ☺)
Ginger Hardtack Biscuits
You will need:
100g flour (any flour except self-raising will do. Do note, however, that some dogs are allergic to wheat)
30ml water
l tsp of ginger powder
How to make them:
Preheat your oven to 180°C or gas mark 4.
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl to make a dough (it should be fairly dry) and knead it with your hands.
Roll the dough out until it’s roughly a centimeter thick (it doesn’t have to be exact) prick holes on both sides of it with a fork and place on an ungreased baking tray.
Pop the tray in the oven and bake for 30 minutes on one side and then flip over and bake for 30 minutes on the other side.
Turn off the oven and allow the biscuit to cool inside it (if you can – I couldn’t …).
When it was still slightly warm I took the biscuit out of the oven and broke it into small pieces. It was already hard, but still breakable, and the bit I tested tasted of ginger – it was definitely edible. An hour later the biscuits were too hard for my teeth, but the dogs crunched them up and a few hours later they were truly hard and lived up to the name of hardtack. I would have tried soaking them for longer as the sailors did to soften them up, but the rest of the pieces had already been eaten by the dogs. The second batch I kept in a glass treat jar and they didn’t end up going as hard as those left to air dry, but were still nice and crunchy! ☺
Freya’s Ginger Apple Snaps
Our new puppy, Freya, loves apple and so this recipe seemed perfect for her. She also loves raw carrots and pears and either of those could be substituted for the apple.
You will need:
120g rice flour (or you could grind up uncooked rice)
100ml water
l small apple, grated
l dsp coconut oil
l tsp ginger powder
How to make them:
Preheat your oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.
Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl together and stir. (It will be quite wet but don’t worry.)
Line a baking tray with greased parchment paper.
Press the mixture out on the parchment paper.
Bake for 15 minutes. Check if they’re done. Keep cooking for up to another 10 minutes if need be. They should feel a bit like a flapjack – crunchy round the edges, softer in the middle. They’ll harden up once they cool.
Both biscuits recipes were taste-tested by willing canine volunteers, Bella and Freya. And the taste-test winner? Well, there really was no contest. Ginger Apple Snaps won hands down! I tasted both too and I have to agree. Ginger Apple Snaps are delicious and stayed crisp and crunchy to the last one in the jar (eaten a few days later ☺).
Acknowledgements
Huge thanks as always must go to my wonderful editors Anthea Townsend and Carmen McCulloch, editorial manager Samantha Stanton Stewart, copy-editor Mary O’Riordan and proof-reader Bea McIntyre, cover designer Emily Smyth, and illustrator Richard Jones. On the PR and marketing side there’s been brilliant Jessica Farrugia-Sharples, Lucie Sharpe and Hannah Malocco as well as sales champions Tineke Mollemans and Kirsty Bradbury; never forgetting my lovely agent Clare Pearson of Eddison Pearson.
My amazing husband Eric designs my websites, helps with the research for my books, takes fantastic pictures of animals and people, and is the photographer for our local RSPCA. My dogs continue to inspire my writing and bring so much joy to my life. They are the perfect writer’s companion. Golden retriever Bella has been coming with me to schools, libraries and festivals, meeting children and showing them her ‘helpful’ tricks. Little golden retriever puppy Freya will no doubt soon be joining us on our trips.
Read all of Megan Rix’s wonderful wartime animal stories …
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First published 2016
Text copyright © Megan Rix, 2016
Map and illustrations copyright © David Atkinson, 2016
Chapter-heading illustrations copyright © Penguin Books, 2016
The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted
Cover Illustration by Richard Jones
ISBN: 978–0–141–36532–9