3 Heads & a Tail

by Vickie Johnstone

  “Have you seen her before?” asks Mimi, breathing heavily and looking nervous.

  “No, never,” I say. “I was thinking about it while running. Never, I'm sure.”

  “Me neither. How does she know our names?”

  “No idea. We better keep going. Get as far away from here as possible.”

  At that moment a big red bus stops right by us and Mimi moves away from the edge of the pavement. It's one of those small buses. I look up and realise we're standing at the bus stop! How funny. The driver cranes his head out of the window, grinning from ear to ear. “Do you need a lift?” he asks.

  I'm wondering if this is a joke and I cock my head, but the bus doors open. All of the passengers are looking at us, smiling. Why not, I think. I look at Mimi and she seems to agree. We hop on to the bus while the passengers clap. My tongue lollops out of my head and I'm wagging my tail. Mimi's is going pretty fast too, and two women are taking it in turns to give her a fuss. She's such a pretty dog.

  The bus driver looks round, waves and starts driving. And we're off. It's a bit jolty and weird, but I get used to it though I'm struggling to balance. Sticking my tail out seems to help. Just have to be careful not to swish people with it! We're passing trees, streets, people and we keep going. By the time the bus is almost empty, we're still on it, balancing and watching the world go by – it whizzes past. If I squint it sort of blurs into a rush of colour. Shoom!

  “Do you have any idea where we're going?” voofs Mimi.

  “No idea,” I say. “But if we go far, we won't get found so soon.”

  “True,” she says, pushing herself closer to me.

  The bus is stopping and doesn't move again. The driver jumps out of his little windowed seat and heads in our direction. He's patting us on the head.

  “That was the last stop, folks. This is as far as I'm going. Hope you're not going to get lost now,” he says, and opens the doors. He steps on to the pavement and we jump off behind him.

  To our left there is just a line of trees; to the right, a small shop and a row of houses. The owner of the shop has kindly left out a bowl of water – a sign saying 'For dogs' has an arrow pointing down to it. I'm overwhelmed with thirst and I see Mimi running straight for it.

  I look up at the bus driver and cock my head. Wish I could wink or something, but that would freak him out, so I just wag my tail. “Voof.”

  He pats my head like he knows I'm saying thank you. “This is Bedrin Woods,” he announces, as if he knows I understand, and then he wanders off into the shop.

  I pad over to Mimi and lap up some water. It's no longer cold, but still refreshing. I flick my head so some of it lands on Mimi. She kicks me lightly and runs back to the pavement. I chase after her. There are no cars coming either way – I'm remembering my Green Cross Code and 'Sit' command, Ben – so we run quickly across. The forest looms, big and green. It's the largest mass of trees I've ever seen. I'm not sure I've ever been in a forest before. From the look on Mimi's face, I can tell that she hasn't.

  “Maybe we shouldn't go there,” I say. “It looks a bit scary.”

  “I was thinking the same. Hope you don't think I'm a scaredy dog,” she says, her head drooping.

  “Nah, we can go another time. Let's stick to the streets and houses, and what we're used to. Maybe there's a small park around here.”

  “Voof,” she says, wagging her tail. I make her happy. Sometimes it's the simple things. We check there's no traffic and hurry back across the road. It's time to find some food. I'm wondering how many old ladies live in this neighbourhood.

  Chapter 35

  “Ben, it's Josie,” she said after he answered the phone.

  “I know,” he said, “I can see your name!”

  “Glad you haven't lost your sense of humour. Is Ms Hill with you?”

  “Yeah, she came over again for coffee. It helps her. She's brought over a new photo album.”

  “Cool,” said Josie. “We've had some news. A woman called in to say she had seen the dogs!”

  “Wow!” said Ben, standing up. Wobbling a little, he sat back down.

  “What is it?” asked Ms Hill, her eyes full of hope.

  “They've had a sighting,” he said. “Where, Josie?”

  “Another town, Ebston. They walked quite a way. It seems they headed west. This woman was putting out her rubbish and saw them. She shouted their names and waved, but they ran off.”

  “Did she run after them?” asked Ben.

  “No, but she called us. This happened earlier today. So we're running the story again this week with an update. We're going to put a map of the route we're guessing they took, along with some more photos.”

  “That's great, Josie!” cheered Ben. Ms Hill wiped her eyes, smiling.

  “My editor is making it the cover story!”

  “Great! Thank you so much.”

  “It's because of the readers, Ben. We've had lots of letters and phone calls. People want to know where the dogs are. They want to know more about them. If you could write me some stories, some funny things about Glen, all that sort of thing will help. And this time we're putting a big photo of them on the cover. One of the pictures you took at the park.”

  “I don't know how to thank you.”

  “It's nothing, Ben. We all want Glen home.” She hung up.

  “They're putting the story on the cover this week,” said Ben to Ms Hill. “The readers want to know what happened to our dogs. The woman who saw them... it was in another town. They're okay.” He sighed with relief. It was only a matter of time before Glen came home.

  Ms Hill wiped her eyes and nodded. She gripped the photo album in her hands.

  Later that week, Ben was down at the corner shop first thing in the morning before it opened its doors. Sure enough, just like Josie said, Glen and Mimi stared out from the cover of Nature's Way. Ben picked it up and flicked through. A map showed the dogs' presumed journey. The story was four pages long, with a lot of pictures and anecdotes... and letters. Two pages alone were full of letters from readers. Some asked for more information or for details about the dogs. All of them sent their best wishes. Ben smiled. There were a lot of dog lovers out there. When he got home, he read all of the letters twice. Then he went off to work feeling more hopeful. Life went on, after all.

  The next day, Josie rang him while he was at work. “Ben, have you seen the Daily News?”

  “No, I don't read that.”

  “There's a story on page five about Glen and Mimi! They picked up the story from the magazine and our local paper,” she trilled.

  “No way! Glen in the news? That's fantastic!”

  “I know! I just know he's coming home,” she said.

  “I feel that too.”

  Chapter 36

  The next morning, the story ran on TV – at the end of the morning news. 'Have you seen these dogs? Phone this number.' It was no longer a local story – it had gone national. The public wanted to know where the dogs were and everyone wanted to be the one to spot them. Out there somewhere, Glen and Mimi had no idea that they were suddenly the two most famous golden Labradors in the country.

  At midday, a bus driver rang in to say the dogs had taken a ride on his bus to Bedrin Village. They had been in good health and happy, enjoying the ride. Ben got the news at 2pm. He phoned Josie and they met back at the house as quickly as possible. Her editor was going to meet them in the village.

  “Where's Ayla?” asked Josie when she got back to the house with Kay. Ben was waiting with three steaming mugs of coffee. David was in the lounge, playing his guitar. It sent tremors of sound through the wall.

  “She's visiting family, but she sends good luck wishes. Ms Hill will be here soon. We're going to drive to the village in her car.”

  “That's nice of Ayla,” smiled Josie, sipping the coffee. “Ms Hill must be as excited as we are!”

  “Yeah, she couldn't wait to get off the phone.”

  “Thanks for making me one,” said Kay. “So, how ar
e things going with Ayla?”

  “Kay!” said Josie, astonished. “Stop being so nosy!”

  “Well, while we're waiting, I just wondered,” said Kay, pouting.

  “She's fine,” said Ben, “but we decided to just cool things. We're still friends though. She's a nice girl.”

  “What happened?” asked Kay, moving a bit closer.

  “Kay!” repeated Josie. Her friend was incorrigible.

  “No, it's fine,” said Ben. “She's moving to the States to study, so there wasn't much point starting anything serious. Plus she's a bit too young I guess! I'm an oldie compared to her.”

  “I don't think that matters,” said Kay, “but the moving to America is big.”

  “It's good you can be friends,” said Josie, sipping her coffee.

  The doorbell sounded. Josie breathed a silent sigh of relief and went to open the door. It was Ms Hill. Josie had never seen her smiling before. Her face was as bright as the sunny morning.

  “Hello Josie,” she said, beaming. “What great news we have today!”

  “Yes, it's brilliant.”

  “It's all because of your magazine. I won't forget that! I have to thank your editor.”

  “She's meeting us at the village, so you can thank her then.”

  “Great.” Ms Hill was carrying Mimi's lead and a box of biscuits. They must be the dog's favourite, guessed Josie.

  “Are we going now?” asked David, walking into the hallway.

  Ben and Kay stepped out of the kitchen. “I don't think there's room, David,” said Kay.

  Ben brushed past without looking at him.

  David caught the hint. “Right, I'll catch the bus... I want to help.”

  Ben scowled at him. “We don't need your help. You've done enough damage.”

  Everyone, except David, jumped into the car and drove off. Despite her excitement, Ms Hill tried not to speed. No one spoke; they were all lost in their own thoughts about how the day would end.

  Glen

  This morning is even hotter than yesterday. The sun is so bright that I can't look up at it. I'm so thirsty. We're heading towards the village shop and the big bowl of water that's always outside. I can sort of taste it now. Cool and refreshing.

  “Lovely day,” says Mimi, padding along beside me. “What's the plan?”

  “A long drink of cool water and then we can explore a bit.”

  “The village is small,” says Mimi. “I think we've explored all of it.”

  She's grinning. I think she means she has itchy feet and wants to travel some more. Maybe we can take another bus and head off somewhere more exciting. With not many shops, this place is a bit difficult for finding food. Luckily, the villagers are friendly and the guy in the shop has been feeding us. Ah, here we are. The Holy Grail of water bowls. “Voof.”

  “Ladies first,” I say, stepping aside.

  Mimi gives me a goofy look and starts slurping the water. I bet it's cold and feels great on the tongue. Funny, today there are a lot of people in the shop. From here they can't see me, but I can see them. Down the front by the till there are quite a few gathered, all talking.

  I pad over to the row of newspapers in front of the shop to check the news. I wonder what's going on in the big wide world. I used to always look at Ben's paper in the morning when I brought it to him. He had no idea I did that. Not that I can read it, but I look at the pictures and the main titles. Sometimes I recognise the odd word. Out here, the newspapers are in glass cases so I can't just grab one with my teeth. Ah, here's the local paper...

  “Eeetttsss vooooooof!”

  “What is it?” asks Mimi, looking up from the water. I'm stuck. I can't move. I'm staring at myself.

  Mimi pads over. “What's wrong?”

  Her mouth falls open and her eyes widen. Staring out from the newspaper are our faces. I even recognise the photo. It's one that Ben took of us in the park. We are on the front of the local village paper. Maybe I can break the case and get it out before anyone sees, but I know that's going to be impossible. Mimi is looking at the next one.

  “Glen, it's not only that paper. We're on the front of all of them!” she voofs, astonished.

  She's right. We're national news. We're famous. How did this happen? They're going to be after us. Someone will recognise us and take us back.

  “It must be Ms Hill and Ben,” says Mimi. “They're just trying to find us, but how did we become so famous? I'm surprised anyone would be interested.”

  “Me too,” I say. I can't believe it. We are the news. Our pictures are bigger than all of the other stories. We're bigger than the prime minister!

  And then I notice that the people in the shop are carrying things. One is carrying a camera. They heard us barking and they're looking at us, wide eyed. I back away slowly, bumping into Mimi. She sees it too.

  Then someone points. “Look! It's them!”

  Alarmed, I race down the path towards the road. Mimi bounds after me. I skid to a halt as a truck drives past, my nose twitching – a narrow miss. My heart is racing. I look left and I see a couple of vans I've never seen before with weird things on top. There are so many people. Someone spots us, points and a group are walking towards us. The road suddenly clears.

  “Come on!” I yap at Mimi, and we cross as fast as we can.

  The trees in front of us loom closer and closer, and then we're sprinting away from the road and into their lush greenness. The forest opens up. I sense that it is really huge. These are the tallest trees I've ever seen in my life and everything smells green. I see white butterflies fluttering their white wings and the grass feels soft.

  “It's beautiful,” says Mimi, looking up. The tops of the trees are disappearing away into the sky. Everything darkens in the places where the sun is shut out.

  “It is, but let's get going as far as we can,” I say, running ahead, small sticks snapping beneath my paws. The forest is truly beautiful, but wild. There is something raw about it, untamed. Mimi follows behind me, running in my paw prints. I feel free.

  Chapter 37

  “Where did they go?” asked one of the guys in the shop. He was holding a microphone and a taping device.

  “They went across the road into the woods,” sighed the girl with the camera. “How are we going to find them in there?”

  “The woods are quite big,” said the storekeeper, “but not too big. They're between our village and the next. There's a river on one side. I don't think they'd go that way. I can phone a couple of people who own shops in the next village and ask them to keep a look out.”

  “That would be great, thanks,” said the girl. “Our boss will be here soon and I think there are some more TV crews coming. I hope you've put the kettle on!”

  “The wife has,” grinned the storekeeper.

  He'd never had so much business in one day. Already, the villagers had been asking questions and enquiring as to what time the TV crews were coming. They'd all be out in the streets soon. As it was, he could see his favourite two old ladies chatting on the street corner. They'd spread the news like wildfire.

  Ms Hill parked the car down a little way the road from the shop, away from the TV vans and crews.

  “A lot of people,” remarked Kay, looking out of the window.

  “They're all interested in Mimi and Glen?” asked Ms Hill.

  “Lots of people wrote letters to our magazine, asking about them,” said Josie. “Just imagine the feedback the papers are getting. The bus driver who rang in felt really awful about not saying anything sooner.”

  “Not his fault though,” said Ben, getting out of the car. “It couldn't be helped. Let's go find our dogs.”

  They wandered up the road towards Jeremy's Store, where everyone seemed to be grouping. A couple of people were drinking mugs of something. Josie noticed her editor.

  “Hi, Muriel,” she said. “How long have you been here?”

  “Maybe an hour,” she said, “I came straight away.”

  “Muriel, this is Ms H
ill, Kay and Ben.”

  “Hello.”

  “I want to thank you for everything you've done,” said Ms Hill, shaking Muriel's hand. “If it wasn't for your magazine, we...”

  Muriel smiled. “That's quite alright. I'm glad to be able to help. That's what our magazine is for – helping animals and their owners.”

  “Has anyone seen them?” asked Ben.

  “Yes, yes,” said Muriel. “In fact, just before you arrived the two dogs went to the shop. The owner, Jeremy, leaves a bowl of water there. Anyway, they went for a drink and then someone shouted. Everyone came running out to look. I think it spooked them because they ran across the road into the forest.”

  “Glen's a clever dog,” said Ben. “He must have suspected danger. Let's go talk to this Jeremy.” He walked towards the shop and they all followed.

  The bowl of water was still there, to the right of the doorway. Then Ben noticed the row of newspapers. They all had Mimi and Ben's faces on the front. Shaking his head, he smiled to himself. He couldn't help wondering if...

  “Do you think?” asked Josie, whispering.

  “I'm thinking!” nodded Ben.

  “What are you whispering about?” asked Kay.

  “Look,” said Ms Hill, “lots of pictures of my Mimi.”

  At that point, the owner of the shop stepped outside. “Are you with the press or the TV stations?” he asked.

  “Neither,” said Ben. “I'm Glen's owner. This is Ms Hill, Mimi's owner.”

  “Glad to meet you,” replied Jeremy. “Your dogs are mighty famous! The village is hoping you find them. Look, the villagers are starting to come out now. The pavement will be full of people soon.”

  “We heard that the dogs went into the forest?” asked Josie.

  “Yes. Something spooked them. Us, I guess, and they ran. It wasn't long ago.”

  “We should follow,” said Ben, impatiently.

  “Wait,” said Jeremy. “I'll get you a map. Two seconds.” He scurried back into his shop.

  “I hope they haven't gone too far in there,” said Kay.

  “It won't be dark 'til 9, so we've got a lot of time,” said Ben. “I'm hopeful, but I have a strange feeling.”