3 Heads & a Tail (39 page)

Ben ruffled Glen
'
s head
, and stood up.
“
We
'
ll find her.
”

Ms Hill looked as if she was about to burst into tears. Josie gave her a hug and a few hopeful words.

Glen
began to act strangely
.
He
started barking at Ben. Then he
ran off
a small distance
and
returned
, and then
he was
off
and back
again. He kept barking.

“
Calm down
b
oy,
”
said Ben, confused.

Glen ra
n a short distance and stopped. He
barked
again, followed by a whine
.

“
I think he wants us to follow him,
”
said
Josie
.

Ben scratched his head.
“
Of course!
”

Josie glanced round.
“
I can hear voices
behind us – must
be the news
and TV people.
”

Ben strode over to Glen.
“
Alright
boy, lead the way.
”

The dog
wagged his tail and
ran off.

“
But not
quite
so fast!
”

Ben
started
chasing
Glen
'
s tail
, and the othe
rs started running too. Ms Hill did her best to keep up.
They
ran
through the forest, without rationalising
what they
were doing.
Every now and then Glen
stopped and waited
,
for he was much the faster runner.
After a while
he
stopped running
altogether and sat down.
Everyone caught their breath.

“
What now?
”
asked Josie
.

“
Not sure,
”
said Ben.
“
L
et
'
s be quiet. I have a
strange
feeling.
”

Everyone stood silently, unsure what to do. The dog
'
s ears pricked up as if he was listening for something.

“
What is it boy?
”
asked
Ben, softly.

Glen
turned and walk
ed with his body slumping
,
his
tail drooping between his legs;
sort of skulking,
as if
he was trying to be very
,
very quiet.
He had his nose to the ground sniffing. Then he stopped and glanced back at them.

“
He
'
s acting w
eird,
”
whispered Josie.

“
I think he wants us to follow
again,
but quietly,
”
said Ben.
“
I
'
ve never seen him acting like this. Does anyone want to wait here?
”

“
I
'
ll wait,
”
whispered Ms Hill.
“
Just in case.
”

“
Me too,
”
said Kay
, nervously
.
“
In case.
”

Ben, Josie and D
avid crept quietly behind Glen, who
sk
ulked to the ground
. They ducked their heads and checked
carefully
where they
stepped
. In the distance
,
a small, wooden hut rose from the ground. Glen stopped,
looked at Ben, then
the hut
, and back at Ben again
.
He whined softly.

“
Whatever it is, it
'
s in there,
”
whispered Ben.

“
A house here, in the middle of the woods? Now t
hat
'
s
spooky
,
”
remarked
David.

“
Let
'
s go,
”
whispered Ben.

The three figures and the dog crept up to the hut. Ben stopped them just at the side of the building and walked sil
ently to the
nearest window to take a peek
. It was
dark inside
,
and sparsely furnished with a couple of chairs, a cooker and a
s
ofa. On the floor
, tied by a rope to a table, was
Mimi. She looke
d
asleep. It was too dark to see much more.
Ben
pressed his
nose
against the
windowpane
to get a better look inside. His brea
th steamed the glass.
A
face
stared back at him!

Ben jumped. He stepped back from the hut
,
and turned towards David and Josie.
“
Run!
”
he
yelled
, but he didn
'
t say it
fast
enough.

“
Stop! Trespassers!
”
screamed the man
, charging
out of the hut,
gripping
a rifle
.

“
Shit! He
'
s got a gun!
”
yelled David, almost tripping over his own feet.

Josie screamed.

Ben froze.

The
old
man looked angry. He was wearing a dark hat, dark clothes and big boots
, which looked steel
capped. He swung the rifle and aimed it
right
at them.
“
Wha
'
were ya
'
doin
'
, spyin
'
in my
'
ouse?
”

Josie glanced back. She couldn
'
t see
Kay
or
Ms Hill
– they
must have seen the man and
hidden
out of sigh
t.
That was good. If anything happened, they would run and get help.
She bit her tongue and tried not to scream again.

“
Wha
'
ya
'
lookin
'
at
, girl?
”
growled the man.
“
Is s
omeone else wid ya?
”
He
eyes darted
around
wildly
, but
he
kept the rifle targeted
on them
.

Josie
shook her head. The man looked paranoid and scared her.

“
Wha
'
ya
'
doin
'
in my forest?
”

“
Your forest?
”
asked David, flicking his hair.

C
ast
ing
his
angry eyes on the younger man, the stranger
screwed up his face and spat on the
ground.
“
I ain
'
t talkin
'
ta you
,
boy!
”
he growled.

“
I was
looking for my dog,
”
said Ben.

“
Looks
to me
like ya
'
got ya
'
dog wid ya,
”
growled the man, pointing at Glen.
“
So why don
'
t ya
'
jus
'
go back ta where ya
'
ca
me from
,
and git out
'
a ma forest!
”

Josie nodded. It sounded like a good plan.
She wondered if Kay had run for
help. She hoped so.
Ben
edged towards
her.

David stared at the grizzly old man, who had a
wild look in his eye
. He had the feeling that the man
didn
'
t care about anything, which
made him capable of anything. David
glanced
at Ben, but he didn
'
t look back at him. Ben was
also staring
at the man. Glen looked a
s if he was preparing to pounce;
his ears were pricked and his eyes were lock
ed on their adversary. Josie trembled
.

“
So what
'
s it gonna be?
”
yelled the old man,
pointing his rifle closer.
“
I f
ink ya
'
should
all
g
i
t goin
'
now.
”

Ben
nodded
.
“
We
'
ll go...
”

Before he could finish his sentence, Glen
leapt
towards the
old man
. Ben caught the movement like
a flash. It was so fast. The rifle went off, the noise filling
the air like
a crack of
thunder. Josie screamed and
bumped
against Ben, who
grabbed her to stop her fall
ing.

Looking down, Ben was surprised and glad to see that
Glen was alright.
But the
old man was staggering. Someh
ow David had charged at him
at the same time
as
Glen jumped. He
'
d stopped him shooting the dog, but now they grappled
with
one another
, each trying to grab the rifle
. Ben didn
'
t know what to do.
Glen
barked and growled as
the two men
battled
.

Glen inched
closer, but he had to dodge the kicks that came in his direction as the old man sw
erved. Ben
ran forward just as David swung
and
tried to punch the crazy man. But, t
he
old
guy
was too fast and kicked him in the
shin
. David gasped from the impact of the steel-capped boots and stag
gered backwards – just
as the
old man regained a firm grip on
the rifle and shot again. This time it
skimmed the edge of David
'
s
thigh
and he shuddered to the ground.

Josie screamed. Ben froze. Glen
stopped barking.

“
Don
'
t
any of ya
'
move
or I
'
m gonna shoot
ya
'
all
where ya
'
stand! Y
a
'
gi
t me?
”