shook himself, and then snapped at the snow as if it was alive.
The food had suffered from being frozen, but it was all we had, and we eked it out over the three days that we were snowed in up there on the mountain-side.
For the first day, Tina was still very shaky. She slept a lot, had no appetite, and her colour was always shifting; sometimes pale, sometimes beetroot red. She improved as time went on, but it was quite a while before she returned to her usual, carefree self. Danny, on the other hand, was doing really well, despite the frustration of having to stay so still. I saw that the journey was changing him, giving a purpose, perhaps, to his previously purposeless life. But I didn’t know what it was doing to me. I found that I was torn between a fierce curiosity about Danny’s mother, and a powerful desire to return to the familiarity and security of home. If there had been a phone, I would have called Mom; I would have shopped us all, for the possibility of being safe. But there wasn’t, and those fiercely decisive moments always passed, and the other side would start to assert itself all over again. What was Maggie doing up there in Bettyhill? What could she do in her lab that would make animals talk? And what was she supposed to have done to Danny, which made him the way he was? I wanted to know so badly, but I couldn’t see any way in the world of getting to Bettyhill, right up there in the North; light years away.
And then I would start thinking about home again.
I was in that kind of mood when I tried to get some support from Tina. Danny had gone out for a pee, and Oggy and Darling were out scouting , trying to plan a route for when the thaw came. I knew Tina was still feeling pretty poorly, and I felt like a bit of a heel as I started to speak.
‘If you came home with us, Mom and Maurice would let you stay. You could be part of our family.’
She tried to look shocked and horrified, but I could tell that there was a bit of her, the vulnerable bit, that really liked the idea. I pushed my advantage.
‘You’re practically our sister now, aren’t you? After all we’ve been through together.’
For an instant I knew she was with me, longing to be part of a family with a permanent, secure home. But then I saw her close down, as though the hope itself was too much to bear.
‘You’ve got to be joking,’ she said.
3
WE HAD PLENTY of time for talking. Oggy eventually told us the story of how he had escaped from the man in the car; how the man had tried to tie him to a concrete block and drown him in the river.
‘I wanted to bite his filthy hands off,’ he said, and Darling said ‘Yay, Oggy!’
‘I didn’t succeed, I’m afraid. Once I got nasty he moved pretty fast, back towards the car. I had to chew my way through the rope, but at least I was free.
‘I had a lot of adventures,’ Oggy went on. ‘I got shot at by a farmer and I killed a rabbit and ate it, brains and all. Then I got buzzed by a gang of starlings and they steered me north west. I thought they might be pals of yours, Darling, so I took their advice.’
Darling gave Tina a long look, but for once, she wasn’t ready with a snappy comment.
‘That’s all, really,’ said Oggy. ‘I followed that big main road, and I found a car where you had clearly spent some time. Then I just followed your trail.’
‘But didn’t the snow cover our tracks?’ I said.
‘Of course,’ said Oggy. ‘But you can see a lot with your nose, if you know how.’
Danny snorted. ‘See with your nose,’ he said.
‘I might talk,’ said Oggy, sourly. ‘But I’m still a dog.’
I hugged him tight and looked into his eyes. They were full of obsequious devotion, but after a moment he turned away, and as he did so I caught a glimpse of something else there; something darker that lay concealed beneath the friendly surface. It troubled me, and I did my best to put it out of my mind.
4
ON THE MORNING of the fourth day we packed up and set out
The food had suffered from being frozen, but it was all we had, and we eked it out over the three days that we were snowed in up there on the mountain-side.
For the first day, Tina was still very shaky. She slept a lot, had no appetite, and her colour was always shifting; sometimes pale, sometimes beetroot red. She improved as time went on, but it was quite a while before she returned to her usual, carefree self. Danny, on the other hand, was doing really well, despite the frustration of having to stay so still. I saw that the journey was changing him, giving a purpose, perhaps, to his previously purposeless life. But I didn’t know what it was doing to me. I found that I was torn between a fierce curiosity about Danny’s mother, and a powerful desire to return to the familiarity and security of home. If there had been a phone, I would have called Mom; I would have shopped us all, for the possibility of being safe. But there wasn’t, and those fiercely decisive moments always passed, and the other side would start to assert itself all over again. What was Maggie doing up there in Bettyhill? What could she do in her lab that would make animals talk? And what was she supposed to have done to Danny, which made him the way he was? I wanted to know so badly, but I couldn’t see any way in the world of getting to Bettyhill, right up there in the North; light years away.
And then I would start thinking about home again.
I was in that kind of mood when I tried to get some support from Tina. Danny had gone out for a pee, and Oggy and Darling were out scouting , trying to plan a route for when the thaw came. I knew Tina was still feeling pretty poorly, and I felt like a bit of a heel as I started to speak.
‘If you came home with us, Mom and Maurice would let you stay. You could be part of our family.’
She tried to look shocked and horrified, but I could tell that there was a bit of her, the vulnerable bit, that really liked the idea. I pushed my advantage.
‘You’re practically our sister now, aren’t you? After all we’ve been through together.’
For an instant I knew she was with me, longing to be part of a family with a permanent, secure home. But then I saw her close down, as though the hope itself was too much to bear.
‘You’ve got to be joking,’ she said.
3
WE HAD PLENTY of time for talking. Oggy eventually told us the story of how he had escaped from the man in the car; how the man had tried to tie him to a concrete block and drown him in the river.
‘I wanted to bite his filthy hands off,’ he said, and Darling said ‘Yay, Oggy!’
‘I didn’t succeed, I’m afraid. Once I got nasty he moved pretty fast, back towards the car. I had to chew my way through the rope, but at least I was free.
‘I had a lot of adventures,’ Oggy went on. ‘I got shot at by a farmer and I killed a rabbit and ate it, brains and all. Then I got buzzed by a gang of starlings and they steered me north west. I thought they might be pals of yours, Darling, so I took their advice.’
Darling gave Tina a long look, but for once, she wasn’t ready with a snappy comment.
‘That’s all, really,’ said Oggy. ‘I followed that big main road, and I found a car where you had clearly spent some time. Then I just followed your trail.’
‘But didn’t the snow cover our tracks?’ I said.
‘Of course,’ said Oggy. ‘But you can see a lot with your nose, if you know how.’
Danny snorted. ‘See with your nose,’ he said.
‘I might talk,’ said Oggy, sourly. ‘But I’m still a dog.’
I hugged him tight and looked into his eyes. They were full of obsequious devotion, but after a moment he turned away, and as he did so I caught a glimpse of something else there; something darker that lay concealed beneath the friendly surface. It troubled me, and I did my best to put it out of my mind.
4
ON THE MORNING of the fourth day we packed up and set out
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