3 Heads & a Tail (40 page)

“
Drop your gun!
”

Everyone turned to see two police officers and an entire film crew, along with Jeremy the shopkeeper, Kay, Muriel and Ms Hill. The photographers started snapping and one of the cameramen began rolling.

“
Jim
,
drop your gun,
”
shouted Jeremy.
“
You
'
ve gone too far
this time
.
”

The old man sank to his knees and flung his rifle out
to the side.
“
They trespass
i
n ma
forest,
”
he growled.
“
T
hey be t
respass
ers!
”

The two police officers rushed forward. One placed handcuffs around Jim
'
s
wrists
while the other picked up the rifle.

Josie breathed a sigh of relief and Ben patted Glen.
“
Good boy,
”
he said.

Kay ran forward and hugged them
all
.

“
What about
me?
”
David winced
in
pain
.

“
Oh god,
”
said Josie
. She ran
forward and wrapped her jacket a
round his leg.
“
This will help
stop the blood.
Does it hurt?
”

“
Yes!
”
said D
avid, raising his eyebrows.
“
O
f course it
hurts
. I got shot!
”

“
Thanks
,
David,
”
said Ben, squatting down.
“
You saved Glen
'
s life
,
and I think you saved ours too.
”

“
I owed you one.
”

Josie ruffled his hair.
“
You
'
re not so bad,
”
she said, grinning.

David managed a tiny smile
in return
. His leg
pounded
.

One of the police officers,
now
holding the rifle, bent down to speak to the injured man.
“
An ambulan
ce is on its way, but if it
'
s alright
with you, Jeremy and my partner will carry you so that we can get you there as fast as possible,
”
she
suggested
.

Dav
id
'
s eyes perked up.
“
That
'
s fine
with me
,
love,
”
he said. She was
pretty for a police officer; actually
, very pretty for a
ny
female. He didn
'
t have the energy to flick his hair back, so he
gave her a
big
smile
instead.
“
As long as you a
re with me, I
'
m sure I
'
ll be
fine.
”

The police officer
giggled slightly, before going to speak to her partner.

David inwardly flicked his h
air. He hadn
'
t lost his touch, even when
shot in the leg.
Then he felt woozy, like he
was
about
to faint.

“
Still wowing the ladies
, I see
,
”
said Ben
.
“
Even a bloody shot in the leg doesn
'
t stop you!
”

“
You can
'
t keep a good R
omeo down,
”
said Da
vid
. Who was he kidding? His leg killed!

“
Can I take your picture?
”
asked a woman coming forward with a camera.
“
You
'
re the hero of the hour
.
”

“
Of course
,
love
,
”
said David, trying to per
fect a smile while grimacing in
pain.

As if on cue, some of the other press people r
an up and started snapping
their cameras.

The male policeman waved
them away
.
“
Come on
, son, l
et
'
s get you to a hospital. Thanks for the tourniquet,
”
he a
dded to Josie.

Jeremy and the policeman
linked hands to form a seat
for David, and whisked him off through the
forest. The policewoman marched behind with
the handcuffed Jim.

“
I almost forgot
, what
with everything else
going on
!
”
Ben
looked roun
d for Glen. The dog was
waiting
patiently
outside the hut.

“
Where
'
s Mimi?
”
asked
Josie.
“
Where
'
s Ms Hill?
”

“
Good question,
”
said Ben, realising
he hadn
'
t
had the chance to tell
anyone that
the dog
was in the hut.

Josie turned round and spotted Mimi
'
s owner, chatting with Muriel
, her magazine editor.
“
Ms Hill!
”
she called.

Ben walked over to Glen, who started wagging his tail and jumping around.
Thinking
it best that Ms Hill didn
'
t see Mimi tied up,
Ben
headed into the hut alone with his dog. As soon as they entered, M
imi jumped up, her tail wagging and
her bright brown eyes gleaming. Glen ran over and licked her face. She gave a little
“
voof
”
and wagged h
er tail even more.

Ben grinned
and quickly took a photo
of them
on his mobile. He couldn
'
t resist. But
this was their private moment – none
of the press would see this. He shoved the phone into his pocket and untied Mimi. She licked his hand and looked up at him in gratitude. Then the two dogs ran around each other
,
barking loudly. Ben could only
guess what they were saying.

Looking out the window
,
he could see everyone waiting. Josie was holding Ms Hill
'
s hand
,
and a wall of photographers and
reporters
stood behind them.

“
Ok
ay,
you t
wo,
”
he said, bending down.
“
Now, you have no idea, but you are the most famous golden Labradors in the country
! E
veryone is waiting to take your picture
outside
! Be good!
”

Ben
stood up a
nd the two dogs ran around him excitedly, making it difficult
to
get to the door
. As soon as they appeared
outside
, Ms Hill flung her arms in the air and ran towards Mimi, who ran towards her. They met in a jumbled heap somewhere in the middle,
setting off all of the cameras
. Josie crossed her arms and
glanced
around
, a big smile on her face.
For the next ten minutes
,
Ms Hill
and Ben posed with the
two dogs, before they got bored
and
started
playing with one another
.

Josie, Ben, Kay and Ms Hill drove back hom
e with the two dogs squeezed
on the back seat. Now and then
,
Glen poked his head out of the window to let the wind whistle past his ears, but most of the time his gaze was firmly on Mimi.

“
They
'
re inseparable,
”
said Josie, stroking their heads.

“
Love doggies!
”
laughed Kay from the front seat.

“
H
ow do you think we should keep them when we get back?
”
asked Ben to Ms Hill.
“
I think they
'
re going to want to spend more time together.
”

“
I was
wondering about that.
”

“
How about some kind of time-
share
thing, where the dogs take it in turns
to stay
at each
other
'
s
house?
”
suggested Josie.

Ms Hill beamed.
“
That
sounds like a fine idea
.
”

“
That
'
s g
reat,
”
said Ben.
“
I wa
sn
'
t sure if you
'
d
want
..
.
”

“
I
never
want to see them apart ever again,
”
interrupted
Ms Hill.
“
You were right
,
Ben.
They
'
re inseparable a
nd imagine how gorgeous
their
puppies are going to be!
”

Josie cove
red Glen
'
s ears. Ben laughed,
“
As
if
he understands!
”

“
You know he does!
”
said Josie.
“
Look at him. He
'
s
amused by
us!
”

They looked at the dog who had his mouth open, panting, with his tongue hanging out. His brown eyes glinted and he did look like he was laughing.

Mimi looked at the two people and then back at Glen. Must be some private joke, she thought, and she rested her head on his back. Outside
,
the world whizzed past and she had a feeling
that this was a new beginning; a
n exc
iting
,
new
beginning
where she wouldn
'
t be alone any more
.

David stayed in the hospital overnight. The next day, everyone drove
there
in Ms Hill
'
s car
, and
parked in the
car park.
Unfortunately,
dogs weren
'
t allowed in the building
, but Ben had decided to bring something similar along.

The
ward
nurse pointed
out David
among the row of patients. A
massive
vase
of flowers
sat
on his bed
side table. Josie thought the bunch they
had brought fro
m Ben
'
s shop
was definitely better – not bigger, but more colourful. Not that
it was important!
As soon as he spotted them, Davi
d waved
.