Paws and Whiskers Read online

Then off they all went again, chattering and shouting. When they came to the place where they meant to go nutting, they jumped off their bicycles, laid them on the grass, and ran to the trees.

  ‘Golly! I never in my life saw so many nuts before!’ cried Harry eagerly. ‘Just look at them! My word, they are beauties! Let’s pick some to have with our lunch, shall we? Then we can set to work properly after that, and fill our baskets.’

  The boys plucked the clusters of nuts. What fine ones they were! Then they sat down and undid their packets of sandwiches and cake. How they enjoyed them! Most of them had brought something to drink as well. Then they ate their nuts. Harry had actually brought a pair of nut-crackers, which everyone voted a very clever thing to do. But some of the boys, who had very strong teeth, preferred to crack the nuts in their mouths.

  ‘All very well for you,’ said Harry, cracking his nuts with crackers. ‘But my teeth aren’t very good – and I’m not going to risk breaking them, I can tell you.’

  After lunch the boys took up their baskets and went nutting. Some of them had sticks with crooked handles so that they might pull down the higher branches.

  Harry went over the top of the hill. He gave a shout. ‘I say! The trees on this side are marvellous! What about picking some of the nuts from here?’

  But the other boys were too busy picking from the other trees, so Harry went to join them. Johnny was doing a funny thing. He hadn’t a stick to pull down the high branches – so he fetched his bicycle, and propped it up against a nut tree, and now he was standing on the saddle so that he could reach the fine clusters above his head.

  When he had picked all he could see, he left his bicycle under the tree and went to the top of the hill. He just wanted to see over, down the other side. And, of course, when he got there, he spied the trees that Harry had seen, so full of nuts that the branches hung almost to the ground. The hillside was very steep, and nobody had dared to risk getting the nuts from the trees there. So there were hundreds and hundreds.

  Johnny forgot that he had been told not to pick nuts on the steep side of the hill. His eyes shone with delight as he thought of how he could fill his basket to the brim with enormous nuts. He began to climb down the steep side of the hill towards the clump of hazels.

  The earth on the hillside was loose. Stones rolled down as Johnny scrambled along. Then he slipped and clutched at a tuft of grass. But the grass was not strong enough to hold him, and came out by the roots. Johnny fell headlong down the hill, bumping into rocks and stones as he went, trying to clutch at trees and bushes, but just missing them.

  He fell with a crash to the bottom, hit his head on a stone, and then lay still, with his eyes closed. He had not shouted, because he had been too frightened, so the other boys did not know he had fallen.

  Harry and the others picked nuts steadily. The boys were spread out well on the other side of the hill, and nobody missed Johnny. They all thought he was somewhere with them. It was only when it was time to go home that they missed him.

  ‘It’s four o’clock,’ said Harry. ‘We’d better be starting back. Let’s get our bikes. Anyway, we can’t possibly get any more nuts into our baskets or our pockets either!’

  Every boy had his basket full, and his pockets too. They were very pleased with their afternoon’s work. They picked up their bicycles and were about to jump on them, when Harry looked all round in surprise.

  ‘Where’s Johnny?’ he said.

  Johnny was certainly not with them. Harry shouted loudly, ‘Johnny! Johnny! We’re going now! Hurry up!’

  There was no answer. Then Ronnie spoke in surprise. ‘He must have gone home, because his bike isn’t here! There are only our bikes – not Johnny’s. He must have slipped off before us.’

  ‘So he must,’ said Harry. ‘Well, what a funny thing to do! He might have waited! Come on. We must hurry now.’

  Off went the boys, whistling and chattering, never knowing that Johnny’s bike was under a hazel tree where he had left it – and that Johnny himself was lying with his eyes still closed at the bottom of High-Over Hill. Nobody worried about him at all.

  Nobody? Yes – there was somebody worrying dreadfully! And that was Shadow. Shadow loved Johnny so much that he knew when things were going wrong with him. And poor Shadow was sitting anxiously on the hillside at the farm, watching and watching for a boy who didn’t come. What was to be done about it?

  Good Dog, Shadow

  Shadow sat and waited, his eyes turned towards the lane down which Johnny should come. Rafe ran up to him.

  ‘What’s the matter? Why is your tail down?’

  ‘I’m unhappy,’ said Shadow. ‘I feel that something is wrong with Johnny. I know there is!’

  Rafe knew what Shadow meant. He looked towards the lane too. ‘Maybe Johnny will come along soon,’ he said. ‘Perhaps his bicycle has broken.’

  ‘I wish Johnny wouldn’t go out without me,’ said Shadow. ‘I can look after him when I am with him.’

  Rafe sat down to keep Shadow company. Dandy came up too, and the three dogs sat together in silence.

  Then, at five o’clock, they saw Johnny’s mother come out of the farmhouse to look up the lane to see if Johnny was anywhere about.

  ‘Johnny! Johnny!’ she called. ‘Are you back yet?’

  Will came by, carrying a pitchfork over his shoulder. ‘I don’t think Master Johnny’s home yet, Mam,’ he said. ‘He said he’d bring me my bicycle as soon as he got in, because I wanted it myself this evening – and he hasn’t come.’

  ‘Oh dear! I wonder what has happened,’ said Johnny’s mother anxiously. ‘It’s past tea-time now – and Johnny promised to be home.’

  Shadow darted down the hill and ran up to Johnny’s mother. He looked up at her with dark, worried eyes.

  ‘So you are anxious too,’ said the farmer’s wife. ‘What has happened to Johnny, Shadow? Can’t you find him for me?’

  Shadow barked and then whined. If only he could find Johnny!

  He ran to Rafe. ‘Where is High-Over Hill, where Johnny has gone?’ he asked. ‘Have I ever been there?’

  ‘No,’ said Rafe. ‘But do you remember where we once took some sheep to Farmer Langdon? Well, High-Over Hill is just past there – you can see it when you pass the farm – a great big hill sticking up into the sky.’

  ‘I shall find it,’ said Shadow. ‘But what a long way it is! Goodbye, Rafe. I don’t know when I shall be back.’

  Shadow set off. He did not go the way that Johnny had gone, up the lane and along the road. No – Shadow knew the short-cuts among the hills. He ran along swiftly, smelling the well-known scents of rabbit, fox, weasel, hare, and stoat as he went. How he wished he could suddenly smell Johnny too!

  It was a long way to Langdon’s farm, even by the short-cuts. But Shadow did not once think of being tired, although he had done a hard day’s work. All his mind was full of Johnny. He must find Johnny. He must, he must. He knew in his faithful heart that Johnny was in trouble. Something had happened to Johnny. He was sure of it.

  He came at last to Langdon’s farm. The sun was setting. It would soon be dark. Shadow trotted quickly down the lane past the farm. He did not dare take the short-cut through the farmyard itself, because the farm-dogs would set on him. No dog allows another on his own farm without the farmer’s permission.

  Some way ahead, outlined against the evening sky, was High-Over Hill. Shadow ran even more swiftly. Something told him that Johnny was there.

  The dog ran up the slope of the hill – and suddenly his heart beat quickly. He could smell Johnny’s scent! Johnny had been there, no doubt about that.

  The dog nosed about the trees – and suddenly he found Johnny’s bicycle, leaning against one of the hazels. He sniffed at it. Then he nosed about to find the boy’s footprints. He found plenty of them, leading here and there. Shadow followed them with his nose – and at last he found footprints leading to the top of the hill.

  Shadow followed them. He came to where Johnny had begun