As they walk along, the road branches out in two directions: one tarmacked and marked with hard shoulders, soft verges; the other is laid out with cobblestones, tufts of grass and moss are scattered all over it. The cobblestone path is flanked on either side with big brambly hedges, so overgrown they link over the path here and there.
Just as the three of them are about to turn towards the cobblestones, a horn sounds – one of those novelty sounds; parp, parp, parp. A car rounding the bend comes to an abrupt halt and a back door is flung open.
“Get that dirty mongrel out of my car and you may as well walk home yourself. That dog is not coming back into our house!”
The car pulls off and the three see a sturdy, blocky young boy and a dog that looks as grumpy as hell standing on the footpath. The boy is a bit smaller than Billy (and Daisy) but looks almost twice as broad. From a distance he looks chubby but up close he is a solid little rock of muscle. He is downheartedly looking at his sneakers.
The dog meanwhile is looking at the three of them suspiciously.
Daisy tilts her head.
“Rufus, hey Rufus!” she calls.
The little boy looks at his dog and then across at Daisy. He lifts his hand slightly in salute, a winsome look on his face. He makes a scan of the road and shuffles across to them. The dog shuffles after him, stopping for a minute to pee up a tree.
“What happened? Your dad sounded really mad.”
Rufus shoves his hands into the pockets in his trousers; an ill-fitting pair of cargo pants that are streaked with muck along their left-hand side.
“It’s his new car, Rex puked all over the back seat.” Rufus glances at Rex who, when he hears his name, lets out a low menacing growl.
Rex is a bit of everything but mainly a labrador cairn terrier cross. Big-ish with multi-coloured hair that spikes out over his eyes – a mix of brown, blond and bits of muck. His eyes are a dark chocolate brown with big black pupils. He leans in against Rufus and starts to cock his leg.
“Oi!” Rufus yells at him. “You can’t be doing that, go on over to Screech’s bike.”
Peter glares at Rufus.
“So you won’t be bringing him home then?” Daisy asks.
“Dunno; it smelt disgustin.” Rufus himself is a bit whiffy. “He had his head in a bin outside the fish shop in Clonaughty5. Anyways, he doesn’t like the back seat. Dad never liked him anyway, ever since he chewed his putter.”
Rex appears to be listening to this whole exchange and is finding the conversation boring. He starts mooching down the cobblestone path. Rufus flaps his arms out and down and calls after Rex in world-weary tones.
“Ahh, come on, Rex.” Rex ignores him and keeps going.
“What are ye doing out?” Rufus says, looking at the three of them.
Daisy pipes up enthusiastically, “Oh, we are on an adventure and we’re not supposed to be out, and we have a map!”
“Right, your mum know about this, Billy?” asks Rufus.
Billy shakes his head.
“Proper order.” Rufus acknowledges the shake seriously. “Me and Rex will help; he’s really good on a scent, look.”
Rex has stopped and is glaring down a rabbit hole, his tail prodding up into the air. When the four reach him, he glances at them quickly but does not move from his guarding position.
“Well, I suppose if we were searching for rabbits he might be good, but we’re not!” Daisy exclaims.
Rufus looks at her, taking in this new piece of information.
“Erm, so what is it you are looking for exactly?”
Daisy and Peter both watch Billy wondering if he will let them know.
It appears that Billy has not been listening as he has hunkered down beside Rex and is peering into the rabbits’ hole with him.
“Rex,” he says. “No rabbits in there, see? Look hard enough and you can see the end of the tunnel.”
Rex has tilted his head to one side and continues to watch the hole. Abruptly he sits back and starts scratching behind his ear with his back paw. Billy ruffles his hair and stands up.
“We are going to the Golden Gate, well I am, ye should be inside today, and anyways this is my search.”
Rufus replies, “Well I can’t go home yet. If I do, Rex is homeless, can’t have that, and I’d prefer to be with you lot than on my own with Rex – more fun and Rex is in a bit of a mood.” Rufus scratches his head, a lot like Rex.
Daisy and Peter ignore Billy’s comment. Peter has bent down and is trying to remove the wire that has tangled up into the spokes on the front wheel. His hand slips and he gets a nasty scrape. He screeches (hence his name) and the three others jump.
“I’m alright, alright, just a small, ow!” Peter stands and cradles his injured hand. The bike starts wobbling again but Billy grabs it – at least now he can avoid that pedal.
“Tell you what, Screech, I’ll hold on to the bike.”
Billy starts off. Rex watches him, then turns away from the rabbits’ hole and starts strutting down the cobblestone path after him. Daisy, Peter and Rufus all follow.