‘NO!’ Mr Dog barked his scariest bark and hurled himself at the bald man. The man staggered back, dropped the pistol and fell over on to his bottom. Mr Dog jumped over Shelly, picked up the pistol and threw it away with a flick of his head. The pistol went skittering towards the gull and gave it a fright. It took off into awkward flight again, screeching.
‘That gull’s a monster!’ cried the bald man.
The old lady had opened the back door again. She saw all the kerfuffle in the alleyway and gasped as the huge gull tried to pick up the tortoise from the ground once more. But Ferdy ran up to her, barking and yowling, doing his best to defend Shelly. The gull screeched and pecked at him, but Ferdy stood his ground, yapping and yipping.
‘He’s trying to help!’ The old lady realised. ‘Maybe the fox isn’t so bad after all.’
‘There’s no “maybe” about it,’ said Mr Dog proudly. He jumped up and gave his scariest growl. Between the two of them, the dog and the fox frightened the gull away.
She backed off, puffing up her feathers. Finally, with a screech, she turned and hopped nearer to the nest. The chick was still bobbing its fluffy head about.
The mother gull glared at her audience, as if daring them to come any closer to her offspring.
Now Mr Dog turned to the fallen tortoise and nudged him towards the bald man.
The bald man scooped up Shelly from the ground and squinted in the glare from the outside light. ‘She looks all right. I don’t think she’s been hurt.’
‘I tucked everything in,’ Shelly said proudly.
‘Well done, Shelly!’ Mr Dog woofed. ‘And well done, Ferdy too.’
Ferdy looked nervous. ‘Should I run away now? Are the humans going to try to get me again?’ The sound of footsteps made him nudge closer to Mr Dog. ‘Someone else is coming…’
‘It’s all right,’ said Mr Dog, wagging his tail. ‘She’s a friend.’
‘What a lot of noise,’ cried Minnah. ‘It woke me up!’ She had arrived in her pyjamas with a coat over the top, and her frown deepened at the sight of Mr Dog. ‘I thought I heard your woofing. How on earth did you get out this time… ?’
Mr Dog beat his tail even harder and woofed again, turning in a circle while Minnah took in the astonishing scene.
‘A gull with a bad wing!’ Minnah exclaimed. ‘A very tame fox… And is that Shelly the tortoise?’
‘What a night!’ The old lady smiled from her doorstep. ‘I reckon we could all use a cup of tea.’
‘You can come to mine.’ Minnah took Shelly from the bald man and smiled at Ferdy. ‘All of you can.’
Soon Minnah’s kettle was boiling in the kitchen while she spoke to the vet on the telephone. Shelly was shaken but snug in a carry-case, munching on lettuce.
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ asked Mr Dog.
‘I’m better than okay,’ Shelly said. ‘Crawly’s been going on and on about his adventures… and now I can go on about my adventures too!’
‘Adventures are quite marvellous things,’ Mr Dog agreed. ‘Provided they have a happy ending of course.’
He smiled as he padded through to the lounge. Beyond the patio doors he could see Ferdy in the garden, curled up beside a tree. He had dozed off after his busy night.
‘Just because this fox didn’t knock over those bins doesn’t mean another one won’t,’ the bald man said, ‘and foxes do steal tortoises. Same as they kill chickens.’
‘They’re hunting animals. They don’t understand our rules.’ Minnah had come in and passed the bald man a mug of tea. ‘Foxes get confused by human behaviour. They don’t know what’s okay and what’s not because different people react differently to them. And small wonder, since so many myths have been made up about them.’
‘That’s a terrible myth-take,’ joked Mr Dog, and was rewarded with a tortoise giggle from the carry-case.
The bald man said nothing, but the old lady was nodding her head. ‘I suppose it’s easy to forget that animals are just like us,’ she said. ‘Take that gull, for instance. If your child was hungry, wouldn’t you do anything you could to feed it? If you were hurt and couldn’t get help, wouldn’t you be in a bad mood too?’
The bald man shrugged. ‘I suppose so.’
Minnah nodded and looked out at Ferdy. ‘We all have to share this city. And we should share it kindly with the animals that call it home.’
‘Woof!’
Mr Dog agreed.
‘Ha! You’re funny, boy.’ Minnah smiled at him. ‘It’s almost like you understand us!’
Mr Dog wagged his tail innocently.
‘Well, anyway,’ said Minnah. ‘The vet is on her way over again. I don’t think she’s delighted with yet another early house call! But she said she would report that poor gull to a wildlife rescue charity. They’ll be able to give her and her chick the help they need.’
‘I am glad,’ said the old lady. ‘Do you think we should check on the fox too?’
Minnah nodded and led the way into the garden. Mr Dog scampered out in front of her.
Ferdy yawned and opened his eyes. Finding himself surrounded by people he jumped, spooked. ‘Mr Dog?’ he whined. ‘Is everything all right?’
‘I think it’s going to be,’ said Mr Dog.
‘Sure. For everyone except me,’ said Ferdy. ‘I can’t stay here. Humans are too confusing! It’s time I left.’
With that, the fox turned and slunk away into the night.
‘Foxes may act tame sometimes,’ Minnah mused. ‘But they’ll always be wild at heart.’
‘Yes, they will,’ muttered Mr Dog. ‘Hmmm. Perhaps, somehow, I need to get Ferdy to remember that!’