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“How on earth?” he gasped.
Fella panted happily. Suddenly he whined and licked at his paw. Tommy looked at the window. It was still open. He turned to Fella. “I’ll ... I’ll get a towel from the bathroom,” he said, more to himself, than Fella. Frowning he studied Fella for several seconds. “I’ll get some disinfectant too.” He smiled. “We’ll soon have your leg healed, eh boy? Eh?” Then scratching his head as he wondered how the dog had climbed into his room, he hurried to the bathroom.
****
When he returned, Fella was asleep. His injured paw was stretched out in front of him. There was no sign of an injury. Tommy examined Fella’s other paw. There was no injury to either paw. I must have been mistaken, he thought. He looked closer at Fella’s paws. But how did he get up here? Did I carry him and forgot about it? He shook his head.
The wind whistled softly through the window as Tommy walked to close it. He looked towards the wood. For a second or two he thought he saw a glow in the center of the trees. Closing the window he went back to his bed. Gently he pushed Fella to one side then lay down beside him. What’s Mummy going to say? he thought. I’ll have to keep him a secret until I find the right moment to tell her. I’ll ask Paul... He sniffed back a tear as he looked at the photograph. The moon shone into the room allowing Tommy enough light to see his pal. Paul loved animals. He would have been excited about Fella. As the memories of his pal came to him he began to cry. Putting his arms around Fella he sobbed into the alien’s soft fur. As he did, Dargust digested Tommy's sad thoughts.
****
The knock on his bedroom door awoke him.
“Thomas, time to get up!”
“Mummy,” gasped Tommy, suddenly remembering Fella. He looked for the dog. it was nowhere to be seen.
“I’m awake, Mummy!” he called.
Getting out of bed he went over to the window. It was still locked. “Where did he go?” he whispered. A whining sound behind made him turn. Fella was sitting on the bed. “Fella,” whispered Tommy. He smiled. “You’re back.” His smile turned to a frown. “How did you do that?” he asked, ruffling Fella’s soft neck.
“Thomas, will you hurry up! I have to go into town today! Hurry up!”
Tommy studied Fella as he listened to the sound of his mother hurrying downstairs. “Where am I going to hide you?” he whispered. “Mummy will be up later to tidy my room. She’ll see you. Where am I going to hide you?” he repeated. He studied the dog. “You must be hungry.”
As he quickly dressed, Tommy tried to work out a plan. If I could hide Fella somewhere Mummy wouldn’t look. He glanced at Fella again. But first I have to get him something to eat.
****
When he was dressed and ready for school he sat beside Fella. “You’ll have to be very, very quiet. I’ll bring some bread up to you after breakfast.”
****
When Tommy was gone, the alien studied Paul’s photograph. Earthlings are a strange race he thought. The young earthling is disturbed by his friend’s death. He thought about his own predicament. I’m stranded here, probably forever. I must be careful how I handle the boy’s friendship. He thought about Tommy. He knew by everything he had digested from Tommy’s mind that he was a good, kind boy who would not harm anyone, unless provoked. Yes, thought Dargust. I must adapt to life here. The form I have taken pleases me. I will accept it for a while. The alien whined softly. His stomach gave a loud prolonged rumble. The boy earthling was right. I am hungry.
****
During breakfast Kathleen said, “I’ll tidy up when I get back. Oh, I forgot, Thomas, your grandfather is picking you up from school today. I’ll probably be back around five.”
“Granda Jim?” exclaimed Tommy, catching the look between his mother and father.
“He’s ... he’s ...” stammered Kathleen.
“He wants to make sure you're ready for the race this Saturday,” said Bob. He frowned at Kathleen. They had already discussed with the old man over the phone about how Tommy was taking Paul’s death.
“Oh,” said Tommy, staring at his porridge. He didn’t feel hungry. He wished his father would hurry up and finish so that he could get some food up to Fella. He buttered a piece of bread. With a quiet sigh he heard his father say, “Well I must be off. I’ll see you all later.”
Tommy waited until his mother followed his father out to the hall. Then he grabbed two slices of bread and jammed them into the side pocket of his school blazer. His mother was still out in the hall when he reached the bottom of the stairs. His parents turned.
“Wait, I forgot something. I won’t be long.”
Kathleen glanced at her husband as Tommy raced upstairs.
****
Fella was still sitting on the bed when Tommy came into the room. The alien gulped the two slices of bread down in seconds.
Tommy smiled. “You were hungry.” A sudden thought came to him. “Granda Jim,” he exclaimed.
Fella wagged his tail as Tommy’s thoughts came to him. Granda Jim will be able to look after him until I can tell Mummy...
“Thomas.”
Startled Tommy turned. His mother was standing at the bedroom door. He swung around to look at Fella. He was nowhere to be seen.
“Who were you talking to?” asked Kathleen. She had a worried expression on her face.
“I ... I ...” stammered Tommy, wondering, where on earth did Fella go?
His mother came over to him. “Thomas,” she whispered. “It’s time you were going to school.” Kathleen’s eyes glistened as she thought, Oh, God, he’s talking to himself. I hope Daddy will be able to help him.
Tommy looked around the room again. Where did he go? He allowed his mother to lead him from the room. At the door he turned. He stared at Fella who was sitting on the bed, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he panted happily.
Seconds later, standing at the front door, Kathleen watched her son walk slowly up the street. Daddy will sort him out, she thought. God I hope so.
****
On the way to school, Tommy met Mary. The pale...faced girl had changed since Paul’s death. Now she was quiet and hardly spoke to him or anyone.
As they walked to school, Tommy’s thoughts were on Fella. He wondered where the dog had disappeared to. He also wondered how the friendly creature had got into his room.
****
In class that morning, the teacher noticed Mary and Tommy’s inattention. He decided not to say anything to either of them. I’ll give it another week, he thought. If things don’t change, I’ll have a word with their parents.
****
At dinner...hour, Spud started on Tommy again. Tommy was with Mary and her friend, Rose McDonald, a stout dark...haired girl. They were standing near the corner of the playground wall. With three of his cronies following him, Murphy came strutting over to them. Tommy had his back to the bullies talking to Rose when Spud passed. As he did the bully kicked savagely at the back of Tommy’s left leg. With a cry of both pain and shock Tommy went down. As he did, Spud stopped. “You don’t seem to be able to stand up, Ginger Bap!” he sneered, moving to stand over Tommy. “You’ll not last the pace on Saturday if you can’t stand on your own two feet. You’ll be crawling by the time the race is over.”
Scowling, Tommy scrambled to his feet then suddenly lunged at Spud, but the pain in his leg made him cry out and he lost his balance and fell on his side.
“Ha, ha, ha,” laughed the bully. “Look at Ginger Bap! He’s drunk! Hey everybody come and look at Ginger Bap! He’s been drinking.”
“Leave him alone you bully!” screamed Mary, suddenly pushing Spud in the chest.
“Getting girls to do your fighting now are you, Ginger Bap? Hiding behind girls skirts, eh?” sneered the bully, easily pushing Mary out of the way.
With an angry bellow, Tommy jumped to his feet. With his fists bunched he dived at Spud. The bigger boy easily sidestepped. As Tommy slid past him, Murphy punched him on the ear.
Just then the playground assistant, Molly Given, a thin middle...aged woman, came out through the entrance to the classrooms. Seeing the commotion she hurried over.
“What’s all this?” she snapped.
By then Tommy was back on his feet again.
“Ginger Bap’s drunk, miss,” giggled Spud.
Molly studied Tommy. His face was white and he was holding his ear. She glared around at all the boys and girls then snapped, “Stop all this nonsense. Now all of you line up. Play time is over.”
“I’ll whip the daylights out of you on Saturday, Ginger Bap,” whispered Spud, pushing roughly past Tommy and Mary.
As they walked across the playground to join the line, Mary whispered, “Are you O.K. Tommy?”
Tommy nodded. His ear ached. “Yes, thanks.”
Mary studied him as he limped in front of her into school.
****
The afternoon dragged slowly. When Tommy and Mary walked through the school gates, Spud and his cronies were waiting.
Spud’s upper lip trembled when he saw Tommy was limping. Great, he thought. I’ll definitely beat him on Saturday.
“Well, well, Ginger Bap,” he teased. “Is Moran your bodyguard now?” He stepped to stop Tommy as the smaller boy moved to go around him.
Tommy gritted his teeth. “Look, Spud!” he suddenly shouted. “Why don’t you leave me alone? I don’t want any trouble. I just want to be left alone!”
Spud’s eyes widened. For a second or two he felt afraid. But with a snarl he punched Tommy hard in the stomach. Caught unawares, the breath blasted from Tommy and he slowly sank to the ground.
Suddenly, with a squeal, Mary kicked out at Spud.
“Grab her!” shouted Spud.
Immediately, two of the biggest boys grabbed Mary by each arm. Tears blinded her as she struggled to get free.
“Come on, Ginger Bap!” shouted Spud as he danced around Tommy. “Get up!” Narrowing his eyes, he saw Tommy lean forward on his hands to get up. In an instant Spud was standing on the tips of Tommy’s fingers.
With a cry and a painful effort Tommy pulled himself free. In a second he was on his feet. Immediately he dived at Spud.
“Here, here, what’s going on? Stop that! Stop!”
It was Tommy’s grandfather. Spud and his gang scattered.
As they ran down the street Spud shouted, “Ginger Bap! Ginger Bap! Ha, ha, ha, ha ...”
Jim stared at his trembling, tearful grandson. “Are you OK.?” he asked.
Tommy said nothing. He was afraid to speak in case he would cry. But he forced the words, “I’m OK. Granda Jim.”
“What about you, Mary?”
“Yes,” sniffed Mary. “They couldn’t hurt me. Bullies, that’s all they are, big brutes of bullies.”
Tommy’s grandfather studied both of them. “I think we’d better get both of you home,” he said quietly.
****
After leaving Mary off at her house, Tommy and his grandfather headed on to Tommy’s house. Jim glanced at him a few times. He could see Tommy was angry and disturbed, but he said nothing. He prepared to wait until they were home.
****
When they were in the kitchen, the old man put on the kettle. Soon they were drinking tea and eating digestive biscuits.
Tommy loved his Grandfather Jim; he loved the deep smell of tobacco that wafted from him as he puffed thoughtfully on his pipe. Tommy loved the look of his grandfather as well, especially during summer when the old man’s hair seemed to get even whiter and his pale yellow face grew red, then gradually tanned to a leathery brown. Tommy also loved his grandfather Jim’s company. The old man always seemed to know what he was thinking.
As Tommy, feeling a lot better from his encounter with the bullies reached for another biscuit, he remembered Fella. “Fella!” he exclaimed, pushing back his chair, almost knocking the tea cup from his surprised grandfather’s hand. “I forgot about him!” In seconds he was out of the kitchen and running upstairs.
Leaving down his cup, his grandfather, frowning, followed.
****
Fella was still lying on the bed. The alien’s ears pricked up when he heard Tommy’s grandfather coming up the stairs.
“My granda’s here,” said Tommy, sitting on the edge of the bed and stroking Fella’s long hair. “He’ll help me.”
When Jim came into the room, Tommy said smiling, “What do you think of him, Granda Jim?” He ruffled the hair on the back of Fella’s neck. “You’re a good boy aren’t you eh? Eh boy?”
Jim frowned. He could not see the alien. Oh God, he thought. It’s worse than Kathleen said. “Tommy,” he asked. “Who are you talking to?”
Tommy frowned. “Fella, my dog. I named him, Fella. I don’t know where he came from. I found him up at Crokery wood.”
“Crokery Wood,” muttered the old man, thinking, it’s far worse than I thought. I’ll have to handle this carefully.
“Yes, and he had a sore paw,” said Tommy. “But he’s OK now,” he smiled. “Aren’t you Fella? Eh?”
Jim gaped when he saw Tommy pet the air.
“Granda Jim, do you think Mummy will let me keep him?”
“Keep...” muttered Jim. “Keep who? I ... I mean, I don’t know, Tommy,” he said quietly, thinking, I’ll have to go along with this for a while. “You ... you know how your mother feels about dogs. Are you sure you want to keep him, er, it is a, him, isn’t it?”
Tommy frowned as he turned to Fella. “I think so. Anyway I named him Fella, so he must be. Yes, I’ve always wanted a dog, but ...” Tommy studied his grandfather. “Granda Jim, maybe we could keep him at your house until we can tell Mummy.” He couldn’t wait for his grandfather’s answer. “You will help me won’t you?”
The old man gulped. Tommy was still petting the air. “Ye ... yes of course I’ll help you.”
Dargust looked at Tommy’s grandfather. At first he had thought the old man could see him, but as he digested his thoughts he realized that Tommy’s grandfather was pretending he did.
“Come on then, let’s get him down to the kitchen. Fella must be hungry,” said Tommy smiling.
Jim watched as his smiling grandson, looking down at the floor, walked past him through the bedroom door. Dazed he followed.
****
Soon Tommy was filling a cereal bowl with milk. He placed it on the ground in front of Fella. The alien’s tail wagged furiously as he bent to drink.
Jim gasped aloud. He stared at the rapidly vanishing milk, as the alien, still invisible to him, drank quickly. Then when the milk was gone he almost choked, when he saw Tommy hold out a piece of bread. It disappeared as well.
“I knew he was hungry,” said Tommy smiling at his grandfather.
The old man was astounded. He tried to understand how it was happening as Tommy fed the invisible alien another piece of bread. He had read about how the mind can make the impossible happen, but this ... It was time for him to talk to his grandson about Paul’s death.
“Tommy, leave Fella here. Come on into the sitting room. I want to speak to you.”
Puzzled, Tommy poured another bowl of milk for Fella then followed his grandfather into the sitting room. When he came in Jim was putting a lit match to his pipe.
Jim drew on his pipe as he studied his grandson. Taking the pipe from his mouth he said, “Your mother has told me how upset you’ve been about Paul’s ... er, death ... passing.”
Tommy looked away and sighed heavily. When he turned there were tears in his eyes. “You see, Granda Jim, I ... I miss Paul so much.” Big tears now rolled down his pale face. “I can’t forget him. I think about him all the time. I ... can’t ...”
Jim put his pipe on the mantelpiece and reached to grip Tommy’s left shoulder gently. “I missed your Grandmother Annie, when she passed away. I still miss her.” He sighed. “I’ll always miss her, but life has to go on.”
“I know that, Granda Jim,” whispered Tommy. “But why did Paul have to die? He was so young. He didn’t deserve to suffer the way he did. Why Paul. He was good. He ... he ...” Suddenly he was crying in his grandfather’s arms. The old man choked back a tear as he held his sobbing grandson closer.
Dargust, who had come into the sitting room, whined quietly as he looked up at them.
“Paul’s happy now, Tommy,” whispered Jim. “His suffering is over. He’s happy.”
Tommy pulled gently away from him. “Yes, but I’m not,” he sniffed. “I miss him so much.” He began to cry again. His grandfather hugged him tight.
A couple of minutes later Tommy dried his eyes. He smiled when he saw Fella. “Hello boy,” he said. “Hungry again eh?”
“Tommy, this thing about the dog ...”
“He’s lovely isn’t he, Granda Jim,” said Tommy, rubbing the point of Fella’s nose. “He looks so fierce but he's not.”
“Tommy,” said the old man, placing a hand on each of Tommy’s shoulders. “There is no dog.”
Frowning, Tommy gaped at him. “No dog? What do you mean?”
“There is no dog. You’re imagining there is.”
“But Granda Jim,” exclaimed Tommy, looking sideways at Fella. “Can’t you see him?”
“No, I can’t, because he’s not there. There is NO dog. You’re imagining it all. It’s your way of getting over Paul’s passing. There is no dog,” he repeated.
Tommy frowned. He could feel Fella’s paws on his left leg. He could hear him panting. He turned. He could see Fella. “Can’t you see him Granda Jim?”
“No Tommy I can’t, because he’s not there.”
As they spoke, Dargust made a decision. He had already digested the older earthling’s thoughts. He knew he would be safe with both earthlings. Immediately he made himself visible to the old man. As he suddenly appeared, the old man, choking, dropped his pipe, rose to his feet, staggered back and almost fell over the sofa. But when Dargust spoke, both Tommy and his grandfather gasped with shock.
“I think it’s about time I introduced myself.”
Tommy’s eyes widened. He managed to gasp, “Fella ... you ... you can talk?”
“Of course, I can talk. Can’t everyone?” exclaimed Dargust, looking at the old man. He sensed Tommy’s grandfather’s heart was racing at an incredible rate, much too fast. “My voice projection is much like your own.”
“But ... but where did you come from?” said Tommy.
“From out there, many galaxies away.”
“An alien,” whispered Jim.
“There is no need for fear, earthling,” said Dargust. “I will not harm you. Violence was long, long ago been bred out of my race.”
“Your ... your race? Are there many more of you on earth?” asked Jim.
“I am the only one. My traveling craft has been destroyed. I cannot, and probably never will be able to return to my world again.”
“Are you all like dogs?” asked Tommy. He was feeling a lot more comfortable with Dargust now.
“Dogs? No. I took this form and pretended to be injured so that you would take me home with you.”
“What are you really like?” asked Tommy.
“Would you really like to see?” Dargust looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t think there is much room in here. I’m a lot taller.”
“No ... no it’s all right,” exclaimed Jim rather quickly. “Tell us a little more about where you came from and why you can’t return.”
“Well, I ...”
Just then the front door opened.
“It’s Mummy!” gasped Tommy. “She’s back.”
Kathleen came into the sitting room. She stared at her father and Tommy. She frowned. “Everything OK?” She glanced at her father.
“Ye ... yes,” he said looking at Tommy. Dargust had vanished. “Everything’s OK. I ... I’m just going with Tommy to the park. He has to train for the race. Tommy, go get your tracksuit and runners.”
When Tommy hurried away, his grandfather said, “He’ll be OK now. I’ve had a long talk with him.”
Kathleen heaved a sigh of relief.