Archer's Mystery At Mainswell

by Edward Fisher

  The creature was close and there was no time to formulate a plan of action for survival. Instead, Archer reacted on a reflex; he turned and ran. His agile body and lighter weight allowed him to outrun the larger creature, and his twisting and turning motion as he ran eluded his would-be assailant. However, Archer was not really aware of where he was running, only that he was running. Fear for his own safety had told him to run, and to run as fast as he could from the enormous animal that was pursuing him. After a short time the large animal tired of the chase and Archer lay down in the grass, breathless. He had covered a good distance and was now in the corner of the field that was furthest from the gate and gap where he had entered the field. He could hear the voices of the youngsters faintly calling out his name. Those voices seemed far away to the temporarily exhausted canine, and he dared not bark his recognition for fear of revealing his location to the other creature.

  After a few minutes of lying in the grass, and having regained his breath, Archer looked up cautiously. He could see the animal standing in the middle of the field, straight ahead between him and the gate. The animal was apparently eating the grass and Archer hoped that it had lost interest in him. Slowly he edged his way down the side of the field, keeping as much distance between himself and the other animal as possible. Archer became aware that he could no longer hear the voices calling him, and when he again looked up towards the gate he saw the youngsters slowly walking away. A tear came to his eye - a tear of regret, that he had run off. What the youngsters didn’t know as they walked away was that he, Archer, could easily find his way back to the farm if he could get out of the field alive.

  ‘I wonder what happened to him,’ said James ruefully as the teenagers at last turned away from the gate and began a slow, mournful trudge back to the village road.

  ‘Don’t know, but I doubt the bull got him,’ answered Rebecca with hesitant confidence. ‘Bulls are not usually as fast as dogs, but then if Archer wasn’t ready for it … We may never know.’

  ‘That’s right, Bec. Cheer us up, will you?’

  ‘Sorry, Mark, but there aren’t many farm dogs that would get caught out by a bull. So I reckon he got the fright of his life and he’s gone to ground in the field somewhere.’

  ‘I hope you’re right,’ Mark continued.

  ‘What’s his sense of direction like? I mean, could he find his way back to the farm on his own?’

  ‘I’m not sure about that. He does occasionally go off on his own at home and find his way back, but I doubt he goes quite this far.’

  ‘Well, what do you want to do then?’

  ‘Go back to the village and hang around for a bit. We don’t really need to go back to the farm for another hour yet.’

  ‘Okay.’

  The youngsters continued their walk. Unknown to them, their canine friend was slowly edging his way down the side of the field. He stopped dead in his tracks twice. The first time, the other animal chose to let out a really loud sound that Archer didn’t recognise, though a human would have said it was a sort of a ‘moooo’. The sheer loudness of the sound brought Archer to a dead stop, his ears pricked with fear. Cautiously, he looked up to where the other animal was grazing. It took some seconds for Archer to realise that the sound did not signify impending doom.

  When it dawned on him that the other animal was just carrying on with its grazing, he relaxed and continued walking, being sure to keep his body as low to the ground as possible. The second time he stopped he looked up to find the other animal was looking straight at him. To Archer it seemed that the other, much larger animal was watching his every move and was merely weighing up the most opportune moment to strike. What Archer did not know was that the other animal, although looking in Archer’s direction, was not actually focusing on Archer at all. In fact, the bull had not even seen Archer. Its focus was some yards in front of Archer, and by the time its vision had extended to where Archer had been standing, the dog was lying down motionless. As a result he remained undetected. The large animal had picked up a scent that did not belong in its field and it was sure the scent came from Archer’s general direction. The animal was, therefore, puzzled when it failed to detect a likely source of the scent. However, food was a higher priority than worrying unduly about inexplicable aromas, and the bull went back to its grazing.

  After a couple of minutes lying motionless, Archer again looked in the direction of the bull. Seeing it grazing once again, Archer began his slow, meticulous movement towards the gate and freedom. A couple of minutes later, and to the dog’s immense relief, he found the hole in the fence. Quickly Archer exited the field and found his way back down the road to the village. He walked through the village without finding his companions and continued his journey towards the farm. He strolled down the lane until he came to the embankment that protected the campers from being seen from the road. At this point Archer decided to take a short cut and he launched himself up the hill. A minute later he was standing between the two tents. Finding that the youngsters had not completed their journey back, Archer lay down and pretended to fall asleep.

  The journey back to the farm was a miserable affair for the youngsters. Afraid of what might have happened to the dog, they walked slowly and unhappily through the village. They stopped to look in the shops again, none of them wanting to hurry their walk, in the hope that Archer would catch them up. It did not happen, and when they reached the general store Mark suggested they go in and buy provisions for the next few days. It was while they were busy inside the shop that Archer sauntered by, without the slightest indication that he had overtaken them.

  Leaving the shop, they too had walked past the embankment, their walk punctuated by the minimal conversation as each youngster spent the time with his or her own thoughts. They did not possess Archer’s agility for climbing the embankment and had consequently taken the much longer route back to the farm, by road. They passed through the main gate, walked slowly through the lower field, and entered the upper field.

  ‘What’s that up there by the tents?’ asked Mark as he entered the field ahead of the others.

  ‘Looks like a dog to me, or some other creature,’ commented James.

  ‘You don’t think it’s -’ The end of Mark’s question was lost to the others as he broke into a run.

  ‘Could be, but where did he come from?’ Rebecca attempted to reply as she joined the others in a mad dash up the hill to the tents.

  ‘It is!’ Mark needlessly confirmed as they arrived, panting, at the tents. ‘Hello Archer, old boy,’ he exclaimed loudly, throwing his arms around the dog, which still pretended to be sleeping.

  ‘Hi there, Archer, what happened to you then?’

  Stupid question, thought Archer. And then, wishing he could reply he continued to talk to himself in his doggy brain. There was this great big thing that chased me… And so his thoughts continued. To the youngsters, Archer’s look said, ‘What took you so long to get back?’

  ‘Woof,’ he barked, his incredulous gaze lasting only a few moments. ‘Woof.’

  Chapter 8

  The rest of the late afternoon passed quickly as the youngsters prepared their evening meal. The early summer evening boasted a warm breeze that swirled round the field. Archer, once fed, swiftly recovered from the afternoon’s adventures and was soon wandering happily through the field. As they had expected, the camper at the bottom of the field had left during the afternoon, and now the youngsters were quite alone with their two tents.

  As the sun began to drift towards the horizon the youths finalised their plans for the evening. They agreed that each of them would take two hours of guard duty, listening for anything that might come down the road. The first watch would start at ten o’clock, which meant that they’d cover the period from then till four in the morning. This, they reasoned, should be sufficient to ensure they heard anything that went on in the road during the night. They agreed that Rebecca would take the first turn, then Mark, and finally James. If anything did happen they’d wa
ke everyone else up immediately and explain what was going on. Archer, it was agreed, would just join in when he wanted to. To make matters easier in the case of any trouble, they also agreed to sleep with the tent flaps unzipped.

  The sun had slid down below the horizon when Rebecca took her position on top of the embankment. Lying on a thick rug, she was quite invisible from the road, yet she could see clearly in both directions. She had a Walkman to keep her awake and she listened to a favourite tape, keeping her eyes on the road. It was dark, very dark. Although the girl had a torch with her, she did not use it, once in position, because the light would have been clearly visible from some distance away. The minutes ticked by slowly. A couple of times the dog wandered up to her, nuzzled her for attention’s sake, and licked her appreciatively when she stroked his fur. Twice she saw the headlights of a vehicle coming from the village and twice her pulse rate quickened, but each time she relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief as the vehicle continued on down the road into the open country. At midnight her watch beeped twice to tell her that her duty period was over. She descended the embankment gratefully and was walking towards the tents when Mark appeared. In low voices they conversed briefly.

  ‘All right, Bec?’ Mark queried.

  ‘Yeah, fine. Bored and tired, but fine. Look, don’t use the torch on the top of the embankment or you’ll be seen from the village.’

  ‘Thanks. I hadn’t thought of that. Where’s Archer?’

  ‘I don’t know. He could be in my tent, but I guess he could be wandering round the fields somewhere.’

  ‘Do you want him with you tonight?’ The offer was generous, as Mark was more than a little apprehensive of the next few hours and would have been much happier knowing the dog was around.

  ‘No, not really. These fields are really very safe, especially this field. I doubt anybody could get up the embankment, and the lower field is so full of campers that no one would dare come in from that direction.’

  ‘True, I guess. Okay, have a good night’s sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.’

  ‘Yeah, okay, unless anything happens.’

  ‘Sure, but it probably wont.’

  ‘I guess not. Here, take the Walkman. It might not be your taste in music, but it’s better than nothing and will help pass the time.’

  ‘Thanks, Bec. See you tomorrow.’ He ended the conversation and made his way up the embankment as the girl moved towards her tent and sleep. Mark lay on the rug listening to the music which, as his cousin had suspected, was not to his taste. She was right though, it did help to pass the time. The first hour drifted by without a single sound coming from the road. Mark was trying very hard to stay awake when he did suddenly hear something. It was the sound of quite a large vehicle. Not a lorry, he guessed, but perhaps a largish van. As if in confirmation of his guesswork, a van came into view from the direction of the village. The van was almost beneath him when it suddenly pulled into the side of the road and stopped. As the sound of the engine died the lights changed from being main beam to sidelights. Mark hardly dared to breath, and he was sure the driver must be able to hear his pounding heart. To make matters worse, Mark suddenly felt something touching his back. He nearly let out a yell of surprise and had to stop himself from leaping out of his skin. When he turned over, he breathed with relief as he realised it was Archer who was poking him with his nose.

  ‘Hello, old boy,’ he whispered very quietly and very urgently. ‘Good timing. Will you go and wake James?’

  Archer continued to nudge him, apparently unaware of the boy’s request.

  ‘Go find James.’ Mark repeated his order with greater urgency. ‘James, where is he?’

  Archer nodded his head and disappeared down the embankment. Mark turned back to watch the van in the road. The driver had the door open now and Mark could hear the muted sounds of a radio coming from within the vehicle.

  Archer, meanwhile, had understood the gist of Mark’s request. He was familiar with both the boys’ names and had spent many hours of his life being told to find one or other of them. He was slightly confused because he knew Mark already knew where James was. James, after all, was asleep in the tent. Where else would he be at one fifteen in the morning? But Archer, despite having many faults, detected something in Mark’s voice that told him this was important, and he felt obliged to go and find the younger boy. So he made his way down the embankment and slipped into the boys’ tent. He nuzzled up against the sleeping boy and poked him with his nose. The boy stirred and rolled over but ostensibly stayed asleep. Archer debated whether to bark, but remembered that his instructions had been given in muted tones. He decided that this might not be the time to bark. Instead, he put a leg on the boy’s back and gently pawed him. James rolled over again and opened an eye. He snapped on his torch and looked at his watch.

  ‘Oh God, Archer, it’s only one twenty. I’ve got another forty minutes yet. Now go to sleep and be a good boy.’ With that, he switched off the torch and rolled away from the dog.

  Archer was not so easily deterred. He had heard an urgency in Mark’s voice that told him he had to get James up on the embankment, and get James up on the embankment he would. So he continued to paw the boy until he was awake with the torch on.

  ‘What is it, boy?’ James asked, aware in his half-awake state that something was up.

  By way of reply Archer whined and then headed out of the tent. A moment later he returned and whined again.

  ‘Something outside?’ questioned the boy as his wakefulness increased. ‘Is it Mark?’

  The bark was almost inaudible. Mark, on the embankment heard nothing and was becoming increasingly concerned at the time his brother was taking. James, for his part, slowly understood that Archer wanted him to follow, and duly rose, threw clothes over his pyjamas, donned wellington boots and then stumbled out of the tent. Archer had already begun to walk back towards the embankment and was puzzled that James hesitated. He hesitated, not because he couldn’t see Archer, although the overcast sky made the surrounding field very dark, but because of the agreement the three had made. Dutifully, James ran over to Bec’s tent and roused her. He shook her gently awake.

  ‘Something’s up,’ whispered James. That was enough for Rebecca. In a moment she was undoing the zip on her sleeping bag. ‘I’ll see you up at the embankment,’ continued James.

  ‘Don't use your torch up there, you’ll be spotted from the road,’ Rebecca warned him as he turned and walked out of her tent. The light from his torch followed the ground until he spotted the dog ahead of him. Quickly he followed the canine up the embankment, remembering to turn off his torch before he reached the top. In the darkness he almost stumbled over his brother, who was stretched out with his head peering over the summit.

  ‘You took your time,’ whispered Mark.

  ‘Sorry, but Archer took time to wake me up. Bec’s on her way. What’s up?’ James’s voice was even softer than his brother’s. Mark pointed down the embankment to the van below. James edged forward on his stomach until he could just see the vehicle.

  ‘Anything happen?’ he whispered.

  ‘Not yet. Now shut up or we might get heard.’

  The radio from the van was still audible and it was clear to both boys that the driver, still sitting in his seat with the door open, would be unable to hear their voices above it. Suddenly the driver appeared in the open doorway. He seemed to be a short man, but it was difficult to make out any details in the dim light and his face was turned away from the boys. When he turned to look up the road they could just see the glow from the end of a cigarette in his mouth. He was wearing a dark jacket with the lapels turned up and his face was evidently on the chubby side. The boys’ concentration was interrupted by a sound behind them. A moment later their cousin was also lying flat out with her head just reaching the top of the embankment. Mark softly explained what had happened.

  The driver moved his hand to his face and peered at his wrist, obviously looking at the time. He muttered something
inaudible to himself and appeared to be agitated. He paced up the road four or five steps, turned, and walked back. After a few seconds pause he repeated the action, showing that he was becoming impatient.

  ‘Looks like he’s waiting for someone, and they’re late,’ Rebecca breathed into the near silence. Then, quite softly at first, they heard a new sound, the sound of a car. The soft purr turned into a perceptible whine, and then the more guttural sound of the car’s engine could be heard. The headlights appeared from the direction of the village a moment before the pitch of the noise increased, signalling the driver was dropping down through the gears. The car soon appeared and in a moment had come to stop just in front of the van. The car engine did not stop for some seconds, until its driver had observed that the driver of the van did not approach him. Then the engine was shut off and the car driver alighted from his vehicle. He approached the van’s driver and greeted him in subdued tones. The three on top of the embankment could hear most of what was said.

  ‘You’re late. Another couple of minutes and I’d have gone.’

  ‘Yeah, I know, as per our agreement, but it took a little longer than I expected.’

  ‘One day you won’t make it in time.’