The Tattoo Fox Makes New Friends

by Alasdair Hutton

  Some reader comments on the first Tattoo Fox book

  Now I can make my Granddaughter happy, by telling her that the sequel is here!

  QUINTIN JARDINE

  Reading this book right now, next time I go to Edinburgh I will be looking for the wee fox

  SANDRA VIDLER

  Great book, lovely little story. The pictures my brain was dreaming up – I was there xxx

  KATE HOBSON

  I purchased this book while on holiday in Edinburgh last August. Sat in Princes Street Gardens and had a wee read. Great book I love it!!! Even though I’m an older child (by quite a few years!!!)

  JANE BROWN

  The book is fantastic, well worth buying for children and adults, I really enjoyed the book

  SUSAN GIBSON

  It is a lovely book, good story

  DOROTHY JARRETT

  My wee girl bought the book the night we were at the Tattoo and she has read it and loved it. My older boy,

  he has read it and loved it. Now, I’m 3/4 way through it! Can’t wait until I go to bed to finish it tonight, lovely wee book. Please, please do another one!

  DEHRA HIGGINSON

  Brigadier David Allfrey MBE

  Chief Executive and Producer

  The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

  We have been thrilled by the success of The Tattoo Fox and have enjoyed the whole adventure. We have been fortunate to come together with a fun and efficient team at Luath who have guided us through the process and past the pitfalls. Since the launch at the Edinburgh International Book Festival last year, we have received many wonderful and uplifting comments from adults and children, all praising Alasdair’s writing and Stref’s illustrations – a winning combination.

  With the Tattoo, a 400-year-old Castle, the City of Edinburgh and Scotland as a backdrop, it has been easy to imagine what our fox might have been up to over the last 12 months. Stories abound – both apocryphal and real – of foxy encounters in the Castle precincts. So, with phone calls to the author, illustrator, editor and our publishers, the stage was easily set for The Tattoo Fox Makes New Friends.

  We are hugely proud to now present our second book just as the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo starts its 65th season and a 15th sell-out season. We know the fox, her family and her friends will be watching our show and enjoying the festival atmosphere. I hope you enjoy this second set of stories as much as we have.

  August 2014

  by Alasdair Hutton

  with illustrations by Stref

  Luath Press Limited

  EDINBURGH

  www.luath.co.uk

  First published 2014

  ISBN (PBK): 978-1-910021-47-7

  ISBN (EBK): 978-1-910324-32-5

  Text © The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Ltd., 2014

  Illustrations © Stephen White, 2014

  No text or illustrations from this book may be reproduced without prior permission from The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Ltd. All rights reserved.

  The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was established for charitable purposes to support services and artistic charities. In recent years we have disbursed several million pounds.

  Each year we stage a world-class event from which a substantial amount is Gift Aided to The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Charities Ltd which is then dispersed as donations to a range of charitable organisations.

  If you enjoy the book then please give a thought to our charitable purposes and perhaps make a donation, join our Friends or become a supporter. Find out more at www.edintattoo.co.uk

  The Edinburgh Military Tattoo (Charities) Ltd is a company limited by guarantee Registered in Scotland No. 108857. Charity No. SCO18377.

  Patron: HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne

  Contents

  Thanks

  Chapter One The Fox takes a Trip

  Chapter Two The Long Walk Home

  Chapter Three Trains and Planes and Suitcases

  Chapter Four Edinburgh Ghosts!

  Chapter Five Operation Dog Rescue

  Chapter Six The Roaring Crowd and a Noble Penguin

  Chapter Seven A Magical Mystery Tour

  Chapter Eight Five!

  Chapter Nine Underground Hide and Seek

  Chapter Ten Another Castle, Another Time

  Chapter Eleven The Uninvited Guests

  Chapter Twelve A Party to Remember

  Thanks

  After the first book about the Tattoo Fox was published in 2013, it was a very pleasant surprise to be asked to write some more of the adventures of this little animal who lives on Edinburgh

  Castle Rock.

  It takes many more people than the writer to make any story successful and once again the incomparable and inspirational Lindsey Fraser has turned the first rough garment into an elegant cloak to be proud of with her skilful editing.

  Stref’s superb drawings have brought the little tales to life and made them much more enjoyable and the pictures on the front and back covers are more vibrant thanks to Fin Cramb’s remarkable dexterity with colours.

  In the Tattoo office, Nancy Riach diplomatically made sure everyone stuck to the timetable so that these stories would be ready for the 2014 Tattoo, and the Producer, Brigadier David Allfrey, who started the whole idea, was enthusiastically encouraging at every stage.

  The staff of the publishers, Luath Press, in particular Gavin MacDougall and Lydia Nowak, were constantly positive and helpful in making this book a reality.

  Thanks to Morris Heggie from DC Thomson for wisdom and support.

  Any failings in the book are mine alone but everyone involved has been so helpful and enthusiastic that I cannot thank them enough and hope you will enjoy reading more of these little tales about the Tattoo Fox.

  1

  The Fox takes a Trip

  The fox and cat go off to roam

  And find they have a long trip home

  The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was over for another year.

  Sparkling fireworks soared into the sky above Edinburgh Castle for the last time, the bands marched away down the Royal Mile and the pipes and drums fell silent at last.

  On the final night, the Tattoo Fox had joined the parade down the Esplanade. As she padded past the Producer, her magnificent tail waving proudly, he smiled. ‘Bravo, Tattoo Fox. I hope I see you here next year.’

  Once the audience had gone home the Tattoo Fox stood beneath the stands thinking about the excitement of the last three weeks. It was there that her friend the Castle Cat found her.

  ‘You looked spectacular tonight,’ he said, ‘and you got an especially loud cheer at the end. You must have felt like the Queen.’

  ‘I was very proud,’ the fox admitted. ‘I’m sorry it’s over until next summer.’ The Castle Cat had promised her that the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would be an experience she would never forget. And he was right.

  They watched some musicians loading oddly-shaped boxes into the back of a big van.

  ‘They’re from the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines,’ said the Castle Cat. ‘I wonder what they’re up to…’

  ‘Fancy a cup of tea?’ one of the Marines called to his friends after some particularly heavy lifting. ‘Thought you’d never ask! I’m thirsty after all that blowing,’ said another. They headed up the Esplanade towards the Castle.

  ‘Super!’ said the Castle Cat. Like most cats, he couldn’t resist looking in boxes. He ran out from under the stands and leapt in the back of the van. The fox followed and the two of them had a lovely time nosing their way round. The boxes came in all shapes and sizes. ‘I wonder what lives in this one?’ the fox said, puzzling over how to open it. But before she could find
out, there was a rumbling noise and a click as the shutter of the van was rolled down and locked. The two friends were left in total darkness.

  ‘Off you go!’ they heard one of the Marines call. ‘See you back at the base.’ There was a shudder as the van’s engine started, and then it started to move.

  ‘Oh, no!’ said the fox, staggering from side to side. ‘Where are we going? My family expects me home…’

  ‘There is nothing we can do until the van stops,’ said the Castle Cat sensibly. ‘We might as well settle down and make ourselves comfortable until then.’

  As they rattled along the cat snoozed, but the fox was too worried to sleep. Her heart was thumping as she lay as flat as she could, desperate for the journey to end, hoping the boxes wouldn’t tumble on top of her.

  At last the van slowed and stopped, the engine idling. They could hear shouts of friendly greetings, and then they set off again for a short distance. When the engine was turned off they could hear people moving about outside. Soon the shutter was unlocked and pushed up a little way.

  ‘There are quite a few instruments to unpack,’ said one of the Marines, peering in. ‘Let’s go and find some willing helpers. Might have to wake a few of them up…’

  The two friends did not need to think twice. As soon as the Marine’s back was turned, the fox and the cat jumped out and headed towards the darkness. ‘Do you have any idea where we are?’ the fox asked as they crouched beneath a bush. They could make out quite a few vans and several low buildings, some of them with lights on.

  ‘No,’ the cat said. He had no idea, and was trying not to sound worried.

  ‘What should we do next?’ asked the fox. ‘I must get home!’

  ‘So must I,’ agreed the cat. ‘But we can’t just set off into the blue yonder until we know where we are. We might head off in completely the wrong direction, and then where would we be? We might even end up in… Glasgow!’ He shook himself violently. ‘That would never do.’ He sniffed the air for a moment. ‘Let’s go this way,’ he said finally.

  They slipped silently beneath trees and bushes, from shadow to shadow until they were well away from the buildings, then scampered up a steep slope. Below them they could see a huge dark space, and the lights of what looked like a big ship.

  ‘Where are we?’ the fox asked again.

  ‘Can’t be sure,’ the cat replied, his tail twitching, ‘but that dark space might be the Firth of Forth – the water that separates Edinburgh from the Kingdom of Fife. We can sometimes see it from the Castle. If I’m right we need to cross it to get back home.’

  The fox had never swum in her life. Her heart began thumping again. She wondered whether the Castle Cat was a keen swimmer. After they’d walked a bit further she asked, ‘What are those red lights blinking in the sky?’

  The Castle Cat bounded over to have a better look. ‘That, my friend, is the Forth Road Bridge.’ He purred triumphantly. ‘Those lights show pilots coming to land at Edinburgh Airport where the bridge is. I know exactly where we are now. We are at Rosyth where the Marine musicians are based. Those boxes were for their trombones and clarinets and trumpets and saxophones. That’s why they were all different shapes.’ He was very relieved.

  ‘But how far are we from Edinburgh Castle?’ asked the fox anxiously.

  ‘Not far. In fact, when the sun comes up we may be able to see Edinburgh Castle in the distance,’ said the Castle Cat. ‘But for now, let’s catch supper and have a rest. It’s been a long day, and we have quite a journey ahead of us.’

  2

  The Long Walk Home

  The friends head home but don’t quite know

  Which is the best way they should go

  The Castle Cat was quite right. The van that drove him and the Tattoo Fox from Edinburgh Castle had taken them to the Caledonia base at Rosyth on the north shore of the Firth of Forth. In the morning, they watched men and women coming and going on the base, all wearing naval uniforms. They looked very purposeful.

  ‘I know you want to get home but what with traffic and dangerous dogs, it really is better to wait until after dark,’ said the cat.

  The Tattoo Fox knew her friend was right. She tried not to think about the long swim ahead. But as the day wore on, she could think of little else. When daylight faded she led the Castle Cat to a shallow scrape in the ground under the fence. I think local foxes must have made this,’ she said, sniffing the ground. She slunk under the fence and the cat followed.

  They made their way carefully past rows of houses, ducking into gardens when they heard voices, or when cars drove too close. ‘If we keep those red blinking lights on the Forth Road Bridge in our sights we’ll be fine,’ the Castle Cat said. ‘Luckily it’s a clear night.’ Finally, they came to a road that was far too broad and busy for them to cross. Cars and lorries roared by, one after the other, their headlights dazzling. The noise was deafening.

  ‘Stick with me,’ said the cat, staying close to the gorse bushes by the side of the road. At last they found themselves looking along the Forth Road Bridge. It was enormous – even broader than the Esplanade at the Castle.

  ‘We’ll use this walkway,’ explained the Castle Cat. ‘There won’t be anybody walking across the bridge in the middle of the night.’

  The fox turned to him. ‘Walkway?’ she repeated. ‘Aren’t we going to swim?’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ said the cat. ‘I make it a rule never, ever to go near water. And if you have any sense, you’ll stick to that rule too. Is that clear?’

  ‘Absolutely!’ replied the fox. She was so relieved.

  ‘The walkway was built for walking,’ the cat said. He gave her a long hard look. ‘There will be no swimming, my friend.’

  ‘Of course not,’ said the fox, and she followed him onto the bridge. A very long way beneath the walkway she could see the choppy waters of the Firth of Forth. She decided it was better to keep looking straight ahead.

  At the midway point on the bridge, the Castle Cat stopped. ‘It’s quite a climb, isn’t it?’

  ‘We’re very high up,’ said the fox a little nervously. ‘Are you sure this is the right bridge?’ There was another one, all lit up not far away.

  ‘That is the Forth Railway Bridge,’ said the cat. ‘That’s for trains.’

  ‘And what’s that?’ asked the fox. To their right they could see huge pillars in the water.

  ‘That must be the new bridge,’ said the cat.

  ‘What a lot of bridges for one river,’ said the fox. She was rather impressed.

  It was easier going downhill towards South Queensferry, until suddenly, as if from nowhere, burst a flashing white light. It grew bigger, and brighter.

  The fox was used to making herself scarce, and she pressed herself into the railings. The cat was not used to making himself scarce and he froze, terrified. The white light was almost on top of him when they heard a screeching of brakes. A late night cyclist! The man blinked, wobbled and stopped just in time. ‘Well I never!’ he cried. ‘Wildlife on the Forth Road Bridge!’

  ‘Run!’ The Tattoo Fox circled the cat. ‘Hurry!’

  Finally, although he was rather insulted at being called ‘wildlife’, the cat recovered himself and set off faster than the fox had ever seen him move. Once off the bridge, they kept up their pace along the main road, slipping past houses and hotels and offices until finally they ran through an open gateway. Only when they found a large rhododendron bush to hide under did they stop.

  ‘What a ridiculous time to be cycling across the Forth Road Bridge,’ huffed the Castle Cat. ‘I might have fallen off the walkway into the water!’ He shuddered.

  ‘But you didn’t,’ soothed the fox. ‘Let’s count our blessings and find our bearings.’

  ‘The sign at the gate said ‘Dundas Castle’,’ the cat said. ‘Well, castles are usually civilised places. In fact, I’m sure one of my second cousins lived here at one time,’ he added.

  They padded up a long drive lined with more rhododendron b
ushes. ‘This must be lovely in springtime,’ the fox said. ‘But… shhh…’ The hackles rose along her back. The cat’s eyes widened, and without a word the friends slipped out of sight and waited.

  The fox’s instinct was right. They had been spotted. A large and handsome fox trotted over and took a good look at them. ‘And what do you think you’re doing in there?’ he asked. His tone was wary but not unfriendly. ‘Is that a… cat?’

  ‘It’s the Castle Cat,’ said the Tattoo Fox carefully.

  ‘Really? I’m the Castle Fox! The Dundas Castle Fox, to give me my full name. Do come out and introduce yourselves.’

  The friends emerged. ‘We’re trying to get home to Edinburgh Castle. Can you tell us the quickest route? I live in the Castle buildings,’ explained the Castle Cat rather grandly, ‘and my friend lives with her family in a den on the Castle Rock. She was the star of this year’s Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, don’t you know. She’s known as the Tattoo Fox.’

  ‘I have heard of the Edinburgh Tattoo but I’ve never been,’ said the Castle Fox.

  ‘You would love it,’ said the Tattoo Fox. ‘Why don’t you come next summer? Everybody should see the Edinburgh Tattoo!’ Her hackles were down. The Dundas Castle Fox was definitely a friend.

  ‘That would be wonderful,’ he said. Then he looked down the driveway. ‘But I need to warn you that there’s a large wedding party going on. We have weddings here most weekends. Such a fuss… and far too many cars. Let’s go this-away.’

  He led his guests to a good hunting spot where they enjoyed a meal together. Then he carefully explained the route to Edinburgh. ‘I must go,’ he said, once he was sure they had everything they needed. ‘It was a great pleasure to meet such distinguished visitors and I look forward to the Tattoo next August.’

  ‘What a very nice fellow,’ the Castle Cat said, watching their host trotting back down the driveway. Then he curled up under a bush, yawned and settled down to sleep.