by Ben Fogle
‘I’m a friend to any animal in trouble,’ Mr Dog declared, ‘including you. Now, whatever’s wrong?’
‘I’m caught! Snagged! Stuck!’ Lulu wriggled again. ‘I was chasing a fish when I got tangled in something, and now I can’t get out!’
‘Let’s have a look,’ said Mr Dog.
As he approached, Lulu struggled again to pull herself further up on to the riverbank. Mr Dog could see there was something thin and red digging into the fat dark-grey sausage of the seal’s body just beneath the water, holding her back. ‘That looks like a net,’ he concluded. ‘A bit of broken fishing net.’
‘It’s caught on something,’ Lulu gasped. ‘I’m totally stuck. Fixed. Grounded.’
‘Let me see what I can do.’ Mr Dog took a breath and then drove his nose into the water. The net looked to be tangled round something sticking out from the riverbed. He bit at the plastic strands, trying to slice through the tough fibres, and tugged at them with his claws.
Ouch! he thought, getting nowhere.
Lightning flashed again and the rain fell harder still. Panting for breath, Lulu lay still on her side, only her head free of the river. ‘What am I going to do?’
Mr Dog didn’t answer. If the river continues to swell like this, poor Lulu will be trapped underwater, he thought, and seals can’t live without air to breathe. He thrust his chops down into the water again and chewed at the netting. If I can’t set Lulu free, she’ll drown!
Chapter Four
A TANGLED TALE
Mr Dog pulled his head from the water, panting for breath. ‘I’m sorry, Lulu.’ There was a soft whine behind his words. ‘The netting is really strong. I can’t break it …’
‘I’m finished, aren’t I?’ Lulu groaned. ‘I’m doomed and done for. I’m sunk!’
‘Sunk …’ Mr Dog thought hard, then gave a loud bark of excitement. ‘Wait a moment, Lulu – that might be it. The net’s got tangled in something that’s sunk into the riverbed. If I can’t break the net, perhaps I can dig out whatever it’s wrapped round!’
‘Ingenious!’ Lulu twittered. ‘What a smart dog you are.’
‘You’re absolutely right!’ Mr Dog gave her a doggy grin. ‘I can see you and I will make great friends.’
The lightning flashed again and Lulu quivered, her blubber wobbling. ‘Please, Mr Dog. Hurry!’
Mr Dog took a deep breath, then plunged his head down into the cold, dark water beside Lulu. He couldn’t see a thing, but ran his snout over the net, following it down to where it had snagged in the riverbed. His front paws sank into thick mud and he started to dig. It wasn’t easy in the cold water – the sludge was as thick as treacle. Mr Dog’s heart was beating hard against his ribs as he dug and dug …
Lulu was straining and struggling, inching further up the bank. ‘I … I think it’s working.’
Mr Dog tore with his paws at the thick mud. There was a piece of wood wedged into the riverbed. As Mr Dog dug deeper, he could see that the net was wrapped round it. Finally it came loose and Lulu gave a squeal of freedom. She wriggled and slithered up the riverbank on her belly, the net still wrapped tightly round her like a strange swimsuit. Mr Dog led her over to the cover of a nearby tree and lay down beside her as the rain fell. Both animals were panting hard.
Lulu saw that her rescuer was shivering, so she nuzzled up beside him. ‘Thank you,’ she grunted softly.
‘I might have to change my name from Mr Dog to Mr Dig.’ He looked at her. ‘Are you all right?’
Lulu stretched her body and then gasped. ‘I must’ve twisted a flipper trying to get free. And this net has cut into my skin …’
Mr Dog saw red scratches on the seal’s hide. As delicately as he could, he unravelled the netting and pulled it free. ‘That’s strange,’ he said, studying the bright-red fibres. ‘I thought the net would be old rubbish the humans had thrown into the river. But this looks new. Perhaps it fell off a boat?’
‘Wherever it came from, it’s very dangerous.’ Lulu shivered. ‘Oh, I do hope Ditzy hasn’t got caught in one too. I’ve been so worried about her.’
Mr Dog nodded. ‘Is she a really good friend of yours?’
‘I’ve known her since we were pups,’ said Lulu. ‘I’m a lot shyer than she is, though. I couldn’t show off to the humans in the harbour like her. One day, months ago, she said she was going to explore the river – but no one has heard from her since. I do hope she’s all … fish.’
Mr Dog’s shaggy eyebrows twitched. ‘All fish?’
‘Fish!’ Lulu’s whiskers wobbled as she sniffed the air. ‘I smell fish. Do you smell fish?’
Mr Dog sniffed too. ‘Well, now that you mention it … Yes! There’s one there.’ He nodded to a large salmon lying on its side in the rain-pattered water near the bank. ‘Smells fresh. How did it get there?’
‘I caught it earlier – that’s how I got tangled up. I must have been sitting on it!’ Lulu flexed her flippers and belly-flopped down the slope to claim her catch. ‘Care to share? You’ve earned a reward!’
Soon Lulu was back beneath the tree, gnawing on the fishy dish that she clutched in her paws and sharing tasty morsels with Mr Dog. ‘Ditzy is dotty about salmon, you know,’ she said. ‘Loves it. Adores it!’
‘I quite understand.’ Mr Dog licked his chops. ‘Are there many salmon in this river?’
‘Oh yes, lots – and in the East River too,’ said Lulu. ‘I’ve travelled up and down it looking for Ditzy and helping myself!’ As Lulu munched some more, Mr Dog saw that the teeth in her jaws were as sharp and white as his own. ‘When I was exploring that branch of this river, I met some very kind and helpful humans – they’d caught a lot of fish and left them in a net for me.’
Mr Dog looked at her. ‘Those anglers weren’t leaving anything for you, Lulu! Those fish were caught for sport, or to eat, or to sell to restaurants.’
‘Well, that doesn’t sound right.’ Lulu swallowed the tail. ‘When I took the fish, the anglers jumped up and shouted and shook their fists at me. They were really happy.’
‘No, no, Lulu,’ said Mr Dog. ‘That’s what they do when they’re angry.’
‘Angry? Oh no.’ She rolled on to her side. ‘One of them was so happy he pointed a stick at me that went BOOM, just like a firework.’
‘Good gracious.’ Mr Dog flattened his ears to his head. ‘Lulu, he fired a gun at you. He must’ve been a hunter. You could have been killed!’
‘Killed?’ Lulu’s black eyes grew wider. ‘Why on earth would he want to do that? Humans don’t own the fishes. Why can’t they share?’
‘Some humans are not very good at sharing. Even so, I am very surprised they shot at you.’ Mr Dog thought hard. ‘Something serious must have happened around here. I wonder what?’
‘Perhaps Ditzy will know. I hope I find her on this stretch of the river.’ Lulu paused. ‘I also hope I find another fish. Excuse me while I look for one.’
Mr Dog watched Lulu go back out into the rain, bouncing awkwardly down the sloping bank and into the water. He sighed. He’d discovered one seal, but Ditzy’s fate was still unknown. Had hunters found her? Or was she still out there somewhere, looking for Lulu? Perhaps Ditzy had been hurt by rubbish in the water as well?
This mystery is growing deeper, thought Mr Dog, and more dangerous too!
Chapter Five
SEAL SPOTTING
As the night wore on, Mr Dog was finally lulled to sleep by the sound of the rain. He was woken in the morning as a train rumbled by, blowing its whistle like an alarm call. The rain had stopped and the sun was trying to shine through the blank white sky.
‘Good morning, Mr Dog!’ As Lulu wiggled back up the bank towards him, she tossed a fat, juicy fish in his direction. ‘I’m heading off again, upriver. Ditzy’s got to be out there somewhere.’
‘Tell me, Lulu.’ Mr Dog stood up and stretched his scruffy body, dragging his back legs behind him. ‘Do seals often leave the sea to swim in rivers?’
‘Sometimes if we’re chas
ing after fish … we get a bit lost.’ Lulu sighed. ‘Even so, we don’t normally stay longer than a few days.’
‘And Ditzy’s been gone for a couple of months.’ Mr Dog shook his head. ‘Well, I’m coming with you to see if we can find her.’
‘Thank you for helping,’ said Lulu.
The unlikely pair set off together. Mr Dog trotted through the long grass at the side of the river, while Lulu beetled about in the water, trying not to use her injured flipper. To pass the time she would sometimes do impressions.
‘Hey, look at me.’ Lulu lay motionless in the water. ‘I’m a log.’
‘Very good,’ said Mr Dog politely.
She rolled over. ‘What am I now?’
‘Er, still a log?’
‘No. I’m a log WITH A FISH!’ She rolled over again to reveal a large salmon gripped in her flippers, and in moments it was gone. ‘Mmmm. Nice fish.’
‘Look out.’ Mr Dog growled a warning. ‘Angler!’
Some way up ahead, Mr Dog had spotted a woman with blonde hair sitting on the bank beside an array of rods and nets. She had clearly seen Lulu with the fish. Slowly, carefully, she reached into a large bag beside her. Mr Dog’s ears pricked and his hackles rose. Was the woman a hunter, ready to shoot the fish-stealing seal? He dropped to his belly and wriggled through the grass towards her in an army crawl.
I must get to her in time, he thought. If I jump up at her, I can spoil her aim.
The woman began to pull out something from inside her bag … but it was only a mobile phone! The woman started taking pictures of Lulu bobbing about in the water, but as the seal neared the nets placed at the riverside the woman started shaking her head and shouting. She waved angrily as if to scare Lulu away. Quickly, Lulu ducked beneath the water and swam off, and the woman dialled someone on her phone, Mr Dog listening in.
‘Hello?’ the woman said. ‘It’s Alana. Listen, you won’t believe this, but I’ve seen that seal you’ve been after. It’s here on the western branch of the river. Went straight for my fish … It’s gone now, but seemed to be heading upriver. Yes … yes, I can meet you at the farm …’
Mr Dog circled past the woman, heading after Lulu. He didn’t like the sound of her conversation. That seal you’ve been after, she’d said. Had she been talking to the hunter who’d taken pot shots at Lulu? Or had the woman mistaken Lulu for Ditzy?
Mr Dog shook his shaggy head. So many questions!
‘We must take special care,’ Mr Dog told Lulu when he’d caught up with her. ‘This is a big river, but it sounds as if some humans are looking for you.’
Lulu’s sleek head rose from the water and she stared at Mr Dog with her widest eyes. ‘Do you think they’ve done something to Ditzy?’
‘I’m sure people in town would’ve heard if anything bad had happened to her,’ Mr Dog reassured her. ‘She was very popular with the people there, as you know. But we should try to find her sooner rather than later so you can both get back to the sea – and safety.’
Mr Dog wanted to keep moving and get as far from Alana the angler as they could. But they kept meeting animals who’d come into contact with pollution and needed help. First, they met a duck who’d managed to get a rubber band stuck over his head and jammed between his beak, so he couldn’t eat easily. The duck was afraid of Mr Dog and tried to swim away, so Lulu rose from the water beneath him and lifted him up, carrying him back to the riverbank. The duck was so startled that he held still while Mr Dog carefully sliced through the band with his sharpest claw.
Not long after that they came across something even sadder – a deer with her head stuck in a plastic jar. The poor deer couldn’t see and hadn’t eaten or drunk in some time. Mr Dog was able to hook his teeth round the rim of the jar and hold it steady while the deer pulled as hard as she could. Finally, the deer’s head came free and she tottered down to the bank to drink thirstily. Mr Dog kicked wet earth into the jar to fill it and stop any other curious animals from getting stuck.
‘Where’s all this horrible waste coming from?’ Mr Dog cried.
‘I don’t know,’ said Lulu, swimming forward, ‘but it’s being carried downriver to the beach and the harbour, so the source must still be up ahead— AAGH!’ The seal gave a squeal of pain and went rigid in the water.
‘Lulu? What’s wrong?’ Mr Dog ran and jumped into the river and swam towards her. He could hear a high-pitched electronic whine beneath the surface and flattened his ears. ‘Lulu, what’s that horrible sound? Lulu …?’ He looked all around but he couldn’t see the seal. ‘Lulu,’ he howled, ‘where are you?’
Chapter Six
DOUBLE DISCOVERY
As suddenly as it had started, the strange electronic siren cut out.
‘I’m over here,’ said Lulu, rising up from the reeds that grew along the riverbank. ‘When I swam away the noise stopped.’
‘Perhaps the sound is meant to scare away seals like you?’ Mr Dog joined her on land, shook himself off and peered around. ‘Aha!’ He stood on his hind legs. ‘What’s this I spy?’
Lulu looked and saw a thick orange plastic box mounted on a wooden post. A grey cable stretched down from the box into the water.
Mr Dog walked over to investigate.
But when Lulu swam towards it, the sound went off again. ‘Ouch!’ she grunted. ‘There’s something down there – something small and orange on the end of that cable. The horrid thing screams every time it sees me!’
‘It must be a machine,’ said Mr Dog, studying the orange box. ‘It can’t see you, but perhaps it has a sensor that detects large animals moving in the river … and blasts out that noise to warn them away.’
As he finished, the noise went off again. ‘I didn’t go near it that time, though!’ Lulu quivered, hauling herself up on to the riverbank. ‘What set it off?’
The blaring noise suddenly cut out mid-beep. Mr Dog frowned to see bubbles in the water – and then, with a great splash, a dark figure burst up, making him jump backwards. It was another seal, much bigger than Lulu, grey with darker spots on its face and neck. A plastic orange gadget hung uselessly from one end of the cable clamped in its jaws.
‘Ditzy!’ Lulu clapped her little flippers together as she galumphed down the bank and into the water. ‘Ditzy, I’ve found you!’
‘Lulu!’ Ditzy rocketed over to meet her and the pair happily knocked noses. ‘I’m so happy to see you! I’m glad the seal-scarer didn’t frighten you off.’ She tossed the cable and box away. It landed by Mr Dog’s front paws.
‘Seal-scarer?’ he echoed.
‘Yes, the humans put them in the river to scare us away. But I’m a wee bit deaf so they don’t bother me much. I just bite through them – chomp, chomp, chomp!’ Ditzy mimed biting with her big ivory teeth. ‘CHOMP! Who are you anyway?’
‘My name is Mr Dog. Some say D-O-G is short for Dog of Greatness, but it’s not my place to agree.’ He grinned and bowed his head. ‘I’m very pleased to meet you, Ditzy, but I don’t understand why people are going to so much trouble to scare stray seals from this river?’
Lulu blinked. ‘Yes, why is that, Ditzy?’
‘Come on!’ Ditzy gave her a sly smile. ‘Don’t pretend you don’t know. Why else are you here?’
‘I’m here because I was worried about you,’ said Lulu.
‘And I’m here because I enjoy a mystery mixed up with an adventure,’ Mr Dog added. ‘But why are you here? Why are the humans trying so hard to scare seals away?’
‘Why?’ Ditzy threw back her head and made a grunting, honking noise like laughter. ‘I must show you. Come with me, Lulu. You’ll be amazed – and very well fed.’
‘Ooooh!’ Lulu’s black eyes had grown to the size of saucers. ‘All right, Ditzy.’
‘Wait! Whatever you’ve found, it could be dangerous,’ Mr Dog warned the seals. ‘The anglers have set these noisy boxes to keep you away, Ditzy, but you haven’t listened – quite literally! You’ve ignored the warnings and it seems to me that people are ready to take more s
erious action.’
‘Come now, doggy. They wouldn’t hurt Ditzy, the celebrated seal!’ Ditzy turned in an ungainly circle that made Mr Dog smile despite himself. ‘Er, would they?’
‘Someone shot at poor Lulu,’ Mr Dog informed her.
‘Well! I’m sure they didn’t mean to.’ Ditzy did a blubbery somersault. ‘Now come on, Lulu, I simply must show you why I’ve stuck around here for so long.’ And with that, she powered away through the water. ‘This way. Chop-chop!’
Mr Dog hared off after Ditzy along the riverbank, but he could see that Lulu was finding it harder to keep up.
‘Wait for me! I can’t go as fast as you, Ditzy,’ she said.
But the slightly deaf seal didn’t hear her. ‘Pardon?’
‘I hurt my flipper,’ Lulu called.
‘You caught a kipper? Good girl!’
‘No, she hurt her flipper when she got tangled in a piece of net,’ Mr Dog explained as he ran along. ‘Perhaps you should stop for a minute?’
‘Oh, very well,’ Ditzy grumbled.
Just then, Mr Dog caught a high-pitched metallic vibration from behind him. Looking about, he saw a jagged gap in the trees and, beyond that, a railway track. ‘A train is coming,’ he observed.
‘Oooh, is it? What good timing!’ Ditzy clapped, swam to the bank and wibbled up the slope towards the train line. ‘I’ll give the passengers on board a real performance … I do miss putting on a show!’
But, as the train came clanking past, Mr Dog saw it was only a goods train – an engine pulling a lot of wagons that carried things, not people.
Ditzy looked disappointed. ‘Oh. No audience, as usual. Just those silly old wagons full of nasty plastic rubbish.’
‘Eh? Plastic rubbish?’ Mr Dog stared at her. ‘How do you know what’s inside those wagons?’
‘Because the first time I passed this spot, something awful happened!’ Ditzy galumphed a little nearer to him. ‘Earlier in the summer there were terrible rains that brought terrible floods. The tracks were swamped with water and a train derailed, right here! Its wagons fell over and they crashed through those trees and tore them down. The noise!’ Like all seals, Ditzy’s ears were hardly visible, but she shook her head from side to side. ‘I couldn’t believe it as a big crate fell from one of the wagons and came rolling over and over …’
