Hans tilted his head to the side, wondering what he was being asked.
Rex saw a great opportunity to get his own back for some of the snarky dog’s comments, but rubbing in that his human was gone and might not come back was too cruel for him to consider, so he moved to get to his own human for a head rub and accidentally on purpose knocked the dachshund over as he barged past.
‘Hey, watch it!’ growled Hans.
‘You can’t take him home with you?’ enquired Albert, thinking that to be the obvious solution.
Victor rubbed his chin. ‘I’m not sure how that would be received; my wife is not a fan of dogs in general and the kids will get overexcited and then want one of their own.’ Scratching his chin, he concluded. ‘I guess it will be okay for a few nights. Do you think he is housebroken?’
‘Housebroken!’ exclaimed Hans, righteous indignation making him want to bite the human’s ankle.
Rex sniggered, which just made things worse.
‘I suppose it’s a bit late to be coming up with another plan,’ Victor sighed. At his feet, the two dogs were growling at each other.
‘Your mother likes to hang out with three-legged dogs at the docks,’ snarled Hans.
‘Your mother drives a motorised doggie wheelchair!’ snapped Rex. ‘She’s not crippled, she just likes that she can go to the park and reverse it around to all the dogs one at a time.’
Hans couldn’t believe his ears. ‘Oh, yeah? Well your mother likes to do it standing up like a human!’
Rex snorted; he was so much better at this than the dachshund. It came from his time in uniform. You hang around with a bunch of other dogs in tough jobs and you get used to throwing banter around. Cruelly, he lowered his head to deliver his next line. ‘So does your father.’
Hans went mental, his little feet scrabbling across the tile as he flung himself at Rex. One twentieth of the size, he was still going to try to kill the enormous German Shepherd, even if he had to choke the dog to death by getting stuck in his throat.
Victor saw Hans lunge forward, his teeth snapping. ‘Whoa!’
‘I don’t think they are playing,’ said Albert as Victor snatched the dachshund from the floor just before he threw himself into Rex’s mouth.
Hans continued to throw insults as Victor held him off the floor with two hands. ‘It’s time I was getting home. Are you going to be in town for long?’
Albert pushed back against his chair, converting the motion to get onto his old, tired legs. ‘One of the joys of being old and retired, is that a person can choose to do whatever they want and even change their mind halfway through. I shall stay here until I choose to move on. I cannot promise to unearth Joel’s killer but, if I can, I will find enough evidence to get your sister released.’ Albert was taking the sensible approach and not promising anything he didn’t know for certain he could deliver, but the recent week and a half of travelling the country had reignited a passion for investigating that had been hidden for many years. When he retired, Petunia had all manner of activities to keep him busy: gardening, sorting out the attic, days out to visit relatives or to just go to a tearoom. When he lost her, he was truly lost for a while. Adrift with no shore in sight and no anchor to tether him, it was a chance encounter that led him back to feeling that he had something akin to a purpose and had he not found it, he wondered if perhaps he might have just faded away to nothing. Poking his nose into what might be happening at the Clanger Café was no chore at all. It was a gift.
‘Why are you helping?’ asked Victor. ‘I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful, but what’s in it for you? You don’t know us.’
Albert didn’t want to give the long-winded explanation, so he just said, ‘It gives me purpose.’
Revelations
It was the kind of mission one is born into, or perhaps one that a dog finds thrust upon them, but whatever the case, Rex knew it was his solemn destiny to fight against the fluffy-tailed menace until his last breath was expended.
His human didn’t seem to understand the threat they posed, often shouting for him to leave them alone, but Rex knew. Rex knew they would take over the garden and the house if he wasn’t there to keep them at bay.
Something had changed recently though. They seemed more organised, more … coordinated. Rex shuddered and looked at the tree again. He liked the tree. There were only three trees in his human’s garden and the sycamore was his favourite – he needed to pee somewhere. However, now that he had finished and wanted to return to the house where his human was watching the flat thing on the wall with the pictures and sounds but no smell, Rex found he was facing a platoon of squirrels.
He barked a warning at them, which ought to have sent them scattering, their tiny limbs seeming to defy gravity as they whizzed across the lawn to disappear up a tree or over the fences on either side. Not this time though; they stood their ground, and it was unnerving. He barked again, louder this time and with some extra bass in his voice. Normally, he would have charged at them the moment he saw them on the ground, but their confidence was making him hesitate.
Telling himself today was the day he would catch one and finally be able to show them what they could expect if they came into his territory, he almost backed away
