Beefy clapped his hands together. ‘Right. I guess we’d better get on with it then.’ The bakers busied themselves with various duties, tidying up and sorting out. Their food prep area was soaked and there were ruined ingredients everywhere plus trashed batter mix in the row of giant machines. Albert heard Beefy and others discussing the need to have people in over night to prepare the amount of batter required. To make the amount they needed required hundreds of loads to go through the machines. They were then being loaded into hoppers outside which would hold the batter until it was ready for the pour.
Gary asked, ‘What are you up to, Dad?’
Albert wriggled his lips from side to side as he thought. ‘There’s something going on here, Gary.’
Gary didn’t bother to hide his exasperated expression. ‘Yes, Dad, there’s a Yorkshire pudding competition and world record attempt. That’s what is going on.’
Albert cut his eyes at his son. ‘I think I’ll check on our new friend, Alan.’ With that, he left the tent. He needed to find Rex anyway.
Poisoned?
Outside, the paramedics were packing up. Alan was loaded onto a stretcher, but due to the uneven terrain, the wheels were not extended, and the firefighters were chipping in to help carry him to the ambulance more than a hundred yards away in the road.
Albert wanted to intercept them, but Rex had seen him and was haring his way. Small droplets of water were flying from his coat as he ran. The firefighters had declared him clean. Or, more accurately, as clean as they were going to get him. They used some old towels they kept in the truck to dry his fur as best they could and had then encouraged him to perform shuttle sprints between them to eject more of the water. Rex happily complied, chasing the improvised towel tied in a knot as the firefighters gamely threw it. That was until the scent of his human reached his nostrils. At that point, he made an abrupt right turn and ran to greet the one human he genuinely trusted.
‘The cat’s human smells of something he shouldn’t,’ Rex announced, skidding to a stop on the soggy grass in a shower of wet dirt which coated the bottom of Albert’s shoes and the hem of his trousers.
‘Oh, dog,’ sighed Albert. ‘I think you just got yourself all muddy again. ‘Come on, quickly, I need to speak to the paramedics before they take Alan away.’
One of the firefighters was approaching with Rex’s lead, which they’d removed so the dog could run around. It meant Albert ought to wait for the man to arrive, but the paramedics were leaving so he needed to chase after them and he wasn’t exactly a racing snake these days. Caught in a moment of indecision, he grabbed Gary’s sleeve.
‘Son can you get the paramedics to hold on for thirty seconds?’
Rex said, ‘I don’t think you heard me. I said the cat’s human is up to something. He doesn’t smell right, and I don’t mean just because he is one of those truly strange humans who likes to spend time with a cat.’
Gary, ignoring the noises his dad’s dog was making, frowned at his father. ‘Why do you want me to stop the paramedics?’
Albert had to glance down at his dog, who was looking up at him with an expectant face as if waiting for a response, then at the firefighter, who was now paused half way to him while another firefighter shouted something to him about what they were doing next. Then he risked a glance at the paramedics who were about to vanish from sight around the edge of the marquee on their way back to the ambulance, and finally to his son who was still just staring back at him with a questioning look on his face.
Frustrated, he said a colourful word he rarely used in public and started after the paramedics. Turning his body slightly, as the firefighter, Rex, and Gary gave him confused eyes, he said, ‘Gary, please collect Rex’s lead and thank the nice firefighters for me. Rex, with me.’
Rex needed no further encouragement, dashing after his human to catch him in a few easy bounds. It was turning out to be an odd sort of day, but they were together, and it looked like his human had got the message about the cat’s human. ‘Are we going to get them then? Are we going to investigate the cat’s human and the cat? Can we arrange to have them put in a nice jail cell together somewhere? I wonder if cats get their fur shaved when they go to the big house?’
Albert looked down at Rex. His dog was bouncing about on his paws like a puppy might – brimming with energy and unable to contain it. He was also making lots of chuffing noises, trying to impart a message of some kind which Albert’s ears were not able to translate.
By the time they got to the road, the paramedics had loaded Alan into the back of the ambulance and were about to shut the doors.
‘Hello?’ called Albert, shuffling along as fast as he could. ‘Hello?’ His second call was a little louder and got one of the paramedics to look his way. ‘Sorry, I’m sure you are just about to rush off. Can I ask what is wrong with Alan? He’s a dear friend,’ Albert stretched the truth to breaking point, ‘and he looks so terribly ill all of a sudden.’
The paramedics shut the doors, one of them going inside to tend to
