12th June: The noose for the long-eared

"I might. Though, would t' Rifles mind if they get a girl and a boy... couse she has a little brother.. whom's a cheeky sort, but he's a real good lad too. I can vouch fer him." He smiled , wishing that the same boy had not been hurt on his account.

He sipped tea from his own mug, blowing some of the steam from it. "I think I better decide so...that I have a bit.. a pouch fer food I mean ter save. That pouch gets tied with a knot, so it's hard ter open on t' march but easier when I sit down and have a proper look at it. This way I will be leavin t' pouch alone till I can sit by the camp fire. .." He seemed delighted with his idea, which was almost as if he was outwitting himself on perserving the food. "And of course, I need ter buy summ of t' stuff used ter make things such as um...snares. So i can make plenty a snares when things start ter get worse fer us. Couse then t' stuff fer firing will need to be kept too rather n' wasted." He looked up again and smiled. A small yawn was not concealed at all behind his hand, but it atleast showed the lad's teeth were in a good state, not something any wishful surgeon wanting a profit, should know. Well, if he was to be on his dying bed anyway.

"Don't see why they would," Cotton replied. "Did I meet him, by any chance?" Of course, Pye wouldn't know the answer to that one, but Cotton had a sneaking suspicion that he'd met the boy once. "Young... a right terror when he'm roused. Didn't want to get you in trouble - thought that's what we were goin' to do."

He grinned. "Seems you got some bright ideas there - an' we do need to get some more wire from somewheres so's we can make some more snares. I'll look out for some, next time we'm anywheres near a town." Being the Company commander's servant, Cotton would probably get sent to buy supplies for the Captain, which would give him the perfect cover for a shopping expedition of his own.

"Looks like you need some sleep," he added, fighting a yawn of his own.

The Earthy Humans were there. At last! He had been searching for them. Silly two-leggers could never stay in the same place. The dog shambled toward the Hot Ground around which two humans sat. Only one of the two was known to him as being friendly and accordingly he approached this one.

And delivered what was left of a shoe at the human's feet.

With the prize thus presented, the dog sat back and waited expectantly for his reward.

Cotton blinked as a white blur shambled towards them through the dusk, before the shape coalesced into the solid form of the dog that had been hanging around lately. It came right up to them and dropped something at his feet. Cotton leaned forward to see what it was - a well-chewed shoe. He rolled his eyes. Someone wasn't going to be too pleased with the animal when they found that their property was missing.

"Hello, feller," he said, reaching to scratch the animal's ears. "Don't reckon you oughta go nickin' things like that, though."

Pye jerked his head up when Cotton spoke, having not noticed the dog until he was addressed. He had luckily gone more towards the other rifleman, but now he felt unbelievably close.

Pye had not thought of how it would look when he burst to his feet, and was sooner, a good few paces away before stopping, than one could say, mutton.

He was rather close to a tree, and it appeared that he was not against coming up it, if needed.

While he had no way of knowing the buzzing noises coming from the Friendly Human's mouth meant, the actions that accompanied were certainly agreeable. Even if, the dog thought, they were not quite the reward he had been hoping for.

His tail stirred up a little swirl of dirt as it thumped against the ground, the surest outward sign of his contentment. He could certainly get used to these funny-smelling humans.

A scrabble of movement made Cotton look up, to see Pye backed up against a tree, looking as though he was shin up it if he thought it would get him any further away from the dog.

"Here, Pye, come away from there, do. He ain't goin' to hurt you, are you, feller?" he added, looking back down at the dog, who was thumping its tail against the ground.

Pye shook his head and glared at the dog, but it was too clear that he was more scared than he was meaning to be threatening. He inched further against the tree, until his back was pressed against it and he could feel the bark through the fabric.

"Pye, jus' you come away from that there tree, all right?" Cotton said. "Give him a bit o' meat - there's some in me breadbag if you ain't got any. He's a friendly thing, he ain't goin' to hurt you."

Pye shook his head again and hugged his bread bag. To go give food willingly to a dog? He was NOT sharing with that beast. And anyway, the mutt would bite his hand of and then continue up to his elbow and shoulder.

Be damned he was sure he'd do so. "..no." He said and regretted not having snatched his rifle when he was shuffling towards the tree.

"Suit yourself," Cotton said, and shifted hands so that he could dig through his bread-bag for a couple of scraps. "Sorry it ain't much," he said to the dog, holding a bit of biscuit out to it.

"Come an' sit down, do. You don't half look daft, standin' there," he added, talking to Pye.

There! At last! He'd known it. Sooner or later, humans always figured out that they were meant to share their Food with him. The dog took the offered crumble of biscuit with deliberate gingerness and made it vanish in an instant.

It was only stale bread, by the fleeting taste of it, but it was nearly as good as the shoe leather he had been gnawing on not too long ago.

Pye crouched down, knowing that in such manner he could still bolt. He looked at the dog and then Cotton. "It's a dangerous thing that... you oughta chase it away till it hurts ye.. or Miss Maggie." He curled his fingers over a rock, ready to chug it at the dog, should the thing dare move any closer. He glanced at the shoe. "...Ey." He started.

"Ain't goin' to hurt anyone. Are you, boy?" He grinned. "Hold on. You put that stone down an' try throwin' the shoe for it to chase - dogs like playin' fetch, an' I don't s'pose this'n's any diff'rent." He indicated the half-hewed shoe on the ground by his foot.

The movement of the Angry Human caught the dog's attention, and he spied the stone in the human's hand. Such things only meant one thing. The dog's ears flattened back along his head and he shrank away, lips curling back from his teeth just noticeably. Stones had been flung at him by those dark-skinned humans all too recently, which meant the memory was quite fresh.

"That shoe. He's stole it.. an'.." Pye saw the change in the dog and straightened up, to make himself appear much taller than the dog. He still had the stone on his palm. "Look at him! He's dangerous!" He took a step back, eyeing the dog. "And that is.. me shoe!" Whether it was or not, it was a good size and it was half chewed up!

"Drop it, Pye," Cotton said, feeling the dog shrinking against his leg. "He'm just as scared of you as you are of him." He put his hand down to the dog's level, showing the bit of biscuit he was holding. "Easy, boy, ain't nothin' to be scared of," he said soothingly.

Clearly the Angry Human was one to be avoided at all costs. The dog knew the behaviour and recognised it as dangerous. He was not prepared to bite, or even growl, but neither reaction were far off.

That was until the second human, the Friendly one, held a fresher bit of biscuit before his nose. This morsel was taken from the human's fingers with care, though the dog did not take his eyes off the Angry Human. The human's posture and the stone he still held meant he was still a threat.

"Make him.. move off. " Pye wanted to go back to the fire, but as long as the dog was there, he did not want to go anywhere close to him. He held onto his stone looking at Cotton... pleadingly. "He's not scared. He's.. sneaky! He's jus' waiting." He said clearly afraid of the little ball of furr and teeth.

"He ain't, he'm scared of you." He sighed. "Look, if I hold onto him so's he can't hurt you, will you put the stone down? If you throw it, you might end up hittin' me with it, an' I won't like that one bit."

The dog was crunching on the biscuit now, and Cotton could feel the tenseness of the animal's muscles under his hand as he stroked the dog's fur soothingly.

"It's silly, you bein' scared of summat so much smaller'n yourself. If he hurt you, it's only afore he'm real scared an' is tryin' to defend himself."

With the biscuit swallowed and gone, there was nothing to distract the dog from watching the Angry Human. Any time now, the hateful two-legger would put his arm back and fling the stone at him. Or use it as a clumsy club.

Retreat was looking more and more appealing, despite the calming strokes of the Friendly Human's hand over his back.

Pye slowly lowered his hand and dropped the stone on the ground. "But hold him ..hold him good." He stammered, walking away from the stone. He had the dog in his sights as he ducked around the fire keeping it between himself and the animal. He felt tense and nervous.

Cotton smiled, and gently lowered one hand to the dog's chest, still petting him with the other hand. "He ain't goin' to hurt you, Pye," he said, speaking in a low calm voice, a tone that was calculated to calm and soothe the dog. "Animals like to smell things. They work by smell where we use our eyes," he continued. "Offer him your hand to sniff, an' don't move too fast. You don't want to startle him. Jus' move nice an' easy, like."

The stone had been dropped but the dog was not prepared to feel at ease. For, the Angry Human was in motion again, sidling strangely around the edge of the Hot Ground. What was he about?

Even if the light restraint of the hand on his chest had not been there, the dog was of no mind to go anywhere except away, should the Angry Human have further tricks in store. He watched the human closely, his teeth covered again but still tense. It would take nothing at all to entice him to flight.

"He'll bite me." Pye was not convinced the dog would just sniff his hand. Although he could no longer see his teeth he believed the dog was sure to bite him the moment he had a chance.

"Please." He whispered looking at Cotton. The lad was frightened, which was embarrassing, yet true.