Baby Love?

India was comfortably curled up in her crate, enjoying a pleasant mid-morning snooze.  A snooze that was rudely interrupted by a small, furry body crashing down beside her in the shape of Rohan, the Labrador retriever puppy.  India decided that the simplest thing would be to keep her eyes shut and pretend to still be asleep.

“Humph!”  Rohan said.

India noted this and decided to ignore it, for the moment.  She was just getting back to sleep, when Rohan stood up, turned completely around, crashed down and said, rather loudly,

“HUMPH!”

India sighed, opened her eyes and raised her head.

“What is it?”  She asked.

“Catth!” Rohan said, contemptuously.

“What about them?”  India enquired, and then, suspiciously, “you haven’t been trying to chase them, have you?”

“No!” Rohan insisted, “of courth not.  It’th jutht…I wath upthtairth, jutht having a look around and I came acroth thith orange cat…”

“Orange cat?”  India looked puzzled, “oh, you mean one of the ginger and white ones!  Which one was it?  Was he big and fluffy?”

“No, I know that one.  I can’t underthtand a word he sayth!”

“No, you wouldn’t.  That’s Diego.  He speaks Spanish” India explained, then, having thought about it, she said “I wouldn’t try saying that, if I were you, it could get a bit messy!  Well, if it wasn’t Diego, then it must have been Loxley, he’s more short-haired.”

“Lockthley!” Rohan frowned.

“Yes, what’s he done to you?”

Rohan looked all around the room before whispering,

“He hithed at me”

“He did what?”

“Hithed!  He hithed at me.  All I did wath to go and thay hello, and he hithed at me” Rohan looked perfectly miserable.

“Oh hissed!  That’s not like him.  Are you sure that’s all you did?”  India eyed the puppy, suspiciously.

“Yeth!” Rohan nodded furiously.

“Well, that’s not right.  Reg has got strict rules about that sort of thing” India said, firmly.  Reg was semi-feral (which means he was partly wild) and was the oldest cat and the undisputed leader of the cat colony at TURN Education.  “Come on, we’ll go and see Loxley and find out what the problem is”

“I don’t know if I want to” Rohan looked down at his front paws, miserably.

“Come on!  I’ll be with you and I promise, no-one’s going to hurt you” India set off down the passage and up the stairs, with Rohan lagging some way behind, looking worried.

On the landing, they discovered Loxley, curled up and fast asleep in the sunshine.

“Loxley!” India said softly, and then, when there was no reaction, “LOXLEY!”

Loxley jumped up, now wide awake.

“What the…oh, it’s you India!”  His tail, which had been puffed up to twice it’s usual size and sticking straight up in agitation, calmed down, “oh, and him!”  Loxley sneered.

“Rohan tells me you hissed at him, earlier, is that right?”

“Tell-tale!” Loxley snarled at Rohan, who hid behind India.

“Now that’s enough!” India snapped, “I don’t know what’s got into you, Loxley, but this is no way to behave.  What would Reg say, if he knew?  Why did you hiss at Rohan?”

“Don’t like him” Loxley said, in a matter-of-fact way, and started to curl up again.

“That’s silly!  You don’t even know him” India pointed out.

“Don’t want to” Loxley replied.

“Well, I don’t want to know you, tho there!”  Rohan contributed, from the safety of being just behind India.

“Now, just stop it, you two” India scowled at both of them, “I think I might know what this is all about and I think I know how to stop it.  You can both come with me”

“What if I don’t want to?  I’m just having my morning nap” Loxley said, in a defiant tone.

“You’ll come with me, now, or I’ll tell Reg about what’s been happening and you’ll have him to deal with.  Is that what you want?”  India looked at Loxley, questioningly.

“No” Loxley responded, sulkily.

“Right, come on then!”  India set off back down the stairs, with Rohan in hot pursuit and then, some way behind, and desperately trying to look as if he wasn’t following but had just decided to go for a walk that just happened to be taking him in the same direction, Loxley.

India plodded through the kitchen and then out of the back door, down the steps by the decking to the gate by the field.  She sat down and waited for the rest of her entourage to catch up.

“Are you sure you two should be out here?”  Loxley asked, when he finally caught up with them.

“Yes, it’s fine.  There are no children here, at the moment, which is why the back door was open.”  India reassured him, “now then, this is what I wanted you to see” She nodded to the field beyond the gate.

“It’s a field” Loxley pointed out.

“I know it’s a field” India said, patiently, “it’s what is in the field that’s important”

Presently, a large-ish dark grey animal came into view, systematically munching the sweet, green grass.

“Hello Penny!” India called out.”

“Oh, ‘allo Indira” Penny replied, plodding over toward the gate, “and you ‘ave some lickle friends with you”

Rohan and Loxley backed away from the gate as the large face came ever closer.

“Yes, this is Loxley, one of our youngest cats, and this is Rohan, our newest addition, who is going to work with me as a therapy dog, when he grows up of course” India explained.

“Ah, like Peckham” Penny nodded.

“Uh, Packham, yes” India grinned, “I was hoping we might see…”  She began, when,

“WHEEEEEEE!” Something dark grey and furry dashed in between Penny and the gate.  Even India jumped back this time.

“What vos that what you say?” Penny asked, as if nothing had happened.

“I said we were hoping to see…”  India began again, when,

“WHEEEEEE!” The same dark grey furry thing went back the other way, at a furious pace.

“I is sorry about that” Penny shook her head, “is my little girl, Jessica”

“That’s who I was hoping to introduce to Rohan and Loxley” India said.

“Ah, I see.  Well, I try but is difficult.  She is, ‘ow you say?  Full of beans, yes? That’s it!”  Penny looked behind her and then yelled, “Dylan, is you chasin’ your sister again, eh?  ‘Ow many times do I ‘ave to tell you?”

A light grey donkey with a distinctive dark grey cross on his back, shuffled into view.

“Hello Dylan!” India grinned.

“Oh, it’s you!”  Dylan said, sulkily.

“Don’t be so rude!” Penny snapped at her son, “You show ‘ow you can be nice, polite donkey, or else”

“Sorry mum” Dylan mumbled, “’Allo India.  What’s that be’ind you?”

“This is Rohan, he’s a puppy, and behind him is Loxley, the cat.  We’ve come to see your sister” India explained.

“Oh, that’s right, everyone comes to see the cute baby!” Dylan grumbled.

“Well, course they do!  Because she’s pretty and sweet and good-natured, not like ‘er no account brother!” Penny shouted, “Ah, ‘ere she is now.  ‘Allo my precious, ‘as that naughty Dylan been chasin’ my precious then?”  Penny asked, in a sing-song voice, to the small, dark grey donkey that had just come to a screeching halt by the gate.

“Yes momma” Jessica replied, sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes at her mother.

“I didn’t do nothin’!” Dylan protested as Penny charged at him.  There was a lot of braying and bad-tempered butting before Penny and Dylan finally came back to the gate.  Jessica watched it all and giggled.

“Now, this is what I wanted to show you two” India turned to Rohan and Loxley, “this is Jessica.  She’s a baby donkey and she was born here.  Now, which one of you three do you think is the youngest?”

“Well, ‘im I suppose” Loxley said, grudgingly, nodding toward Rohan.

“Yes, you would think that wouldn’t you?”  India nodded, “and that’s why you’re upset with him, isn’t it?  Because you used to be the cute little baby of the household and now you think he is?  Isn’t that right?”

“No!” Loxley muttered, unconvincingly, but he couldn’t look India in the eye.

“Well, you’re wrong!  Because, Rohan isn’t the baby and neither are you.  She is!” All three of them turned to look at Jessica.

“But the’s huge!” Rohan exclaimed, craning his neck to see right to the top of Jessica.

“Yes, I know, but she was born after both of you.  She’s that big because she’s a donkey and because she was inside her mummy, Penny, for a very long time, until she was ready to come out.  And, unlike us dogs and cats, she wasn’t part of a litter, so she didn’t have any brothers or sisters born at the same time, which means she can be a lot bigger than we are when we’re born”

“Just as well ‘cause I get more than enough aggravation from them what were born before and should know better!”  Penny yelled in the direction of her son, who turned his back and pretended to ignore her.

“So, you see, neither of you are the cute babies of the household.  Jessica is.” India said, sternly, ignoring the giggles from the other side of the gate, “and I don’t want to hear of any more hissing” India looked at Loxley, “or name calling” She looked at Rohan.

“I didn’t thay anything” Rohan protested.

“Well, just mind that you don’t” India frowned, “now, say you’re sorry and make friends”

“Sorry Rohan” Loxley said, in the smallest voice possible.

“I don’t think Rohan heard you” India tapped a claw on the pathway.

“Sorry Rohan” Loxley said, with slightly more meaning.

“Now you Rohan” India prompted.

“But, I didn’t do anything” Rohan protested.

“Oh yes?  How about saying you didn’t want to know him?” India raised an eyebrow.

“Oh yeth, I did thay that” Rohan nodded, miserably, “thorry Lockthley”

“Right, that’s better” India sighed, “and I don’t want any more of this, alright?  We’re all loved, equally here, no-one is better, or worse, or cuter, than anyone else, understand?”

“’Cept for some no-good sons I could mention!” Penny shouted as she crossed the field in pursuit of Dylan.

“Not even Dylan, despite what Penny says” India chuckled, “now come on, let’s get back in the house.  It’s been a tiring morning and I’m sure we could all do with a nap”

India, Loxley and Rohan made their way back, across the yard, scattering ducks and hens in all directions.  Just as they were pushing through the doorway, Loxley patted Rohan on the back and said “Tick! You’re on” and hurtled through the kitchen and up the stairs.

“Right!” Rohan said, determinedly, and scampered after him.

“What did I say about chasing cats?” India shouted after them, and then, “Oh, I give up!”

She pottered gratefully into her crate and settled down in the sunshine.  As she drifted off, she could hear the pitter patter of paws on the landing, accompanied by excited barks and meows.  ‘Kids’ she thought, ‘who would have them?’ and smiled to herself.

Now try the next episode 'Training'

You can find out more about Packham, India and all the other animals at TURN in the collection of stories 'Waggy Dog Tales' - follow this link for more information on how to buy the book and contribute to TURN Education  and find the first India and Rohan story here and the second, here.