24 Carat Star Time

The night before my birthday the puppies decided to run away from home.

It’s not the first time they have scampered off – humming “Born Free” as they run – but they had gotten so much better. And there lies the root of the problem! We have been training them to run and jump into the car without their leashes when the car is parked right in front of the house. And usually they do.

Sometimes, though, they don’t…

On the night before my birthday ChessMan and I were about to take TheGirl to the train station at about 9pm. ChessMan stood outside with the car door open, the pups were behind him, and TheGirl and I were bringing up the rear. Termi was already outside, but Rocky was lagging a bit behind. I noticed Termi look away from ChessMan and the car just as I was giving Rocky a nudge towards the door.

Suddenly they both bolted.

First they ran into the neighbor’s courtyard and from there up into the trees. We tried to corner them, but how well can you see two black & tan dogs after dusk? We circled round the neighborhood, following any rustle or yap we heard. At one point we split up: ChessMan was checking out the underbrush while TheGirl and I walked around the neighborhood. We grabbed a large flashlight to improve our vision, but still couldn’t find them.

After roaming around the neighborhood and through the fields for almost an hour, I took TheGirl to the train station in time to catch a later train. When I got back to the house, ChessMan was sitting on the coach.

No, they hadn’t come home. No, he couldn’t find them.

After sitting there for a few minutes, we decided to go out again. Off we went – flashlight in hand – through the fields on the hill behind our house. I was worried what people would think if they noticed two strangers with a flashlight skulking through their fields. Heck, if this had happened in America a shot may well have rung out into the night…

There were still a few horses on the meadow. Horses Termi and Rocky know from their daily walks. So, I asked one that came over to the fence to check us out to tell the pups to head home if they happened to go by. You never know, right…?

Finally – with only a dim circle of light left from the flashlight – we headed home. The pups had been gone for more than 3 hours by now. When we reached the house, ChessMan opened the terrace door and the gate out back, and bunked down on the couch to keep watch. I turned on the light on the balcony, opened the bedroom windows, and got into bed to read. Neither of us expected to get much sleep that night.

Several times I thought I heard something outside: A bark in the distance or some unexplained rustling in the trees. When I did, I rushed out onto the balcony and tried calling into the darkness and whistling. Not too loudly. In the meantime it was well past midnight.

The light sensors two houses over came on twice. Could that be them? I called their names into the darkness. Nothing.

At some point I heard rustling in the trees again. And a high pitched “yip”. That sounded like Termi! Suddenly I remembered that our new neighbors had fenced in their yard in the back, so if the dogs were trying to come home the back way, they wouldn’t be able to get back into the yard.

Up I jumped and grabbed the flashlight from the floor where it was re-charging. I put on my garden shoes while reminding ChessMan about the new fence. We both ran up the steep incline towards the back fence and ChessMan – running out in front – let a beam of light sweep through the underbrush on the hill.

“Here they are!”, he yelled back to me.

When I made it up to where he was standing, I saw them both – sitting together about 3/4 of the way down the back slope. Too afraid to run down that final steep part, and shut out by the new fence anyway.

The fence itself is about 1.50 meters high, so ChessMan – still in his pajamas and slippers – knew he couldn’t climb over it. Fortunately, the fence on our side is only about 50 centimeters high, so ChessMan braved his way through the knee-high stinging nettles. With me holding the flashlight, he climbed over our fence, and used low hanging branches to pull himself up the steep slope towards the pups. Between the nettles and the blackberry bushes, he was soon covered in small scratches and bumps.

When he reached the pups, he handed Termi over the neighbor’s fence for me to take to the house. While I was walking down the hill the big flashlight ChessMan was holding gave up the ghost. Our only source of light now – at about 1.15 am – was the tiny flashlight I have hanging on my key chain. Once Rocky had been handed over and brought back to the house, I headed back up the hill with it, so ChessMan had enough light to make his way back down the path.

When we got back to the house, the pups were on the couch nodding off. What had they been doing for – in the meantime – 4 1/2 hours!!! Whatever it was, they were pretty tuckered out, because they literally slept for almost 2 days straight after that.

It was almost 4.30am before ChessMan and I could get to sleep. Our adrenaline literally had us bouncing off the walls. When I finally drifted off to sleep, I knew that – with the Pooper Scooper twins home back safe and sound – it would be one of my best birthdays ever!

~~~

P.S. This is not the end of the “Born Free” story. Just the day before yesterday those two bolted again! ChessMan had gone outside to wrap the trunk of our persimmon tree to protect it against frost. He didn’t notice the terrace door wasn’t completely closed.

They did.

We hopped into the car to drive up to the meadows again, because that’s the way they’d headed. When we got up there and turned the car around, we heard Termi yipping. There they both were, digging furiously in a grassy mound just to the right of the horses.

Mice? Who knows!

We went over to them, put their leashes on, and led them (Rocky under protest) back to the car. This time they were only gone for about 15 minutes.

Let’s hope that as long as they continue to bolt, their guardian angels continue to fly at least as fast as their little legs can carry them.