Read Online Little Foxes by Michael Morpurgo - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Michael Morpurgo
Tags: Age 7 and up
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Jack. Run me ruddy legs off I did, and for what?’ said one of them. ‘Rabbits, that’s all there is in there. Came all this way for a ruddy rabbit we did. Lost the scent, didn’t he, the useless mutt.’
‘He’s after something though, isn’t he?’ said another voice. ‘There’s a hole down there, see? Big enough for a fox, that is. P’raps it was a fox after all, p’raps he’s after a fox. Let’s put him in there and see, eh? We came all this way, didn’t we? Worth a try.’ And Billy heard them slithering down into the crater. He grabbed the biggest stone he could find from the floor of the cave and watched for the terrier’s nose to appear again. But instead of the dog it was a face they saw, a woolly head of ginger hair and a red face. ‘Pitch black in there, can’t see a thing. Give me the dog. If anything’s in there he’ll soon bring it out. You’ll see.’
But nothing would persuade the terrier to put its nose to the hole again. More than once they dragged the wretched animal choking to the mouth of the hole and held it there, pushing it from behind, but the dog dug its front feet into the ground obstinately and backed out yelping just as soon as they let go of his collar. Billy held his fire and hoped.
‘There’s something in there, got to be. Got to be something in there to make the dog turn tail.’
‘He’s a useless mutt, Jack, like I said. You should get yourself a proper dog. Yellow as a buttercup he is.’
‘Look, if he’s frightened, then he’s frightened of something, right? So there’s got to be something down there, hasn’t there? Now if he won’t go in after it and drag it out, then we’ve got to persuade whatever’s in there to come out, haven’t we?’
‘Yeah, but how’re we gonna do that, Jack?’
‘I’m coming to that. First we got to make sure there isn’t another way out of there. We got to block off any other way out. So you get round the other side of that old root and if you find another hole, kick it in so’s he can’t get out. Then we got him trapped, see?’
Billy listened to the scrambling feet clambering about outside. ‘Nothing here,’ came a voice from behind the earth wall at the back of the cave. Under Billy’s arm the fox licked his lips, gathered his tongue in and listened for a moment, then began to pant in short sharp bursts, every so often pausing to listen again. ‘Hey, I think I can hear something. I can, I can. There’s breathing inside there.’ Billy clasped his hand over the fox’s snout to close it and stroked his ears gently to calm him down. ‘There’s something in there, Jack, I heard it, clear as day. I heard it.’
‘If there’s something inside there, then it won’t want to be there for long. Got a little surprise for it, a nice little surprise. Come back here, and give me a hand. A few twigs and dry leaves – ’s all we need.’ And Billy heard them climbing up out of the crater sending little avalanches of earth and stones tumbling down behind them, a few of them finding their way into the mouth of the cave.
When the voices were far enough away Billy crawled forward to take a look. There was just a chance, he thought, they might be able to escape before the hunters came back. He could not think why they had gone off to gather twigs and leaves, but whatever it was he did not want to be trapped in that cave when the hunters came back again. When he was sure it was all clear he pushed the fox out in front of him and prepared to follow him out. But the fox seemed reluctant to go and struggled to turn round. As Billy pushed him again, there was a hideous growl and suddenly the terrier was there in front of them, stocky on its four little legs, its lips curled back over its teeth that snapped out its machine-gun rattle of a bark. The fox did not hesitate, he was back through the hole and at the back of the cave before Billy could hurl the stone he still held in his hand. He missed, but it was enough to persuade
‘He’s after something though, isn’t he?’ said another voice. ‘There’s a hole down there, see? Big enough for a fox, that is. P’raps it was a fox after all, p’raps he’s after a fox. Let’s put him in there and see, eh? We came all this way, didn’t we? Worth a try.’ And Billy heard them slithering down into the crater. He grabbed the biggest stone he could find from the floor of the cave and watched for the terrier’s nose to appear again. But instead of the dog it was a face they saw, a woolly head of ginger hair and a red face. ‘Pitch black in there, can’t see a thing. Give me the dog. If anything’s in there he’ll soon bring it out. You’ll see.’
But nothing would persuade the terrier to put its nose to the hole again. More than once they dragged the wretched animal choking to the mouth of the hole and held it there, pushing it from behind, but the dog dug its front feet into the ground obstinately and backed out yelping just as soon as they let go of his collar. Billy held his fire and hoped.
‘There’s something in there, got to be. Got to be something in there to make the dog turn tail.’
‘He’s a useless mutt, Jack, like I said. You should get yourself a proper dog. Yellow as a buttercup he is.’
‘Look, if he’s frightened, then he’s frightened of something, right? So there’s got to be something down there, hasn’t there? Now if he won’t go in after it and drag it out, then we’ve got to persuade whatever’s in there to come out, haven’t we?’
‘Yeah, but how’re we gonna do that, Jack?’
‘I’m coming to that. First we got to make sure there isn’t another way out of there. We got to block off any other way out. So you get round the other side of that old root and if you find another hole, kick it in so’s he can’t get out. Then we got him trapped, see?’
Billy listened to the scrambling feet clambering about outside. ‘Nothing here,’ came a voice from behind the earth wall at the back of the cave. Under Billy’s arm the fox licked his lips, gathered his tongue in and listened for a moment, then began to pant in short sharp bursts, every so often pausing to listen again. ‘Hey, I think I can hear something. I can, I can. There’s breathing inside there.’ Billy clasped his hand over the fox’s snout to close it and stroked his ears gently to calm him down. ‘There’s something in there, Jack, I heard it, clear as day. I heard it.’
‘If there’s something inside there, then it won’t want to be there for long. Got a little surprise for it, a nice little surprise. Come back here, and give me a hand. A few twigs and dry leaves – ’s all we need.’ And Billy heard them climbing up out of the crater sending little avalanches of earth and stones tumbling down behind them, a few of them finding their way into the mouth of the cave.
When the voices were far enough away Billy crawled forward to take a look. There was just a chance, he thought, they might be able to escape before the hunters came back. He could not think why they had gone off to gather twigs and leaves, but whatever it was he did not want to be trapped in that cave when the hunters came back again. When he was sure it was all clear he pushed the fox out in front of him and prepared to follow him out. But the fox seemed reluctant to go and struggled to turn round. As Billy pushed him again, there was a hideous growl and suddenly the terrier was there in front of them, stocky on its four little legs, its lips curled back over its teeth that snapped out its machine-gun rattle of a bark. The fox did not hesitate, he was back through the hole and at the back of the cave before Billy could hurl the stone he still held in his hand. He missed, but it was enough to persuade
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