Daycross Buses over the doors of the barn and understood the big parking yard now. The other guy got out of his jeep and came over and as he did there were the sounds of other men from the barn strangely muffled.
They opened the van and took out the palettes and then unbuilt the keep of straw.
He dragged out the badger in the sack and put it on the ground. He emphasized the effort.
Boar, he said. Itâs heavy.
The other man rolled the sack with his foot testing it and the sack seemed to react shapelessly as if it were a collapsed drunk. He had old army boots on. He was ratty and bald and pinched and extruded, the opposite of the big and gruff man. Letâs take him in, he said.
There was a side door in the barn and they went through that and there was an explosion of light and noise. Around the walls were bales four or five deep to hold the noise the way a big crowd would. In the center of the depot was a mechanicâs pit for working on the buses. Around this the men had built stands to watch from.
The pit was lit with inspection lights and was a well of brightness and the noise of the twenty or so men in there was like before an amateur boxing match.
The door shut and some turned round and there were cheers, seeing the sack. A dog barked as if it could scent the badger.
At one end of the pit they had set up a trestle table and the man behind it was obviously the boss. He had the money tin in front of him.
The big man took the sack over and dumped it on the table which shook the badger into life so it scuffed onthe table and rocked it. A can of beer went over to laughter as they held the table steady and then he punched the badger and it seemed to go still and there was a sense of immediate respect and dislike for him. Itâs a big, heavy boar, he said. Then they tipped the badger into the pit.
There were extra patches of black on the badger from the coal.
It fell awkwardly like a thing of weight and quickly righted itself and shuffled to each wall then backed itself into the corner in the blind light.
It lifted its head and scented the air, smelt the dogs that were setting off in the contagious excitement. The badger looked somehow unreal in the direct white light of the floods, its snout making little small circles. Any first bets? the man shouted.
A guy had come up and held a dog to the stand and the dog was frothing through its muzzle and was bright-eyed and you could see the movement of its heart quickly in its chest.
There were men leaning on the stands and weighing up the badger and some waiting to lay down bets until theyâd seen a dog go in. Other men were bringing dogs around. Most were lurchers, but there were also other big dogs.
The badger moved in the pit and stood up on its hind legs against the wall like a bear and jogged about and tried to dig and the dogs frenzied and this seemed to transfer to the men. Then they put in a dog and it went at the badger.
The dog was a terrier and they put it in just to assess the badger before the big dogs started. He heard one man say that to another, and it was as if they were explaining it to him.
The terrier yapped and nipped and the badger put down its head into its front legs and relied on the thick hide and tough skin to take the nips and the men booed and hissed and the big man felt inside this anger at the badger and cursed him to fight.
A man hovered by with the tongs and prodded the badger as the dog darted in and the badger lifted and snapped back at the dog to a great cheer and the dog dived out of the way of the snap which had been like lightning.
The terrier bounced in and out at the badger, yelping and banging at him and trying to get in a nip and every now and then the badger uncoiled and snapped back to a great cheer. Then the badger stretched itself up and went at the dog with great ferocious energy and immediately caught the dog under the chin and tore open the side of the dog with its paw before the tongs smashed down on
They opened the van and took out the palettes and then unbuilt the keep of straw.
He dragged out the badger in the sack and put it on the ground. He emphasized the effort.
Boar, he said. Itâs heavy.
The other man rolled the sack with his foot testing it and the sack seemed to react shapelessly as if it were a collapsed drunk. He had old army boots on. He was ratty and bald and pinched and extruded, the opposite of the big and gruff man. Letâs take him in, he said.
There was a side door in the barn and they went through that and there was an explosion of light and noise. Around the walls were bales four or five deep to hold the noise the way a big crowd would. In the center of the depot was a mechanicâs pit for working on the buses. Around this the men had built stands to watch from.
The pit was lit with inspection lights and was a well of brightness and the noise of the twenty or so men in there was like before an amateur boxing match.
The door shut and some turned round and there were cheers, seeing the sack. A dog barked as if it could scent the badger.
At one end of the pit they had set up a trestle table and the man behind it was obviously the boss. He had the money tin in front of him.
The big man took the sack over and dumped it on the table which shook the badger into life so it scuffed onthe table and rocked it. A can of beer went over to laughter as they held the table steady and then he punched the badger and it seemed to go still and there was a sense of immediate respect and dislike for him. Itâs a big, heavy boar, he said. Then they tipped the badger into the pit.
There were extra patches of black on the badger from the coal.
It fell awkwardly like a thing of weight and quickly righted itself and shuffled to each wall then backed itself into the corner in the blind light.
It lifted its head and scented the air, smelt the dogs that were setting off in the contagious excitement. The badger looked somehow unreal in the direct white light of the floods, its snout making little small circles. Any first bets? the man shouted.
A guy had come up and held a dog to the stand and the dog was frothing through its muzzle and was bright-eyed and you could see the movement of its heart quickly in its chest.
There were men leaning on the stands and weighing up the badger and some waiting to lay down bets until theyâd seen a dog go in. Other men were bringing dogs around. Most were lurchers, but there were also other big dogs.
The badger moved in the pit and stood up on its hind legs against the wall like a bear and jogged about and tried to dig and the dogs frenzied and this seemed to transfer to the men. Then they put in a dog and it went at the badger.
The dog was a terrier and they put it in just to assess the badger before the big dogs started. He heard one man say that to another, and it was as if they were explaining it to him.
The terrier yapped and nipped and the badger put down its head into its front legs and relied on the thick hide and tough skin to take the nips and the men booed and hissed and the big man felt inside this anger at the badger and cursed him to fight.
A man hovered by with the tongs and prodded the badger as the dog darted in and the badger lifted and snapped back at the dog to a great cheer and the dog dived out of the way of the snap which had been like lightning.
The terrier bounced in and out at the badger, yelping and banging at him and trying to get in a nip and every now and then the badger uncoiled and snapped back to a great cheer. Then the badger stretched itself up and went at the dog with great ferocious energy and immediately caught the dog under the chin and tore open the side of the dog with its paw before the tongs smashed down on
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