HORACE THE HIPPO: CHAPTER 2

On the evening that Daisy and her mummy and daddy left Farnham to go home, Granpo strolled down to the Bat and the first thing he did (well not before ordering a pint and taking a first sip) was enquire about Horace. He asked Kevin who with his wife Sally, owns the Bat & Ball, if he knew anything about a soft toy that had been left in the garden. He explained that Daisy had been worried about it being lost. Kevin, who knows Daisy and was sorry that she had been concerned, said, "Oh, it belongs to Mack."

Now Mack is the Bat & Ball Dog (he is quite an important dog so he gets a capital letter). He is about four years' old and is a Golden Retriever and his job is to make sure that visiting dogs behave themselves. Mack is very good at his chosen profession: as soon as any one of them makes so much as a whine or a back-of-the-throat growl, never mind a full blown bark, Mack is on the scene, letting the guilty animal know just who is Boss of the Bat (not Kevin, as I am sure you will have gathered) and that any more bad behaviour on their part will result in an uncomfortable (for the naughty dog that is) demonstration of just how sharp Mack's teeth actually are.

So Granpo was quite pleased at the news that Horace belonged to Mack and went to have a word with him. But Mack is not all together keen on chatting to the customers so it was very brief. However, Granpo enjoyed the rest of the evening listening to the music (there was a band playing that evening) and went home very pleased that he would be able to tell Daisy and Granmo the good news.

And that would have been the end of it, except for what happened next.............

Click here for Chapter 3