The Claygate Hound (4 page)

“Watch out!” Zeb shouted.

Ryan struggled to keep his balance – on the very brink of falling into the pit. Only his fear of the monstrous dog gave him the strength to jump clear.

“Run!” Zeb yelled.

But over the sliding stones and falling timbers the hound was coming for them…

Ryan and Zeb crashed through the bushes. The hound was gaining on them. They could hear the drum of its running feet, feel its hot breath. Any second now it would be on them, tearing them with those terrible teeth…

Suddenly, they were on the path. A figure loomed up before them. Behind them was the ferocious hound. There was nowhere to turn. Ryan screamed.

“Calm down,” Granny Hatcher’s soft voice soothed. “You’re safe now.”

In a panic Zeb blurted out the whole story. “…And now the hound is going to get us,” he sobbed.

“Nonsense.”

“But we saw it.”

“I don’t doubt that for a minute.”

“Billy Dunmore said if you see the dog you die…”

Granny Hatcher sniffed. “That Dunmore boy’s a menace.”

“You said the dog would come and get Billy!”

“She said that to shut him up,” Ryan said. “You know that.”

Granny Hatcher smiled. “The dog appears to those in danger. He comes to warn.
If you
don’t heed the warning
then
you might die. Foolish folk like Billy Dunmore get hold of the wrong end of the stick.”

“But he looked so fierce,” Zeb said, remembering the wild eyes and powerful body.

“The legend says that long ago the Claygate Hound let his master fall to his death. Then the poor old dog sat by his grave until he died too. It’s not a story about a monster dog. It’s a very sad story.”

Granny Hatcher led them home.

“It took courage to rescue your grandad’s tin,” she said. “It must mean a lot to you.”

Ryan nodded. “I nearly fell into that hole. I could have broken my neck.”

“Very likely,” Granny Hatcher said. “Old ruins have old cellars – very dangerous places. I expect you would have fallen, if something hadn’t stopped you…”

Outside the wood, they turned and looked back into the shadows. In the distance a dark shape lurked, and a pair of faithful brown eyes glittered in the moonlight.

“Thank you,” Ryan whispered.

From deep within the woods a single bark answered him.