| The hot fetid breath of 12 hounds engulfed me.
In the mirror behind me I saw Babbler wanting to be sociable. She tilted her head to one
side and started to lick my neck with her long wet tongue through the chicken wire. Now
while I love dogs in general and hounds in particular, her breath in the confined space
was just too much to take, so I leaned forward to escape. Unfortunately, she had decided
she liked the taste of my neck and strove to develop the friendship further but the
chicken wire presented a major obstacle. She sat back and seemed to be surveying it. Then,
with an exploratory nose, she shoved at the bottom of the wire which was tied down with
binder twine and wouldn't give. Another shove at the top was also unsuccessful, but when
she investigated the right hand side she managed to bow it in slightly. Wagging her tail
with delight, she closed her eyes and poked her head through the gap and ignoring my yells
and slaps slowly slid with a wiggle on to the passenger seat beside me, grinning with
satisfaction. |
| Another inquisitive bitch called Winsome was nosing at the
wire through which her friend had disappeared and she soon found the same weak spot and
shoved her way through despite my ineffectual attempts to stop her. The two of them sat
happily next to me on the front seat, pink tongues lolling as they surveyed the passing
scenery. Their attitude suggested that they were accustomed to riding in comfort rather
than associating with their inferiors in the back. All might have
been well if the rest of the hounds hadn't followed their natural pack instinct and rushed
to join their adventurous comrades. With ten hounds pushing and clamouring at the wire the
retaining binder twine broke and they tumbled through the gap. |
 |
| Instantly the cab of the truck was swarming
with hounds, furiously wagging their tails, as excited as schoolboys who had got into a
theatre through an unlocked fire door. The hounds rushed around and investigated the
confined space. Suddenly they were under my legs, sitting on my lap, licking my face and
standing with their paws on the dashboard gazing through the windows. I knew I had a real
problem. I brought the truck down to a crawl on the slow lane of the highway and tried
shouting at them, but that only increased the confusion as the tails wagged harder in
their efforts to appease my wrath. There was no way I could push them back through the
wire and even if I had been able to, I had no means of repairing the hole. Opening the cab
door was out of the question - I had a horrid vision of them streaming out onto the busy
highway and getting killed or lost in strange countryside.
The only thing to do was to press on regardless. I leaned forward until my nose was
pressed against the windscreen, which was the only way I could gain an uninterrupted view
of the highway ahead. Gripping the steering wheel, shoulders hunched against the onslaught
of the milling bodies on my seat, I crammed myself into the corner of the cab and drove
onward with determination.
A blue car packed with a large family slowly passed me in the left lane. I caught the
eye of a woman next to the driver. She turned away then did a double take with an
expression of total disbelief. She must have said something to the others, for they all
turned and gaped at me, slowly shaking their heads. |
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