Fog a Dox by Bruce Pascoe

Author:Bruce Pascoe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Magabala Books
Published: 2013-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

He drifted in and out of consciousness as the heat of the afternoon gave way to evening. Fog sat by him while he slept but when Albert woke and repeated his calls of ‘Get the hammer, Fog. Fetch the hammer, Fog’, it had frustrated the dox to such an extent that he retreated to the coat to think. When he thought he’d worked it out Fog dragged the lunch box over to Albert. And when that didn’t fix things, the coat. If he puts the coat on he’ll get his arm back!

‘Ah, yer a good dox, Fog, yer a very good dox, but ya not too good at English are ya?’ Albert rubbed the dox between his pointy red ears and Fog was greatly pleased, thinking he’d guessed what Albert needed him to do.

Albert ate a tiny square of boiled fruitcake and had a sip of milk from the small jar. He looked across to the campfire but knew the billy was empty because he’d had that second cup of tea. He’d have to be careful with the jar of milk, it was all he had.

He was in a jam. Literally. No-one would think to search for him. Brim would come looking for him eventually but her grasp of language was not much better than Fog’s. Oh, she could count a bit but that didn’t mean she’d understand about getting the hammer.

The thought that he might die beside the log loomed like a dark shroud. Bloomin’ log. Should have left it to season a bit, dry out before he split it up. Never mind, it’s done now, nothing for it but to try and think.

He didn’t like the way his whole arm had gone numb and it alarmed him that he kept blacking out. He was thirsty, that was the problem. He’d lain there in the sun all day with just a small jar of milk to drink … and it was all but curdled. He was in trouble.

Fog paced about him trying to work out why he didn’t get up and go home. It was tea time! You’re hungry, I’m hungry, let’s go and get some tea! The dox scratched at the ground beside Albert as darkness crept between the trees. Come on Albert, come on, let’s go home.

But now Albert spent more time unconscious than awake and Fog looked at him anxiously. Animals, particularly dogs, but also doxes, sense when another animal is failing. They actually hear the rhythm of the heart, smell the stress of the body struggling to keep itself alive. Fog knew Albert was in real trouble.

All at once the dox set its ears toward his owner in a moment of inspiration and startling clarity, spun on his little foxy paws and left the clearing in a mad leaping dash like a piece of ribbon dancing through the bush. They’re noiseless, foxes, they run with an undulating fluidity. Doxes are the same. Fog was gone in a flash of white tail tip, disappearing like the mist of his name.

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