Fly

The Great Escape pt.1 - And so it begins

When I looked up after my brief bout of laughter, I saw that the Collie Cross and in fact become two Collie Crosses. Stood side by side they looked fairly intimidating. However the relaxed stance each one carried was enough to reassure me that they were of no real threat.

The first dog stepped gingerly towards me. He seems almost as nervous as I was. I decided to talk to them.

"H...hi, I...um...come in peace", I said, wincing at my pathetic speech. Automatically, I lowered my head in shame. When I lifted it again, I expected to be confronted by the dogs as to why I was in their kennel. Instead however, I could see them both trying, but miserably failing, to stifle their laughter.

"What was that!? That was the worst peace-offering speech I've ever heard! No offence..." The first Collie said, chuckling while he did so.

"I'd have to agree. You don't have much experience with this kind of thing, do you?", the second one questioned. I shook my head.

"I'm Nugget by the way", the first Collie informed me. "But you can call me... Nugget".

"Really, Nugget. You pull that same 'joke' every time we get a new dog in our kennel. Change the squeaky toy would you", the second dog scoffed. "Take no notice of that one, he was evidently dropped on his head as a puppy..."

"Hey! I'm right here ya know Natcho. Don't talk about me like I'm...I'm...just some stuffed toy...", Nugget replied indignantly, a pout forming on his lips.

"Yeah, whatever", the one called Natcho muttered before turning to face me. "What's your name then?", Natcho questioned again.

I didn't say anything. No, I couldn't say anything. These two dogs quite obviously knew each other well, and I gathered that they must have been here a long time already. I suddenly remembered that I had been asked a question and hastened to answer my new kennel-mate.

"I'm Breeze. Um, where am I?" It was the only thing I could manage. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Natcho sighed, something that made butterflies swoon around in my tummy; Sighing was never a good sign.

"We're at a farm, but not a nice one I must add. It's where we get taken after we get stolen. Where we must wait until our owners give in to the blackmail and pay for us to be returned to them. We've been here for nearly a year now, our old owner refused to pay for us so we were just kept here and used as company for new dogs who come in. Then, if they've been here for about a we... ", Nugget answered, sadness rife in his voice, before he was interrupted by Natcho.

"I think you've to her enough, Nugget. You don't want to scare the poor thing, do you?
Like I said earlier, take no notice of that one, Nugget doesn't know what he's saying", Natcho heckled.

I was confused but decided to ignore the last part of the conversation. Instead, I thought about what else I had been told. I deduced that there were only two things that could happen now.

So I was stuck here until either Storm turned up(which I was sure he would), or until Jake got handed a wad of stinking, dirty money. Basically, he would win no matter which way I looked at it.

Nugget and Natcho seemed to sense my distress and anxiety and quickly came over to me to offer me a small bit comfort. They reassured me that everything would be alright even though I didn't believe them; the uncertainty in their voices told me that they didn't believe their words either.

Before any of us had a chance to say anything else, a voice called to us from the other side of the hatch. I was quite apprehensive as to what would greet us on the other side, but Nugget and Natcho both reassured me that we were only going to be let outside, in to an outdoor run. They knew better than I would so I followed them through the open door.