Will and His Dog and the Stolen Eggs

"What would we do if someone comes to steal the eggs?"

"You contact me on a walkie-talkie radio that I will give you. Stay put and out of sight. Me and some of the lads who work on the farm will come and catch the thief or thieves ourselves."

"What about the police?" asked Will's mum who had been listening to the conversation.

"We rang the police," replied James. "The police said that if they were able to catch thieves stealing the eggs then they would prosecute them but that they are too busy to stand around at the bottom of a tree twenty-four hours a day just in case someone comes to steal a couple of eggs."

"That's not very helpful," said Will's mum.

"I know," said James, "but I understand their point of view – they are very busy."

Will took a sip of soda from his glass and Clive came in from the garden and lay down in his bed.

"What about security cameras?" said Charlie.

"We have them," replied James, "but we need to know when the eggs are being stolen so that we can catch the thief or thieves and get the eggs back from them. A camera can film the eggs being stolen but it can't tell us when they are being stolen. We need people there to alert us by radio. Members of the local bird society have been watching around the clock but tomorrow afternoon, for two hours, nobody is available. I can't be there as I have important work on the farm to complete and Alex is working at the garden centre."

"We could do it," said Will.

"Thanks boys," replied James. "The thing is that nobody probably knows that there are osprey eggs in the tree. I doubt that anyone would be stupid enough to attempt to steal the eggs in daylight for fear of being seen and reported. Even in the very unlikely event of someone trying to steal the eggs when you are there, nobody will see you because you will be in the hide. All you need to do is take pictures with my camera and contact me on the radio that I will give you."

James showed the boys how to use the radio and the camera.

"The camera might look small but it has a very powerful zoom on it," said James. "Make sure the radio is tuned to channel eight. The devices are fully charged and the batteries will last much longer than the time that you will need them for. Be careful with the camera because it is very expensive."

"We will look after your gear James," said Will.

"Thanks boys," said James.

"No problem," said Charlie.

The next day Will and Charlie arrived at the hide at two o'clock in the afternoon. There were two people inside from the local bird club. They said that they would be back at four o'clock for the next shift. That gave the boys two hours to watch the tree.

The hide was dug several feet down into the ground and it would not be easily spotted by anyone who did not know that it was there. There were two camping chairs inside and nothing else.

Will and Charlie sat down inside the hide and removed the radio and camera from Will's rucksack. There was a narrow slit in the green canvas through which they could see the tree and the surrounding field.

"This is going to be boring," said Charlie. "Nobody is going to try and steal the eggs, if there are any, in the middle of the day."

"I know," replied Will, "but we are doing it for James so it doesn't matter."

Ten minutes passed. Nothing

Twenty minutes passed. Nothing.

Thirty minutes. Will heard the engine of a vehicle approaching. The engine stopped and a car door was opened and then closed.