But back in the bushes somebody was not laughing at all, in fact he was furious that they had not all eaten the toast. He had thrown his bowler hat onto the floor and was now jumping up and down on it in a temper, blowing up his cheeks so they puffed out like a blowfish.

         “Grrrrrrr.” Growled the Glom as he ran back into the heavy foliage bushes, taking his unsatisfaction with him.

         The two boys and the dogs after whatever was in the cheese on toast had worn off and Eittol was back to her normal loopy self, which was only slightly less loopy than the cheese on toast Eittol, dried their eyes and started to think about where to go to next. They could either carry on up the cliff or go left or right. Easy choices you would have thought but we are talking about ‘two brothers and two dogs!’ after deciding and then changing their minds two are three times Yolf remembered the red spotted handkerchief. He fetched it from in the shelter and swung it in front of Haz’s hands, he then stepped back with a rather regal look on his black and tan whiskery face.

         “Oh well done Yolf,” said Haz as he patted Yolf on his hairy back. “What would we do without you?”  Eittol looked a little miffed, the effect of the cheese on toast had left a bitter taste in her mouth and was that the look of jealousy that contorted her face into that dark grimace?

         Haz threw the red spotted handkerchief high into the air, there was a cool breeze that blow that morning and the wind snatched at the red spotted handkerchief, taking it up and up as it billowed up higher than the trees they started to get a little worried. Their dust stained faces turned upward towards the sky as they held their breath and watched as it climbed. Just as they began to think it was going to be lost forever it started to descend slowly, it floated down like the orange and brown dry leaves in Autumn, it kept coming and they all jumped up and down, shouting.

“Come on hanky, come on!”

         The red spotted handkerchief did keep on coming down, right down until it settled on a satisfactory branch of a big beautiful oak tree. If the two boys and the two dogs had been looking at the trees 200 year old trunk they would have seen it shudder and shiver as its tender branch ends gently curled around the red spotted handkerchief. The old gnarled oak tree had never been caressed so gently by something so sensitive, a tear of sap leaked out of one of its old eyes.

         “What do we do now?” barked Eittol as she ran around chasing her tail. The next second she had galloped off down a grassy track to the left, stopping every now and then to lift her fore right leg and point at a noise in the woods that were either side of the track.

         “Oh no,” Said chaz “We are going to have to fetch her.”

         “I think she has made the choice of which way to go for us.” Grumbled Yolf.

         Above them on the branch of an old dead tree the Phoenix from the fire shook its head but beat it wings and set off after them all the same.

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