Presuming that you have read Part 1 – please proceed and enjoy!
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They made their way over to the trees and, while Dewey was checking out various scents on the ground, Odessa was flying around looking for mice. He watched her in amazement, for she was quite a large bird, and was so graceful when in flight. He also noticed how silent she was when swooping low over the ground. He thought, I am so glad that I am not a small furry creature around here.
Odessa eventually circled around and landed next to Dewey. “So, how is Jaxon today?” she asked. “The barn is very quiet without him in there.”
“He’s not feeling very good, due to a sore throat,” said Dewey, “but he’ll be back to normal in a day or two. The man-servant is looking after him.”
Odessa smiled. “You know, the man-servant can be really frustrating at times, but he is so good to us. What would our farm be like without him?”
Dewey grinned. “I know,” he said. “He drives me nuts regularly, but he kind of grows on you, doesn’t he? Let’s not tell him about this conversation though. Agreed?”
Odessa was looking rather focused on something a short distance away. “Agreed.”
Dewey knew that something was not right. “What’s up, Odessa? What are you looking at?”
“Something is moving behind that group of trees over there.” She pointed her wing to the area. “It is quite big, and all my instincts are to fly away, but I can’t.”
“Why can’t you fly? Have you done something to your wings?”
Odessa gave him her now familiar ‘I don’t believe you asked that’ look. “Dewey,” she said, “if I fly away, you will be left on your own with whatever that thing is. I have a plan. I will try and get its attention, and when you get a chance, you run back to the farm as fast as you can. Don’t go anywhere though until we are out of sight.”
“Perhaps I should climb up this tree?” said Dewey.
Odessa looked at him. “What are you going to do if that thing can climb trees?”
“Good point.” said Dewey. “Go and do your thing, and I’ll watch!”
Odessa flew over to the area where she had seen the creature, and quickly found it. It looked up at her and snarled. Odessa knew immediately that it was a large fox, and it was not going to be friendly. She flew down to the ground and pretended to be having trouble flying. The fox watched her with great interest, and followed her as she pretended that she could only fly very short distances.
Odessa’s plan was working fine, until the fox suddenly stopped and turned its head to look behind it. She looked to see what had attracted its attention, and her eyes suddenly opened as wide as they could possibly go, for there, not too far away, was Dewey. He was running at a leisurely pace in the direction of the farm, and had not waited as Odessa had instructed.
The fox suddenly turned and started running towards Dewey. Odessa took flight, and within a few minutes, was over Dewey and shouting down, “Find a tree, Dewey! A fox is after you!”
Dewey turned his head to look, but although he could not see the fox because of the tall grasses, he decided to look for a tree anyway. There was a small problem, however. Dewey had left the area where all the trees were, and looking ahead, he could only see one tree. He calculated that it would take him quite a while to reach it.
He looked up at Odessa. “Can you stall him, Odessa? That tree ahead is where I am going!”
Odessa flew up a little higher, so that she could see where the fox was, and was horrified to see how close it now was to Dewey. She then turned, so that she would be coming up on the fox from behind, and pretended that she was mouse hunting. She swooped down very fast and in total silence. Right at the last minute, and as she was passing low over the fox’s tail, she put out her claws and dragged them along its body. The fox whipped around very fast and snapped at Odessa but, fortunately, she was already gaining height. She did that a few more times, and while it slowed the fox down, it would still reach Dewey long before he reached the safety of the tree, unless something else was done.
Now I suspect the new character is the fox, and the fox will be replacing Dewey.
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No fooling you!
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Hey! Now I have to tell you what I may have reminded Colin of a time or 2 or more. Dewey is a special cat, gotta be nice to him! 🙂
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🙂
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Special cats tend to be fed a lot. This makes them fat and run slow. Which makes them extra special for a hungry fox.
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Dewey isn’t saying very nice things about you to me right now, just so you know!
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Dewey is running for his life right now. And by the way, since when do owls save cats? We had a cat that was eaten by an owl last summer. I’m wondering if Odessa is trying to beat this fox to a meal.
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Cannibals eat humans, but they also have them as friends.
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True. And sometimes they invite their friends over for dinner.
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Indeed they may well do that.
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This conversation is sooo going the wrong direction and Colin is being sooo “helpful”! I see its hopeless! Poor Dewey!
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Oh I think Colin can write this so that Dewey doesn’t get eaten by Odessa. He has a great talon for writing. Er, I mean talent.
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…mmm…!
Its a good thing that I know how this story ends!
Colin, I think you better pick a safer story for next time!
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No, Colin, don’t listen to her. Actually, I’m enjoying the suspense. I’m very worried for Dewey. And I do suspect the number is up for this poor cat.
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Really? This is one of many “stories for children”!
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I know. I’m not usually into children’s stories, but I’m liking this one. I liked the funny limerick effort, and I’m liking this fox chase.
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🙂
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Ahh! Be careful, you may be hooked! These characters are sly. There are several where the man-servant gets himself into some sticky situations too! One time he gets stuck up very high due to Dewey’s cleverness. 🙂
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Well, cats are pretty clever, I’ll give them that. They demand food, demand to be petted, shed all over us, and go off and do their own thing, without even a thank you. And yet we keep feeding them.
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Now Dewey is smiling saying you may have been slow, but you are catching on! 🙂 it’s the man-servant’s farm but we know who really is in charge!
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Yep. Tell Dewey I’m not as dumb as I look.
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Dewey had a good laugh at that and said ….
Dewey’s words can sometimes get him in trouble, so I will just say that you are back on his good side now. 🙂
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“Cannibals” ?? I guess that does explain things in a roundabout way but cannibals!! Dewey is rolling his eyes at both of you and Odessa muttered something that I couldn’t quite understand!
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What would they do without the nutty man-servant indeed? 😉
I do believe that Dewey may be hoping that he is not on his 9th life yet!
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I think he used up all 9 in the early stories … so how many does he really have? 99 perhaps!
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LOL! Yes, I think the Big Wheel probably did him in, so you may be right about 99. 🙂
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🙂
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