Adventures with Sherlock

What is that smell? Could it be smoke? I believe it is! Barking, I ran out the doggie door. I ran through the woods baying and barking. There’s SlinkE! What’s he doing here?

We greeted each other. I asked him if he smelled smoke. He told me he did. I asked him if he knew where it was coming from. He told me he thought it was on the far side of the property. We talked about the animals in the woods and were concerned because they would lose their homes if the woods were truly burning. We knew we had to do something to help.

I told SlinkE we could save them. We could borrow Granddad’s train. He thought borrowing the train was a good idea. Running back toward the house, we jumped on the train. Great! The keys were in the ignition. It started right away. Off we went, through the woods. SlinkE was keeping an eye out for animals; I was driving. I was blowing the train whistle, hoping to attract the attention of the animals. In between whistle blows, SlinkE and I were barking.

As the animals came running, I stopped briefly, giving them time to jump aboard. We were traveling slowly and blowing the whistle, long and loud. We didn’t want any animal to be caught in the fire. For once, SlinkE and I did not chase them. We’d save that for another day. Right now, they were in trouble and needed our help.

The train was getting full. On board was a variety of animals: deer, rabbits, squirrels, ducks, opossums, porcupines, and even a couple of peacocks. When the train was full, we drove the animals to a safe spot well out of range of the fire.

Once the train was empty, we made a return trip to the woods to see if any animals were left. We roared into the woods, whistle blowing. Out of a hole in an old tree came a skunk family. We stopped for them. Continuing on, we found more animals. It didn’t take long to fill the train again.

I spied a baby rabbit cowering in the brush. Stopping the train, I jumped off. Just as I was about to grab it by the scruff of its neck, something grabbed me! Yelping, I jumped.