The Fox of Richmond Park Page 22

The three of them made their way over, arriving to find an animated Arthur telling a speckled grey pigeon about his incredible brave journey from Regent’s Park. She nodded along, smiling in all the right places.

  ‘…and I only curled up twice. Maybe, um, three times. Definitely not more than five… Isn’t that right, Vince?’

  ‘That’s right.’ He smiled at the pigeon. ‘Hi, I’m Vince and this is Laurie. I see you’ve met Arthur, the bravest member of our team.’

  The pigeon spoke with a clarity that Vince had never heard before, not even in Richmond Park. As though each word was special, and deserved nothing less than to be pronounced perfectly. ‘I have indeed, and what a surprise to see a hedgehog! You must have come a long way… Anyway, we’ll have plenty of time to get to know one another. Let me start off by saying what a pleasure it is to meet you all, my dears, and to welcome you to Hampstead Heath. My name is Theresa.’

  ‘Thank you, it’s really beautiful here,’ Vince replied, unconsciously smartening his own speech to match. ‘Are you… In charge here? Or…’ Vince felt himself tense. He realised it might no longer be the utopia his parents had described, but if it turned out that one animal made all the rules, he didn’t think he could bear it.

  ‘Oh, dear me, no!’ She let out a friendly, but restrained, laugh. ‘I’m just the Welcome Officer. All new arrivals are greeted by me. Any day, any time.’

  ‘Oh, how nice!’ Rita said.

  Vince relaxed as Theresa went on to describe the heath, pointing her wing in various directions whenever she mentioned a landmark. It seemed everything he’d heard was true. The heath was enormous, with more open space and trees than he’d imagined, and no single species had more power than any other.

  ‘Well, it makes a change from the other places we’ve been,’ Vince said.

  ‘Indeed. We’re very proud of our park. We all work hard to make it as lovely as possible. It wasn’t always this way, though. Things were very different before the Solstice Riot. You may have heard of it?’

  ‘No,’ Vince said. ‘A riot? Really?’

  ‘Yes. The deer used to control this park,’ Theresa explained. ‘Everything was fine for a long while, but over time they became more and more obsessed with power, making new rules every day, punishing those who broke them with injury or death. The residents were too scared to leave their homes, except to hunt, and even then they were restricted to what the deer told them they could eat. It was dreadful.’

  Vince’s mouth hung open. He couldn’t believe it. The same thing here as back in Richmond Park. ‘But, it’s okay now, right?’

  ‘Oh, yes. The deer eventually took it too far. It was the start of winter and they’d restricted hunting and gathering to such an extent that animals were starving, dying from the cold. Can you imagine? Enough was enough, then. The foxes stood up to them first. Some were killed in the process, and the deer cracked down even harder, but other species – who now had little to lose – quickly followed suit and eventually the whole park gathered together to confront the deer. There was a stand-off, and although the deer were strong, the resistance had the sheer numbers. The deer had no chance. A doe was killed – one can’t imagine how brutal it must have been – and the deer finally accepted defeat, realising they could no longer control everyone.’

  ‘And you remember this? When did it all happen?’ Vince said, his eyes wide.

  ‘Oh no, my dear, this was seasons ago. But everyone here knows the story. It’s passed down to our children and grandchildren. It’s important to us that every new generation knows about the past, so we don’t let it happen again.’

  Vince’s mind raced. Were his grandparents here when the riot started? Were they two of the foxes who instigated it? That must have been why they left.

  Vince was eager to know more. ‘Are there any animals still alive who remember the riot?’

  ‘Just a few of the older deer. They keep themselves to themselves now, understandably.’

  Vince shook his head. ‘If the animals at Richmond Park heard about this, they…’

  Then it clicked.

  Vince turned to his friends. ‘That’s why Edward wanted me dead. Somehow he knew about Hampstead Heath, about the riot and how it had stripped the deer of their power, and he knew that if I made it here, I would find out too.’

  ‘He was scared you would come back and tell the others,’ Rita added, her eyes wide.

  ‘Or send a message back. Which is exactly what I’m going to do,’ Vince said.

  Theresa raised a wing. ‘Sorry to interrupt, but are you actually wanting to stay? It’s just that there are some things we need to confirm before we can officially welcome you as residents, and I’m not really the nocturnal type. You’re welcome to come back any time if you have business to attend to outside.’

  Laurie jumped in before Vince could speak. ‘No, we definitely want to stay.’ She turned to Vince. ‘Let’s get settled here tonight and we’ll send a message back first thing tomorrow. I don’t know about you but I’m exhausted, and you’ve waited this long. Try to enjoy your new home before you start any more trouble, okay?’ She smiled.

  Vince nodded. ‘You’re right.’

  ‘Glad to hear it! Now, on to the boring bit, I’m afraid,’ Theresa cooed. ‘Boring, but very important. I’ll need to take some details from all of you, so we can match and assign you to the most suitable area.’

  ‘Assign us? What do you mean?’ Vince’s stomach lurched.

  ‘Oh, it’s nothing to worry about, my dear. Everyone has a designated area. There are eleven in total, all very lovely, but I won’t bore you with the details now. That’s where you’ll build your den, your nest, whatever, and sleep, but you are free to go wherever you like the rest of the time. The whole of Hampstead Heath is completely open to you. Visitors are allowed too. We really have very few rules compared to other parks, so I’m led to believe.’

  Vince relaxed a little.

  ‘It’s a very fair system,’ Theresa went on. ‘It helps stop overcrowding, too many of one species in one place, management of resources, that sort of thing.’

  ‘Sounds pretty sensible,’ Laurie said. Vince wasn’t sure if she meant it or if she was just trying to ease his mind.

  ‘You’re lucky, actually, we have quite a bit of room in most of the areas right now. And if there’s a problem, we are happy to accommodate transfers. So, let’s start with you, Vince, my dear. You are a fox, and you are male, correct?’

  He nodded.

  ‘Age?’

  ‘Er, nearly five seasons.’

  ‘Right, no health problems? Mange? Fleas? Anything like that?’

  ‘No!’ he said defensively.

  ‘Apologies, but we do have to make sure, you understand… And did I hear you say you were from Richmond Park? How lovely! Is that your birthplace?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’m from there too!’ Rita chirped.

  ‘Excellent, well I can tell you this now, Rita, we’ll certainly have space for you. Bit of a glut of male magpies at the moment, all looking for mates.’ Theresa winked.

  ‘Oh… Good,’ Rita said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

  ‘And Arthur, of course you are unconditionally welcome to any of our areas. You are the first hedgehog we’ve had in seasons. Rare to see animals from such a long way away, too. But I digress… Vince, your parents were born in Richmond Park too, I assume?’

  ‘Yes. My grandparents were actually from here, though, I think.’

  ‘Really? Well, isn’t that lovely! From before the riot, I suppose? Otherwise I’d have to question why they left!’ Theresa laughed.

  ‘Yeah, that makes sense,’ Vince said. Knowing that Rita and Arthur could settle down here, if they wanted, was a weight off his mind. Rita could do what she liked, of course, but he would have felt terrible if they’d ended up in a place where she wasn’t happy.

  ‘Right then, well, luckily for you we’ve just had a spot come up near Wood Pond. I trust that will suit you?’<
br />
  ‘A pond? Are there frogs?’

  ‘Oh, yes! And the clue’s in the name, it’s by the woods, so lots of cover. Very cosy.’

  ‘Perfect!’ Vince grinned at Laurie. ‘Can we go there tonight?’

  ‘Well, let’s see about Laurie… Fox, female…’

  ‘Five seasons, no mange, no fleas,’ she said cheerily.

  ‘Were you born in Richmond Park too, my dear?’

  ‘No, Hammersmith.’

  ‘Hammersmith… park? Sorry, I’ve not heard of it. Is it new?’

  ‘Er, no. It’s just Hammersmith. Not a park. Just… You know… in the city.’

  ‘Right. Your parents, too?’

  Laurie nodded.

  ‘I see.’ Theresa’s smile evaporated.

  ‘What? What is it?’ Vince said.

  ‘I do sincerely apologise, but Hampstead Heath operates a strictly park-only members system now. I can’t let Laurie stay here, I’m afraid.’

  ‘What? I don’t understand…’ Vince said.

  ‘It’s a shame, I know, but our popularity means we have had to restrict intake. And there are safety concerns too, you understand. You can come and visit, of course. We are very relaxed about that. And if you are mates, then we can arrange a visitation schedule, but—’

  ‘Visitation schedule? This is ridiculous. You said there was lots of space. It’s not like she’d need an extra den, we’d share…’ Vince glanced at Laurie, and she quickly nodded in agreement.

  Theresa went on, ‘Of course, but there’s the additional resources to think of… Food, waste management… Then, of course, if you were to have cubs, that would be an issue… We have to take all this into consideration. I’m sorry.’

  ‘Cubs! We haven’t even… Never mind.’ Laurie shook her head. ‘Is there really nothing you can do? I can’t live here at all? Even if it’s in another area? Somewhere less nice. I don’t care.’

  ‘Less nice?’ Theresa laughed. ‘We don’t have any areas like that, my dear.’

  Vince clenched his jaw.

  ‘But they’re in love!’ Rita said.

  Theresa shrugged. ‘There’s nothing I can do. I really am terribly sorry.’

  Rules. Always rules.

  Stupid rules.

  Wrong rules.

  ‘Vince, listen…’ Laurie began, ‘You stay, we’ll do the visiting thing, okay? You’ve come all this way—’

  ‘No!’ Vince snapped. ‘I want you here.’

  ‘You heard Theresa, I can’t. But there’s no reason why you can’t stay with Arthur and Rita. You nearly died trying to find this place. So did Rita. Don’t let it all be for nothing.’

  ‘Nothing? Meeting you wasn’t nothing.’

  ‘No, but—’

  ‘Listen,’ Theresa said. ‘I feel terrible about this, I really do. If you want to stay for tonight, think it over, then you’re more than welcome. I’ll have to restrict you all to this area, until you decide one way or another, but please let me know first thing in the morning. If you need anything in the meantime, I’ll be in those trees, just over there, okay?’

  ‘Thank you,’ Rita said.

  Vince said nothing.

  ‘I’ll be back at sunrise, my dears.’ Theresa flapped away, leaving them in solemn silence.

  *

  ‘Don’t worry, Vince. We’ll sort something out…’ Rita said as Theresa disappeared over the trees.

  Vince slumped onto the grass. ‘How can they have a rule like that? As if one animal is better than another because of where they were born. Or where their parents were born… It’s ridiculous. It’s unfair. I can’t believe after all this…’ He dropped his head to the ground and continued through gritted teeth. ‘All this time, all this way, and it’s no better than stinking Richmond Park or the stinking wetlands.’

  Rita’s optimism was waning, but she tried her best. ‘Come on, Vince, it’s not that bad. You heard what she said about the riots. There’s no one in charge here. It may not be perfect, but I’m sure you two can work it out. There are other places close by where Laurie could live. She’d only be leaps away…’

  ‘No. I’m not staying without Laurie. End of discussion. And we have to go back home and tell the others about the riot and Edward’s lies… If we can get everyone together, we can stand up to Edward and make Richmond Park like it used to be.’

  Laurie lowered herself down beside him. ‘Why don’t you get some rest? It’s been a hard few nights. We can talk about it in the morning.’

  ‘Mmm,’ Vince closed his eyes. ‘Maybe just for a little while. Until Theresa comes back. Then I’ll tell her where to shove her egg-sucking pond and her egg-sucking woods. And then we’ll head back to Richmond Park and take Edward down a branch. I can’t wait to see everyone’s faces when they hear about the riot.’

  Laurie shot Rita and Arthur a worried look, but stayed silent, before nestling her head into Vince’s shoulder. Rita and Arthur shuffled over and joined them. Rita fluffed her feathers and cuddled up against Laurie’s warm fur. Keeping his prickles at a safe distance, Arthur curled into a ball.

  The animals said their goodnights, but Vince was already dreaming. He and Laurie were catching frogs, laughing as they swiped their paws across the water of the unknown pond. Around them, blankness. An empty green canvas.

  13

  Laurie was gone when Vince woke up. He scanned the park, but couldn’t see her anywhere.

  She must have gone to find breakfast.

  He stretched, backside in the air, and yawned. A rest had done him good: his wounds had settled to a gentle throb, his muscles not quite as tender. He sniffed the air. The local birds were awake and singing their dawn chorus, diamonds of yellow sunlight flashed through the trees and the grass was damp with dew. Rita and Arthur were still sleeping.

  He gave them a quick poke each. ‘Wake up, you two, it’s morning.’

  ‘Huh?’ Rita opened one inky eye.

  Arthur unfurled and blinked.

  ‘Theresa will be here soon. Then we’ll have to find somewhere else to sleep for the day. There should be somewhere safe on the outskirts,’ Vince said.

  ‘Uh huh.’ Rita shook her feathers then opened her other eye. ‘So, we’re definitely not staying, then?’

  ‘No. I told you, I’m not staying without Laurie.’

  ‘Okay, okay! I was just checking. I think it’s the right decision.’

  ‘You do?’

  ‘Yes. If they won’t let Laurie live here just because she’s from the city, then it’s not the right place. Even if it is your grandparents’ park. Ajadi was right. You shouldn’t settle for second best.’

  ‘And to be, um, honest,’ Arthur said, ‘I didn’t like Theresa much anyway. Her feet were far too nice for a pigeon.’

  Vince laughed, glad they both understood.

  ‘Where is Laurie, anyway?’ Rita said.

  ‘I don’t know, I guess she’s finding breakfast, but I dread to think what Theresa will say about that…’

  ‘We’re about to find out.’ Rita pointed at the sky. Theresa was flapping towards them. The dull sound of her wings slapping together grew louder as she descended, before she swooped above the grass and landed, almost managing to make it look elegant.

  ‘Good morning!’ she cooed. ‘All set and ready for your induction, Vince? I’ve informed the other foxes in the woods and they’re all very excited to meet you.’

  ‘What? No… I’m not staying. I’m just waiting for Laurie to get back and then we’re leaving.’

  ‘I’m sorry, perhaps I’ve misunderstood, then? Laurie said you would be staying. She came to find me just now, before she left. She said you two had… er, how shall I put this? Uncoupled?’

  Vince shook his head, mouth open. ‘I don’t… Understand. She’s gone?’

  ‘My apologies, I assumed you knew. So… will you be staying or not? It’s just I need—’

  ‘Not. Which way did she go?’

  The pigeon pointed to the bridge. Vince turned away and headed
towards it, his walk quickly turning to a sprint. Rita and Arthur followed, struggling to keep up.

  ‘Wait! Vince!’ Their voices swept over him, but he kept running. Laurie couldn’t have got far. Even if she’d run, he could still catch her. But which way did she go? How could he…?

  Rita. Of course. He wasn’t thinking straight.

  He skidded to a stop and doubled back to Rita and Arthur. He panted the words out. ‘Rita. Find her. Please.’

  She nodded and took to the sky without hesitation.

  ‘We’ll walk back the way we came!’ he shouted into the air.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Arthur said. ‘She’ll find her. It’ll be fine.’

  Vince said nothing.

  The two of them crossed the bridge, walking at Arthur’s pace. The train tracks below barely registered as he stared at the sky. He understood why Laurie had done it. She wanted him to stay and be happy. And maybe Theresa’s reaction had made her feel like she wasn’t good enough. Or maybe he had got it all wrong as she didn’t want to be with him after all. Maybe she’d had second thoughts. But whatever it was, how could she just leave without explaining or saying goodbye? How could she do that? After yesterday; after everything?

  He had to find her. Rita had to find her.

  *

  Vince and Arthur retraced their steps, Arthur trying to reassure Vince that it was ‘probably all a silly, um, misunderstanding’. Vince could only nod and mumble in reply, convinced that he would never see Laurie again. The sun was above the trees now, but Vince ignored it. He could sleep later. Arthur would just have to deal with it.

  Arthur was tired from yesterday’s long walk so the pair only made it to the end of one street, before Rita’s silhouette flashed across the sky.

  ‘Rita! Down here!’ She spiralled down and perched on a lamp post, but Vince was too preoccupied with her to notice Laurie turn the corner and sit on the pavement opposite.

  Rita pointed a wing and Vince’s eyes followed it. His stomach somersaulted. ‘Laurie!’ He ran to her, but stopped short. The fur on her face was wet. She’d been crying.

  ‘Laurie… You left… I don’t… How could you?’ Vince said.