Scotland's Fairies- The Dog Rescue Part 2 (Sleep Story)

Hello,

My name is Rachel.

My country is Scotland.

A country steeped in fairy faith.

A place of mythical valleys,

Fairy glens and fairy pools and logs,

And ancient Caledonian pine forests,

Where fairies or wee folk can be found in the tree hollows and abandoned birds' nests.

In the rivers and barns which flow through the mountainous valleys,

There are river sprites with webbed feet who ride on the back of the leaping Scottish salmon,

Tucked away inside unused teapots and empty shortbread tins.

Wee folk called brownies,

A sort of house fairy,

Live amongst the Scottish people inside their very homes.

Although,

Most people never look close enough in the nooks and crannies to ever spot them.

Now I'm guessing you might like to join me on an adventure here in Scotland and hear more about these mystical wee folk,

Guardians of our hills,

Forests and homes.

So get comfortable,

Maybe have a little wiggle of fingers and toes.

Take a deep breath in to fill your chest full of air and a deep breath out again to relax your body down into whichever comfy spot you might be sitting or lying in.

Gently close your eyes and come with me to Scotland.

Now this is the story of the dog rescue part two.

In the last story,

Isla's house brownie friends Ingonuk and Kogi had gone out in the snowstorm to find Anfa,

The storm fairy,

Hoping that she would help them to find a little lost puppy in the snow called Spud.

When we last listened to the story,

Isla was at home and she was just hearing the tap tap on the glass of her window from Doreha the owl.

Isla opened up the window and the owl flew inside and perched atop her wooden headboard.

Doreha was a tawny owl that Isla had met before on her way to the Elfinhame.

She had ridden on Doreha's furry back as she had been made fairy size by the fairy queen Morven.

She looked at Doreha and smiled.

Then she noticed that he wasn't the only visitor to her room.

A little fairy slipped off his back and sat up on top of the headboard beside him,

Her fur boots dangling from the headboard.

Hello,

She said in a robust little voice,

Slightly deeper in sound than any of the other fairies Isla had heard speak before.

Isla guessed that this must be Anfa the storm fairy.

Anfa was wearing a fur hat made from a light brown fur donated to her by an ocelot she had made friends with in the Pyrenean mountains.

An ocelot is a type of wildcat,

Incredibly rare and elusive.

She had two white blonde pigtails,

Which were almost invisible against the white fleece coat that she wore.

On her feet were thick canvas boots tied in a crisscross pattern with twine and finished with dangling pom poms from fur given to her by a kind mountain hare.

The pom poms on her boots were both brown and white in colour as the mountain hare,

Which is slightly bigger than a rabbit,

Is a master of camouflage.

In summer,

Their fur coat is a grey brown colour,

Which helps them blend into the Scottish moorland.

But in winter,

The fur of the hare changes to white to camouflage them in the snow and only the tips of their little ears stay black.

Hello,

Isla replied to Anfa.

It's so nice to meet you.

She wondered for a second if she should offer her anything.

A hot chocolate perhaps?

Something to eat?

But then,

Dora the owl let out an urgent TOO!

Anfa patted his feathers as if to try and calm him before addressing everyone in the room with a nervous look on her face.

We have found the pup and we don't have much time to spare.

He stepped through the ice on the shore of the loch.

Then he went through.

Luckily he pulled himself out.

But now he's at risk of frostbite.

He's curled up,

Shaking and whimpering.

He needs us.

He needs you,

Isla.

Dora and I,

We tried to lift him,

But he was far too heavy.

Dora only lifts mice and voles,

You see.

And despite being strong for a fairy,

It was a hopeless task.

This is why we need you,

Isla.

Isla knew at once that she must help with the rescue.

After all,

Hadn't her little friends already put their lives on the line?

What to do about her mum,

Though?

She'd categorically told her to stay inside.

And Isla couldn't tell her mum and bring her on the mission because she knew nothing of the fairies or Dora.

Okay,

Isla said in a serious tone.

I'll try and sneak out.

Out of the front door,

You see,

But it's too risky for you,

Anfa,

Or Dora.

You can't come through the house in case my mum spots you.

You'll need to go back out the window and then I'll meet you outside.

If you're happy to,

You can lead me to Spud.

Yes,

Of course,

Said Anfa.

So Isla ran to the cupboard to put on her salopettes and ski jacket.

She'd have to somehow collect her boots at the front door without her mum seeing her.

Right,

Okay,

Ready to go,

Said Isla,

Heading over to the window.

A way to open it for Anfa and Dora.

You're not ready yet,

Piped up Cokie in a little voice.

Yeah,

Said Ingle Nook.

We need to come too.

Isla was torn.

Why risk our little fairy friends again when they could stay inside,

Warm and cosy?

But then again,

Hadn't they already proved themselves as worthy by finding Anfa in the first place?

Right,

Well,

Ingle Nook Cokie,

You don't really have any clothes.

The ones you last wore,

They're still drying.

How would you feel about popping into my pocket?

She zipped open the little pocket on the chest of her jacket.

The brownies smiled,

They eagerly nodded,

And then they flew up and they climbed inside.

She could hear them giggling and jostling for space.

Anfa was already waiting on Dora's back,

With a serious look on her face.

So Isla quickly opened the window,

And they took off across the room and back into the storm outside.

Now it was Isla's turn.

She needed to tip toe through the house,

Trying hard not to rub her legs together,

As the salopette she was wearing made quite a swishy sound when the fabric touched itself.

Luckily,

Her mum was baking in the kitchen,

With her back to the door and a rather staticky sound coming from the radio.

Isla guessed that her mum was probably listening to the local station for weather updates.

Isla unhooked her hat from the stand and slipped on her winter boots as quietly as possible.

Luckily,

They were the type that fasten with toggles instead of noisy velcro or laces,

And so she had them on in seconds,

And slowly undid the latch of the front door and pushed it open with her shoulder.

So far,

So good,

But unfortunately,

As she stepped outside,

The force of the wind caught the door and slammed it shut behind her.

Oh no,

Thought Isla.

Mum was bound to have heard that.

She hesitated for a second,

Not sure what to do,

But then Dora and Ampha swooped into view,

And she knew that she had no other choice but to go.

She slipped on her mittens from inside her jacket pocket,

One at this time at her waist,

Not where the fairies were tucked away in her chest.

She started to run through the wind and the thick snow,

With massive snowflakes hitting her head and face and landing on her eyelashes.

She was determined to never let Owl and Ampha get further than a metre ahead anymore,

And she was sure she would lose them.

The visibility was so poor,

Everything was so white.

Her heart was racing,

And she could feel it warm against where her fairy friends were nestled.

Are you okay,

Inconoog and Kogi?

She shouted through the wind.

Yes,

We are.

Keep going.

You're doing great,

She heard them cry.

Isla felt relieved as they approached the forest trail.

The snow wasn't quite as thick in here,

Due to the shelter from the tree canopy,

And the wind wasn't as biting on her nose and cheeks.

Ampha turned around on Dora's back,

Clearly checking on Isla,

Making sure she was still okay and with them.

She smiled at Isla,

And Isla gave her a thumbs up from her mittened hand.

It was clear from the look on Ampha's face that she was in her element out there.

A true adventurer,

Isla was determined not to let her or Spud down.

She continued to run as fast as she could through the forest,

Battling the snow and her cumbersome boots and sallopettes.

As they came to the edge of the forest,

Isla could see a wall of white in front of her.

This was the shore of the loch.

Usually,

The inky water would be in view by now,

But today it was totally obscured.

Dora seemed to speed up,

And Isla sensed that Spud the dog was probably nearby.

She used all of her willpower to push forward after the owl and storm fairy.

Dora then tipped down towards the ground,

And Isla thought she could just glimpse a tiny bit of brown in Dora's direction.

Spud!

She shouted as she too ran forward and dropped to the ground.

My goodness,

What a sorry state he was in,

His fur matted with snowballs,

Lying there shaking on the snowy ground.

She opened up her jacket,

Making sure that Cogie and Inglenook didn't get squashed,

And she put Spud inside,

Close to her chest,

Hoping that her warmth would be transmitted to him before she sipped it up and got back to her feet.

She shouted to Aunt Fandora,

Farmer Willie,

He'll know what to do.

I've seen him warm up lambs before,

In the raga.

It's a kind of heater,

Common in farmhouses.

Can you lead me there?

I'm worried I'll get lost.

Dora made a kiii-wik sound and Anfa confirmed that he knew where it was.

Again,

The group took off into action.

Anfa on the owl's back,

Isla on foot.

Inglenook and Cogie tucked in her pocket and now Spud inside her jacket.

They went back through the forest,

This time off to the right,

Down the farm track beside the hedge grow.

Isla panting heavy now,

She could hardly run to keep up with the owl.

She had one arm tucked under her tummy to ensure that the puppy didn't fall out of the bottom of her jacket.

Kind Dora regularly stopped and hovered as best he could,

Being battered by the wind and snow,

Giving Isla the chance to catch up.

Eventually,

The large sheds of the farm came into sight.

It was clear Dora knew now that they were at the farm and didn't want to get spotted by the farmer,

So he circled three times in the air,

As if to indicate to Isla,

We're here,

We're here,

We're here.

And then she could see Anfa's tiny hand waving at her before they took off back towards the forest.

Isla waved too and shouted through the wind,

Thank you.

She spoke to Inglenook and Cogie then in a shaky voice with caught words.

She was so out of breath.

We're at the farm.

You must stay hidden.

Do you understand?

She heard the brownies confirming that yep,

They understood.

They would stay in her pocket.

And she ran to the farmhouse door,

Throwing herself inside.

Today was really not the day for good manners and waiting to knock.

It was an emergency.

She shouted out,

Willie,

Morag,

I've got spud.

She heard a clatter of feet and the farmer and his wife running into the kitchen.

She unzipped her jacket,

Shaky hands,

And a worried looking Willie pulled out the pup.

He lay him on the farmhouse table.

There he was shaking and making a tiny,

Tiny whimper.

He was checking him over as Morag quickly pulled on the cords to lower the wooden clothes here that was above the aga.

Oh,

I think his ears and paws are a bit frostbitten said Willie.

Let's wrap him up.

Morag,

When you can get them towels,

Pass them over.

But don't rub him.

That's the worst thing for frostbite.

It could damage them more.

Morag passed the warm towels from the aga and she and Willie carefully wrapped up spud like a wee parcel.

And then Morag went over to pop a load of fleecy blankets into the warming oven.

Willie,

With such tender care,

Carried spud over and lay him into the fleecy blankets in the warming oven.

Will he be okay?

Said Isla,

Shakily.

To be honest,

I'm not too sure lass,

Said Willie.

He's got mighty cold out there.

But we've saved many a lamb on the farm this way.

I'm going to phone the vet in a wee minute.

But first,

I think we need to call your mum and let her know that you're here.

Oh,

Then you're gonna have to explain all about how you came to rescue wee spud here.

It's quite a turn I must say.

Isla blushed a bit.

But no one would have seen for her cheeks were already so ruddy from the cold.

Morag phoned over to Isla's mum.

And Isla could hear a lot of hmm,

I'm not really sure.

And honestly,

I'm as surprised as you are.

Before she told her mum that Willie would take her back home in his four by four.

That's the only way someone would be getting through this snow.

But then Morag gave a chuckle and said,

Well,

The only way unless you're Isla of course.

Morag then returned to Isla smiling.

Oh,

Your mum's been worried daft.

But to be honest,

I think secretly,

She's pretty proud of you.

We all are.

Willie's gonna take you home after he's spoken to the vet.

But while we're waiting,

I think you deserve this.

She went over to the kitchen counter and fat fetched a glass bell with delicious looking carrot cake underneath.

Isla could tell it was carrot cake,

Her favourite because it had a thick cream cheese topping decorated with little fondant carrots.

She knew that Morag was a fantastic baker.

She would win all the baking competitions at the different country shows.

She opened up the bell lid and cut a huge slice of cake for Isla,

Popping it onto a plate and passing it over with a cup of milk.

Oh my goodness.

It was heavenly.

But then Isla became conscious of her wee fairy friends in her pocket who were missing out.

Morag,

This is so yummy.

But can I save some in a napkin for later?

She asked politely.

Morag chuckled.

No need for that dear.

I'm putting the whole thing in a tin for you.

You can take it home as a reward for rescuing our dear Spud.

And talking of Spud,

Look,

He's raising his wee head now.

Sure enough,

The warmer door was open and Spud had raised his little head and was looking at them with quite bright little eyes.

Oh,

I think he's going to be grand,

Said Morag.

He's a tough wee fella,

Our Spud.

With that,

Will you return to the kitchen?

And looked pleased as punch to see Spud there with his head up,

Looking brighter already.

Morag handed the cake tin to Isla and thanked her for being such a wee star.

Willie patted her shoulder and said,

Aye,

She's a proll lass,

So she is.

On the way home,

Isla gave Willie a slightly short version of how she came to rescue Spud.

Omitting to mention anything about Coogee or Ingle Nook or the most awesome storm fairy that had been riding on the back of a tawny owl,

Searching for Spud.

She almost felt a tad embarrassed taking any of the glory for saving Spud when her friends were never going to get the recognition for all that they did that day.

However,

She was glad that when she got home,

After apologising to her frantic mum,

That Ingle Nook and Coogee could get their share of the reward cake.

And luckily,

The very next day,

The storm had died down and the sun shone on the snow and she was able to go back down to the woods with Ingle Nook and Coogee as her guide and find Anfa and deliver her some cake.

And not forgetting a slice for Dora had too.

And so it was,

After that adventurous day,

That she had a new friend,

A majestic and fearless storm fairy.

And of course,

A friend in Spud the dog,

Who turned out to be absolutely fine from his dangerous mishap.

And Spud grew to love Isla more than any other human he knew.

Farmer Willie might have been his owner,

But his doggy heart belonged truly and utterly to Isla and the fairies,

Of course.

Now,

I hope you have enjoyed this story and can imagine what it must be like to be cooed up warm in some furry blankets with the snow falling outside.

You might even like to imagine that you have a puppy just like Spud curled up on your lap and you're stroking its velvety ears as it sleeps soundly.

Sweet dreams from Scotland.