The Bomber Dog by Megan Rix Read Free Book Online Page B

lot.
You’ll be reporting to me from now on.’
    Nathan looked down at Grey, hardly able
to believe what was happening. Could it really be possible that they weren’t
going to be separated after all?
    ‘Right, sir,’ he grinned. He
couldn’t think of a better way to spend the war than with Grey by his
side.
    ‘Get in, then,’ the colonel
said as they left the station. He pointed to the back of the jeep that he’d
driven Grey in so that he could be there when he told Nathan the news.
    Nathan climbed in and Grey immediately
jumped in too and gave Nathan’s face a lick once he’d sat down and was
at the right level for him to do so.
    ‘It’ll be hard work,
mind,’ Lieutenant Colonel Richardson said as they drove back to the War Dog
Training School. ‘You’ll beexpected to do your basic
training on top of your dog handling.’
    ‘That’s OK,’ Nathan
smiled. It’d be more than worth it if it meant that he and Grey could stay
together.
    ‘And make sure you massage his
ears, especially the base of them,’ the colonel added. ‘They should both
be standing up by now, not one up and one down.’
    ‘Yes, sir.’
    In a few minutes they were back at the
school and Nathan and Grey climbed out of the jeep.
    The colonel watched Grey as he headed
off with Nathan. The dog had a lot of potential and with the boy handling him he was
sure they could go far. They looked like they were already a team, definitely so as
far as the dog was concerned, and he was the one that counted most. Nathan would get
far more from him than even their most experienced handlerscould,
because Grey would want to do all that Nathan asked of him.
    There was a lot of secret reconnaissance
work needed prior to the D-Day mission to free France and the colonel was on the
lookout for a dog that could parachute into France with his handler. Most dogs
wouldn’t be suitable and it would demand absolute trust in Nathan from the
dog. But Grey just might be one of those rare dogs they were seeking and for covert
work it helped that Nathan looked much younger than his age and might not be
immediately identified as a soldier if they were unlucky enough to be caught.
    ‘Welcome to the team,’
Michael said, coming to join them. He slapped Nathan on the back as Grey wagged his
tail, and they headed back to the kennel area together.
    All the dog kennels had chains attached
to them because the army couldn’t have the dogs wandering about as they
pleased, unsupervised.This also prevented any dog fights. Nathan
clipped the chain to Grey’s collar and followed Michael over to the
soldier’s barracks.
    Grey whined as Nathan left him. He tried
to follow him but the chain stopped him. He sat down, then lay down and then finally
stood up again, fretfully.
    There were hundreds of new smells and
new sounds to take in all around him. But he was only interested in getting Nathan
back.
    A short while later Nathan did come back
and brought with him a tin bowl full of corned beef, vegetables and dog biscuits. He
placed the food in front of Grey who gobbled it all up eagerly and then had a long
drink of water.
    Once he’d finished eating, Nathan
took Grey for a walk around the camp to give him some extra lead-walking practice
before his assessment the next day. Michael and a Border collie called Topper, who
had also arrived that day and was going to be assessed too, came to join them.
    ‘Try varying your
pace,’ Michael suggested to Nathan. And Nathan did, sometimes running and
sometimes walking slowly. Grey thought this was a great new game as he matched his
pace to his friend’s.
    Michael showed Nathan how to give a hand
signal when he wanted Grey to go to the left or to the right. Grey soon got the idea
of what he was supposed to do.
    ‘You’re a quick learner,
dog,’ Nathan told him, and Grey wagged his tail.
    ‘He is indeed one smart
dog,’ Michael agreed. ‘Can he stay if you tell him to?’
    Nathan didn’t know.
‘Sit,’ he said, and Grey obediently sat.