St James’s Park is one of the Royal Parks,’ Amy said, slowly. ‘So I guess they belong to the Queen.’
The Queen had very peculiar taste in pets, I couldn’t help but think.
‘The first pelicans here were presented to King Charles II in 1664 by the Russian Ambassador.’ We all looked at Jack in surprise, and he held up his phone. ‘The power of the internet. Now, come on, it’s freezing! What’s next?’
‘We’ve seen the pelicans – let’s go see if we can catch a glimpse of their owner,’ Amy suggested. ‘I read in the paper this morning that she was heading out from the Palace later today. You never know – we might get lucky.’
I wasn’t sure how lucky it would really be to meet the owner of those terror-birds, but Claire hopped up and down on the spot, clapping her hands, so maybe I was missing something.
We trotted along the length of the lake, towards the edge of the park. Amy didn’t put me back on my lead, which I appreciated. I stayed close anyway – at least, until I was sure we were out of sight of the pelicans.
This was one park I decided I could live without visiting again. I much preferred our own, local park, with all the people and dogs we knew, and some nice, plump squirrels for chasing.
At the far end of the park, we saw a mass of people, gathered around a set of railings. There was lots of chatter, filling the frozen air, and Amy hurried us all across a wide road. I tried to look around, to get my bearings, but all I could really see was legs – thin legs, thick legs, legs in heavy dark trousers and boots, or in jeans or tights. Legs everywhere, blocking my view.
‘The gate’s opening!’ Claire cried, and suddenly the three of them rushed to get closer to the railings up ahead. I stuck with them, weaving through legs to make sure I didn’t lose them.
‘Come on, Henry,’ Jack said, glancing down at me.
I still wasn’t on my lead, I realised, but the Walkers were far too busy peering out through the crowd to think about that now.
Suddenly, the noise levels rose again. Through the legs, I could see a motorcycle leaving the gates, its lights flashing. Behind it, a long black car, also with lights, followed – and as it came past, cheers and shouts rang in my ears as the crowd went wild – it was worse than on Bonfire Night. I shrunk back, but there were more legs behind me, and the noise was everywhere, so loud I couldn’t escape it.
But I had to. I wanted to dive under my cushion into my basket at home. I wanted to snuggle up with my mouse toy. I wanted Jack to pet my head and tell me that everything would be quiet soon.
I knew it wouldn’t though. London had been loud all day – from the train to the crowds at the Winter Wonderland, to the squawks of the pelicans as they were fed their fish. But this crowd was the worst, and I needed to get away from it.
Whining, just a little, I backed away, fighting my way past the legs and the noise to reach the back of the crowd. I could wait for the Walkers there – they’d find me in no time once this was over.
Behind all the people the racket was a little less, but I still wanted to put my paws over my ears and hide from it all. I ran a little further, just to be safe, until I reached a patch of greenery I could hide in. As I pressed back into it, a large, fat pigeon hopped past. I studied it carefully, distracting myself from the noise by imagining how I’d catch it. The sounds of the crowd faded as I focused on my prey.
The bird, unaware it was being hunted, hopped closer. And closer again. Until I could almost …
At exactly the right moment, I lunged forward – and the pigeon flapped up into the sky in a panic. I watched, as it flew over the bush I was hiding in, landing on the other side.
Too easy.
The bush was even denser than the forest of legs, but so much quieter, and less inclined to stand on my paws. I pushed through the branches, pausing only for a second when I came up against two tall metal bars in the middle of the greenery, which wouldn’t give way to my shoving.
Instead, I angled my head between them, wiggling my shoulders to fit through, followed by my back, my rear and my hind legs.
I shot out the other side with a pop, brushing through the last of the branches in time to see the pigeon hopping off towards a patch of grass on the other side.
The chase was on.
Pigeons are truly stupid birds. It never seems to occur to them that if they just flew high enough, or far enough away, I wouldn’t be able to catch them at all. Instead, they get all flappy for a few moments, hovering in mid-air, then land again a short run away.
Like I said: stupid. But it does make the game more fun.
I dashed after the bird, barking happily. The loud cheering and shouting was almost inaudible from in here – where was I, anyway? It looked like another park, like the one with the pelicans, with lots of trees and greenery. That was okay, then. Parks were always a good place for dogs, and the Walkers would be sure to find me here once they’d finished doing whatever it was they were doing by the gates. After all, it wasn’t like I’d gone very far.
Eventually, the pigeon had enough sense to fly up into a tree, and stay there, but I didn’t mind. It just meant I could spend some time exploring this new park – while keeping an eye out for pelicans, of course.
I had a marvellous time investigating the pathways and the flowerbeds, the trees and the bushes. But after a while, even I had to admit my paws were tired. And, even worse, it was starting to grow dark. Hadn’t Amy said something about dinner? Yes, that when it got dark we’d all go to look at some lights, somewhere called Oxford Street, and have a nice dinner.
I didn’t want to miss that.
Yawning, I trotted back the way I’d come, heading back through the falling gloom, towards the big building the Walkers had been standing outside – what was it Amy had called it? The Palace. Buckingham Palace. Although, I had to admit, it looked a little different from this angle. No big gate and railings, for a start. But still, it was the same place, so the Walkers had to be around here somewhere, right?
Except there were no crowds on this side of the Palace. No guards with those funny hats. No people at all, actually.
I stopped, closer to the Palace than I’d remembered us getting from the other side. I just needed to find a way around, that was all. Back to the Walkers. I’d squeezed through a bush, hadn’t I? So I just needed to do that again.
If only I could remember which bush.
‘What are you doing out here?’ A grumpy voice behind me made me hop with surprise. I spun around so fast I almost caught my stumpy tail, and saw a man in a dark suit and a white shirt glowering at me. ‘You must be the new one, I suppose. I thought Her Majesty was taking you with her, but apparently not. No, you’ll just get to run around here, getting under everyone’s feet and having little “accidents” and we’ll all have to pretend we love you. Just like the other three. Honestly. I thought there weren’t going to be any new Palace pets, any more. But no, couldn’t resist a corgi in need, could she?’ He sighed, and opened a door to the Palace. ‘I suppose it’s not your fault. Come on. Let’s get you back where you belong.’
My ears perked up at the last part. The bit about Her Majesty and accidents made no sense at all, but getting
