Here's Sam, looking back on how it all began! Read the first chapter of SAM'S STORY right here, right now. The rest of his book will be available FREE on Amazon very soon.
1
ARRIVAL – And The Great Escape
It was the house that drew us to Gower. I suppose that with its white
walls, grey slate roof and lattice windows it’s more of a cottage. Not that
this little detail matters. The fact is that Westwinds brought us from
Dorset to a special Welsh peninsula.
When we moved here we had no idea
what lay in store. We had not yet felt the onslaught of storms that would
buffet our home frenziedly from across the moors separating us from the
Atlantic Ocean. We hadn’t had close encounters with wild ponies. We’d never
experienced gigantic waves that could lift us up bodily and carry us out to
sea.
We hadn’t lived as we’ve
lived since arriving.
Who are we? Sam is a very distinctive Bearded Collie. As this story is
his he will be telling it, with some input from me. All I need to say about
myself is that I had the good sense to adopt him. Or did he do the adopting?
Born in Axminister, Devon, Sam’s birth
name was Tangledown Mungojerrie. When I went to meet his breeder and see the
seven-week old puppies with their mother, it was Sam who immediately rushed
over to greet me. One look at him was enough: I had fallen in love.
Oh, the thrill of collecting that
small bundle of black and white fur the following week and taking him home to
Dorset, where he settled in quickly! And it didn’t seem to unsettle him when
within days we were in my VW Beetle heading for a new life in west Wales.
As I was soon to learn, Sam’s a born
adventurer. He’s endlessly curious – endlessly ready to explore. So a new life
suited him ideally and he wasted no time in beginning his explorations.
Here’s Sam to tell you just how he
began, shortly after our arrival in Westwinds’ front drive:
Mum said “Stay in the car and I’ll be back for you in a minute.” The thing is, I don’t know what a minute is. And it looks more interesting out there than in here. So I think I’ll go where she’s gone.
But there’s a problem.
She shut her door and I can’t work out how to open it. I’m behind the big
steering wheel after jumping from my seat to hers, and I’m finding the door
handles a bit puzzling.
I push one, then the
other, with my paw. Nothing happens. There’s a little window, though, that’s half-open.
I try to reach it – and fall onto the floor. So I need to re-think this.
Up on Mum’s seat again,
I put both my front paws on the wheel. Now I’m taller than before and can see
what’s needed …
With a big leap, I
suddenly have all four paws spread across the wheel and can just about reach
the window. Trouble is, I’ve no spare paw for pushing the window wider – and I
don’t feel too safe up here.
Oops, now I’ve
crash-landed back on the floor! That’s a setback and I’m feeling a bit bruised.
No worries. A bruise or two won’t stop me.
Back on Mum’s seat, I
take another big leap. This time I’m happier up on the wheel and can practise
balancing on three paws so that I can use the fourth to push the window. There
– that’s done! Now I just need to propel myself through the gap and …
Help, I’m airborne!
Maybe I’m flying like the birds I’ve seen. No, I don’t seem to be. The ground’s
rushing up towards me. Thump.
That wasn’t funny. But
no harm done – and now I’m outside, like Mum. Except that she isn’t here. Or,
if she is, I can’t see her. Where can she be?
Wherever she is, I’ll
find her. I must, as I’m quite hungry. Maybe she’s on the other side of this
house I can see. I run past it into a garden where the grass is much taller
than me.
After the grass there
are some trees and then there’s some brown stuff. What is it?
I try digging. This is
good fun.
“Sam, Sam … where are
you, Sam?”
That’s Mum’s voice
calling me, and it sounds a bit panicky. I’d better go and check why she’s
panicking.
I run round to the
front drive, where I find her standing by the car. She looks worried … and
puzzled. So I scamper up and give her knee a nudge.
“Oh, there you
are – and covered in mud! What have you been doing – and how on earth did you
get out of the car? You surely couldn't have climbed through that tiny
triangular window - could you?”
Uncertain as to whether
Mum is happy or mad with me I look up at her and wag my tail.
That has the right
result. She smiles, saying: “Perhaps you did climb through it. If you did, I think I’d better re-name you Houdini. Well, Sam,
are you ready for tea in our new home?”
In we go. I can see
immediately that there’s plenty of exploring for me to do. As I run from room
to room, I notice there are stairs too.
I like the look of
stairs and wonder what’s up there. So I climb them and find more rooms – one
with something that has water in it. I can’t reach the water with my back paws
still on the floor, so I jump in.
What on earth can Sam be doing? The oddest sounds are coming from above
the kitchen, where I’m preparing a makeshift tea with utensils and food I’ve
brought with me. My furniture won’t be arriving till tomorrow.
I didn’t even know Sam could climb stairs. I suppose that’s because I
didn’t give him the run of the house back home.
Suddenly registering which room is above the kitchen, I rush up to him.
And there he is – stuck in the toilet bowl while struggling valiantly but
unsuccessfully to get out!
“Yes, we do need to wash all that mud off,” I tell him,
transferring him swiftly into the neighbouring bathroom and making a mental
note always to keep the lavatory door closed. “I just wasn’t expecting
bath-time to arrive before I was ready.”
He looks up at me so innocently that I’ve no inkling of the dramas and
challenges he’ll be bringing me in the days ahead.
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