delivering biscuits

My friends Ruffy and Points were arrested on a demonstration.

They’d glued themselves to the pavement, in protest against investment in fossil fuels.

The police took them away still stuck to the paving stone.

I’m worried that they may be anxious and hungry, so I packed up some biscuits and took them down to the Police Station.

There were several Police Officers at the front desk.

At first they pretended not to notice me, although I’d seen them looking at me, and laughing to each other.

It can be hard for a small furry person, trying to engage with the world of Law and Order.

I felt proud of knowing his height. It had been discussed when he was borrowing some clothes from my sister Jenny.

Oh dear oh dear.

I think the officer was teasing me by asking all those questions, and then talking about puddings.

I hope I haven’t let out things that Ruffy and Points would prefer to have kept to themselves.

I’m sure these are perfectly nice Police Officers.

The problem is that they’re used to thinking of furry people as less than human.

Of course it’s all right to laugh at a Thing. They didn’t realise that I am not a Thing.

I was nearly crying.

But as I was leaving, the Officer must have taken pity on me.

I hurried out after the other Officer and saw her get into a police van.

I ran and jumped on to the van’s back bumper. There wasn’t much to cling on to.

Luckily I did some hitch-hiking in my younger days, so I know the trick of staying on a bumper.

You have to relax, lean into the van, and go with the bumps.

It started to rain, which made everything rather slippery. I nearly fell off several times.

At last we came through some very secure gates, and the van stopped.

I noted that the gap under the gates was big enough to allow me back out once I’d accomplished my mission.

Now my task was to discover where Ruffy and Points were being held.

I realised I’d been acting rather impulsively.

I didn’t know how I was going to find them, or what I should do when I did find them.

I’ve never been to a prison before. This is quite a large one.

After my experience at the Police Station, I felt cautious about taking the official route.

Instead I wandered round, peering in through several of the windows.

It’s nice that the prison has a Games Room. Ruffy and Points can enjoy playing ping-pong or Ludo with the other prisoners.

Or perhaps not ping-pong if they’re still attached to the paving stone.

But I didn’t seem to be able to find the right window.

I couldn’t see anyone inside who might tell me where Points and Ruffy were.

Eventually I plucked up courage to knock on one of the doors.

I braced myself for another difficult conversation.

But the door was opened so quickly that I was taken by surprise, and couldn’t say anything at all.

I put down my parcel of biscuits and ran.

I hope the Prison Officers read the label on the parcel and will give it to Ruffy and Points.

After that, I made my way home.

It was a long walk.

I had intended to take some of the biscuits round to little Strawberry.

She’s always very helpful, and generous with the vegetables that she grows in her garden.

But after I got home from the prison I didn’t have the energy for any more outings.

I did notice that the cuckoos were rather excited.

I couldn’t understand what they were trying to tell me.

Perhaps it’s time for them to set off on their annual journey to warmer climes.

In May they sing all day, in June they change their tune, in July away they fly, and it’s already September.

After a nap I’ll climb up and see if communication is easier at closer quarters.

No good worrying about it now. I can’t keep my eyes open.