A Little Bit of This…
By: Remy Dean
Tags: Short Story, Bedtime Stories, Fairy Tale, Dogs, Fairytalesforkids

Was it Just One of Nanna Ivy’s Fairy Stories?

The girls were soon sitting comfortably in the neat little living room. A tray of snacks and drinks was laid out on the polished table-top before them. Scrufty, the injured dog they were nursing back to health, had settled down on the hearth rug. Carla had expected Rietta’s Nanna Ivy, to bring out a book of Fairy Tales to read from, but instead she simply stared into the air over their heads for a few moments, chin resting lightly on the fingers of one hand, eyes unfocussed as she brought the story to mind. Then she settled back into her favourite armchair and looked at the girls in turn before asking, ‘Shall I begin?’

They both said she should. So she did:

‘One day, once upon a time, two little girls were out walking. They were sisters and had been gathering berries in the woods, and on their way back home they saw something in the long grass. To start with, it looked like an old coat with red lining. Now, a coat, in those days, was a prized possession, you would not just leave it lying around — if someone had lost it, then they would be most grateful for its return and if the owner could not be found, then it could keep you warm and cozy in the cold nights.

‘Either way, it was something that they could not pass by. But as they went nearer to investigate, they saw that the coat was made of white fur and the red was blood. Now they became fearful thinking that they may have found the site of a terrible accident, or perhaps something even more terrible, a murder… but they soon realised that they were looking down on an injured dog. Not just any dog, mind you, but what might have been a fine hound, perhaps a nobleman’s dog.

‘Now, back then, it was forbidden for a peasant to talk to a nobleman, or to merely touch a nobleman’s dog. If you did, you could be flogged, or put in the stocks, or even taken to the gallows hill.’

Rietta asked, ‘What, exactly, is a ‘gallows hill’?’

‘Well… Remember, this story is from long ago, when the law was harsh and cruel. You could be hanged for stealing bread, even if your family were starving, so most towns had a hill where they built a gallows to hang people.

‘So, if the dog had been dead, then that would have been that and they would have walked away, perhaps reporting it to the burgomaster later… but just as they turned to leave, the dog let out a whine of distress. It was not dead and it needed their help. So they decided they had to take it back to their village and see if they could care for it and make it better. So between them they managed to carry the heavy hound –’

‘How did they manage?’ Rietta wanted to know.

‘We had to go and get a wheelbarrow,’ added Carla.

‘They were peasant girls,’ Nanna explained, ‘So they were used to carrying heavy things — buckets from the well and from the milking sheds, big bundles of firewood on their backs, sacks of vegetables to the market — and that was miles away… Anyway, with some difficulty, because the dog was barely alive and so it was very floppy, they managed to carry it between them — they were putting it down every so often for a rest when their muscles got tired. But they eventually got it back to their farmstead. They got some straw from the stable and made a bed out of an old crate near to their fireplace to keep it warm that night. They knew a little bit about sick animals, from growing up on their little farm, and they knew the dog may not ever wake up again…

‘In the morning, though, it was still alive and even opened its eyes. But it could do no more than that… One of the little girls ate only half her oats for breakfast and took her bowl over. She placed it an inch away from the poor doggy’s nose and it just managed to lap up some of the porridge. Her sister filled her bowl with water and held that steady for the dog to take a long and much needed drink…’

Carla made a little interrupting noise and asked, ‘Where are their mum and dad?’

‘Their parents were away for a few days, having taken the geese to market, miles away in the nearest big town — there were not any cities anywhere near, but if they were lucky, they could catch the drovers in the big town and sell their geese to be driven hundreds of miles more to the big city…’

‘Driven?’ Rietta smiled at her own question, ‘– like in a car?’

The girls giggled and Nanna Ivy chuckled, ‘Did you know,’ she asked, ‘that the boys who drove the geese down to London used to fill their boots with lard — pork fat?’

‘Eww!’ said Carla wrinkling her nose, ‘– why would they do that?’

Rietta answered, ‘So all the dogs would follow them!?’

There was more giggling and chuckling.

‘Yes,’ Nanna Ivy chuckled too, ‘– that may well have been a consequence! But, can you think what the real reason was?’

Carla tried to look serious, ‘So, if they ran out of food they could fry their shoes?’

‘No…’ Nanna smiled, but did not chuckle, in case that had not been meant as a joke.

Rietta nudged Carla with an elbow and added, ‘Make the shoes waterproof?’

Nanna nodded, ‘Yes, that was one of two main reasons… the fat would make the shoes waterproof and also all squishy-squashy and slippery and, so…’ She arched her brows questioningly at the girls awaiting their best guess.

Carla blurted out, ‘Stop them getting blisters!’

‘That’s right, on such a long walk with tough old leather boots that probably did not fit too well, they would get very sore feet from damp and rubbing, the fat helped against both those problems.’

‘As well,’ added Rietta with a smirk, ‘as helping them to make friends with all the dogs.’

‘Yes,’ Nanna conceded, ‘and probably that too.’

Carla wanted the story to continue, ‘So, what about the two girls, home alone with the sick dog?’

‘Well, yes. Hmm…’ Nanna Ivy paused for effect, ‘They were very caring and made sure the dog ate little and often, had plenty of fresh water to drink, and because it could not walk, they had to clean up after it too…

‘They got out their father’s fishing line and managed to catch one fairly good trout, which they boiled up. You know what, even though they were hungry and would have liked to eat the fish themselves, they realised that the dog needed some good meat if it was to get better, so they carefully removed all the little bones, contenting themselves with the occasional suck of a fishy finger. And what did they do with the fish?’

Carla knew, ‘They gave the fish to the dog for its dinner.’

Rietta had heard the story before and added a line she could recall, ‘– which it wolfed down with gusto!’

‘Exactly what they did — yes.’ Nanna patted her thighs with her flat hands for emphasis, ‘Then, they added some turnip and onion to the water they had boiled it in and made a surprisingly tasty and nutritious soup for themselves.

‘This went on for many days. They cared for the dog every spare moment, which were few and far between, because, with their parents away, they still had all the chores to do in running their farmstead. Cleaning out chicken coops, mucking out the pig, feeding all the animals, and milking the cows and the smelliest, biggest and ickiest job of all, cleaning the cattle yard and cowshed. It took them most of their days and whenever they got the chance they checked on the dog and tempted it with more and more food. In the nights, after the fire died down and it was dark, they would even lay down next to the dog to keep it warm.

‘Soon the dog rewarded their hard work and kindness with a wag of the tail and a lick of the hands when they fed it… and a few days later it stood up and could walk on its own four legs to its food and water bucket…’

Carla asked, ‘What had they called the dog?’

‘Ah, yes, a name for the dog? Mmm…’ Nanna put her fingertips to her chin as if in thought, tapping her lips with a forefinger, then gestured to the girls, ‘Well… What would you have called the dog?’

The girls both glanced down at the relaxed dog near the hearth, ‘Can it be named…’ began Rietta before meeting Carla’s eyes. They smiled and said in unison, ‘Scrufty?’

Scrufty looked up at the sound of his new name being used. He looked from face to face for a moment before letting his fuzzy chin drop back to rest on his fore-paws.

‘So, with the tender loving care of the two sisters,’ Nanna continued, ‘Scrufty soon got stronger and, in no time at all, was running about their farm, chasing the chickens and wanting the girls to throw sticks. Soon, all its scars had healed and nice white fur grew so that the only pink left to see was the inside of its big, proud ears. One of its favourite things to do, though, was to roll in the mucky cattle yard until it was not white anymore, but an icky stinky brown!’

‘Eeww!’ chorused both girls with glee.

Nanna nodded down at the real Scrufty where he lay listening, ‘Don’t go getting any ideas now.’

‘Actually, it was not too bad, though,’ she continued, ‘the girls just had to walk Scrufty down to the river and keep throwing a stick to get him to go in and out of the water over and over again, until the river washed him all clean and white again.

‘Then, one morning the girls woke up to the sound of Scrufty barking outside and so they were up and out before they finished yawning to see what it was. What they saw was a group of three people standing outside their house.

‘They were all strangers, and they could tell straight away that there was something special about them. There was a man and two young women. They were all very long and tall and thin and dressed in shiny fine clothes, and even though the only way to reach the farmstead was down the muddy track, their boots were gleaming like new and there was not a speck of mud anywhere on their fancy clothes.

‘And… Scrufty was not barking at them to scare them away, he was wagging his tail and leaping with joy. He obviously knew these strangers and was very happy to see them. The man, who was the tallest of the three, and very handsome, bent down to make a fuss of the dog and Scrufty slobbered on his hands and even managed to lick his smiling face.



‘Because Scrufty acted like that, the girls weren’t afraid of the strangers, though they realised that they should have been — because it did not take them long to work out that these were no ordinary people. They were so tall, to start with! The man’s hair was a gleaming black that was so shiny it actually looked blue because it mirrored the sky. One of the girls had hair that shone like polished silver and the other had hair of pure gold. And they all had these big eyes that were the greenest green you’d ever seen. The girls knew that the strangers were ‘of the Fae’.’

‘Fairies!’ Carla and Rietta chorused, both sitting forward, hanging on every word.

‘And, not just any old fairies! The man stood up and introduced himself as a fairy prince and the women were, his sisters, both princesses… He explained that they had been searching the realm of the folk — that’s what they called us ‘normal’ people — looking for their best hunting dog who had got lost when it chased away one of the Cŵn Annwn…’

Carla asked, ‘Who are the Crooner Noons?’

‘The Cŵn Annwn are a pack of hounds from the underworld and Scrufty had bravely chased one away and through our world and right back to the underworld, but had obviously got hurt in the fight and collapsed before making it back home to their fairy fort.

‘Well the handsome fairy prince and his beautiful princess sisters were so pleased, that the girls had looked after their dog so well, that they thanked them and, being fairies offered to pay them back, not with money, but by granting them three wishes.

‘The Fairy prince said, “Thank you for looking after my favourite dog. You have done so well to make him better. To show my gratitude, I must do something for you in return. Now, I can smell your animals so strongly… I ask you, would like to have a cattle yard that never got soiled and never have to muck out the pigs ever again, never need to clean out filthy chicken coops?”

‘Well, of course this sounded good to the girls, but they had heard enough fairy stories to know that the Fae were tricksters and always set riddles to catch out the greedy and the lazy.

‘They whispered to each other for a moment and then they politely said, “No, thank you.”

‘Was it because if they never had to clean out the animals again,’ Carla pondered, ‘it would mean they wouldn’t have the animals anymore?’

‘Yes, a clean cattle yard meant no cows — and that meant no milk, and never mucking out the pigs meant no more little piglets to sell at market, no more bacon for hard winters — and of course, no chickens no eggs! Basically, it meant no more farm and quite probably starvation for the sisters and their family.’

‘So, the prince smiled an approving smile and said, “Well, then, perhaps my sisters can grant you a wish…”

Rietta suddenly sat forward in her chair and put the empty lemonade glass she had been cradling back onto the tray, ‘Oh,’ she whispered excitedly to Carla, ‘This wish bit’s new!’

Nanna continued, ‘The two princesses stepped forward and bowed to the girls and the first said, “I can grant you the wish you would make today…” and the second princess said, “Or, I can grant you the wish you would make tomorrow”.

‘Well the girls had to think hard about that — which wish would it be… Today’s wish or tomorrow’s?’

‘Well,’ Carla pondered, ‘They say tomorrow never comes…’

‘But,’ Rietta thought on, ‘They don’t know what tomorrow will bring and perhaps they would really need that wish for something really serious…’

Carla nodded, ‘Like if one of them gets ill and needs to be made better… or something like that.’

‘I bet,’ Rietta said, ‘That they wanted to wish that Scrufty would stay with them…’

‘But they can see how happy he is with his real owner…’ Carla reasoned.

Rietta knew that, ‘They mustn’t wish for anything that would be lazy or greedy to wish for…’

‘No,’ Carla was emphatic, ‘’cos the fairies would turn it round into something bad by interpreting it in some clever-clogs kinda way…’

Nanna was nodding slowly with a gentle smile on her lips as she followed the girls reasoning, ‘So?’ she asked, ‘Which wish would you two choose?’

The girls nodded in agreement and Rietta said, ‘Wish tomorrow.’

‘OK, then,’ Nanna picked up the story again, ‘So with that, the three fairies said farewell and walked away. The dog followed them with a wagging tail and although the girls were glad he had recovered and been reunited with his master, they felt very sad to see him go, especially as he did not hesitate or look back…’

‘As the fairies reached the road, the sun rose above the crest of the mountains and its golden light fell upon them and it seemed to shine right through them. At that moment, the dog turned around and barked his farewell. By the time the barks echoed back from the mountains, the dog and the three strangers had already faded away into the dawn…’

Nanna Ivy left a pause, eyeing the two girls and seeing that they obviously hoped there was more to come. Birdsong and muffled music drifted in through the kitchen from the open back door. She continued.

‘For the rest of the day, the girls did not say much — they were sad that Scrufty had to go, but they were also glad that they managed to make him better and that he was back with his master. They were also grateful to be cleaning out the animals — or rather they were grateful to have the animals to clean out, anyway.’

‘The next day, the girls got up and made themselves busy about their chores, trying not to feel sad even though they missed Scrufty a lot, and even with the cows mooing, the pigs squealing and snorting, and the chickens clucking around them, the little farm seemed quiet and a bit emptier, without the dog. But later that afternoon, they saw two people coming down the road — they recognised these two straight away –’

‘Their Mum and Dad!’ guessed Rietta.

Her Nan nodded, ‘And their parents had a tale to tell too!’

Rietta and Carla were both leaning forward, now, literally on the edge of the seats…

‘It seems that their parents had done well in town. They had got there in time to catch the drovers and got a very fair price for their geese from a rich merchant who paid them in gold coins.

‘They had been hurrying back, walking all day every day and making use of the daylight until it got too dark to see. But they had the feeling that someone was following them… and last night, bandits had caught up with them. They must have seen them get paid in gold and followed them, until they were far enough away from town to waylay them and steal it.

‘Now, their parents were brave and their father was a big strong man, but they were both unarmed and there were four bandits, two behind them with axes and two in front with knives. They knew from the look on the bandits’ faces that they were not going to ask nicely for the gold and leave. Because the bandits had not bothered to cover their faces, they knew the bandits were not worried about ever being recognised again, which meant they intended to kill them both. But just then something strange happened.

‘Suddenly, three strangers had appeared — they must have come out from among a nearby thicket — they were incredibly tall and dressed in fine clothes, and had a beautiful white hunting hound with them.

‘Now, these people were obviously really wealthy. With greedy eyes the bandits turned their attention to the three strangers — they were definitely worth robbing! But as the bandits turned, they changed. It was very dark by then, so it must have been a trick of the light, but as the four bandits raised their knives and axes to attack, they seemed to stretch and shrink all at once. Their legs grew crooked. Their heads stretched and their ears grew ridiculously long. They dropped their weapons as their hands became brown furred paws. And as their ears and limbs grew longer they also grew smaller, so that their clothes fell away from them… and, instead of four bandits, there were four rabbits on the road. They sat hunched in their piles of clothes, with twitching noses and frightened eyes. Because right there in front of them was a huge, hungry looking, hunting hound.

‘The rabbits turned tail and bolted off as fast as they could, with the big white dog chasing them into the darkness. Well the girls’ parents were stunned, as you can imagine, but they realised that even if it were just a trick of the light, those three beautiful strangers and their dog had just saved their lives. But when they searched the darkness to thank them, there was no sign of them at all. Just a faint echo as, somewhere in the distance, a dog barked…’

‘So, that was the wish they would have made!’ exclaimed Rietta, ‘– to have their parents back!’

Carla placed her empty glass back onto the tray, next to Rietta’s, and then slid off her chair to sit on the rug close to Scrufty, she gently stroked the top of his head and asked, a little sadly, ‘Did they ever see their Scrufty again?’

‘It’s not quite the end yet… is it Nanna?’ said Rietta, knowingly.

‘No — not quite… It turned out that, from then on, their cows gave the creamiest milk, and so their butter and cheeses became famous across the land, until word eventually reached the palace and the king put in a standing order for their famous cheeses. Their chickens laid the biggest, tastiest eggs every morning, without fail, even through the winter months — they always had enough to eat, and for baking, and plenty more for all their neighbours. And their pigs grew big and fat and had lots and lots of piglets. The farm prospered and the village became famous for its fine produce… and, no, they never saw the fairy dog again…’

Carla’s sadness ridged her brow for a moment, until Nanna Ivy continued.

‘But exactly one year later, to the day, since they had found the injured dog in that field, they were woken by a firm knock-knocking upon the farmhouse door. Their father opened the door but the girls could see that there was no one there. ‘Come and look,’ said their father, and the girls went to the door and saw, there on their step a little wicker-work basket lined with soft straw… and in the basket was a tiny puppy, with big puppy-dog eyes — and pure white fur and pink ears… and when it looked at them both, it wagged its little tail… as if it already knew them…’

Carla’s face had lit up, though her own big, dark eyes still seemed a little teary, ‘That was a wonderful story,’ she said, ‘Thank you for taking the time to tell us!’