James and the Fox

One of my regular customers, John Corden, has written a short story around the eclectic and sometimes mystical aspects of my shop.
John has graciously permitted me to publish it here.

James and the Fox

An Unknown World Story by John Corden

If, late on a day but before the day is gone, just after dinner and just before the shop is closing, you walk down through the bustle and pushing of mothers with prams and people shopping for biscuits and milk or a new dress and you arrive at the end of the mall, then you are nearly there.

Walk straight ahead, cross over the street and if the road turns gently to the right, then you are heading in the right direction.

You will now be in Main Road. It is not yet a main road, it is just the beginning, but it becomes one in time.

Don’t go too far or you might miss The Known World Bookshop.

It is not easy to miss, although the tiny street is easy to miss. If you have avoided that first trap it is easy to find the bookshop and your adventure is about to start.

Wait! One moment!

Before we start, are you the right age?

It is very important to have the right answer to this question because you might, if things work out properly, be about to embark upon an adventure.

You might ask, “What is the right age?” and I will tell you that it depends on what you want it to be. I will tell you soon.

No! That is not correct. You will need to work out for yourself if you are the right age.

Now, if that seems a little confusing, then you are in the correct place because all of your life you will learn that every time your age changes it is quite probable that you are at exactly the age that you need to be for what eventuates.

Can you see how the word ‘eventuate’ and the word ‘adventure’ have a lot in common? That is interesting, isn’t it?

You arrive at The Known World Bookshop.

The doorway to the shop is narrow but before you enter there are things to see in the front window.

There is a Spanish galleon and old bottles of medicine and next to an old lamp from an old car there is a small fish.

The door is not a great, huge double door to a huge bookshop that you could find on some huge boulevard. No! It is an ordinary door.

You do know this is a bookshop even though the sign doesn’t tell you. You know this in spite of the many things in the front window that are not books.

You know this because as you walk into the shop there are books crowded on shelves up to the roof and in shelves down to the floor, and sometimes even in piles on the floor.

You walk sideways down narrow crowded aisles.

Don’t be distracted by Salvador Dali who is an artist, if you didn’t know, who paints things like clocks that look as though they may have been dropped from tall buildings into a bowl of soup and stirred with a large wooden spoon and they’ve melted and stretched out of their normal shape and if you look up you’ll see Salvador is riding a camel across the ceiling, and there are owls and angels and buffaloes and, on a marble stand, a large black crow with a silver chain around its neck and a compass on a stand next to a brass globe of the world and ever so much more that I cannot say.

If you have come with an adult you might find that your adult has stopped and is looking at books.

But you can walk on and soon you will find a wonderful collection of storybooks for people just your exact age.

And if you can’t find the right book, then make sure you ask for help.

It is necessary to mention all of this because somehow or other you are going to learn that there is more to life than meets the eye.

Of course, anyone can see the quiet corner that is full of books for children.

In another corner there is an old man with a gentle smile on his face quietly dreaming of days gone by and women he should have loved.

There are serious books for serious people and when you have looked around, stop, and make sure you look up again at the ceiling with the flying camel that will have distracted you from seeing angels and butterflies and an old stuffed mannequin.

And the longer you stand and look the more you will see until your mother says that it is time and we must go.

But don’t go. Not yet. There is much more that I could tell you.

In the far corner opposite the children’s section where that old man with a gentle smile and memories still smiles, there seems to be a small narrow gap, and if you are of an enquiring mind you will go to the narrow gap because you need to know what there is to know, and if you squeeze through that narrow gap, perhaps you might find that there is even more to know than you could possibly have imagined.

For some strange reason, just being in this strange shop with all its strange objects will make you think strange questions. It is that sort of shop, and, believe me, there are not many of these sorts of shops left in the known world.

And there is a reason for that, but I’m not going to get into it with you now, because there are adventures waiting to be had.

I have a question for you. Would you be interested in an adventure?

It won’t take very long at all, but there are some rules first.

You will need to think carefully of your most special thing in the whole world – not a person, just a special toy, perhaps, or a book.

You need to think very carefully because you can’t go on an adventure without a ticket.
What is a ticket? A ticket must be something that you can hold in your hand and that you cherish. You may not be quite sure what I mean by ‘cherish’. I mean that it must be something you care about very, very much.

Let me clear things up, though, before we go too far. If you have come because you are wishing to have an adventure then be sure and let them know.

Do you want to know who they are? You will find out.

Let me ask you a question. Do you remember the name of this bookshop? If you do then we can continue. If you don’t then turn back the way you have come and read the sign at the front of the shop.

Have you got it? The Known World. Yes. Good.

Listen carefully. I am going to leave you now and you must make your own way. You are at the very back of the shop. You have passed the “Children’s” section with its apostrophe in the correct place and you have found a sign that tells you that downstairs there are books about conjuring and magic, about fashion and Egypt, about Agatha Christie and all manner of things that can’t fit on the shelves up here where you are.

Yes, I did say ‘downstairs’, because most people seem to miss the sign or they are, perhaps, a little too cautious about narrow steep stairways that go to places they didn’t even know existed.

So follow the arrow that shows you to the steep stairs that go down. If you are cautious then you will take a small tentative step.

And another.

And another until you arrive at the bottom of the stairs and there will be more shelves with more books.

If that is all you are here for then browse and if you find a book that you want, take it to the lady at the front counter upstairs and pay for it and go home and enjoy reading it.

But I will guess that you are intrigued by now and you will want to investigate more. If you are still here for an adventure, go as far as you can to the very back, where, in italics and Bookman Old Style font, there is a sign that says:

The Unknown World

That’s right. You can see the difference can’t you?

When you came in the front door that opens off Main Road with your mother, or your aunt or your grandfather, you were intrigued by the name of the shop.

Upstairs you were in the Known World Bookshop. Yes. Look at this new sign printed in italics and Bookman Old Style font.

It shows a doorway to The Unknown World.

It is quite hard to see that this is a door. The door is smaller than usual; it is probably only meant for children. Actually I can say that it is definitely not meant for adults so that might be reassuring for some of you.

Do you know what adventure means? It means going to an unknown world and finding out what happens when you get there.

So if you are interested in adventure and you find a door with a sign saying The Unknown World then you could very well assume that this is the right place to be.

Now, try very hard to be brave.

Knock on the door and wait. The door will open and you will be told what you have to do.

– The Fox –

I am now going to tell you about a boy called James who did everything that I have just explained and he came back and told me. This is his story and maybe it will encourage some others of you to step bravely down the stairs at the Known World Bookshop.

James Daniel Johnston was an inquisitive boy, but shy.

One day when he was not feeling very well, and he definitely did not feel well enough to go to school, he went with his mother to the Known World Bookshop because his mother wanted to fill in a bit of time.

You know what is going to happen don’t you? I have already told you, but James doesn’t know so don’t say a word; let him find out for himself because he is not always brave and he is not always sure of himself and if he can learn things for himself he might just learn to be a little bit brave all on his own.

James followed his mother from shelf to shelf but very soon he was distracted by all the strange things hanging from the ceiling that are not normally in a bookshop and it was obvious to him that this was not a normal bookshop.

His hand slipped softly out of his mother’s hand and he started exploring. He went to the back of the shop, past the children’s section.

Shhh! Don’t tell him. He needs to do it himself.

He turned right and found the steep, narrow stairs. He stepped down slowly because he was apprehensive. Now, I know that ‘apprehensive’ is a big and difficult word, but I am sure that you know what it means. If you were in James’ shoes I am sure you would be apprehensive and then you would know for yourself what the word means.

James wanted an adventure. He wasn’t an exceptionally brave boy but he was inquisitive.

He looked at all the books that were down there. He walked along the rows and let his fingers bounce along the backs of the books. Many of them were very old and they were about all kinds of different things but none of them caught his eye.

You know what’s next, don’t you? James saw a large sign that said, in italics and Bookman Old Style font,

“The Unknown World”

He pushed the door but it did not open. And there wasn’t a handle. He knocked but nothing happened.

He knocked again, a little harder. And again nothing happened.

James was just a little bit annoyed.

This time he knocked very loudly. The door swung open and someone was there.

“Welcome James”, said a voice. “Do come in and we’ll get the ball rolling.”

It was not completely dark behind the doorway and a very small man appeared and James knew, straight away, that this was a nice man to trust.

“I have a feeling”, said the small trustworthy man, “that you are looking for an adventure and you don’t know what or where or so on and so forth.

“Would I be right or have I jumped to an unwarranted conclusion?”

Now James was not sure what ‘unwarranted’ meant so he just made a hopefully positive noise. Then he remembered his manners and asked the little man what name he should use or whether he should call him ‘Sir’.

The little man nodded his head just the once and smiled, “Thank you James; that is very polite of you. If the situation calls for it you may call me Gorth. Do you have a ticket or has that small but essential detail slipped your mind?”

“I don’t have a ticket. No one told me I needed one”, said James, just a little unsure of himself. “Where do I get one and how much does it cost?”

James was a little concerned and thought he had, maybe, bitten off more than he could chew.

“You look like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew, young fellow. But don’t worry, just tootle off home and get it.”

James didn’t understand and was becoming a little annoyed although he didn’t want to be.
“Let me tell you something, young fellow. Many people seem to get a little annoyed even when they don’t want to be annoyed but when you understand it usually makes things seem a lot better.

“Now it is very easy”, Gorth, the little man, continued. “Do you have a toy or a book or a scrap of old paper that means a lot to you that you have probably had for as long as you can remember?”

James knew straight away without having to think. “Yes”, he said. “I have a toy fox at home. I’ve had it for as long as I can remember.”

“Ah Ha, Ah Ha, Ah Ha. Yes, yes, yes. C’est l’etiquette,” said the man, “you must bring it with you when you return”.

– Some Days Later –

Some days later, and remember that James had to wait for his mother to feel the need to fill in some time, and he needed to be not at his desk at home, where he did his lessons because, as you’ll remember, he wasn’t well enough to go to school, he walked into the Known World Bookshop and in his right hand there was a small red fox with a long bushy tail.

He waited for his mother to have her head buried in a book and walked up to the lady at the desk.

He smiled at her and held up his toy fox. It had a soft shiny orange and white body, smiling teeth, one bright eye and a large fluffy tail. James never could remember how Fox had lost the other eye.

“Will this do?”, he asked.

The lady smiled and said, “That’s just the ticket. Do you remember where to go?”.

James nodded and smiled because the lady smiled and smiles are infectious. He stepped quietly down the steep narrow stairs and walked around to the back where the sign, in italics and Bookman Old Style font, says

The Unknown World

Very gently he knocked on the door. Nothing happened.

Was this a mistake? James thought.

He pushed tentatively on the door and it opened just a crack. He pushed harder and it opened all the way.

It wasn’t easy to see. Do you remember I told you it was quite dark? And, as James walked through the doorway, it closed shut behind him.

At first he couldn’t see anybody. Gradually his eyes seemed to adjust to the dim light and he saw the same little man he had seen before.

“Welcome James. Have you got the ticket?”

James looked at Gorth and said, “YES” in a loud but slightly squeaky voice because he was still just a tiny bit scared.

“That’s just the ticket”, said Gorth. He held out his hand and James gave him the fox. James was rather uncertain about giving him his favourite toy, which had been his since he was too young to remember.

But maybe it was time, James thought, for him to stop holding onto the little fox he had had for so long. And it did take quite a lot of courage to do so.

“Now James”, Gorth said, “in front of you there is a dark hole. I want you to look down and tell me what you see”.

“I can see a round hole about this big”, James said and held his arms out wide. “About this wide.”

“What else can you see?”

James looked again. “I can see steps down the side of the hole but it is dark down there and I can’t see all the way down. Where does the hole go to?”

“That’s good”, Gorth said. “That’s good, aha ahum. That’s good. That’s very good. The hole goes down and down so far that it goes to the other side of the world.”

James was little worried, and a little curious. “If the hole goes to the other side of the world do you have to climb down the steps all the way? What are the steps for?”

“They are for when you come back”, the man said. “And do you know where you are going?”

James said, “No”.

“That’s good. That’s very good.” The little trustworthy man did not seem to be very concerned about what James said. He just kept telling James how good everything seemed.

Then, very quietly, but very firmly, Gorth asked the following questions all at once.

“Do you want an adventure? Do you love your fox? Do you want to come back? Do you trust me?”

And James didn’t really know what to say so he just said, “Yes”.

Gorth said, “Then jump in the hole”. And without giving James even the tiniest little moment to object he pushed James into the hole and James felt himself falling.

All James could hear as he fell was a shwooshing sound and the little man calling “Don’t forget to come home!”

And that is that.

What do you mean? Is that it?

Yes. For the time being.

What’s going to happen?

I don’t know. That’s on the other side of the world. Not my bailiwick.

– Into The Unknown World –

James was flying.

He put his hands out like wings but he kept knocking his fingers on the side of the hole so he pulled them in to his side.  (Clever boy.)

“That’s a clever young fellow!”, a voice said. “Doesn’t do any good to knock the skin off your knuckles.”

“Is that you, Gorth? Are you here?” exclaimed James, because he thought he had been on his own.

“Yes, James. I’m here ‘til halfway and I’ll be here to bring you back. When we get to halfway my brother will take you because you should never go to the Unknown World on your own. Wouldn’t be good. Wouldn’t be good.” And he shook his head from side to side to emphasise how not good that would be.

James now felt very comfortable and he began to relax.

“How long does it take to get there?”, James asked.

“You’ll be there in no time.” Gorth chuckled, and James didn’t know why, and we don’t know why either, do we?

“Will it be dark where we are going?”

“No, no, no. Goodness me no. That’d upset the apple cart.”

“How will I know where to go?” he asked, his voice quivering just a little bit. Not so you’d notice.

“My brother will take you, Young James. His name is Alrik. He is exactly the same as me for the very interesting reason that he and I are twins. He is a bit of a stickler for doing the right thing.

“Anyway I’m off now. Time for a biscuit and a cup of tea and a bit of a lie down. I’ll catch you on the way back.”

James was disappointed because he was comfortable with Gorth. But then he heard another voice.

“And good afternoon to you, Young James. I trust Gorth looked after you. Now, what do we have here?”, and he pointed to James’ hand. “What is it that you’ve got in your hand?”

James looked in his hand and was surprised and relieved to see that he was still clutching the little fox. James had been quite concerned when he had given the fox to Gorth and he was very pleased to see that it was there in his hand.

He showed it to the new small man, Gorth’s brother. (Had any of you forgotten the little fox? I hope not. It’s important.)

“AH ha. Ah ha. That’s just the ticket. We’ll be there soon. Are you excited? Always exciting the first time. Have you come far? Ballarat? That’s almost the other side of the world. Lovely spot is it?”

James started to explain some of Ballarat’s history and the gold rush but Alrik didn’t seem to be listening.

“Never mind”, Alrik said. “Doesn’t make any difference anyway. The little fox is the ticket. He’ll sort you out.”

James was beginning to wonder what the fox had to do with things. He really just assumed the fox was his ticket. But ticket for what? And they kept talking about the little fox.

“How will I know where I am? And when will we get there? How long now?”

For a second James thought, Well, Alrik didn’t give me a chance to answer his questions, but he wasn’t really a mean-spirited boy and he decided to stay quiet.

What he did know was that the first little man, Gorth, made him feel confident and this man, Alrik, was probably the same.

James was beginning to feel confident all on his own and was starting to be amazed rather than worried.

“If we are going to go straight through the world to the other side, how does it happen? I started out falling and falling and then I was flying and flying and I aren’t falling now and…”

“The phrase is ‘I am not’. It is not ‘I aren’t’,” said Alrik. “However, now that I have the floor – hah hah hah, little joke that – let me clear up a few misconceptions.

“There aren’t holes going through the earth everywhere. There is only this hole. Only exactly this very hole through the earth. And it only goes from the Known World Bookshop to wherever it’s going at any one time and today it’s after foxes ‘cos that’s what you wanted. Isn’t it?”

And before James had a chance to say anything there was a solid bump and he was sitting in a wheelbarrow in a garden shed.

How can there be a bump, James thought. And why am I sitting in a wheelbarrow?

Alrik said that he didn’t know either. There was a bump when he jumped into the hole back at the Known World Bookshop. Then there was flying and what did he expect on the other side of the world?

But there was a bump and he did not understand.

“Well maybe we shouldn’t worry our head over such things”, said Alrik. “When it comes to such things as flying from one side of the world to the other side of the world in absolutely no time at all, maybe the best thing you can do is to take it in your stride and don’t ask questions because I don’t know the answers anyway.

“And anyway you will find that there are many questions to which you will never get a sufficient answer.”

“Alrik”, James said, and you will note that he does refer to the little man by his first name, because sometime back when we were all thinking of other things Alrik introduced himself correctly. “Alrik, why have we ended up in a garden shed?”

“I don’t know”, Alrik answered. “And how do you know it is a shed in a garden?”

“Because it is just like my father’s shed before he died. It’s got smells of manure and fertilizer and there is a watering can and a rake hanging on the wall and shovels and all sorts of things. And I am sitting in a wheelbarrow.”

Alrik was impressed. Good deductive reasoning, Young James. Excellent. Good stuff, he muttered to himself.

“Can I go out?” asked James.

“Not yet”, said Alrik. “We’ll just have to wait and see what Mr Ruppell does”, and he squinted through a knothole in the garden shed door.

“Ah yes, he’s here. Ah yes, yes.  He’s coming. Now you are in for a treat. Have you got the fox?”

James was too excited to talk but he waved the fox for Alrik to see.

“Ah ha. That’s just the ticket.”

James took a deep breath. He was so excited.

He heard the sound of the latch being lifted and the door opened.

– Mr and Mrs Ruppell –

An elderly man stood there and next to him was an old lady with her hand on the old man’s arm.

“James,” said Alrik, “On behalf of the company it gives me great pleasure to introduce Mr Ruppell and Mrs Ruppell.”

Alrik put his hand out and motioned quite formally for James to show the fox to Mr Ruppell, who took it and showed it to Mrs Ruppell and after the serious business of showing the fox to each of them, everybody smiled and Alrik seemed to disappear or perhaps he just stepped back into the garden shed to sit down and dream about a cup of tea and biscuits.

“Welcome to our place, Young James”, said Mr Ruppell. “I trust you had a pleasant trip. Would you like to come up to the house and we’ll have a cup of tea. Or a lemonade if you prefer?”, and Mrs Ruppell said she thought young gentlemen like James usually did prefer lemonade.

“Thank you very much. A glass of lemonade would be just the ticket.” And he coughed a bit because he’d never used that phrase before. Just the Ticket. Humph. And he smiled.

Mrs Ruppell walked back towards a small rose-covered cottage and returned holding a glass of lemonade. She gave it to James and went back along the garden path.

“Where are we, Mr Ruppell?” James asked. “They only told me it was an adventure and almost all the things that have happened have been unexpected.”

“I’m sorry about the unexpectedness of things”, Mr Ruppell replied. “And please, it seems so formal addressing me as Mr Ruppell – please call me Mr R. It is so much easier.”

James smiled and nodded his head politely but was not feeling quite at ease enough to be too familiar and would probably keep calling him Mr Ruppell.

“Now, James, I assume you have come for the fox. It’s a bit early but if you’re quiet he shouldn’t be too long.”

James was quite dumbfounded. “How do you know about foxes?” he asked.

“Well it’s on the ticket, isn’t it? Have you got the ticket or did you leave it in the shed? Never mind, it’s too late to be worrying about details. I assume that it is my fox that you have come to see.”

James had no idea that he had come to see a fox, but he was quite happy nonetheless.
He sat politely on an upturned flowerpot and drank his lemonade which was icy cold and very lemony.

Then Mr Ruppell put his hand in his pocket and took out a whistle. It was different from other whistles James had seen. Mr Ruppell blew it but James heard nothing.

“Doesn’t it work?” he asked, just a little embarrassed for Mr Ruppell and his silent whistle. “Is it broken?”

“Oh yes it works. But it has a very high frequency and only foxes can hear it.”

James didn’t know what a frequency was so he just nodded. He was wondering if this was all there was to the visit when Mr Ruppell held his finger to his lips.

“Shush.”

A fox trotted out of the forest and walked into the yard. The fox was quite relaxed but then it saw James. It stopped and started to back away.

“It’s alright, Rusty. He is a friend”, said Mr Ruppell in a quiet, gentle voice, and the fox seemed to understand.

“If you go into the kitchen, James, you will find two sausages on the table. Bring them out but walk softly and carefully.”

James walked softly and carefully along the path he had seen Mrs Ruppell take earlier and approached the little cottage. He could not see a bell or a knocker, so he gently nudged the old oak door and walked into a warm and cheery kitchen. Mrs Ruppell was pottering around in the kitchen.

“What a lovely kitchen. I do like it,” said James and he looked around. “And lovely photographs,” he said pointing at one. “There is a little boy. Does he live here?”

“No Dear. Not anymore”, Mrs Ruppell replied very quietly, dabbing her eye with the corner of a handkerchief.

“But I imagine you are after the sausages. I don’t usually go out when Mr Ruppell expects Rusty. But if he has a visitor from as far away as Ballarat, he wants to be sure that Rusty will come out to play, as they say. Mr Ruppell has been looking forward to having a visitor to show his foxes. Not everybody likes them as much as he does.”

“How did you know I was a long way from home? I don’t know how far away I am.”

“Well, My Dear, you are in Nottingham where Robin Hood comes from. And you came from Australia and please, Dear, don’t ask me how I know. I just know. And you want to feed the foxes”, and she bent down and kissed James on the top of his head.

And that hadn’t happened for quite a long time.

He took the sausages wrapped in a blue and white tea towel and went back out to the garden and gave them to Mr Ruppell.

James watched in wonder and with a little apprehension. Mr Ruppell was sitting down and the fox raised its front paws and placed them on Mr Ruppell’s knee and opened its mouth and gently took one of the sausages.

James watched. The fox took the sausage but it didn’t eat it. It turned and went back into the forest holding the sausage in its jaws.

“I suppose it is too shy to stay and eat here”, James suggested.

“Maybe you are correct, James. But it is more than likely that there are two little foxes that are waiting for their breakfast. If we wait for a while it will most likely come out for the second sausage.”

James asked lots of questions about foxes and he asked questions about Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham and he asked questions about how it was that Mr Ruppell knew he had come from Ballarat in Australia and he asked more questions about foxes.

Then they heard the same rustling in the bushes and the fox trotted out. James was still a little bit frightened and he stood close beside Mr Ruppell.

“Okay, Young James. I think you should give Rusty his sausage this time.”

“No”, said James. “He might bite me. I don’t like dogs or foxes. I don’t like things that can bite me.”

Mr Ruppell waited for a moment and thought about what to say next. He wondered why James was hesitating even after he had seen how the fox had been so gentle taking the sausage the first time.

“Tell me something, James”, he asked. “What did you bring for a ticket? Isn’t it that little toy fox you’ve been holding onto so tightly?”

“It was my fox that I’ve had since before I can remember”, James said, and he offered it to Mr Ruppell.

“It is very nice. Who gave it to you James? And do you love it?”

“I don’t know”, James replied. “I don’t know if I love it but I have always had it. My father gave it to me when I was just a baby. But he got killed a long time ago when his car smashed.

“My mother says I am too old for it and I should put it away but I don’t know if I should because then maybe I won’t remember my father.”

Mr Ruppell said nothing, quite possibly because there was nothing he could say, or maybe he wanted James to say more.

“It’s time you gave the sausage to Rusty, James”, he finally said but James was still frightened.

“I wonder why people are frightened of foxes and other wild animals, James? Are there scary animals in Australia near where you live?” But Mr Ruppell didn’t seem to be giving James much of a chance to answer any of his questions. “Do the animals in Australia bite?” he asked, and he stopped and this time James knew he was waiting for him to say something.

Finally, after a lot of thinking time had elapsed, James said, without stopping for a breath, “They bite if you throw something at them or if you walk around a corner quickly and they don’t see you coming or if someone treads on them and one day when I was with my father I trod on a snake near the sheep’s watering trough when we lived on the farm and it was frightened and it bit my father and he had to drive to the hospital quickly but he crashed because I trod on the snake.”

Mr Ruppell said nothing because there was too much to think about and James took the sausage from out of the old man’s hand and threw it on the ground behind the fox.

Rusty, the fox, looked at the sausage lying on the ground and stood quite still and looked at James.
James stood still for a moment and then he looked again at the fox then back to look at Mr Ruppell and then to the fox again and then, quietly he walked past the fox and picked up the sausage.

Holding it out in front of him, very quietly he said, “Here Rusty. I’m sorry I threw it at you”. And Rusty took the sausage very gently and trotted back into the bushes.

Then James did something he hadn’t done since his father had driven off quickly towards the hospital and hadn’t ever come home again. He stood up and put his arms around Mr Ruppell and hugged very hard.

Then he turned around and walked slowly back to the shed at the bottom of the garden at the house in Nottingham.

– Return to The Known World –

Alrik was waiting for him. But James was strangely quiet.

Alrik opened the trapdoor in the floor of the garden shed and gestured that James should follow him down the steps. Then they walked down the small passageway to the hole he had come through earlier.

Everything happened as before but in reverse. There was the hole and Alrik told him to jump.

And, quick as a flash, James was in the room at the bottom of the stairs at the Known World Bookshop.

He had been away for rather a long time and he was concerned that his mother would be cross. He walked gingerly up the steps. And there was his mother holding a book and paying some money to the lady at the counter.

“Ah, there you are, James. I hope you weren’t bored waiting for me to choose a book.”

James looked at the clock on the wall. It was exactly the same time as when he had gone down the stairs.

Suddenly he knew he had forgotten something. He rushed back down the stairs and there was Alrik holding his fox.

James looked at Alrik and looked at Fox and he thought that maybe it was time. Maybe he didn’t need the fox. Not anymore.

Maybe the little boy in the photo in the kitchen in Nottingham needed it. James didn’t know, but he thought maybe, just possibly, Mr and Mrs Ruppell needed the fox more than he did. He shook his head.

“No, Alrik. I don’t need my fox. Could you take it back and give it to Mr Ruppell?”

“Ah Yes. Of course. I’ll take it back. Mmm. Yes that is quite a good idea.”

“How long did we go for?” James asked.

“Oh just about as long as it took”, said the little man.

“That doesn’t makes sense”, said James.

“No. You are right. It doesn’t. But did you have a good time?”

“Oh yes”, said James, “and I forgot to say thank you. Please say thank you to Mr Ruppell”, and James hurried back up the stairs. And they headed home.

“You forgot your fox, Darling. We had better go back”.

“No. It will be all right. I gave it away to a little boy at the bookshop”.

And nothing more was said.