emma and company - Sheila Hocken Read online

Hide behind that hedge. We don't want to mess the shot up

  with you in it, do we?

  Don and i moved round the big hedge at the bottom. Don

  took his whistle out and gave it a short blast. We stood there

  for quite some time listening.

  'I can't hear him coming. Do you think he's heard the

  whistle?' and he gave another sharp blast. This was followed

  by quite a lot of cries in French, a brown w-who-osh and some,

  Jean what i assume, was French bad language. Bracken had

  heard the first whistle and had come trotting quite nicely

  down the hill. On the second whistle he had felt the urgency

  of it and changed immediately into a gallop, only stopping at

  the bottom when he spotted us. The poor cameraman,

  unable to unloose Bracken's lead from his wrist, had been

  dragged down the hill at full speed. His first thought had

  been to save the valuable camera, which he managed to hoist

  further on to his back. As Bracken stopped the cameraman

  was hurled round like a jack-knifing articulated lorry and

  smashed into the oak tree at the bottom. Bracken stood, still

  attached to the cursing cameraman, grinning, tail wagging

  and his ears in that.'rose petal' position. 'Wasn't that clever?

  i enjoyed doing that!'

  The scene was shot eventually (after the cameraman had

  been revived with a tot of whisky) with me walking behind

  Bracken to tell him to walk steadily. Then came Bracken's

  chance to prove himself as an actor. Jacqueline was explaining

  to me that it would be really nice if they had a picture of

  Emma as a guide-dog, showing how she took me about to

  find bus stops and so on.

  'But that's impossible,' i told her. 'Emma doesn't work

  any more. She can't even see where she's going.'

  'Yes, i understand that but jean feels we need the

  comparison.'

  i sat down and thought for a moment. 'What about

  Bracken? He could play Emma's part. That is, of course, if

  you keep the camera offhis back end so nobody realizes he's

  a dog.'

  'I'm sure we can do that. Have you trained him to be a

  guide-dog?'jacqu(.lin(~ asked.

  'No i haven't, but let's see what happens.' i took Emma's

  old harness down from the coat stand and put it on Bracken.

  He was quite unperturbed and sat there like a veteran

  guide-dog. 'Well, so far so good,' i told them. 'Let's try it.

  There's a bus stop up the road. Would you like me to walk

  from here to the bus stop with him?'

  'That would be fine,'jacqueline nodded.

  i didn't know how i was going to get Bracken to look as if

  he were guiding me, or how he could understand what i

  wanted from him. He had never heard of a bus stop, nor had

  he any guide-dog experience. He walked down the drive in

  front of me, looking quite important with the white harness

  on his back.

  'Straight on, Bracken,' i told him. I knew I'd have no

  problems at the kerb because he always sat. 'I want to go to

  the bus stop,' i told him as we walked across the road. For

  some unknown reason, he didn't put his nose down and sniff,

  he walked amiably in front of me, keeping the right tension

  on the harness, looking just as if he were a real live guidedog. '

  The bus stop,' i told him again as we reached the next

  kerb. He glanced back at me with a knowing expression and

  then walked along the pavement straight to the bus stop and

  sat down. To the crew it wasjust another shot in the can. To

  me it was almost a miracle. How did he know? How could he

  know? But he'd done it. He'd proved himself to be an actor.

  io8

  ,F'

  We finished the outside shots just as the light was going.

  We then had to do all the inside shots. i never, ever want to

  make a film or be a film star - it's too much like hard work.

  'I want some shots of breakfast time,' jean announced.

  'This is morning, no?'

  ,No" i s~ti(l to Iiiiii. 'It lsl),t.'

  'You don't understand,' he told me. 'This is morning for

  tll(, filiii.'

  'Ah, i see. just for the film, i will pretend it's morning.'

  The kitchen was commandeered for the next scene,

  cameras, lights and sound. There was hardly enough room

  for us to move. It was planned that Don should come into the

  kitchen for his breakfast and i should carry a glass of milk

  with a plate of cobs over to one of the work surfaces. The

  entrance that Don was elected to come in was from the dog

  room.

  'You have just come down,' jean told him, 'for your

  breakfast. You go over and kiss your wife. You understand'.-"

  Don understood. But i was unable to close my mind to the

  fact that Don was emerging from the dog room supposedly

  after a night's sleep. To me that was hilarious and every time

  i tried to look serious and carry over the plate of cobs i began

  to laugh and all the cobs fell ofT the plate. jean, who didn't

  see the funny side of it at all, was tearing his hair out after

  half an hour of trying to get a minute of film.

  i never actually saw the finished product as it was only put

  out on French television, but i heard fromjacqueline that all

  went well and people were fooled into actually thinking that

  Bracken was Emma in her earlier days.

  log

  ' i

  i

  i

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  'PRO-DOGS RANG tonight,' Don told me as soon as i came

  in the door. I'd been to my Dog Training classes.

  'Oh, what did they want?'

  'Something about awarding Emma a medal. I'm not

  sure. Anyway, he's going to ring you back. It was a Mr

  Imber.'

  Pro-Dogs is a public relations organization for dogs, set

  up in i976 to help educate the dog-owning public on how to

  look after their dogs and to become better owners. Their

  motto is Education not Legislation. It is far easier to

  educate people on where and how to exercise their dogs

  than have a local council legislate and ban them from

  public areas, as is happening all over the country at this

  moment. Each year a small number of dogs are chosen to

  receive a medal for outstanding work and i become very

  excited at the prospect of Emma being nominated for one of

  these medals. i had only just hung Bracken's lead up when

  the phone rang again. It was Brian Imber.

  'Mrs Hocken, i would like to inform you that Emma's

  name has been put forward to receive the Devotion to

  Duty Gold Medal of the Year Award.'

  'That's marvellous!' I said to him. 'What an honour. I'd

  be delighted to accept for her.'

  'The presentations are in London, preceded by a dinner.

  i hope you'll be able to come - and bring Emma, of course,'

  he added.

  For a moment, i wasn't quite sure what to say. i knew

  that under no circumstances could i undertake a trip with

  Emma to London. She was far too old to be bothered with a

  long journey. 'I'm sorry, I won't be able to do that,' I told

  him. 'Bring Emma, i mean. i don't take Emma anywhere

 
iio

  with me now. She much prefers to stop at home. i take

  Bracken instead. I'll bring him with pleasure.'

  'Oh dear, I'm afraid that throws a difrerent light on it, Mrs

  Hocken. We do have a policy, you see, that all the dogs who

  receive the medals should be there in person.' i could say

  nothing. 'I'm sure you understand, Mrs Hocken, that we

  can't very well present medals to dogs that aren't there. It

  would be a bit silly, wouldn't it?'

  i agreed with him but re-stated that i could take Bracken

  on Emma's behalf and would be very pleased to do so.

  'I will put it to the committee,' Mr Imber told me very

  uncertainly, 'and I'll let you know.' He put the phone down.

  i walked into the lounge and sat down on the settee.

  'Well?' Don asked. 'Is Emma going to get a gold medal?'

  'No, she isn't.'

  'Why not?'

  'He told me that unless Emma could be there to receive it

  herself, it was very unlikely that she would receive the

  medal.'

  'But didn't you explain that Emma was too old to travel all

  that way?'

  'Yes. i offered to take Bracken in her place but he didn't

  sound very interested. Oh, he said he'd put it to the

  committee, but you know what it's like. They want the dogs

  to actually be there. i can't blame them.' But i felt terribly

  hurt inside, especially as, to me, Emma of all dogs deserved

  recognition for the years and years she spent as my eyes and

  the many hearts she had won over since she had retired.

  And, as hard as i tried, i couldn't push the thought of ProDogs

  out of my mind over the next few weeks. Emma was

  being denied her recognition because she had retired and

  was too frail to travel to London to receive her medal for

  herself.

  i had managed to convince myself that I would never hear

  from Pro-Dogs or Brian Imber again, when i received

  another call from him.

  'Hello, Mrs Hocken. I'm very pleased to be able to tell

  you that Emma has got the Gold Medal and we would be

  -,-cry grateful if you would brin

  her.'

  i was astonished. 'But i thought you said they wouldn't

  award it if she didn't come.'

  'No, no, i didn't say that at all. i said that up to now it had

  been Pro-Dogs' policy only to award the medals to dogs who

  would come and receive them, but there's always an

  exception to the rule and all the committee and i agree that,

  regardless of whet',-ler Emma will be there in person or not,

  she deserves the medal for her devotion to duty.'

  The dinner and presentation is the most cherished

  occasion in my life so far and also the most emotional. There

  were two car loads of people travelling down from Nottingham

  on that cold December day, and lots of friends from

  London had also bought tickets to come and share my most

  memorable day. The Grosvenor Rooms, where the celebration

  was to be held, was buzzing, alive with people and

  cameras and, as i stepped into the large ballroom with

  Bracken, the cameras began flashing. My heart ached for

  Emma - for the first time in many years i felt desperately

  alone without her, and if Don and so many of my friends

  hadn't been around me, i might have turned tall and run.

  When I was blind i had a recurring dream that haunted

  me: that i was in a city alone - without Emma, i mean.

  There were lots of people around me and i could hear the

  traffic zooming past but i hadn't got Emma and had no

  means of safely getting away. I'd always wake up in a cold

  sweat and feel around the bottom of the bed to make sure

  Emma was still sleeping peacefully before i dared go back to

  sleep again. And that's how i felt at that moment. The

  evening was made even more difficult for me because

  everyone who came up to talk to Bracken assumed he was

  Emma and i had to go through the painful explanation of

  why she hadn't accompanied me. But then i am thankful

  for having someone like Bracken, who is, himself, a very

  special dog. He has an uncanny way of knowing what's

  expected of him. Before the presentations i was asked to do a

  short piece of film for the television news and, while i was

  g Bracken to receive it for

  ii2

  being interviewed, Bracken, rather than lying on the floor

  out o camera shot, put his two front paws on my knee,

  looked at the camera and gave me a nudge with his nose,

  reassuring me that he wouldn't let me down. We had built

  up a very close relationship, enhanced by the fact that i had

  realized what Bracken enjoyed doing and had taught him

  many things over the last month or two. Now he would pick

  up the telephone ~yhen it rang and hand it over to me, he

  could count by barking, lick his lips or grin on my command

  and, most amazing of all, i had taught him to chase and

  attack a criminal. It was quite strange to see Bracken, the

  gentlest, sweetest natured dog i know, chasing and grabbing

  someone's arm, not letting go and growling ferociously. He

  made it look very convincing.

  I don't think anyone realized how much courage i needed

  to go up on that stage in front of all those people and cameras

  to receive the Gold Medal without Emma by my side. i stood

  on stage, alongside the other recipients of the medals, while

  the speeches were being made. The whole atmosphere was

  electric with emotion. i forced myself to concentrate on what

  was happening. Barbara Woodhouse was receiving an

  award for outstanding contributions to responsible dog

  ownership. Her speech was magnificent. Like a lot of clever

  people, Barbara Woodhouse had a charisma about her that

  held the whole room spellbound.

  'Our next award,' the comp~re continued, 'goes to Dougal

  for Life Saving.' Dougal was a little Pekinese who had saved

  his owner, Mrs Sheldon, and her daughter from certain

  death, when their flat had been filled by poisonous carbon

  monoxide fumes caused by a block in a flue. The two

  occupants had collapsed unconscious in the kitchen and

  Dougal had persisted in trying to wake them up by

  scratching and licking their faces and nuzzling at them until

  Mrs Sheldon came round enough to crawl out and get help.

  'Another few minutes,' the hospital told them, 'and you

  would both have been dead.'

  i was awe-inspired to think that such a tiny little dog could

  save the lives of two human beings.

  ii3

  Kalli was the next to receive her award. A little cross-l-red

  collie who lives with her owner, Mrs Symington, at the

  Guisborough Grange Bird and Pet Park. Kaili was purchased

  from a pet shop for the sum of three pounds and had

  turned out to be worth her weight in gold. She had fostered

  many of the orphan b~ibies that Mrs Symington had taken

  in, including Arctic foxes, pumas, lions and tigers.

  'The Devotion to Duty medal is awarded to Emma,' i

  heard the comp~re saying. He told the audience of some of

  the things that Emma
had done for me as a guide-dog and

  explained why she couldn't be there in person and that

  Bracken was her stand-in. i watched the comp~re place the

  medal around Bracken's neck and take the few steps towards

  me, holding the microphone out, hoping i, too, was going to

  say a few words. i was too overcome to be able to tell the

  audience how much Emma meant to me. i could feel my

  body shaking all over, my nails dug into the palms of my

  hands and i bit my bottom lip and closed my eyes tightly to

  try to gain control of my emotions, to fight back the reality

  that Emma was an old lady and it was Bracken on the other

  end of the lead. She should have been there to share in our

  moment of triumph. i looked at Bracken, who sat with all the

  poise and dignity of a young Labrador, and envied his youth

  on Emma's behalf. As much as i loved Bracken and all my

  dogs, no one could ever take Emma's place.

  When the presentations were over, i found i was able to

  relax and enjoy my evening. It was wonderful to be in a room

  with two hundred or more people whose greatest joy in life

  was their dogs, and there were so many people i wanted to

  talk to. I had read many of Barbara Woodhouse's books

  and seen her dog-training programmes on the television, and

  i wanted to express my personal thanks to her for the good

  work she had done over the years in bringing the ordinary

  dog owner's attention to the fact that dogs need training.

  And, being an author myself, i know how nice it is when

  people come up and tell me they've enjoyed my books.

  'Can you see Barbara anywhere?' i asked Deirdre.

  (Deirdre and John, being dog lovers, had jumped at the

  ii4

  opportunity to come to the Pro-Dogs evening with us.) The

  room was crowded with people and it was difficult for me to

  sort out who was who. i still find using my sight takes quite a

  bit of concentration and to recognize people's faces among so

  many is a difficult task that I'd rather leave to a fully sighted

  person.

  'Follow me,' Deirdre said, pushing her way through the

  crowd. She took hold of Bracken's lead so that i could just

  concentrate on following her. We introduced ourselves to

  Barbara, who was busy answering questions from hundreds

  of admirers. She instinctively reached a hand out to stroke