A Life Beyond by Mark Church (ebook reader web TXT) 📕

lay down with Bucksy curled up close to Daniel for warmth, they were both feeling so relaxed that it wasn't long before Harvey started snoring out loud,

'Oh I guess he's asleep then' Laughed Daniel as Bucksy yawned and lay his head down on Daniel's lap, licking his lips as he got comfortable, Daniel slowly drifted into a semi deep sleep also as his worries seemed to drift away as he felt his eyes close completely.

It didn't seem that Daniel and Harvey were asleep that long before they were awoken by the sound of crunching twigs and the rustling of leaves coming from the area where the boys were gathered, Bucksy’s head shot up, he sniffed the air as he raised himself up off the floor and moved silently towards the front of the den so he could see who it was approaching their location, Bucksy let out a giant ‘WOOF’ which should've scared just about anything off as he leapt out of the den and shot off into the bushes barking as loud as he could as he chased whatever it was through the woods.

Daniel leapt up shouting for his dog, 'Bucks...Bucks!!! What is it boy??', in the distance he could still hear his dog barking away,

Harvey sat bolt upright from his slumber and whacked his head in a low lying trunk that was sticking into the den,

'OWW, what is it with everything today!!!, I'm sure someone is trying to bump me off!!', He whined as he rubbed his sore head,

'What's wrong with you Dan?, what's that noise?' He asked as he stood up and pushed Daniel to the side to see what all the commotion was,

'Bucksy has heard something out there, sounded like it was coming this way, but he's chased it off, I hope!!', Daniel said as he scoured the bushes for any sign of his dog, when all of a sudden a figure crashed through the branches and landed in a heap on the floor swiftly followed by Bucksy who was wagging his tail with delight. It was Daniel's sister Lillie, she had been sent off to find him as his mum was now home and she wanted them home for tea,

'There you are!!!..I've been looking for you everywhere, did you not hear me shouting?' she ranted as the boy's just looked at her and laughed as she was covered in all sorts of things from the trees and bushes outside,

'What are you laughing at?, it's that dog of yours fault I look like this!!, I thought I heard noises from where you are now so I crept through the bushes only to be chased by a big black furry thing…' Lillie was pointing at Bucksy who was still wagging his tail and barking in a way that suggested he had done a ‘good deed’,

'So I ran straight through the bushes, trying to get away when HE jumped on me and pushed me through here, I thought I was going to be eaten!!'

'Good boy Bucks..' Daniel smiled as he patted his faithful companion on the head,

'But next time can you try and eat her!!' Harvey piped up and laughed as he threw Bucksy a sweet.

'Not funny you silly little boy!!' Replied an angry Lillie as she went to walk towards the boy's, grabbing Daniel by the jumper as she told them they needed to go,

'Now come on, we need to go home, mum is waiting for us, and she doesn't look very happy!!!'.

'Right, we best go I suppose, come on boy' ordered Daniel to his pet as they made their way out of the den and off through the overgrown branches and leaves that covered their den when all of a sudden

Bucksy stopped in his tracks, lifted his head up into the air and began to sniff rather fast, Daniel turned round and saw what the dog was doing and questioned him jokingly,

'What's the matter Bucks??, Have you smelt a rabbit again?, come on let's g……'.

But before Daniel could finish his sentence Bucksy launched off over the ground and bolted straight through the bushes at such a speed as if he was tracking something, he didn't seem to care about how thick the bushes were, he just wanted to run,

'Where has that blooming dog gone now??' Lillie shouted to Daniel as he made his way through the bushes trying to catch a glimpse of where his dog had got to.

'Bucks….Bucksy!!, where are you??' He cried out as he could hear faint barking in the distance followed by a series of loud cracking and creaking noises, which sounded like the sort of noise you would hear if an army of people were trampling over ground littered with twigs and branches, then it all fell silent, Bucksy had gone deep into the woods this time, deeper than they had ever gone before as the light began to dim around them as Daniel, Lillie and Harvey all searched the woods around them for signs of the dog,

'Bucks...Bucks…' They all shouted, hoping for any sign but it was silent now,

'Where is that dog!!, we need to go Daniel' Lillie called across to him as he searched further ahead in the woods,

'I'm not leaving him here, what if he's hurt!!!, I'll search until I find him OK', Daniel angrily replied to his sister as he headed off deeper into the undergrowth in search of his friend,

They all headed in different directions and further apart from each other until Daniel heard something,

'What is that?' He said as he listened closely to the sound coming from just up ahead of where he was.

It sounded like a whimpering noise followed by a soft ‘Bark’,

'BUCKSY….' Daniel shouted out as he sped across the thick branch covered floor towards where he had heard what he thought was his dog, He shouted back to the others as he ran,

'I'VE FOUND HIM!!! He's over here, hurry u…..aagghhh'.

Daniel had fallen through the thick branches and twigs covering a hole deep enough for someone to get through, he seemed to fall for an age, arms reaching out as if him trying to grab onto anything to stop his descent into the darkness. His body hit the ground with a ‘THUD’ also whacking his head on the cold dark floor, as he started to feel dizzy he saw a fuzzy shape coming towards him through the darkness, 'Bucksy?…..' he whimpered as his eyes shut and he lost consciousness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Seven

The Journey ‘Home’

 

 

As Daniel slipped in and out of unconsciousness he was always aware that someone or something was standing guard over him as he lay there stricken on the floor, hoping for someone to come to his aid, he felt himself being gently moved from the spot where he lay as if being moved to safety out in the open air, then for the last time he closed his eyes and it all went black.

What seemed like hours passed and eventually he started to stir, not before completely coming to, he heard a voice again calling to him, one that seemed familiar also,

'Home!!….Home!!….' It called out as he sat up gently, but all he saw as his sight came back were the faces of Harvey and Lillie who had seen the trampled bushes leading up to where he went through and had followed him down,

'Come on mate let's get you up and go home' Harvey answered, Daniel looked at Harvey wondering if it was his friend's voice he was hearing as he awoke or was it something else.

Lillie looked worried for the first time in a long time with her brother lying hurt on the floor,

'Are you ok Dan?...' She asked worriedly,

'I heard you shouting but couldn't see you, I was worried you were hurt!!' she continued.

'Daniel, still feeling slightly dazed was looking around constantly,

'Has anyone seen Bucksy?, I'm sure he was here a little while ago'

'No Dan..' Replied Harvey, ' Not seen him since he ran off in the woods earlier, he'll turn up don't worry, now c’mon let's get you on your feet Dan, need to see if we can climb back up now' Harvey said as he helped Daniel get to his feet as Lillie put his arm around her shoulder and kept him steady,

'I'll go take a look and see what we can do, it wasn't that far in there I think' Harvey said as he looked back towards where they had climbed through and off he walked into the darkness of the cave.

Lillie was still holding her brother tight, looking a bit less worried now as he was standing beside her and seemed to be getting better with every passing minute,

'Are you ok?, you really scared me there!' she asked

'Yes I'm fine now I guess, bit sore but I'll be ok' Daniel replied as he brushed himself down while checking for any injuries,

'Errrm guys…' Harvey shouted from the deep in the darkness

'Think there's a teeny tiny little problem…' He continued as Daniel and Lillie made their way towards where he was standing,

'What's the matter Harv?' Daniel asked quizzically as Lillie and Daniel joined Harvey in the spot where he fell in.

'Well you see this bit here' Harvey was pointing up at the roof of the cave which was now covered over with earth and twigs, 'Well I'm sure that's where we climbed in!!'.

'Are you sure Harvey? How can you tell?? It’s way too dark to see properly' Said Lillie questioning his reply,

So Harvey pulled out his small key ring torch which he took from the den and shone it onto the ceiling of the cave,

'Well that's where we climbed down, look!!' As he shone his light on the footprints he had made with his trainers as they were climbing down into the cave entrance, you could clearly see the imprint of his trainers disappear into the roof of the cave,

All three of them stared up at the roof of the cave not uttering a word as they all tried to guess what had happened,

'Well I reckon you must of caused the mud up top to fall in as you climbed in Harv….' Daniel piped up as he looked for the most logical solution,

'If I did that surely there would be signs of light coming in, that hole looks completely covered up as if it's not there!!' Harvey replied as he poked the roof with a stick he'd found on the floor,

'See….nothing… not even a bit of it moves, Bit odd I'd say'

Lillie had wandered off looking for any other signs of a way out of wherever it was they were,

'Nope...there's no way out over here either, that's just great, now mum's going to be worried even more, I told her I wouldn't be that long either'.

'I'm sure there's another way out of here, I'm getting hungry anyway so let's get a move on', Harvey said as his stomach rumbled inside the quietness of the cave which echoed around like a pack of growling dogs ready to pounce on their lunch.

So all three of them set off out of the cave, stopping just outside the entrance, looking for a route to take through the woods in front of them in the hope it may lead somewhere they recognise but where they were now wasn't the place they recognised at all.

Daniel was still feeling the effects of his fall and had to stop a few times as they made their way deeper into the forest giving him a chance to take in the surroundings which seemed to have a different feeling about it, the trees were bathed in a sort of golden glow which was different to the darkness of the woods near Daniel's house, the sky was filled with a bluey green haze which also buzzed with all sorts of creatures zipping around their heads as they sat there waiting for Daniel to gather his composure,

'This place sure is different to what I remember Harv…' Daniel quipped as he looked around at their new surroundings

'I'm sure this is all new to me, it's like we are in another world