Soon the whole village where they lived seem to be outside playing on toboggans and sleighs, building snow men with large carrots as noses, old hats and scarves on their heads. The Owner’s daughters took Korde and Kordette off to join in the fun on the village green. Everyone was having a wonderful time, even their friends with the Old English Sheepdogs came along, the Bobtails plodding across the snow on their big paws, with them came a companion, a younger Bobtail named Pandora.

Later in the day they decided to go for a walk in the woods, by this time it had started to flutter with snow. Miss Owner was not too sure it was a wise idea, but her younger sister and friends with the OES were already running off and found a lovely clearing in the trees where they could play.Korde and Kordette were having a marvellous time, their capability to jump helped them get through the, or rather over, the deepest drifts of snow. The Old English Sheepdogs joined in with the chase as best they could. Suddenly the snow began to fall more heavily and it was getting darker as the clouds rolled across the sky, Miss Owner said she thought they had better find their way young Pulis came as soon as they were called, as did the older Bobtails, but Pandora was missing. Worse, Pandora’s young companion had wandered off to look for her, and not returned.

They called and called for what seemed like ages, but the Old English Sheepdog did not appear.

"Stay right here, if we are not back very soon you must go and get some help" ordered Miss Owner, "I will have a look round" and she walked off further into the darkening woods.

Korde and Kordette simply could not let her go alone and chased after Miss Owner. The path twisted through the trees to the other side of the wood where the ground turned to rock and tumbled away into a deep ditch, at the bottom of which was a shallow stream. As they got close to the edge, a whimper was heard in the distance.

"That’s Pandora" said Korde when another cry came from the same direction. There was a path of some sort heading towards the incline and carefully Miss Owner started to climb down, in the direction of the sounds. Seeing anything through the falling snow was becoming increasingly difficult.

"Pandora, Mickey" she called as she went. The young Pulis circled around and suddenly Kordette gave out a loud bark, leading Miss Owner to where desperately trying to pull Pandora out of a hole into which she had fallen into.

"She is stuck, I just cannot pull her free" Mickey called out.

"I have nearly reached you" replied Miss Owner scrambling over the snow covered rocky ground that stood between her and Mickey. Pandora had started to whimper again, and she was clearly terrified.

Then, just as Miss Owner had nearly reached them, she slipped and tumbled, sliding down the embankment and letting out a scream as she slipped and desperately fearing she might end up in the fast running stream. Luckily Miss owner came to a stop a few yards away from the freezing water.

"Are you all right?" shouted Mickey, panic creeping into his young voice.

"Think I have sprained my ankle" came the reply. Miss Owner was trying very hard to get up, but found she could not put any weight on her foot. Oh goodness she thought, what are we going to do now?

Korde and Kordette had raced down the bank to where Miss Owner was now sitting, looking just a bit worried. They barked and chased round her.

"Go and fetch help" Miss Owner said to Korde "Take Mickey with you, he will get too cold out here."

Mickey insisted he wanted to stay with Pandora, but finally agreed to go with Korde when Kordette promised she would look after both Miss Owner and theOld English Sheepdog.

"But …. How are we going to find you both again?" cried Mickey just as he was about to start the journey back. "The snow is coming down so quickly it will cover our tracks." Suddenly he delved into the deep pockets of his jacket and pulled out a bright red hat which amazingly had a blinking light as apompom and put in on Pandora’s head.

"Good idea" said Miss Owner who could only just see hear and see what was happening near to the hole in which the OES was stuck. As Mickey and Korde walked away through the snow, Pandora started to whimper even more. Kordette who had been close to Miss Owner, gave her mistress anaffectionate kiss, saying she would go to see Pandora. Kordette sat by the OES and gently licked her face, telling her she would be fine just as soon as people came to the rescue. Pandora stopped whimpering almost at once.The journey back to the woods took some time, when they eventually reached the clearing there was no sign of Miss Owner’s sister or friends. Momentarily very afraid Mickey wondered what he should now do, Korde though knew Miss Owner had told them to wait a while, then go and fetch help.

"Follow me" said Korde and he ran off into the trees. Mickey followed slowly, tripping over a fallen tree stump hidden by the snow. Korde nudge him with his noise and Mickey got up again. "I think I have hurt my knee" Mickey said.

"Oh boy, what a day" Korde muttered to himself as he ran off ahead, indicating to Mickey he should follow his paw marks as best he could. Mickey was really scared of loosing his way, the snow falling even more heavily as the darkness crept into the woods. With luck he found a broken branch the others had been throwing around for the dogs to play with, and used it as a crutch. Bright lights suddenly came on and brought Korde to an abrupt halt as he reached the edge of the wood, immediately he started barking and attracted the attention of the numerous people approaching him.

"Follow me" he called and returned to find Mickey struggling along in the snow.

One of the rescue party scooped the young boy up and carried him to the safety of others waiting in the lane on the outskirts of the wood. Head lights of a vehicle starting to move as along the track could be seen through the gloom of the early evening.

Korde led the other people back through the woods towards the spot where Kordette was keeping watch over Pandora and Miss Owner. Luckily they were able to release the Old English Sheepdog from the hole without too much trouble but she was very cold and frightened, wrapping her in a blanket whilst Miss Owner was helped to the top of the bank, the party then set off very slowly for home. Puli Manor was the closest house, and everyone went back there. Mrs Owner had prepared hot drinks and food, which was much appreciated by everyone, quite a big party gathered in the kitchen. Miss Owner had her ankle attended to by a local nurse who had joined the rescue party. The Pulis and OES were taken off to the grooming room where they were dried and given a good meal. Klaude and Kloe were clearly very proud of the Younger Pulis assistance in the rescue, word of which had circulated the village in a very short period of time. Much to their disappointment, but to the joy of parents and dog owners, the snow melted that night and by the next morning Korde and Kordette wondered if it had all been a dream, or a Winters Tale!

The Mops of Puli Manor

Stories by Susan Hopgood

(c) Susan L Hopgood

(c) www.puli-information.com

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