2. A BLIND PANIC & THE DEVIL'S CAT

Tuesday, day 2, brought a slightly more confident Finn.  Still a terrified rabbit, but not hiding all the time in his chosen bed space under the table in the darkest corner.  Every now and then he'd venture out towards us, slink low along the floor to come and have a quick sniff before darting back again.  He seems desperate for company but is unable to deal with it right now.

I left KP and Finn to have a bit of a male bonding session whilst I went on girls only vintage hunt.  Whilst I was having a good old rummaging session and buying old baskets and boxes, so KP was working with Finn.  More confidence in the garden encouraged KP to extend Finn's world beyond the confines of Kokopelli and to go out and explore the huge (to Finn) hamlet of Garifoli, plus some much needed practice at walking on a lead.  

Garifoli, our home.

All good stuff which finished with Finn in the bath back at home having an even more needed shampoo and scrub - boy did he smell.

I came home to find a very silky, shiny and much sweeter smelling Finn being terrorised/loved by 4 year old Margot from over the way.

Silky, shiny and sweet smelling Finn (for now at least)

Great progress for only his second day but, with hindsight (a wonderful thing), maybe too much stimulation for him in his first 24 hours, and too much relaxing from us.  

Later that evening, as we were walking him round the garden for his final pee and pooh before bed, KP with the lead, me with the torch, all of a sudden something either startled him or he caught a scent on the wind and he was off.  Quick as a flash.  KP didn't stand a chance and the lead was just whipped clean out of his hands.  Finn was gone and we were left stunned as to how quickly it all happened.  We launched into gear almost immediately, KP one way, me the other, both calling a dog running at full pelt in a blind panic who didn't even know his name.  We didn't stand a chance.

All of a sudden, out of the dark we heard terrified yelping and screaming from around the back of the house.  We ran towards the heart-wrenching noise, a disguised blessing to have something to locate him, but knowing exactly what had happened.  The Devil's Cat had got him.

The Devil's Cat, called Kat

Actually, she's not the devil's cat, but the very wonderful and characterful Matriarch of Garifoli called Kat, who came to us two years' ago, pregnant, a stray, and in quite a sorry state.  

Two years and two litters later, she rules the roost and has been know to send Abruzzese Shepherd dogs (bred to fight wolves) running and screaming for their lives.  She'd easily make mincemeat out of a scrawny little runt like Finn.  And she clearly did.  If we ever had any hope in finding him, we'd now lost it.  I heard him go crashing through the woods to make his escape.  I followed on foot, KP went and got the car in case he made his way down to the road.

After an hour, we were almost ready to throw the towel in and have a sleepless night.  Finn still had his extending lead attached which would almost certainly get tangled and he'd be trapped; with the terrain around here he may never be found.  We certainly had no chance of finding him tonight.  A black dog in a black night.  

Just as we were walking, heads hanging, back up our drive, I suddenly had an urge to look closer to home.  What if we were searching too far afield and he was under our noises all the time?  So KP took the torch into the oak trees, saplings and brambles that line our drive and there he was.  Tangled and trembling, too terrified to move.  We picked him up and carried him home.  

The woods on the right where we finally found Finn