The Twittens of Durrington

 In 1875, Eric Twitten retired from his job as a saggar maker's bottom knocker and the family settled in Potter's Field in Durrington.

He spent a lot of his time exploring the small alleyways around Durrington which are popularly referred to as “twittens” to this day.

He would always carry a stout walking stick.

On a Friday evening he was walking home in the twilight. His lantern was reflected in two bright malevolent eyes.

He had no time to decide whether he was frightened or brave because a large dark shape, the owner of the eyes, leapt up at his throat, apparently intending to rip it out using its teeth.

Eric beat the feral dog off with his stout stick and he raised it to give the miscreant a good hiding for its trouble.

Then he saw in the dim lamplight, the dog which was not quite as large as he had thought, though big enough, was cowering as if to make himself disappear into the ground. It is literally impossible to be angry with a dog in this position.

Eric sighed. The dog was clearly malnourished and he could almost, but not quite, forgive its desire to make a meal of Eric.

He was close to Potter's Field by now. He stepped over the crouching dog and went on his way home. He could not resist looking behind him and saw the dog was following at a respectful distance.

“Oh, come on, boy. I think you need a wash and a good meal don't you?”

He was tossing up between “Grip”, “Fang” or “Wolf” as a name for his new best friend when he arrived home and his wife, Peggy solved the problem for him.

“Eric Twitten, you are not bringing that ragamuffin in here.”

“Ragamuffin” was a suitably rough name for a tough dog, he thought.

Eventually, Peggy let him take Ragamuffin into the back garden and wash him down. She didn't even object to the fact Eric wanted to use warm water. Think of the expense!

When Ragamuffin was clean and dry, Peggy permitted him into the kitchen where he stretched out in front of the fire as if he owned it.

There was no such thing as dog food. Ragamuffin had to have table scraps and be grateful. A warm house and food was preferable to a cold alleyway and slow starvation he thought.

“You stay in the kitchen Ragamuffin. It's warm enough for you no doubt,” said Peggy.

She cuffed Ragamuffin's head but it wasn't meant to hurt.

She was surprised, but not very surprised, to find the weight of a ragamuffin sneaking into their bed at dead of night.

She upped and returned him to the kitchen. She did it three times but exhaustion got the better of her in the end.

Next day, Eric went out to buy a dog lead.

Ragamuffin was not happy with it and had a good go at chewing it. There were studs and they were a bit too much for his teeth so it remained intact. This meant Eric could take him with him on his daily walks.

Ragamuffin was not at all sure at first. He was used to wandering whither he would. The deal-breaker for him was that wherever Eric went, he always came back to the comfortable kitchen and the welcoming fire.

Eric's itinerary was well-known so it was not long before two local ne'er-do-wells took it into their heads to waylay him. They had reckoned without his new best friend.

“Hand over your money.”

“I don't carry money unless I'm shopping and the wife does that.”

“We'll have that watch off you then.”

“I have no time for you,” Eric said.

“I've got a knife.”

“Well that puts a different complexion on matters.”

Eric was about to hand over the watch and Ragamuffin wasn't having that. Many dogs give a low growl or indeed a lot of loud barking when about to attack. Ragamuffin couldn't be bothered.

It is very hard to hold a knife when a very large dog has decided on your wrist for lunch.

Taking heart, Eric assailed his assailants with his stick and they ran away with their metaphorical tails between their legs.

Ragamuffin got a nice steak out of this which only seemed right and proper. Nobody ever impeded Eric from that day onwards.

The End

by Derek McMillan

Derek McMillan is the author of the audiobook "Brevity" which is available on eBay and he is also the editor of #worthingflash so he approved this story for publication ☺