Free Arthur and the Fenris Wolf by Alan Early Page B

standing next to the reporter, with a couple of blankets still wrapped around his shoulders. His hair was no longer wet but one of the paramedics had given him a warm beanie hat to wear anyway.
    â€˜It was colder than anything I’ve ever felt,’ Arthur said into the microphone that the reporter was holding to his mouth. ‘And it was really dark down there. But I found her and we got out.’
    â€˜And how did you manage to find your way back out, Arthur?’
    â€˜Em … well, we lost the first hole, but we were lucky and found a second one.’
    The camera now panned around the busy scene, then back to the lake. Some paramedics fussed over Ash, while a little dog lay on the ground nearby, snuggling into its own brown blanket. A firefighter was leading a red-faced and flustered-looking older woman over to the rescued girl, accompanied by a young boy and teenage girl. A tall blond man was standing just beyond the edge of the woodland, patting a horse and watching the others intently.
    â€˜Ashling and Arthur were incredibly lucky,’ the reporter went on over the image. ‘A passenger on a passing train spotted Arthur dive into the lake after his friend and called the emergency services, who arrived on the scene mere seconds after the children emerged from the water.
    â€˜Paramedics revived Ashling and have found no major injuries. The Garda Síochána have stated that ice on lakes and rivers is unpredictable and that members of the public should not, under any circumstances, take the risk of stepping onto a frozen lake. This is Karen Kilfoyle, reporting for RTÉ News.’
    And with that, the camera blinked off.

    â€˜Oh my God!’ cried Cousin Maggie. ‘You poor things!’ She bundled Arthur and Ash into a constricting hug while Stace and Max looked on worriedly. Arthur and Ash had changed out of their dripping clothes into some too-large T-shirts and pants the paramedics had on standby and each of them was wrapped in a couple of blankets.
    Eventually Cousin Maggie let them go, allowing them to breathe freely again.
    â€˜We’re all right,’ Ash said. Her voice was hoarse and dry after almost choking on the lake water. ‘Honestly.’
    â€˜You don’t sound all right to me.’ Cousin Maggie turned anxiously to the nearest paramedic. ‘How is she, really?’
    â€˜No major damage that we can find,’ he answered. ‘No concussion. They both have a bit of a sniffle. But there are no symptoms of hypothermia, which is good.’
    â€˜So I can take them home with me?’
    â€˜Of course,’ he chuckled. ‘But at the first sign of their colds getting any worse, you have to bring them straight to a doctor.’
    â€˜Don’t worry about that. I won’t let them out of bed for the next day, let alone outside. And my chicken soup has been known to work miracles.’
    â€˜Sounds great. Let me just get their clothes and you can be on your way.’ He went off, calling after one of the other paramedics. For the first time Cousin Maggie looked down and noticed the pup at Ash’s feet. Its fur was still damp, despite Ash’s attempts to dry it with the coarse blanket. The pup gazed up at Maggie with watery black eyes.
    After Ash had been resuscitated, a couple of firefighters had set about rescuing the pup from the ice. Ordinarily they would have used a helicopter, but since time was tight (and since the rescuee was a dog) they had to come up with another method of saving the puppy without walking onto the ice themselves. Using a special hitch system, they were able to crank a rope out over the lake to the dog. One end of the rope had a grappling hook attached and once they had cranked it far enough out they dropped the hook around the far side of the pup, allowing the firefighters to crank it back in. Ash was thrilled to have the dog finally safe in her arms.
    â€˜And who’s this?’ Maggie asked, crouching