The Spy Stood Up and Up.

It was strange, but when ever there was a threat to our family, my father always seemed to be somewhere else.
Being an auxiliary fireman he was on duty when the nearest bomb to land by us was dropped. It was well away up on the hill, but to him, away from home it must have seemed like next door.
That was no threat, but the night the 'spy' was hiding under the hedge he was at work, it was dark and Mother was really frightened.
There was no telephone, to go out of the house to get help would have meant going past the intruder and anything could have happened.
It's not hard to imagine how she felt, on her own surrounded on two sides by fields and allotments, a small child in her arms and only the dog for company.
He wasn't even a threatening looking dog. The most danger he was to anyone was that he might cause them to laugh themselves to death. He did do a pretty good growl though. That sounded threatening, and his eyes did blaze.
So Mother sat tight and waited, wondering if my father would make it through the front gate or if he would be pounced on.
Of course, Father was about as much threat as the dog. Five foot three on a good day, my father, but he had a growl like the dog and his eyes blazed too.
At last he came home. Mother fell on him.
'Did you see the man hiding under the front hedge?'
'No.'
No, he was well hidden.
Lights out, Father looked round the edge of the blackout in the front room. The bottom of the hedge did look a bit more lumpy than it should.
The dog at his heels, growling, he went outside.
'I've got a dog here, get out from under my hedge.'
The response was faster than he expected. The man pulled himself out from under the hedge and stood up, and up, and up some more. Then he put on his policeman's helmet.
It appeared that complaints had been made about the man across the road who had a hole in his blackout. As this man was a radio ham the police were bound to get inquisitive. Anyone who knew the man would have known how silly that was, but the police had to be sure.
The Policeman said he was sorry, and left. Perhaps my father frightened him off. It couldn't have been the dog.
Father had his adventures, but he never ceased to be amused when remembering the time the spy stood up and up.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.