The Tattoo Fox Makes New Friends E-Book

Alasdair Hutton

• Herausgeber: Luath Press
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: The Tattoo Fox
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 85

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

The fox's friends all gather round To watch the greatest show in town After discovering Edinburgh's Military Tattoo and setting up her home by Edinburgh Castle, the Tattoo Fox returns to her adventures around Edinburgh. Meeting and making lots of new friends along the way (including the Queen!), the Tattoo Fox invites them all to her party. This heart-warming tale was inspired by a real-life encounter between the Producer of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and a fox, late one night on the Castle Esplanade. Hutton is one of Scotland's greatest storytellers [and] the illustrations by Stref are the icing on the cake. BRIGADIER DAVID ALLFREY MBE Lots of adventures [and] the famous Tattoo creates a dramatic finale to the story. JENNY BLANCH, Carousel A hit with young readers. EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS

Leseprobe

Some reader comments on the first Tattoo Fox book

Now I can make my Granddaughter happy, by telling her that the sequel is here! QUINTIN JARDINE

Reading this book right now, next time I go to Edinburgh I will be looking for the wee fox SANDRA VIDLER

Great book, lovely little story. The pictures my brain was dreaming up – I was there xxx KATE HOBSON

I purchased this book while on holiday in Edinburgh last August. Sat in Princes Street Gardens and had a wee read. Great book I love it!!! Even though I’m an older child(by quite a few years!!!) JANE BROWN

The book is fantastic, well worth buying for children and adults, I really enjoyed the book SUSAN GIBSON

It is a lovely book, good story DOROTHY JARRETT

My wee girl bought the book the night we were at the Tattoo and she has read it and loved it. My older boy,he has read it and loved it. Now, I’m 3/4 way through it! Can’t wait until I go to bed to finish it tonight, lovely wee book. Please, please do another one! DEHRA HIGGINSON

Brigadier David Allfrey MBE

Chief Executive and Producer The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

We have been thrilled by the success of The Tattoo Fox and have enjoyed the whole adventure. We have been fortunate to come together with a fun and efficient team at Luath who have guided us through the process and past the pitfalls. Since the launch at the Edinburgh International Book Festival last year, we have received many wonderful and uplifting comments from adults and children, all praising Alasdair’s writing and Stref’s illustrations – a winning combination.

With the Tattoo, a 400-year-old Castle, the City of Edinburgh and Scotland as a backdrop, it has been easy to imagine what our fox might have been up to over the last 12 months. Stories abound – both apocryphal and real – of foxy encounters in the Castle precincts. So, with phone calls to the author, illustrator, editor and our publishers, the stage was easily set forThe Tattoo Fox Makes New Friends.

We are hugely proud to now present our second book just as the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo starts its 65th season and a 15th sell-out season. We know the fox, her family and her friends will be watching our show and enjoying the festival atmosphere. I hope you enjoy this second set of stories as much as we have.

August 2014

by Alasdair Hutton

with illustrations by Stref

LuathPress Limited

EDINBURGH

www.luath.co.uk

First published 2014

ISBN (PBK): 978-1-910021-47-7

ISBN (EBK): 978-1-910324-32-5

Text © The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Ltd., 2014

Illustrations © Stephen White, 2014

No text or illustrations from this book may be reproduced without prior permission from The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Ltd.All rights reserved.

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was established for charitable purposes to support services and artistic charities. In recent years we have disbursed several million pounds.

Each year we stage a world-class event from which a substantial amount is Gift Aided to The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Charities Ltd which is then dispersed as donations to a range of charitable organisations.

If you enjoy the book then please give a thought to our charitable purposes and perhaps make a donation, join our Friends or become a supporter. Find out more atwww.edintattoo.co.uk

The Edinburgh Military Tattoo (Charities) Ltd is a company limited by guarantee Registered in Scotland No. 108857. Charity No. SCO18377.

Patron: HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne

Contents

Thanks

Chapter One The Fox takes a Trip

Chapter TwoThe Long Walk Home

Chapter Three Trains and Planes and Suitcases

Chapter FourEdinburgh Ghosts!

Chapter Five Operation Dog Rescue

Chapter Six The Roaring Crowd and a Noble Penguin

Chapter Seven A Magical Mystery Tour

Chapter Eight Five!

Chapter Nine Underground Hide and Seek

Chapter Ten Another Castle, Another Time

Chapter Eleven The Uninvited Guests

Chapter Twelve A Party to Remember

Thanks

After the first book about the Tattoo Fox was published in 2013, it was a very pleasant surprise to be asked to write some more of the adventures of this little animal who lives on EdinburghCastle Rock.

It takes many more people than the writer to make any story successful and once again the incomparable and inspirational Lindsey Fraser has turned the first rough garment into an elegant cloak to be proud of with her skilful editing.

Stref’s superb drawings have brought the little tales to life and made them much more enjoyable and the pictures on the front and back covers are more vibrant thanks to Fin Cramb’s remarkable dexterity with colours.

In the Tattoo office, Nancy Riach diplomatically made sure everyone stuck to the timetable so that these stories would be ready for the 2014 Tattoo, and the Producer, Brigadier David Allfrey, who started the whole idea, was enthusiastically encouraging at everystage.

The staff of the publishers, Luath Press, in particular Gavin MacDougall and Lydia Nowak, were constantly positive and helpful in making this book a reality.

Thanks to Morris Heggie from DC Thomson for wisdom and support.

Any failings in the book are mine alone but everyone involved has been so helpful and enthusiastic that I cannot thank them enough and hope you will enjoy reading more of these little tales about the Tattoo Fox.

1

The Fox takes a Trip

The fox and cat go off to roam

And find they have a long trip home

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was over for another year.

Sparkling fireworks soared into the sky above Edinburgh Castle for the last time, the bands marched away down the Royal Mile and the pipes and drums fell silent at last.

On the final night, the Tattoo Fox had joined the parade down the Esplanade. As she padded past the Producer, her magnificent tail waving proudly, he smiled. ‘Bravo, Tattoo Fox. I hope I see you here next year.’

Once the audience had gone home the Tattoo Fox stood beneath the stands thinking about the excitement of the last three weeks. It was there that her friend the Castle Cat found her.

‘You looked spectacular tonight,’ he said, ‘and you got an especially loud cheer at the end. You must have felt like the Queen.’

‘I was very proud,’ the fox admitted. ‘I’m sorry it’s over until next summer.’ The Castle Cat had promised her that the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would be an experience she would never forget. And he was right.

They watched some musicians loading oddly-shaped boxes into the back of a big van.

‘They’re from the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines,’ said the Castle Cat. ‘I wonder what they’re up to…’

‘Fancy a cup of tea?’ one of the Marines called to his friends after some particularly heavy lifting. ‘Thought you’d never ask! I’m thirsty after all that blowing,’ said another. They headed up the Esplanade towards the Castle.

‘Super!’ said the Castle Cat. Like most cats, he couldn’t resist looking in boxes. He ran out from under the stands and leapt in the back of the van. The fox followed and the two of them had a lovely time nosing their way round. The boxes came in all shapes and sizes. ‘I wonder what lives in this one?’ the fox said, puzzling over how to open it. But before she could find out, there was a rumbling noise and a click as the shutter of the van was rolled down and locked. The two friends were left in total darkness.

‘Off you go!’ they heard one of the Marines call. ‘See you back at the base.’ There was a shudder as the van’s engine started, and then it started to move.

‘Oh, no!’ said the fox, staggering from side to side. ‘Where are we going? My family expects me home…’

‘There is nothing we can do until the van stops,’ said the Castle Cat sensibly. ‘We might as well settle down and make ourselves comfortable until then.’

As they rattled along the cat snoozed, but the fox was too worried to sleep. Her heart was thumping as she lay as flat as she could, desperate for the journey to end, hoping the boxes wouldn’t tumble on top of her.

At last the van slowed and stopped, the engine idling. They could hear shouts of friendly greetings, and then they set off again for a short distance. When the engine was turned off they could hear people moving about outside. Soon the shutter was unlocked and pushed up a little way.

‘There are quite a few instruments to unpack,’ said one of the Marines, peering in. ‘Let’s go and find some willing helpers. Might have to wake a few of them up…’

The two friends did not need to think twice. As soon as the Marine’s back was turned, the fox and the cat jumped out and headed towards the darkness. ‘Do you have any idea where we are?’ the fox asked as they crouched beneath a bush. They could make out quite a few vans and several low buildings, some of them with lights on.

‘No,’ the cat said. He had no idea, and was trying not to sound worried.

‘What should we do next?’ asked the fox. ‘I must get home!’

‘So must I,’ agreed the cat. ‘But we can’t just set off into the blue yonder until we know where we are. We might head off in completely the wrong direction, and then where would we be? We might even end up in… Glasgow!’ He shook himself violently. ‘That would never do.’ He sniffed the air for a moment. ‘Let’s go this way,’ he said finally.

They slipped silently beneath trees and bushes, from shadow to shadow until they were well away from the buildings, then scampered up a steep slope. Below them they could see a huge dark space, and the lights of what looked like a big ship.

‘Where are we?’ the fox asked again.

‘Can’t be sure,’ the cat replied, his tail twitching, ‘but that dark space might be the Firth of Forth – the water that separates Edinburgh from the Kingdom of Fife. We can sometimes see it from the Castle. If I’m right we need to cross it to get back home.’

The fox had never swum in her life. Her heart began thumping again. She wondered whether the Castle Cat was a keen swimmer. After they’d walked a bit further she asked, ‘What are those red lights blinking in the sky?’

The Castle Cat bounded over to have a better look. ‘That, my friend, is the Forth Road Bridge.’ He purred triumphantly. ‘Those lights show pilots coming to land at Edinburgh Airport where the bridge is. I know exactly where we are now. We are at Rosyth where the Marine musicians are based. Those boxes were for their trombones and clarinets and trumpets and saxophones. That’s why they were all different shapes.’ He was very relieved.

‘But how far are we from Edinburgh Castle?’ asked the fox anxiously.