Duttam and Tramp I

Late in the night one day, a family of three lay asleep soundly. Duttam in his little cot and parents on the big bed. Tramp strode in and quietly and went first near Father and licked his face. Father woke up with a start only to see Tramp hurry away to wake up Ma as well. Noting that the time was 2: 30 am, Pa was about to scream when he noticed that something was different in Tramp's behaviour. 

By this time, Tramp had woken up Duttam also. Duttam woke up with a start and for a second, all three of them were staring at Tramp, irritated by this behaviour but somewhat confused by it as well. Duttam was the first to get up and head toward the bedroom door. Tramp immediately cut him off by placing his body in between Duttam and the door.

By this time, Pa knew something was up and walked quietly toward the bedroom door and peered outside, realizing that Tramp wanted them to be quiet. He now saw that the light was on in the other bedroom. He also noticed some movement in the shadows coming due to the light in the bedroom. There was a thief inside the house!

Pa immediately picked up his mobile and called his two neighbours, asking them to call the police. Pa looked at Ma and Duttam and told them there was nothing more to do but wait.

Duttam (whispering): But can we not do something now

Pa: We cannot do anything but wait. Plus, we do not know how many of them are there?

Duttam: But if the thief hears the Police siren, he will surely escape and we wont catch him

Ma: So what if we dont catch him. The most important thing is to be safe and to ensure that nothing gets stolen. 

Duttam: But there are 3 of us and Tramp. Surely we can do something than just wait.

Pa thought about this and said, May be we can take some measures on our own. Our kitchen is on this side, Ma - Pick up some chilli powder and Pepper powder. I will take the cricket bat and keep it with me. Then we can decide exactly what we want to do. 

Duttam: What about me? What should I do? 

Pa: Stay with Tramp. Make sure he doesnt get hurt.

Duttam and Tramp both wanted to do something more. They wanted to feel important. But they knew they had to be safe as well. 

By the time, Pa and Ma got the bat and chilli powders, Tramp had jumped across the bed and was peering through the curtains. Duttam followed him; and both of them saw that there was one more person waiting outside the house. Duttam gestured to Pa and Pa also saw that there was one more guy, who was waiting anxiously outside. 

Pa: If one guy is waiting outside, it is possible that they are only a two-member team. The police wont be here for at least another 30 minutes. We need to do something. 

Ma: But what do we do? They could be armed.

Pa: I do not think they are armed. They seem to be just petty criminals

Duttam: May be we can scare them off. 

Pa: Then they will run away. They might try this again after a few days. We should try to catch them. 

Duttam: May be we can trap them somehow. 

Pa: Let us think of a plan. First let me call the neighbours again and tell them there is one man waiting outside and ask them to be prepared to come out to catch these thieves. Mr Ram who lives in the opposite set of Apartments is an ex-Army man. I had asked the neighbours to speak to him. Let us see if he is also there.

Pa called the neighbours. They told him that they had called Ram and the two neighbours and Mr. Ram were going to meet at the groundfloor of the opposite flat in 5 minutes. They reminded Pa to keep his phone on silent. The police had also been informed. 

During this conversation, Tramp had slipped out of the room and had tiptoed to a place very close to the other bedroom. There he took up position outside the room, and lay in a crouched position; ready to spring the moment the thief stepped out. 

Pa finished the call and narrated the entire conversation to Duttam and Ma. Now it was 2: 42 am, 12 minutes from the time Tramp had woken them up. The thief must be getting ready to leave now. 

Pa (suddenly): Where is Tramp?

Ma: He was here only

Duttam: Oh, I hope the thief hasnt spotted him.

They rushed toward the door slowly and saw Tramp crouched and ready. At that very moment, the thief came out, and Tramp leapt up on him and pinned him down. Pa and Ma also rushed toward the thief. The thief was completely taken aback by Tramp's leap and was too stunned to offer any resistance. Ma quickly called the neighbours and asked them to come over immediately, Pa made sure that the thief did not try to run away by tying him up. In any case, Tramp was hovering on top of the thief and glaring at him. The thief was too scared to try anything and was lying down limp on the floor. 

All this commotion had made some noise and the thief's friend could sense that something was up. So, just as Pa was tying up the thief, his phone started flashing. It must have been his friend. At the very moment, our upstairs neighbour also knocked quietly and let us know he had arrived. 

Ma opened the door, and barely a second later, Tramp stormed out and leapt across the flight of stairs. Pa, Ma and Duttam were stunned. Then they realized what had happened, Tramp wanted to go and scare the other thief also. Our upstairs neighbour and his 20-year old son had arrived equipped with a long chords of wire and a hockey-stick. They tied up the thief tightly again while Pa went out to see what Tramp was up to. 

The second thief was just about to get on to his bike when Tramp leapt up on him and scared him out of his wits, This time, Tramp was barking mad and making a lot of noise. The time for being quiet was done. He wanted to wake the entire neighbourhood. The three members from the opposite apartment rushed out, just as Tramp was biting at the second thief's ankle. The second thief knew the game was up and meekly surrendered. He was just glad that he had not become Tramp's night time snack. 

The neighbours tied up the second thief also and were just getting updates on the story when the police siren sounded. The inspector himself had been doing the rounds that day and apprehended the two thieves immediately. 

Inspector: We have been looking for these two petty thieves for a while now. They have already stolen from 3-4 houses in this neighbourhood. One stays and keeps watch, while the other picks locks and steals from houses.

Pa: They had targeted our house for some reason. 

Inspector: Good that you have caught them for us. I will get a full update from you in the morning. Are all of you safe? No one is hurt, right? 

Pa: All of us are safe. Duttam, Ma and I are good. And Tramp here is absolutely thrilled to have had so much fun in the middle of the night.

Inspector: Tramp? Oh, that dog there. He looks quiet a big fellow. I am surprised that the thieves picked your house. But I am really surprised that he let them come in. I thought he would have barked and woken up the whole building. Is he one of those dogs who are friendly and docile, even though they are big? 

Pa (bursting out laughing): He is friendly alright. But right now, what you have said has made him very angry. More importantly, it has made my son go red.

Duttam: Inspector, Tramp is a great dog. He can be ferocious and friendly at the same time. He chose to wake us up instead of barking away to glory. He pinned the first guy and ran down to trap the second one as well. If he had barked ferociously, these two would never have come in, but we would never have caught them either. 

Inspector (taken aback): That is a very intelligent dog. May be we can use him to help us out with some cases as well. Though I doubt Duttam will allow us to take him. But amazing to know that the dog has been so brilliant. My son will be thrilled to hear this story. Anyway, as I said I will return in the morning to get the full story. You must all be tired. Take some rest.

But rest was the last thing on Duttam and Tramp's minds. They ran back up to their house. When Pa checked to see if nothing had been stolen, Ma made their favourite snacks - Hot chocolate for Duttam and melted vanilla ice cream for Tramp. They cuddled together and recalled the events of the night a number of times. It was almost 5 am by the time they went to sleep.