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It's early July 1985, the weather is pretty good in the UK at the moment, but why should that bother me? All I am to society is a worthless drain, a 15 year old Rottweiler who wants nothing more than to take from those around him. Yeah back then I was one of those teens that fell through the cracks, with every crime that I committed the Police would always be one step behind, in fact on one or two occasions I'm pretty sure that I could feel their hot breath on the back of my neck.

As with most criminals though I would always push my luck once too often and I would end up spending time in juvinial detention. Eventually, it got so bad and I got so sloppy that I would find myself in a juvinial centre every other week.

November 1988, the frequent visits to the juvinial centre stopped, the reason I was now 18 and therefore could be tried as an adult, it's a Monday morning and I am now standing in the dock of an adult court, and I don't mind telling you that there was probably a few wet patches on the floor by my foot paws, the judge, a Shire Horse by the name of Judge Bartholemew, could obviously see that the thought of going to prison had in my case at least done what it was supposed to do, in other words, put the fear of God into you.

"Craig Templar, you stand before this court charged with robbery and handling of stolen goods, you have been on the wrong end of the justice system for most of your young life, but you were always able to use the fact that you could only be charged as a minor and therefore the worst that could happen was time spent at the local juvinial centre."

My head droops as the Horse continues, "Your days in the juvinal centre are over now so the next place that you will be staying at will be at her majesties pleasure Wondsworth Prison in London."

There is a sudden call from the prosecution lawyer, a Jackel with a very sly look in his eyes, "Your honour, may I please approach the bench?"

My defence lawyer, a meak looking Cat probably no older than me and most likely just out of law school, also approaches the bench, I can only hear strained whispers and see nods of heads at various points in the conversation, the next thing I hear is the Judge talking to both lawyers.

"Is this deal agreeable to both parties?"

Again there are nods of the head from both lawyers, and then the Judge sends them back to their seat and then turns his attention back to me.

"Well Mr Templar it seems that you have a friend on the prosecution side, there has been a deal brokered which considering your life of crime thus far is almost like sending you to a holiday camp. The city has a place where children of various ages are sent when the fostering and adoption system fails them, the warden is coming up for his retirement and so we need someone to take his place, normally I wouldn't even give this deal the time of day, but I have had my eye on you all through these prosseedings and I have seen that you are now one very nervous dog."

He is so not wrong there, the thought of going to be in an adult prison fills me with so much dread, the Judge continues to speak.

"Here is the deal, you will have an ankle bracelet fitted which will allow the security service to keep tabs on your every move, you will be allowed to move at will around the streets of London in the pursuit of your work. As for your work, you will either be contacted by someone giving you details of a child in trouble or the child will be brought to the centre, you will then help to keep them safe and give them all of the attention and education that they need. I warn you now, failure to accept this deal will result in you being locked up for five years, so Mr Templar what is your choice?"

Well, either way, my life is no longer my own so really there is only one choice that I can make, it looks like I am going to be a Guardian.

"I will take the deal, your honour."

The Judge brings proseedings to a close with his final instructions, "Very well, you will be taken from this court room to the Hope Springs Eternal, there you will be fitted with the bracelet, you will then be turned over to the custody of Gerald McCintyre, the out going warden, he will set things in motion with you and give you the training that you need, this court is adjourned."

I am led away still with my paws clamped in cuffs, I get loaded into the back of a police van and then take an uncomfortable ten minute ride to my next port of call, Hope Springs Eternal, yeah a really original name for what to some of the kids is the last chance saloon, but I guess that they couldn't exactly call it Final Chance.

Still with my paws cuffed I am taken to an office that houses a desk, some filing cabinets and a potted plant dotted here and there, How quaint, there is an ageing Fox sat at the desk and just by looking at his face I can tell that he has pretty much seen it all, done it all and quite possibly still has the dvd's to prove it. The Fox takes one look at me and it does not escape him to notice that I am in cuffs.

"So what do we have here, another lost soul to save? I must admit he is a little older than the others that step through that door."

One of the guards that is accompanying me hands the Fox my file which he duly checks out.

"Are you shitting me, this... thing is to be my replacement, guys I said that I was retiring not giving up completely."

The guard who handed the Fox my file just sighs and answers.

"Sorry, Sir, if it had been down to us we would have taken him straight to prison and enjoyed ourselves doing it, but apparently some sort of deal was struck and so now you get the pleasure of using the remaining time that you have left here training this guy up to replace you."

Every sign on the Foxes face gave the same message, he was not happy about having to train me one bit.

"I'm too old for this shit, okay, you had better take his cuffs off, but before you do I just want to say this to the new warden of Hope Springs Eternal, if you try to bolt from here when your cuffs are removed I will lovingly give the order for these two hounds to hunt you down."

I see a sneer on the faces of the two guards that tells me that they would not need to be asked twice, the guards finally remove my cuffs and I wriggle my arms, hands and wrists a little just to get some movement back into them. Seeing that I have not made any move to escape the Fox just nods his head towards the two guards and they both leave the office, the Fox now looks directly at me and speaks.

"So, you are Craig Templar, you are 18 and by breed, you are a Rottweiler, yep all of that stacks up as it should, you have been in and out of juvenial centres for most of your young life, you were about to be sent to jail for committing robbery and for handling stolen goods, not exactly the kind of guy I would feel happy entrusting the health, safety and wellbeing of these kids with, but maybe there is some good lurking underneath that dark fur of yours."

The Fox stands from his seat and straightens his shirt out, he then stands in front of me and continues. "Okay Craig, you need to come with me, I will use what is left of my two weeks here to train you up and hopefully find what I am looking for, some sort of fleeting hope."

We walk from the office down a wide corridor to a huge assembly hall, "This is the common area, this is where some of the kids will come to socialise, in the office at the far left corner there will be an attendant, she is purely there to make sure that nothing bad takes place between the kids."

We continue on down another corridor and take a right turn, we are deposited into another large room, I can see on the back wall a number of what look like serving hatches, "This is the dinning room or canteen, pretty self explanatory, again there will be attendants in here at all meal times."

The shutters of the dinning room open and I can hear the sound of the kids coming from their various rooms to eat their lunch, my eyes go wide as I see the multitude of kids forming lines at the serving hatches, Hyenas, Tigers, Lions, Wolves, Rhinos, Horses, I even see a few Human kids in the lines too.

The Fox clears his throat to gain my attention, "You will eat here with the kids, but there are various vending machines strewn around the place but whereas your three square meals are provided for and free of charge the vending machines need money. Before we continue our tour you and I will grab something to eat from the hatch that has no one standing in front of it, that hatch is for staff only."

We head over to the hatch and I can feel so many eyes all looking at me and I know that I need to start bringing my A game because otherwise, these kids will probably eat me alive. I take a tray and then load it with a plated roast dinner, I grab a soft drink from the cooler while the Fox makes his choice of lunch, we then head to an empty table and begin to tuck in.

It isn't long before the current warden and I begin to get stares from the kids, but I guess seeing someone new in the staff line at the dinner hatches is bound to stur up a few inquisitive minds, suddenly I see a Doberman standing at the staff serving hatch and before long he is sitting at our table.

"Good Afternoon Warden McCintyre, I trust that you are well?"

Oh man, what a complete stuffed shirt! Of course, I don't give that thought any fresh air, because I'm pretty sure that the Dobbie has already formed his own opinion of me and I'm guessing by the look of distaste on his muzzle it isn't a good opinion, the Dobbie continues.

"So would this be our new Warden then?"

I can detect a very slight German twang to his voice and I hear a chuffing sound, akin to a snigger and chuckle combined and it has come from the muzzle of the Fox.

"Yes Dieter, this is Craig Templar, Craig I would like you to meet Mr Dieter Brogue, he will be your second in command, and Craig don't even think of getting on the wrong side of Dieter, he probably knows more about this place than I do."

I gingerly hold my paw out to the Doberman, who thankfully takes my paw and gives it a subdued shake, even though it was a subdued greeting I could tell from his vice like grip that he doesn't suffer fools lightly. I decided to try and crack up a conversation with my new working partner.

"So Mr Brogue, forgive me for asking this, but if you know so much about this place why is it that you did not take over as the Warden?"

The Dobbie seems to consider the question as he shovels some of the food from his plate into his muzzle, once he has swallowed he gives me his answer.

"Do not think that I was not approached to become the new Warden, however, let's just say that I am more than happy to be the second in command, that way I can stand back when the new Warden causes the shit to hit the fan and not get any of the said shit on my paws."

Woof I was not expecting that this guy has a sense of humour close to my own, it looks as though I am going to have to keep my wits about me when dealing with Mr Brogue.