{"sf1_id":972669,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Down in the Valley- Part II","author":"Billy Leigh","words":3516,"posted_at":"2016-03-05T19:42:00.000Z","tags":["African","Aristocrat","Border Collie","Crime","Cum","First Person","Fox","Gay","Gay Relationships","Kissing","M/M","Military","Oral","Pilot","Violence (Not In Yiff)","War","Wolf","Yiff","fennec fox","mystery"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/972669-down-in-the-valley-part-ii","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/972669","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=972669\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"I guess you\nwant to know what happened after the party?\nWe think the\nenemy are on the run, but the rattle of machine guns and the distant boom of shells exploding continue to ring\nin my ears. I'm still waiting for the command to move forwards, so I have time\nto finish my tale.  \nGiles took\nme flying as he had promised. It was a wonderful distraction from the atmosphere\nback at the ranch. \nThe drive to\nNyeri airfield did not take long. The airfield itself was ramshackle looking\nbut Giles' bright blue eyes were full of enthusiasm as we drove in. He parked the\ncar and led me over to a yellow DH Tiger Moth biplane. \nA Cheetah\ntechnician was tinkering with the engine. \n\"Ah Mr. Lockhart!\" He called as we walked over. \n\"Morning Amani. Would it be possible to take her up? I'd like to show my friend\nthe Aberdare from above\" \n\"Of course Mr. Lockhart. I'll get her ready\".\nGiles disappeared into a nearby building and emerged a moment later, carrying\ntwo pairs of flying goggles and a padded jacket.\n\"You'll need these. The sun might be out but it'll be cool up there. I sussed\nout your size so this should fit\".    \nA minute\nlater the Cheetah announced that the plane was ready for take-off. I climbed in\nfeeling somewhat apprehensive. Giles fixed me a reassuring smile before he\npressed down on the throttle.   \nThe fur on\nthe back of my neck stood on end as the nimble little aircraft sped down the\ngrass runway. My stomach lurched as we took off into the clear blue sky. Giles\nwas hunched over the controls but I was gazing excitedly over the side as we\nleft the ground. \nSoon, we\nwere passing over the town and the houses were as small as building blocks.\nFurs scurried along the roadsides like ants. I was sure that some were pointing\nand waving to us. We flew over the outer suburbs and soon the endless orange\nexpanse of the savanna stretched out before us. The plane climbed higher and I\nfelt a childlike sense of happiness and exhilaration. The cloudless blue sky continued\non for as far as the eye could see. I felt like I was in a small boat in the\nmiddle of a calm ocean. The green hills seemed so comically small compared to\nhow imposing they had been from the ground. Giles flew the plane even higher.\nHe'd turned to me and grinned before pulling on the controls. I yelled with\nsurprise and excitement as Giles performed a loop. The sky disappeared and was\nreplaced by the savanna before Giles righted us. I was grinning from ear to ear\nand whooped with joy while Giles howled in response.  \nI was still\ngrinning when we touched down and I climbed out of the plane. \n\"I've not had that much fun in years. Actually that's the most enjoyable thing\nI've ever done!\" I exclaimed as my tail wagged happily.  \nGiles smiled back.\n\"It was a pleasure to take you up with me. Hugo certainly wouldn't have found\nit fun!\" he'd chuckled.  \n \nThe exhilaration was still gushing through me as we drove off. However, it was soon\nreplaced by a sense of foreboding as we neared the hills. I sensed by Giles'\nbody language that the Wolf felt the same way. His ears drooped and he slunk\ndown in his seat.  \nI turned to\nface him.\n\"Why don't you just fly away from here if you hate it?\" I asked. \nHe didn't reply at first. \n\"Look, I'm going to request a new posting. Come with me\" I continued. \nThe Wolf's eyes glimmered as he mulled the decision over. \nWithout a\nwarning, he suddenly pulled the car off the road and parked on a bare patch of\nscrubland. \n\"Why are we here?\" I asked, gazing around in bewilderment.\nGiles did not reply but instead gestured with his paw. We were parked in the\nvalley basin and the green hills towered up on either side of us. The red\nsavanna stretched off into the distance, eventually merging into the sky. There\nwas no sound, nothing but a gentle breeze blowing down from the hills.  \n\"I loved this place\" Giles sighed before turning to face me.  \n\"I'll come with you but I wanted to appreciate this view one last time\". \n\"It's beautiful\" I murmured. \n\"This is the first time I've stopped with someone to look at it\" Giles\nexplained. \nI smiled and\nleaned over to kiss him. We closed our eyes and enjoyed the sensation of our\ntongues exploring each other's mouths. Giles held me in his strong arms as the\nwarm sun shone down on us. I felt all my troubles drift away. His paw reached\nover and began stroking at my crotch. \n \nI wanted to\npleasure Giles to make up for the interruption at the party. I reached over and\nunbuckled his belt. He pulled his slacks down so that his genitalia was\nexposed. His blue eyes encouraged me to continue. I took hold of his balls and\nkneaded them as I ran my tongue over his sheath. I tried slipping it into my\nmouth and sucked at the tip. Giles sighed with pleasure. His member soon\nemerged and I continuing sucking earnestly, working my muzzle up and down.\nGiles closed his eyes and stroked the fur in-between my ears. \n\"Oh Ralph...\" he moaned before ejaculating into my muzzle.\nI swallowed the warm load as he sat back and panted in ecstasy.     \nWe spent another minute sitting in silence, gazing at the view while I leaned\nagainst Giles' shoulder. His wrested his muzzle upon my head and gentle nuzzled\nme. \n\"We should head back\" Giles eventually sighed. He retrieved a handkerchief from\nhis pocket and cleaned up the remaining mess. \n\"We'll get our belongings and head back to Nyeri\" he said. \n    \nWe continued\nto drive up to the ranch. The sun had retreated behind a cloud and the valley\nsuddenly felt gloomy. I remember shivering as the warmth subsided. There was an\nuneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.  \nWe rounded\nthe corner to see a black police car parked outside the house. My sense of\ndisquiet grew.\nThere were\ntwo Zebra police officers standing at the front door. Their expressions were\ngrave. They were flanking a tall, brown Rhodesian Ridgeback dressed in a\npinstripe suit.\n\"Mr. Lockhart?\" He asked in a clipped, authoritative voice. \n\"Yes?\" \n\"My name is Inspector Roland Finch. I would like to ask you some questions\nregarding Lois Donoghue. Could you follow me to Mr. Gilmartin's study please?\" \nGiles fixed me a worried glance but nodded to Inspector Finch. \n\"If you could wait in the front room and I'll send for you next\" Finch then\nsaid to me. \nI waited\nuntil both canines had gone to the study and quickly ran up to the bathroom. I washed\nmyself at the sink and smeared some toothpaste into my mouth, hoping to mask\nany lingering scents. \nI returned\nto the front room and sat in a wicker chair by the fireplace. I observed that\nthe house staff had cleaned the room thoroughly, no doubt in anticipation for\nthe visit by the police. The scent of lavender filled my nose and I looked up\nto see Elizabeth Gilmartin standing in the doorway.\nThe Collie's\nface was fraught with anxiety. She glanced over her shoulders before hurrying\ninto the room.\n\"Have they found her?\" I asked. \n\"A local Antelope found her body at the bottom of the drop. She fell\napparently. We're being questioned one by one to determine what happened\"\nElizabeth had explained. \nI remember she was breathing heavily and her eyes were wide with fear. Checking\nthat no one was at the doorway she walked over to me and pushed her muzzle\nright into my face.\n\"Listen. On pain of death you are not to mention any details about our party to\nthe police. Do you understand me little Fox?\" She growled. \nI could smell alcohol on her breath. I swallowed and nodded. Elizabeth backed\naway and took a seat opposite me. I tried to avoid eye contact with her.\nInspector\nFinch reappeared a minute later and led me to the study.\nLike the\nrest of the house, it was a large and airy room with a window overlooking the\ngarden. Finch stood behind Denys' desk and gestured for me to sit opposite. He\nbegan by explaining the discovery of Lois' body. His face was deadpan yet his\ngreen eyes bore right into me, searching for any hint of guilt. \n\"When did\nyou last see Miss Donoghue?\" He asked. \nI stated that Giles and I had been talking in the garden when Lois had\nappeared. Giles had stopped her from falling and took her back inside. I\nrepeated his claim that he'd put her to bed but she had somehow slipped away. \n\"There was a\nbottle of whisky on the grass near to where she fell from\" Finch had explained.\n \"It's possible that she was intoxicated,\nwondered out of the house and fell by accident. However, according to Mrs\nBlythe, Miss Donoghue was shouting at someone in the garden\"\n\"I see\" I replied\n\"Apparently she had been quarrelling with Hugo and Giles. You don't know about\nthe nature of their friendships. Could they have potentially harmed her?\"  \n\"I know that Hugo and Lois were mated but I didn't speak to either of them much.\nGiles was not fond of her but he's not the sort of canine to wish ill on anyone\"\nI replied carefully.  \nFinch wrote something down in his notebook. \n\"Did she seem depressed or insane. Would she have wanted to take her own life?\"\n\n\"She struck me as quite a character but I'm not sure if she was depressed\" I\nclaimed. \nA vision of her intense black eyes flashed before my mind. Beads of sweat broke\nout on my muzzle and my heart pounded unpleasantly in my chest. \n \n\"What is\nyour connection to the Gilmartin's?\" Finch continued. \nI replied truthfully that I'd met Hugo, Giles and Lois at the social club.\nWanting to get away from my office, I'd taken up their offer to spend the\nweekend at the Gilmartin's ranch. Something close to a smile spread across\nFinch's muzzle as if he had found something significant. \n\"This gathering that took place last night. What exactly went on? Were\nnarcotics and alcohol consumed by the guests?\" \nHeeding Elizabeth's threat, I claimed I had not seen much as the atmosphere had\nbeen too loud for my liking. I'd spent most of the night outside. Not\nmentioning the shisha, I told him that alcohol was drunk but no drugs were\ntaken. I was aware of Finch's pen scratching ominously against his notebook as\nI spoke. \nThe\nRidgeback fixed me a scrutinising look as I finished. Slowly, he had reached\ninto his pocket and pulled out a small glass bottle. \n\"Do you recognise this?\" Finch asked as he slid the bottle across the desk.\nI'd picked it up and examined it closely. It contained a white powdery\nsubstance.\n\"I found it in her suitcase. Were you aware that Miss Donoghue was taking\nthis?\"\n\"No\" I replied firmly \"this is the first time I've seen it\". \"Although it explains a lot\" I'd\nthought to myself. \n\"Very well. I'll let you go for now but I have the address of your office and\nI'll be in contact with you. Are you likely to be leaving the country any time\nsoon?\"\n\"No\" I replied, although in my head I was still formulating my plan to get a\nnew post. \nFinch had\nthen gestured for me to leave before calling Elizabeth into the office.\nI made my\nway up to my room and pressed my ear to the floor. I'd worked out that the\noffice lay directly below my room and I was intrigued to hear what Elizabeth\nhad to say. The advantage of being a Fennec is that my hearing is sharp and I\ncould soon pick out the conversation.\n\"What were your thoughts on Miss\nDonoghue?\" \n\"Honestly? I could not stand that Cougar. She was an urchin from the\nbackstreets of New York who had no business associating with furs like us. She formed\na relationship with Hugo so she could help herself to his money. I think she\nused to thieve out of my bedroom! The last time she came here my diamond ring\nwent missing\"\nElizabeth had\nranted for another five minutes before Finch interrupted her. \n\"So you would have been happy to see\nsome harm come to her?\"\n\"Certainly not! I disliked the girl but that's a ghastly thing to wish on\nsomeone\" \nI'd\nsuppressed a snort at the irony of her statement.\nI listened\nto Major Norton, Dianne and Denys' interrogations. They were equally clueless\nas to what had happened. Once Finch had finished his questioning I packed my\nsuitcase and made my way downstairs. \nI was\nwaiting outside for Giles to appear when I noticed Hugo standing on the\nveranda, smoking a cigar. \n\"I'm sorry for your loss\" I said apologetically.The fox shrugged. \n\"I think it was the only way out for her\" he'd mused, puffing on his cigar.\n\"What do you mean?\" \n\"She wasn't happy. I'm not surprised it came to an end that way\" Hugo said. \nHe gazed impassively down the garden to the spot where Lois had fallen. \nI felt rather unnerved. The drippy Hugo that had been braying with laughter the\nday before had vanished. To this day I cannot decide if he was in shock at\nLois' death or simply did not care. \n \nGiles appeared\nat the front door and beckoned me to the car. I climbed in with my suitcase.\n\"Finch is going to question me again. He reckons Lois' death was accidental but\nI was the last person who saw her alive. I'm named as a fur of interest in this\ncase\" he'd explained \"look, what I said about Lois was true. I had no idea where\nshe had gone when I tried to check on her\" He added. His blue eyes were wide\nwith concern.\n\"It's all right. I believe you\" I replied firmly. \nGiles forced\na smile and we drove off together. I was glad to get away from the ranch and\nvowed not to run into Hugo or the Gilmartin's again. Once we reached the bottom\nof the valley, Giles reached over and clasped my paw reassuringly in his.   \nI continued\nmy work at the office, listening to the wireless as the war grew worse. Much of\nEurope had been taken and the conflict was spilling into North Africa. I spent\nmy nights at Giles' house which was a couple of streets over. He continued his\nwork as a pilot, disappearing off for a few days each week while I tried to\ncontact my superiors. \nFinch came\nto the house and questioned Giles again but seemed satisfied that the Wolf's story\nwas legitimate. He left us alone after that.  \nTwo days\nlater, I got a call from Finch explaining that one of the house staff had been\ntaken into custody. He had been caught with Lois' pearls in his pocket. This\nparticular fur had also been accused of violently assaulting and mugging someone\nin Nyeri before working at the Gilmartin's place. Finch explained that if\nanyone had pushed her, it must have been him in a robbery attempt. The case was\nclosed. \nThat same\nnight I received a new posting in Cape Town and convinced Giles to come with\nme. We packed\nour belongings into his car and drove south.\nMy new office\nin Cape Town was an improvement on the stuffy, box-like room I'd had to put up\nwith in Nyeri. I was also given a spacious, modern apartment on the seafront that\nwas delightfully fitted with art deco paintings and furniture. The bedroom\nwindow offered an unbroken view over the white-sanded beach and the sparkling\nblue ocean beyond. Giles moved in and immediately declared that he loved the\nplace.\nI settled\ninto my new job with renewed enthusiasm. My secretary was a cheerful Leopard\nwho never failed to greet me in the morning and say good night when she went\nhome. I listened to the occasional newsflash on the wireless as I worked.\nBritain had thwarted an invasion and claimed a victory in North Africa. I was\nalso surprised to hear that America had entered the war.   \nGiles made\none trip back to Kenya to retrieve his Tiger Moth. He maintained it at an\nairfield just outside the city and we continued our flying excursions every\nother weekend. I'll never\nforget a sunset flight we took one evening near Table Mountain. I marvelled as\nthe night sky turned a curious yet impressive shade of purple as the stars\nappeared one by one.  \nUnlike\nBritain, South Africa was not subjected to food rationing. Giles and I would head\nout for a meal together before drinking at the bars and dance halls near the\nquayside.  \nWhen the\nweather was fine we would walk along the sand as the blazing red sun set over\nthe water. We'd brush our muzzles and swish our tales if the beach was empty. Other\nevenings we went home and made love on the bed, not bothering to close the\ncurtains. No one could see into the apartment and I'd gaze up at his blue eyes\nas they reflected the sunset through the window. \nI felt a\ngiddy sense of happiness and freedom. I'd gotten away from a dull posting and could\nspend my free time with the canine I loved. \nI wish I\ncould end the tale there, but I can't. There's a mantra that says the universe\nhas a funny way of rebalancing itself. I guess that was what happened.  \nThe bliss\nwas shattered when a set of call-up papers arrived on my desk one afternoon. As\nBritish subjects, Giles and I were to be recruited into the King's African\nRifles to join in the efforts at retaking mainland Europe.\nWith my\nbackground, I was quickly promoted to officer rank and placed in charge of a\nsmall regiment of furs. Giles was taken in by the air force when it was\ndiscovered that he had a pilot's licence. He promised that we would be back\ntogether again.   \nSo, here we\nare. \nGiles is now\nflying sorties over Belgium and Holland, towing gliders of furs to be dropped\ninto battle. We write to each other as often as we can although we can say very\nlittle. \nI'm about to\nlead my furs into a muddied battle in Italy. I've managed to load my\nrevolver and I'm sure my command to advance will be given at any minute. \nI feel the\nsame fear that had gripped me when Lois had returned to the garden.\nI'd been\nsitting in the moonlight, feeling frustrated that Giles was away taking care of\nLois. I'd looked up and saw to my horror that she was storming down the lawn\ntowards me. A bottle of whisky was clasped in her paw. Her eyes were narrowed\nwith revulsion. She hissed through gritted teeth before shouting that Giles and\nI were disgusting, depraved individuals. She had seen us kissing and could smell\nthe semen on my fur. Her senses were clouded with alcohol and her eyes became crazed.\nI was worried that someone would hear us and gestured with my paws for her to\ncalm down. This only made the situation worse. She began shrieking and beating\nher paws against my chest, causing the whisky battle to fall to the ground. She\nranted that everyone would find out and I'd burn in hell. I grabbed hold of\nher, trying to stop the shouting but she kept punching and scratching. I pushed\nher away and she fell, giving a small scream as she disappeared into the\ndarkness. \nI stood\nstill. Completely frozen in shock. \nMy mind\ncould not comprehend what had just happened. I peered over the edge but it was\ntoo dark to see anything. \nI realised with\na sickening sense of dread that she must have fallen all the way to the bottom.\nShe was either dead or seriously injured.  \nI knew I\nshould tell someone immediately, but I did not. \nWhen\nInspector Finch asked me what I knew I played dumb.\nHere comes\nthe command. I'm about to charge into a bloody fray with my regiment. The enemy\nare retreating but I pray I come out in one piece.  \nI got what\nI'd wanted after I left Kenya. Giles and I were free, but it came with the\nprice of an overhanging sense of guilt. I feel conflicted, part of me wishes I\nnever went to that party and done such a horrible thing, but then I'd have\nnever met Giles. Call me selfish, but if given the choice I'd rather survive\nthe war and live with the guilt so I can see him again. \n"}