After a very long time, Casey unfolded herself. She felt that she was out in the open air again. She realised that she was...

"Hey Newton, do you know what this vehicle is?"

"I don't know," Newton replied truthfully. "Maybe it's taking us on a luxury trip to our plane!"

Casey giggled. "If this is luxury," she said as they bumped along the ground, "I'd hate to be Economy Class!"

"Well," said Pearson, "I don't think we're going any class - I think that that" - here he pointed his muzzle at the belly of the plane - "is where we're going to go. With the cargo. I suddenly feel demoted." He winked.

Suddenly a black-and-white blur raced up beside them. Casey leapt away from her portcullis in a fright. The blur slowed to a trot, and suddenly seemed to change into a border collie. The collie managed to keep a steady pace next to the dogs, so Newton attempted to strike up a conversation with it.

"Hello! What are you doing out there? Shouldn't you be in one of these boxes like us?"

The collie shook his head. "No. I'm Mick, one of the border collies assigned to chase birds off the runway. You see," he explained, "those planes are susceptible to having birds caught in their engines. If that happens, the plane could crash. Look over there - that man with the shiny thing in his hand - some 'flare,' as they call it, comes out of that thing and whooshes over the birds. That scares the birds in the air away. Us border collies are then called in to chase the birds that stayed on the ground off the runway, leaving a clear path for the plane." He smiled. "It's a pretty important job. We dont want those birds to get hurt now, do we? I think I see one or two in the path of a plane right now. I need to go. Great to meet you. Bye!" Newton and Pearson scarcely managed to return the good-bye before the collie turned into a blur again.

Casey unrolled herself and looked over to the dogs. "Who was that?"

"A dog whose job is to protect David and his family," Pearson smiled.