Poor Marney!

This will be a short entry- Downton Abbey is on in 45 minutes!
We had a chilly morning with no wind. By the time the hounds moved off at 9:10, the temp  was above freezing , the sun was out ( but didn't stay out for very long), and the iced-over water puddles left from our recent storm were thawing quickly.We had  only 11couple out. (Note to self: mark the calendar -Marilyn is now in heat)

Hounds  ran two foxes, but both must have been vixens, as neither one stayed up for more than 1/2 hour .  The dens are being freshly dug-out as if  the foxes are prepping for imminent arrivals of kits.  It won't be long now...

After the first fox went to ground in a large wood pile, all the hounds came to us except Marney.  The guys were anxious to go find another, so I told them to just go on, and i would walk Marney out and catch up with them.  The pack was moved about a mile upwind  and I was advised not long after  via the radio  that they had , indeed, found another fox.   As I was walking  Marney across a field  in front of the wood pile, I faintly heard the pack in full cry.  Bobby radioed to me that their fox was moving in my direction and jokingly said "sit  tight, he may be coming right to you".   Now  the chances  are slim that the fox would run right to me, right?   I kept walking,quickening my pace, but also keeping my eyes on the fields and covert on the other side of the road that I was approaching. The hounds were sounding closer all the time.  Then- tally-freakin'-ho, here comes a fox, running right towards Marney and me.  I  hit the ground and lassoed Marney with my whip and had enough presence of mind to turn the camera on. 

The camera wasnt on zoom- the fox was no more than a  couple hundred feet from us at his closest  juncture.  Marney had him in her sights and was frantic to get free of my grip - hence, the shaky  camera footage, lol.    After the fox went by us, I stood up and saw the hounds across the road, on the woods' edge.  I was certain that  they must be  coming on this fox, and was looking forward to cutting Marney loose right as they passed us, and getting it on camera.  But, alas, it was not to be.  The fox Marney and I viewed with such anticipation was not the hunted quarry.  I watched in dismay as the pack ran the woods' edge briefly and then ducked back inside the covert.  And then I heard the cry of 10 1/2 couple  quickly fade away.  The hunted fox had turned back towards where it had been found, and the fox Marney and I had viewed had merely been flsuhed out of the covert as hounds flew by. Damn. I dont know which one of us was more bummed out., my  bitch or me.

Anyway, by the time I caught up with the action, the hounds had put this second red  in a hole, too.  One more draw was made in an attempt  to pick up the scent of the  "fly-by fox", but by the time we got the pack to the line, they couldnt find it. 

Not one of our better days, but after the three incredible hunts of last week, we really cant complain.

And I will always remember that moment with Marney -the longing in her eyes was almost palpable!