Wallace E Briggs

The Last Footsies Wallace E Briggs

Ten year old Anthony lives in an isolated rural cottage, on the edge of the Border Counties in the very North of England. A brook babbles on its way through the bottom of his garden where nature loving Anthony nurtures the visiting wild life. One warm evening in late summer he rescues from the stream, what turns out to be, the last surviving clan of J's which, in his own mind, he christens "Footsies."The Footsies are an unknown, subterranean species which has been hounded almost to extinction and, now nomadic, the last clan is moving ever northward seeking safe haven. Their journey ends abruptly when their raft unexpectedly hits rapids and throws one of their kind, with their meagre belongings, overboard. Rescued by Anthony the J's are persuaded to stay a while in the safety of his garden. Hence Anthony's declaration: "There are no fairies at the bottom of my garden."