Once upon a time, when there was only Gráinne at our house, Harry showed up. On her walk through the fields and woods with her best friend Sammy, Gráinne found a deer leg, joint and all. When Gráinne proudly carried it around, the lower bone with its fur and hoof dangled back and forth below her chin. Yuck, said Mummy. Yuck, said Aunt Uschi. "What d'ya want to do with that?" asked Gráinne’s girlfriend Sammy. Mummy finally got it away from her and tossed it into the field.

Next day, Mummy put Gráinne on the leash at the field where the leg was, but it appeared in another field and Gráinne had it again! Again and again, this field and that. Finally Mummy climbed up the ladder to a hunter’s stand and hid it up there. Next day it was down on the ground again and Gráinne snapped it up!  Then Mummy brought a garbage bag along and took the leg home. Gráinne thought it was for her to gnaw on but it flew into the garbage bin.

Not long later, lo and behold! There it was in the woods again! Gráinne had it in a snap!  Mummy and Aunt Uschi were talking about "The Trouble with Harry", an Alfred Hitchcock comedy in which a group of villagers have to get rid of a corpse that keeps returning.

The deer became known as "Harry".

Fast forward 6-8 years. On the way back from our walk in the fields today (Gráinne gone, Diarmuid gone, Sammy gone) Aunt Uschi inquired, "What does Róisín have? Is that a bone?" - "Nah" said Mummy. "It’s a stick." -  "I don’t think so", insisted Aunt Uschi.  At closer inspection it was indeed a deer leg with joint, fur and hoof. "Harry’s back!" screamed Aunt Uschi and Mummy!!!  And laughed their heads off.

I gave it up on a sharp "Leave it" command and Mummy kicked it into the field while my godmother Uschi held and distracted me, saying, "No kisses". Tomorrow Mummy is taking a garbage bag and a camera.