by Lucy Daniels
‘We would,’ he assured her. He sounded wonderfully earnest. ‘I’m planning to call the children’s farm Rainbow Hill,’ he said. ‘I’ll need a few more animals before we go ahead, but if we had your donkeys, it would be a great start.’
Mandy thought for a moment before she replied. ‘There are a few things we’ll have to do,’ she told Mr Warry. ‘I’ll have to come over and see where they’d be living before they come to you, but in the first instance, you should probably come over and see them. Would you have time to come over at the weekend?’
‘That would be lovely,’ he replied. ‘Sunday afternoon okay?’
‘Perfect.’ Mandy grinned with hope and relief as she tapped on the screen to end the phone call. She would miss Holly and Robin’s sweet faces and deep liquid eyes looking up at her in the mornings, but she had to admit she wouldn’t miss their feed bills, not one bit.
Back out in the waiting room, Rachel was busy watering the plants. In the kennels, Anita still looked comfortable. Mandy decided to go into the cottage and let Sky out for a few minutes. There was nothing else pressing she had to do.
She found Emily sitting in the kitchen, drinking a cup of tea with Sky leaning against her leg. Mandy smiled at how relaxed they looked – until Sky saw Mandy and rushed over. Mandy bent to stroke her.
‘Hello.’ Mandy looked up at Emily as she buried her hands in Sky’s thick fur. ‘Have you been back long?’
‘Just a few minutes.’ Emily smiled, her old broad smile. Mandy was glad to see it. For ages, Emily had seemed so exhausted that Mandy had been really worried. It was great that her mum was taking the doctor’s advice to rest seriously. She really did look better than she had for weeks. ‘I’m going to have to love you and leave you, though,’ Emily told her. ‘I’m off to Walton to do some shopping. We’ve run out of Tango’s special treats and now he’s cross with me.’
Mandy laughed. It looked like it wasn’t just Adam who was stuck under that fluffy ginger paw!
Emily stood up and pushed her chair in, then paused for a moment, moving her left foot from side to side. ‘Sky’s been sitting on my foot way too long,’ she said with a laugh. ‘It’s gone quite numb.’
Mandy grinned. ‘That’s what you get for being so nice to her,’ she said. ‘See you later.’
Limping slightly, Emily walked over to the door and pulled her boots on. ‘Bye love,’ she called. Mandy followed her out of the door, then she and Sky walked round to the paddock. Holly and Robin were already waiting at the gate by the time she got there. Their ears were pricked forwards, their eyes bright. ‘I think I might have a new home for you,’ Mandy told them.
‘Hello, I’m Oliver Chadwick. I’m here to see the person in charge of the rescue centre.’ The polite voice was very clear.
Mandy stood up from the consulting room computer and walked through to the Animal Ark reception, just as Rachel replied, ‘I’ll just get Amanda for you.’
‘Hello Mr Chadwick. I’m Amanda Hope.’ Mandy was quite tall, but Mr Chadwick was still half a head taller. She looked up with interest into a pair of intelligent blue eyes. The man was about seventy, grey-haired and smartly dressed in very clean black trousers and a navy jersey. ‘What can I do for you?’
Mr Chadwick gave a small smile. ‘My daughter called yesterday,’ he said. ‘She wanted me to come over and choose a cat.’
Odd choice of words, Mandy thought. Mr Chadwick must be the father of the woman with the booming voice she had spoken to yesterday, and it seemed as if her instinct was right. For a moment, she wondered if she should ask straight out whether Mr Chadwick actually wanted a cat. She would hate to rehome one of her rescues to someone whose heart wasn’t in it. But Mr Chadwick’s eyes were kind. She decided, for the moment, to give him the benefit of the doubt. She would be able to tell more when she saw him with the cats.
‘Come with me,’ she told him and led him out of the clinic, crossing the path to Hope Meadows.
As always, she felt a thrill of pride as she led a new potential owner into Hope Meadows’ reception. The huge glass window, with its wonderful view of the sheep-dotted moor was impressive enough for anyone. The little cat ward was slightly less impressive. The kennels she had bought second-hand were clean, but they were old-fashioned and made of wood. The inhabitants looked healthy, though. Not only that, but both of them stood up and came to the doors of their cages as Mandy led Mr Chadwick in. Mandy began to introduce them.
‘This is Pixie.’ She bent down and rubbed the cheek of the little black cat through the bars. ‘And this is Gull.’ The tabby and white cat purred as she reached out. Mr Chadwick’s eyes were on Pixie.
‘I’ll look at that one,’ he said, pointing at Pixie. Again, Mandy was struck by the hesitancy with which he seemed to be approaching the visit. But when she opened the cage, he bent obligingly to greet Pixie. He held out his hand, as if for a dog to sniff. Pixie just pushed her face against it. She too had started to purr and as she rubbed herself against Mr Chadwick’s hand, he did unbend enough to give a small smile. He unclenched his fist and stroked Pixie’s small head and the little cat closed her eyes and leaned towards him. ‘It seems very friendly,’ he commented.
‘She is,’ Mandy told him.
‘What about the other one? Gull, was it?’
‘He’s a lovely cat too,’ Mandy told him. She closed the door on Pixie and they moved over to Gull’s cage. Mandy swung the rather heavy door open and Mr Chadwick leaned in. Gull, seeing his opportunity, made a rush up Mr Chadwick’s arm and ended up standing on the man’s shoulders.
Seeing the alarmed look on the Mr Chadwick’s face, she quickly rescued him, taking Gull into her own arms. ‘Sorry about that,’ she said.
Despite a discreet glance down at his jersey, as if to inspect it for claw damage, Mr Chadwick still took the time to stroke Gull, though he made no attempt to take him back from Mandy. After a couple of minutes, he thanked her.
‘I think I like Pixie best,’ he told her. ‘So what happens next?’
‘Well, if you’re sure you’d like to rehome …’ Mandy left the statement in the air for a moment. When Mr Chadwick made no objection, she carried on, ‘then I’ll need to carry out a house check on your home to see if it’s suitable.’
‘And what does that entail?’ he asked. He still sounded too polite, as if he was going through the motions.
‘I need to check everything’s safe and that you have as much information as possible before you agree to take Pixie on,’ Mandy said. She looked up at Mr Chadwick again, trying to read his expression. He was smiling, but she had no idea what he was thinking.
‘Would tomorrow afternoon do?’ he asked.
‘That would be fine.’ Closing the door on the cats, Mandy walked back over to the reception desk. ‘I’ll just take some details,’ she murmured.
Five minutes later, back in Animal Ark, Rachel looked at her, eyebrows raised. ‘So how did it go?’ she asked.
‘He wants to take Pixie,’ Mandy told her, ‘subject to the house check of course.’
Rachel held up her hand and after a second’s pause, Mandy returned the high-five that Rachel offered. ‘Isn’t it wonderful that so many people want to rehome your animals?’ Rachel’s voice held so much enthusiasm that Mandy couldn’t bring herself to disagree. But somewhere, alarm bells were ringing in her head. There was something about Mr Chadwick’s visit that struck her as off. He seemed lovely and he had been kind enough to the two cats. He just didn’t have the enthusiasm she had come to expect from those who wanted to rehome an unwanted pet. She was going to have to ask him, she decided. Tomorrow, during the house visit, she would have to find out whether he really wanted a pet or not.
Chapter Six
‘Sam Western called.’ Mandy looked over at Rachel, her heart sinking a little. It wasn’t that a call from Mr Western was unusual – there were so many animals attached to his extended farm that either he or Graham, his dairyman, called them out regularly. It was the way Rachel said it that
set Mandy just a little on edge. Sam Western could be … difficult. ‘He’s asked to see you,’ Rachel added, and Mandy’s eyebrows shot up.
‘Me? Not Mum or Dad?’ It was true she had been doing a lot of the farm work recently, but her parents had both been going to Upper Welford Hall for years. ‘Is it one of the cows I saw last week?’
‘No.’ Rachel tapped a few keys on the computer, then turned the screen to show Mandy. ‘It’s his bulldog Harley he’s asking about. His skin’s flared up again. You did a good job the last time, he told me.’
Mandy thought back to Harley’s last visit to Animal Ark. She had noticed on previous occasions how stressed he became in the clinic. When he was upset, he panted and because of his shortened nose, he really did get very breathless. Mandy had examined him outside where it was cool and shady and had taken extra time to approach him slowly with plenty of rewards. Sam Western hadn’t commented at the time, but Mandy knew that he loved his dogs more than he liked to let on.
‘He’ll be here in ten minutes,’ Rachel told her.
‘I’d better have a look at what I gave him last time,’ Mandy said, peering at the computer screen. ‘Seeing as he was so impressed.’ Her voice was light, but she couldn’t help but feel relieved.
Maybe he’ll be reasonable, if he was pleased before.
It took only a couple of minutes for Mandy to reacquaint herself with Harley’s history. Like most bulldogs, he’d had a lot of problems over the years, mostly to do with his skin. Mandy had talked Sam through the possibilities of exclusion diets to try to rule out food allergies. Then she had given him tablets that would get rid of any fleas and ticks. Though there was no official recommendation, Mandy knew there was some evidence the tablets could help to control mites as well. Bulldogs were prone to all kinds of skin problems.
‘He’s here!’ Rachel murmured and Mandy straightened up.
Mr Western opened the door and strode into the waiting room. Years of truculent thinking had carved a deep cleft in the centre of his forehead. His white hair might have been cemented to his head, it was so smooth and regimented.
She and James had hated the farmer when they were children. He’d seemed impossibly ruthless. She had to admit that he wasn’t quite the pantomime villain she’d thought him when she was little – his dairy at Upper Welford Hall was run efficiently by Graham, whose care for the cows and calves was second to none. Running Wild, Jimmy’s Outward Bound centre was set up in such a way that wildlife was protected. Gordon and Prue Ruck sold their woollen goods through the shops on his farm. Sam Western, for all his faults, had a big hand in the wellbeing of Welford and the surrounding area.
But part of her would never forget that he had once not cared so much about wildlife. He’d even tried to set up a fox hunt in Welford, before foxhunting was banned.
‘Will you see Harley outside again, please?’ The deep voice was matter-of-fact. There was nothing to suggest he was pleased to see Mandy, and perhaps that was fair enough. Mandy suddenly wondered what little Mandy and James must have looked like to Mr Western: this interfering boy and girl always sticking their noses into his business, when they’d only been a little bit older than Abi and Max.
But Mandy didn’t need him to like her. It was enough that he recognised her actions were good for Harley. She nodded a greeting and followed him outside.
They examined the sturdy dog together out in the paddock. Mandy was pleased to see that the skin over Harley’s back, which had been irritated and greasy before, was much clearer. ‘I think you should continue with the tablets over the summer,’ she told Sam. Harley had a new patch of dermatitis on his muzzle in one of the deepest of his skin folds. It looked painful. Mandy took a swab from the area as gently as she could.
Having completed the examination, Mandy stood up, gazing down at the quirky face of the bulldog with his wide, grinning muzzle raised towards her. ‘It really would be helpful if we could begin to get Harley comfortable coming inside the practice,’ she told Sam. It was good that for now they could reduce his stress by examining him outdoors. It would be better if he could learn that a trip to Animal Ark didn’t have to be frightening. It was fine examining him outside on a sunny May afternoon. Not so good in the dim light of a winter’s evening.
‘How would we do that then?’ Mr Western’s voice was sceptical.
‘If you could bring him now and then when he wasn’t unwell, he might stop hating it so much,’ Mandy said. ‘We keep some hypo-allergenic treats in stock. Harley would be welcome to pop in during the day. Helen or I could take both of you around the practice. He knows something bad happens every time he comes. Give him a chance to learn that’s not always the case.’ She watched Mr Western’s face, wondering whether he was calculating some kind of cost-benefit analysis in his head. She almost wanted to laugh.
‘Maybe I could do that,’ he conceded, and Mandy wondered whether he would come himself, or find someone else to do it for him. At least he had Harley’s best interests at heart.
‘Can I book a call out for tomorrow morning while I’m here?’ Mr Western’s voice had returned to its usual guttural practicality. ‘Graham told me one of the cows might have slipped her calf. I won’t be there myself. There’s a land sale going through at present and it’s very important I meet the client in person, but Graham asked if ten would be possible?’
Mandy knew they carried out routine fertility visits to Upper Welford, but the next one wasn’t due for a couple of weeks. Graham was very observant in noticing when something went wrong. If he thought the cow had lost her calf, he was probably right. ‘I’ll put it in the book for tomorrow,’ she promised. Harley was looking up at her, his stumpy tail wagging. She bent for one last ear scratch, smiling at how much the big dog seemed to be enjoying it.
When she stood back up, Sam Western was looking at her with what seemed almost like grudging respect. The effect was fleeting. A moment later, his normal expression had returned. With a tug on Harley’s lead and a curt ‘Come,’ Sam Western strode off across the short grass and back to his car.
Mandy felt a weight lifting off her shoulders as she walked up the path to Mistletoe Cottage. It was Emily’s evening for consultations, Adam was on call and Nicole had kindly offered to see to the animals in Hope Meadows.
Jimmy was waiting for her when she walked into the cottage with Sky. The worn carpets and antiquated furniture felt like home when she was alone with Jimmy and the dogs. She was excited about her move to Wildacre and all the renovations she was doing to make it her very own space, but it was wonderful to have this home-away-from-home to come to.
The delicious scents of tomato and spices wafted from the kitchen. She had bought Jimmy a vegetarian cookery book for Christmas and he had become quite adventurous trying out new recipes. He kissed her in the hallway as Zoe, Simba and Sky danced around their feet.
Released from Jimmy’s embrace, Mandy walked through to the kitchen. The back door stood open; the sun was streaming in. ‘I thought we could go for a walk,’ Jimmy said, leaning over the stove and stirring the contents of a large pan. He replaced the lid and turned off the cooker, then turned to Mandy with a grin. ‘I’ve made veggie curry, but it’ll keep.’
‘Sounds perfect,’ Mandy told him. He closed and locked the back door, then called the dogs. Together, they crossed the garden and turned into the small lane that led downhill towards the river. On either side, white hawthorn flowers peeped out from amongst the small dark green leaves of the blackthorn. The tangled verges were filled with cow parsley. The scent of honeysuckle came to her on the breeze. Side by side, the three dogs panting ahead, they turned onto the track that ran alongside a smooth stretch of water. Ahead of them, the Beacon was bathed in golden evening sunshine.
There was a bench halfway along the track. Jimmy and she had met here, one difficult evening last summer, before they’d really known each other. He’d had Simba and Zoe with him, and she had been drawn into conversation almost against her will. She’d been so prickly, Man
dy cringed at the memory. She’d been feeling patronised and undervalued after her move back to Welford, as if everybody refused to accept she wasn’t a child anymore. When Jimmy had tried to joke about her various animal-saving crusades, she had taken it badly.
‘The sand martins are nesting again,’ Jimmy said as they walked down towards the long curve of the river, where the smooth water broke up, chattering over the stones. He pointed to the holes in the steep sandy bank on the far side of the water. As Mandy watched, a tiny bird emerged from one of the dark tunnels and flitted off across the water.
They sat down beside the river on the grass. It really was very warm. Mandy watched idly as first Simba, then Sky and finally Zoe entered the water, splashing in the shallows. ‘Should we join them, do you think?’ Jimmy’s voice broke the companionable silence.
Mandy grinned. ‘Let’s do it!’ She pulled off her shoes and socks and rolled up her trousers. She and James had paddled here as children. She could remember Blackie, James’s Labrador, rushing into the water and coming out to shake, spraying the whole area with droplets.
The water was deliciously cool, the pebbles smooth beneath her toes.
Jimmy was beside her. ‘Look!’ He bent over, pointing at some tiny brown fish that flitted through the water, so close that they could almost have touched them.
‘Simba!’ Mandy giggled as the German Shepherd ran past her, splashing her with water.
‘He wants you to play,’ Jimmy laughed, as the black and tan dog spun back around and crouched in front of Mandy, his tongue lolling.
‘Oh no, I don’t feel like a swim today!’ said Mandy, backing off. Sky ran and leaped at Simba. The two dogs rolled over in the water, play fighting and splashing everywhere. Zoe waddled over and sat between Jimmy and Mandy, watching the other two. Her face almost looked indulgent, Mandy thought, as if she was already watching two pups playing.