Summer at Hope Meadows: the perfect feel-good summer read (Animal Ark Revisited Book 1)

by Lucy Daniels

  Although the collie didn’t look delighted to have the collar around her neck, she wasn’t pulling away. When Mandy began to walk forwards, she trotted alongside. Down the stairs they went and along the hallway. They kept up the brisk pace until they reached the front door. In the front garden, Shy lay down and refused to go any further.

  Mandy crouched down and began again with the treats. Eventually, with encouragement and patience, Mandy managed to get the little animal close to the car, but when Shy saw the Land Rover, she began to pant. She lay down again, her eyes white-ringed and her fluffy black ears pressed against her skull.

  ‘What’s wrong, Shy? Don’t you like the car?’ Mandy said in a low voice. Rather than drag the collie, they retreated a few feet. Leaving the little animal lying on the ground, Mandy moved right to the end of the lead and, with both arms outstretched, was able to open the back door of the Land Rover. Digging yet again into her pocket, she threw treats into the vehicle and moved back to where Shy was sitting. The temptation to kneel down and try to pat Shy was enormous, but Mandy knew how much that could frighten her. They had got this far. It was important not to do anything that might cause fear. So far, the collie had shown no sign she might bite, but collie dogs were more likely than many other breeds to do so. Remembering the growls at the police earlier, and the reaction that had greeted her when she entered the bedroom, Mandy kept her hands away.

  ‘The last thing I want is to scare you,’ she promised, but Shy didn’t look up. Being near the car was more stressful than being talked to in the bedroom, Mandy thought.

  Step by tiny step, Shy moved nearer to the vehicle, sniffing it first, backing off, then approaching again. Using the treats, Mandy encouraged the dog to explore. She watched in silence as the collie put her feet up on the sill of the doorway, sneaking her nose forward to grab the food, retreating and approaching. When she finally made a leap into the back of the car, Mandy didn’t move. If she closed the door right away, this experience could become terrifying. Instead, she encouraged Shy to jump in and out freely.

  Once she was leaping in and out in her own time, Mandy slowly closed the door. Through the window, she saw Shy sniff at the now closed door and then start to sniff out the last of the chews. She didn’t look delighted to be in the car, but nor did she look petrified. It was the best Mandy could hope for right now.

  Walking back into the yard, Mandy found Seb making a last check on the animals. She leaned her elbows on the wall of the pigsty. ‘Everything okay?’ she asked.

  ‘So far so good,’ he replied. ‘Did you manage to catch the collie? She seemed a nervous little thing.’

  Mandy half smiled. ‘She’s certainly that,’ she said. ‘But yes, we managed.’ It was going to be a challenge to get her ready for a new home, she thought, but the image of the sweet little face with the terrified eyes was burned across Mandy’s brain. Shy would be a wonderful dog if Mandy could take away that fear.

  If.

  Mandy had never wanted to help an animal more.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Pulling the duvet closer around her chin, Mandy felt herself relax for the first time that day. She had driven the Land Rover the short distance to Animal Ark with Shy in the back. By the end of the journey, the little collie had been cowering in a corner and shaking. When Adam had come out to greet them, she had growled, ears back and hackles raised.

  ‘Is she likely to bite?’ Adam asked, and Mandy admitted it was possible. When an animal was that scared, there was a high risk they could become vicious if pushed. Mandy was determined that wouldn’t happen.

  It had taken another half-hour to get Shy out of the Land Rover and into one of the kennels in the wildlife unit, which had been taken over by Robbie Grimshaw’s animals for now. The cats and kittens all seemed comfortable. The little black mother had remained calm throughout the transfer and the kittens had suckled again after the move. Knowing all the animals were safe and contented, Mandy had allowed herself to fall into bed.

  The phone on her bedside table rang. Jerked from her doze, Mandy banged her hand on the table as she was reaching for her phone. Pressing her lips together, she looked at the screen. It was Simon. Her toes curled under the bed covers as she pulled herself into a sitting position. ‘Call me later …’ It had been the last thing he had said that morning. Mandy had been so caught up with the animals at Lamb’s Wood that it had slipped her mind.

  ‘Hello, Simon.’ She held the mobile tentatively to her ear.

  ‘Mandy.’ The single word held reproach.

  ‘I’m sorry I haven’t phoned,’ she said in a rush. ‘It took all day to get everything sorted out. It was really late by the time I got back.’ She closed her eyes, waiting for his reply.

  ‘What was it you had to do that took all day? I thought you’d be back here by now. You said you’d let me know.’

  Had she said that? Mandy couldn’t remember her exact words. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said again. ‘It’s been a crazy day. There were so many animals at the farm and Mr Grimshaw had to be taken away by ambulance.’ A picture flashed across her brain of the old man with his shotgun, Shy growling, and the crowd of police officers at the far end of the yard. Mandy couldn’t face telling Simon all the details. Especially not the part where she had to wear a bulletproof vest – and still walked up to an unstable man holding a shotgun.

  ‘There were cows and sheep and a horse as well as the cats and a dog,’ she said. ‘We couldn’t bring them all back here. We had to gather supplies and equipment to house them where they were.’

  ‘Oh well,’ Simon said grudgingly. ‘It does sound as though you had a lot to organise. Did many of the animals need treatment?’

  ‘I had to stitch a cow,’ she replied, ‘and there was another with mastitis. The horse was lame. We trimmed his feet and gave pain relief, but the farrier is coming tomorrow. On top of that, there were four malnourished sheep. Two of them were in a very bad way.’

  ‘You were definitely needed then,’ Simon commented with a slight edge.

  Mandy stifled a sigh. She couldn’t help judging her boyfriend. There had been so many people who had helped today. Jimmy Marsh had done so much without even being asked. She couldn’t help wondering whether Simon could have found a way to come with her. Then again, it might have made things more difficult if he had come. Would she have felt as able to approach Robbie Grimshaw, gun in hand, with Simon watching?

  ‘I have to go now,’ she said. It was too late tonight to tackle the subject of York vs Leeds. Today had convinced Mandy even more that Welford would be a great place to open a rescue centre. The support the animals had received from their neighbours had been beyond anything she could have hoped for. She found herself willing Simon not to raise the subject again tonight, and to her relief, he didn’t.

  ‘You should get some sleep,’ he replied. ‘It’s after midnight.’ Mandy looked at the clock. She hadn’t realised it was quite so late. ‘Will you be busy again tomorrow?’

  Would she be busy? There were all the farm animals that would need rechecking and feeding. There was the search for new homes that would have to start. And she would have to make plans for rehabilitation. The kittens would need to be socialised, as would Shy.

  ‘Very,’ she said. ‘I know there’s lots to talk about, but I’ll try to find time to call you, okay?’

  ‘I guess so,’ he said. They said their goodbyes and then he was gone. Feeling strangely empty and deflated, Mandy closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

  Opening her eyes in the still darkened room, Mandy couldn’t tell whether she had been asleep or not. Reaching out, she picked up her mobile from the bedside table. It was four a.m. She lay for a moment, ears strained to catch any hint of what might have awoken her, but there was nothing. Despite the long day behind her, she felt wide awake. Sitting up in bed, she decided to go down to see how her new inmates were coping. She crept down the staircase, across the kitchen and headed out to the residential unit.

  The kittens with the
black cat had obviously been suckling and now they lay in a peaceful furry tumble, their mother’s body wrapped round them. To Mandy’s delight, when she approached the cage with the tortoiseshell and her two kittens, the mother came forward. Mandy quietly opened the door and sat down, letting the little animal rub her face against Mandy’s fingers. Careful not to stare, she felt the cat move onto her lap. Better still, the kittens, their tummies round from milk, also crept out. Following their mother, they began to investigate. Although their eyelids were still inflamed, they seemed to be stronger already. Three sets of eyes gazed at Mandy in the dim light of the heat lamp. She couldn’t help grinning to herself as she stroked the little family.

  On the far side of the room, she made out Shy, curled on a blanket in her cage. With a last snuggle for each of the kittens, Mandy managed to get all of them back inside the kennel and closed the door. If she was wide awake, so was the collie. In the half-light, the bony little body looked even more anxious than before. Shy’s back was hunched and her pretty face was filled with tension. Mandy had rarely seen any animal look more frightened. Tomorrow, she thought, she would need to get Shy out of the cage. Persuading her that the world was not such a scary place was going to be an uphill battle. Guessing that Shy was at least two years old, Mandy knew that the collie was long past the age where socialisation would be easy.

  Mandy kept her body low, as small as possible to appear less threatening. She inched across the room until she could open Shy’s door and drop some food into the cage. Leaving the door ajar, she turned away and sat with her back to the neighbouring empty kennel. Shy had seemed to like the sound of her voice yesterday. Perhaps talking to her would help. Keeping her tone light, Mandy started to tell the dog about the rescue. About Mr Grimshaw and Seb, Mum and Dad, and about Jimmy Marsh and all the people he had mustered to help.

  Although the collie didn’t move, Mandy saw Shy’s face relax. Her eyes closed then opened again and her ears were no longer flat to her head. It was restful in the low-level lighting and warm. Halfway through a sentence, Mandy felt her own eyes becoming heavy. Leaning against the empty cage and pulling her towelling robe around her, she allowed herself to drift off.

  ‘Good morning.’ Emily, still in her dressing gown, was standing in the doorway to the wildlife unit. ‘I won’t come any closer,’ she said. ‘Shy is still a bit panicky,’ and when Mandy looked round, she could see that once again the collie was cowering in the corner.

  ‘Poor little girl.’ Mandy sighed. ‘She seems afraid of everything.’

  Emily bent down and peered in at the tortoiseshell cat and her kittens. ‘They seem well,’ she commented, and Mandy, who had skooshed across the floor before she stood up, agreed.

  ‘I was worried about them last night,’ she said. ‘They seemed so little and defenceless, but they’ve really bounced back.’

  ‘It’s often the way with young animals,’ her mum said. ‘If you’d like, once we’ve fed our new visitors, we can have some breakfast ourselves. What do you say to pancakes?’

  Mandy grinned. ‘That sounds marvellous,’ she said.

  There were only the three adult cats and Shy to feed for now. Bert Burnley had offered to call on the farm animals first thing to feed them.

  Soon the litter trays had been cleaned, the kittens’ eyes bathed and the animals fed and watered. Emily watched from the other side of the room as Mandy started the long process of getting close enough to Shy to get the lead around her neck. If anything, it was harder than it had been yesterday. She shouldn’t be disappointed, Mandy told herself as she crouched with the lead stretched out into a huge loop. Yesterday, Shy had been on her home ground. At least Mandy had managed to get into the kennel today without making Shy growl.

  Once on the leash, Shy walked outside quite readily. In the garden, she lagged behind Mandy, legs in cautious slow motion, eyes hyperactive as she squatted.

  ‘What do you think about her?’ Emily asked from the doorway as Mandy led the dog back inside. ‘Seb said she looked ferocious yesterday.’

  ‘She’s not ferocious.’ Mandy stepped inside and closed the door behind her. ‘Just scared out of her wits. That’s not to say she wouldn’t bite. Quite likely she would if we pushed her too far. But that’s exactly what I want to avoid. If we can work with her to change the way she sees things, desensitise her to the things she’ll have to cope with, it’s possible we might be able to rehome her.’

  It was a long shot, Mandy knew. However attractive she was, Shy would need a special home with an owner who understood how difficult life could be when you were afraid of so many things. She walked the dog back into the kennel and removed the lead. Shy slunk into the corner and Mandy sidled out and closed the door.

  Emily watched the process with interest. ‘You are so good with these animals,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry it was difficult with your dad about your plans for a rescue centre. There are just so many things to think about at the moment.’

  Mandy shrugged. ‘It was my fault, too,’ she admitted. ‘I was so excited about the idea, I got ahead of myself. I should have talked to you and Dad before letting Maurice come over.’

  ‘Like it or not,’ Emily said with a smile, ‘right now, we have a rescue centre. And before you do any more rescuing, I think you deserve some breakfast.’ With a final glance at the animals, she opened the door.

  Mandy followed her to the kitchen. For a moment, she toyed with talking to her mum about Simon. The row over Animal Ark and York meant that whatever happened here, it wasn’t possible to make more plans before she could talk to him. But she didn’t know where to start. Anyway, it seemed disloyal to Simon. He had been so angry about James and Paul and the fact she had talked to them. For now, she pushed the thought of confiding in her mother from her mind.

  ‘Paul came up with a name for my rescue centre,’ she said.

  Emily, who was delving in the fridge, turned her head. ‘Oh yes?’

  ‘He suggested we call it Hope Meadows,’ Mandy said. She hoped Emily wouldn’t think she was getting ahead of herself again, but her mum closed the fridge and stood there clutching a carton of milk.

  ‘Hope Meadows,’ she echoed. ‘What a lovely name. Giving hope to animals in need is exactly what you do.’

  As her mum began to beat flour and eggs to make the pancake mixture, Mandy fetched a binder and a thick pad of paper. Leaning her head against her hand, she started to write. Ten minutes later, she looked up as the door opened and Adam walked in.

  ‘Good morning, beautiful ladies.’ He walked over and gave Emily a kiss, then turned to see what Mandy was doing. She turned the paper to show him.

  ‘Rehabilitation plans,’ she explained. ‘A page for each of Robbie’s animals. Identification details, medical and behavioural treatment plans for each. What do you think?’

  Adam studied the notes she had made. ‘Very methodical.’

  Mandy looked up and was pleased to see genuine warmth in his eyes. ‘This is part of what I was doing with my Masters,’ she said. ‘My thesis was about ways to use fear reduction alongside medical intervention. From the research I did, it seems you can use the same techniques for all kinds of animals. You just have to find out what motivates them and makes them feel better.’

  Adam handed the sheets back to Mandy and smiled at her. Emily looked expectantly at him and Mandy saw her father nod.

  ‘Mandy,’ her mum began, ‘your dad and I have been talking, and …’ She paused, then went on, ‘We’d like to look at the architect’s plans you had drawn up.’

  For a long moment, Mandy couldn’t think of anything to say. Her eyes moved from Emily’s smiling face to Adam’s serious one.

  ‘Do you mean …?’

  ‘That we want to make your plans a reality?’ Adam said. He nodded. ‘We want to make the financial investment, too, as it’s a family venture,’ he went on. ‘We want you to save Granny Thorpe’s money for now.’

  Mandy stood up and threw her arms around her dad and then her mum. When she l
et go, she could see tears in her mother’s eyes.

  ‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ Emily said. ‘I think we could all do with a congratulatory cup of tea, don’t you?’

  Mandy couldn’t help laughing. Hope Meadows had already been toasted with cola over a meal of pasties. Now they were going to drink tea with pancakes.

  ‘We’re so proud of you,’ Emily said. ‘What you did yesterday. The future of Animal Ark is in the safest possible hands.’ She paused as she was filling the kettle and looked at Mandy. ‘As long as you promise never to confront someone holding a shotgun again, please!’

  Mandy winced. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not in a rush to look down the wrong end of a gun barrel again.’

  Emily switched on the kettle and turned to Adam. ‘What do you think about the name Hope Meadows?’ she asked. ‘Paul suggested it.’

  ‘Did he?’ Adam raised his eyebrows. ‘I like it.’ He reached across the table to hold Mandy’s hand. ‘We talked before about how much work there would be, but we will do our best to help. Once we’ve looked at the architect’s drawings, you could show us your plans for setting up. Not that I think we need to check up on you.’ He nodded at the paperwork on the table. ‘It’s obvious you’re very organised, but we do have experience of council inspections and legal documentation. If there’s anything you need, just ask.’ He smiled his twinkling smile and opened his arms again, and Mandy rushed over to be engulfed in the biggest bear hug he had given her for years.

  Loosening his grip, Adam held her by the shoulders. His face was filled with love. ‘We know you’re going to make Hope Meadows a great success,’ he said. ‘And a second generation of vets at Animal Ark? You know how to make an old man very proud!’

  Chapter Eighteen