Chapter Sixteen
Lisa couldn’t believe she was getting up at such an ungodly hour to go to church. Let alone that she was going to church with a dog. She had FaceTimed her parents the night before and, after her dad had stopped laughing about it, he had reminded her to take along business cards and to wear her logo-emblazoned work T-shirt. It felt a bit odd fronting up at church with business in mind, but as they pulled up outside there was no doubting it looked like an opportunity to tout for business. Even with just a glance across the green in front of the church, Lisa could see eleven dogs, three rabbits and a lamb! Add to that whatever was skulking in the many pet carriers she could see, and it all made for a captive audience of potential clients.
‘All set then?’ Lisa grinned at Winnie.
‘Thank you for this, my lovely. Me and my Stan used to bring him as a pup. We haven’t been for a few years now. Thought I might never get to bring him again.’
Lisa swallowed. Coming along was such a small gesture on her part and yet it meant so much to Winnie; it appeared to stir up warm memories for her. Lisa wished for Winnie’s sake that her grandson had made it too. She wondered if she was disappointed he wasn’t there.
‘Of course, when we bought Jack before, he tiddled on the lectern. We’d best keep the blighter close.’
Lisa giggled. ‘OK, good to know!’
Inside the church was warm, bustling and noisy. It was bizarre to see so many animals gathered together in such an unusual setting. It made for a welcoming atmosphere, though, and a very colourful congregation. Unable to sit still, the animals all wiggled and fidgeted. Everybody turned as a yap from the back was followed by a growl and audible gasps, and a hasty reshuffle of seats.
Winnie knew many of those assembled. Lisa was pleased to see her in a communal setting. She didn’t like to think of her alone with a grumpy son who rarely called her and a grandson who was too busy to accompany her to such an important event.
‘You remember Jack … yes, such a big lad now. And this is my friend, Lisa,’ Winnie kept saying as another person she knew passed their pew. Lisa felt bad for wearing her ‘pet sitter’ T-shirt and attempted to cross her arms over her chest, making her hold on Jack’s lead rather awkward. She liked being introduced as Winnie’s friend. Touting for business no longer felt a priority.
As the vicar took to his lectern in readiness to give the service, he tested his microphone. An almighty whistle screeched through the church. All the dogs began to bark and every owner began to work on hushing their precious pet. A good five minutes later order was restored – as much as it was going to be under the circumstances.
‘Welcome, everyone, to this rather special service in which we welcome those with two, four or, as in the case of dear, old Tripod there, three legs into our church.’
Lisa held back a giggle as she caught site of the aged, three-legged cat on the front pew. He seemed to sigh and roll his eyes as if he’d heard the vicar’s attempt at a joke many times before.
‘And no legs!’ came a voice from the back.
Everybody swung round to see a small boy swoosh his goldfish into the air, slopping water from what appeared to be a rinsed out mayonnaise jar. His mum turned red as she smiled apologetically and encouraged her son to lower the fish before it sploshed out of the top.
Wriggling from his mum’s grasp he continued, ‘But you should have said no legs too. You can’t forget Fluffy!’
The boy’s mum looked like she might combust with the entire attention of the congregation on her. ‘Fluffy’s the fish. He, umm … well, he wanted a guinea pig.’
The vicar chuckled, good-humouredly, despite the interruptions. ‘Sorry, young man, you are right. I should also have said all those with no legs, like good, old Fluffy the goldfish there, who is also very welcome to this special service of thanks today.’
Winnie looked at Lisa. ‘There’s always one!’ she blurted in an attempted whisper that was loud enough for everybody to hear.
Lisa looked back and smiled apologetically at the boy’s mum who was still cringing from the whole episode, as the vicar went on.
‘As Saint Francis of Assisi taught us, we are all creatures of one family …’
Jack settled at Lisa’s feet and she relaxed into listening to the service. It was quite humbling. The vicar spoke of the love between an owner and a pet, and about how losing a pet is often the first loss felt by a child. Lisa looked around at the owners gazing fondly at their furry, and in the case of Fluffy, not-so-furry pets – it was an emotional experience. She thought of Jack and how she had become so fond of him over their time together. Looking down to give him a loving smile, her eyes went wide. He was standing proudly before her, with a thoroughly pleased, cross-eyed expression on his face, but in his mouth he was holding Tubby the Yorkshire Terrier, the beloved pet of Winnie’s friend from the pew in front. It was clear that Tubby was coming to no harm in Jack’s soft, retriever jowls, but, nevertheless, it wasn’t acceptable behaviour at any time, let alone at a service blessing all animals, big and small.
Not wanting to draw attention to the situation Lisa coughed and pointed at Jack – his sign to ‘leave it’. Jack ignored the command and tilted his head, causing Tubby to squirm and let out a loud echoing yap. Before Lisa could respond the little boy she had found so sweet with Fluffy the goldfish, screamed and pointed in their direction. Giving up on trying to be discreet Lisa shouted the command, ‘Leave it!’ At which point the woman in the pew in front turned and saw her beloved Tubby being released from Jack’s hold in a pool of drool.
‘Oh, you cheeky boy, now’s not the time to play,’ Lisa bluffed, patting Jack and scooping an extremely soggy Tubby off the floor. As she lifted him to pass to his horrified owner a blob of Jack’s slobber slipped from his back to the floor with a squelch. Lisa attempted a smile and motioned for the vicar to continue in the hope to distract the congregation who were staring aghast at the whole scene. Even the animals who had spent most of the service being thoroughly animated seemed to stop and stare. ‘Nothing to see here,’ she continued with mock nonchalance, waving her arms round more animatedly, revealing her pet sitter T-shirt, and deciding never to take her dad’s business advice ever again.
‘My poor Tubbywubby!’ The woman in the pew in front cooed at her violated, precious pooch.
‘No harm done, Maureen, my lovely. Here take this.’ Winnie shook out a laundered handkerchief and passed it to Tubby’s owner. ‘Tubby will be right as rain when he dries off.’
In an attempt to restore order the vicar continued, reminding everybody of his central theme of love to all – no matter what their size or species.
Winnie leaned across to Lisa, gestured to Tubby and whispered, ‘He’s like a rat that one!’
‘Shhhh,’ Lisa urged.
But with Winnie’s whisper clearly audible to all, Tubby’s owner swung around.
‘What did you say, Winifred Adams?’
Deciding that the time had come to draw the service to a close before either the animals or humans got carried away with their snapping, the vicar called everybody to order, and invited them to take drinks and nibbles, strictly of the food variety, on the lawned area outside. Everybody welcomed the chance to stop restraining their now beyond-restless pets and headed for the door.
After being outside for a while and getting some rich fruit cake inside them, everybody calmed down. Even Winnie managed to offer Maureen an apology of sorts for insulting Tubby, who graciously accepted before adding that a ‘boisterous’ dog like Jack needed careful watching.
Feeling the sudden urge to put Maureen in her place – Jack was playful and sometimes a little cheeky, but he certainly wasn’t ‘boisterous’ – Lisa decided it was time for a change of subject and a move away from Maureen, her precious pooch and unwelcome opinions. ‘Now, how about I get those flowers for Stan?’ she offered, stepping between Winnie and Maureen.
Winnie sucked in a breath through her teeth. ‘That would be lovely.’
Lisa told Jack to stay, ran to the car and fetched the bunch of lilac asters Winnie had picked from her garden in readiness to visit Stan’s grave. As she returned to Winnie, Lisa swapped the flowers for Jack’s lead. Silently, Lisa held Winnie’s arm and the three of them made their way into the small churchyard adjacent. It was noticeably calmer than the chaotic lawn they had left just a few feet away, though the shadow cast across it by the church made it seem colder. Lisa looked at the headstones; some were so ancient they had sunk into the ground – their weather-worn lettering no longer visible and visiting family members long gone. Winding their way down the narrow, uneven path Lisa noticed the headstone of ‘Stanley Nicholas Adams’ before they reached it. It was a white marble open book, embellished with an ornate tassel carved into the centre between the pages. He had been eighty-four when he had died. Lisa didn’t know how old Winnie was, but she guessed Stan had been several years older. The words ‘Greatly missed husband, beloved father and grandfather’ made Lisa think of her Granny Blake. She hadn’t been to visit the crematorium since the day of her funeral. She hadn’t seen the plaque her parents had chosen to display for her in the garden of remembrance. She made a mental note to visit it soon. It was one of the many things that had been neglected while she lived away.
While Winnie stood looking down with a sigh, Jack lay on the grave, his head resting between his paws, all signs of the normally playful glint gone from his eyes. As he let out a whine, Winnie bent to pat him reassuringly and bit her own trembling lip. It was such a sad scene – the two of them, united in their grief for the man who once meant so much to both of them. Lisa felt tears well in her eyes. Still holding Jack’s lead she stood to one side to give them their moment.
But as she moved, her attention was drawn once more to the headstone. At first she had been looking at Stan’s name and the loving epitaph written for him, but now all she could see was the other side, the blank page; an untouched page of highly polished, white marble. Clearly it was left, waiting for Winnie to join her husband. Lisa felt goosebumps prick uneasily at her skin, and wondered how it made Winnie feel to see that empty page each time she visited. Was it a comfort to know that one day she and Stan would be reunited? Or did she fear the day her name would be etched into the marble? Lisa wasn’t religious, but events of the past year had made her question life and death more than she ever had before. She placed her arm round Winnie’s shoulder.
‘Ah, he was a good ’un, my Stan.’ Winnie sighed.
They stood silently for a few moments, their feet sinking into the grass that was still sodden underfoot from the rain that had fallen over previous days. Lisa could feel the first hint of the bright, autumn sun touching her back as it began to rise high enough into the sky to appear above the church. Though it wasn’t warm enough to remove the early-October chill from the air, she welcomed the sensation.
‘A good ’un indeed,’ Winnie finally continued.
‘Yes, I’m sure—’ about to add that she would have liked to have met him, Lisa was interrupted by Winnie.
‘And a passionate one too.’
Lisa closed her mouth, unsure what to say to that.
‘My Stan, you know, by God he knew how to treat a lady! The things we got up to when we took our bikes out of a Sunday afternoon. You should’ve seen us. Going alfresco, Stan would call it.’
A giggle burst past the lump that had been forming in Lisa’s throat. ‘Winnie!’ Lisa was shocked and somewhat pleased she hadn’t seen them.
‘The daft beggar! Ah, I miss him. I miss every bit of that man, I can tell you—’
‘No, honestly, no need,’ Lisa interjected.
Realising how positively pink Lisa’s cheeks had turned Winnie chuckled with a wheeze. ‘Oh you youngsters! You’re a funny lot. Well, I can tell you this, it’s a bloody shame he’s gone. You give your whole life to another person – you know, your heart, mind, body and soul – but before you know it they’ve gone, just like that. When you thought you had forever, that they’d never leave you, suddenly it’s over and your whole world shifts. Everything you knew is different; he was my north star, you see. What I wouldn’t give for another day in the arms of that man.’
‘Oh, Winnie, I’m so sorry!’ was all Lisa could manage, she knew she’d cry if she attempted to say more.
‘Ah, we’re learning, aren’t we, Jack.’ Winnie stroked Jack’s head. ‘Learning to live without him. But it’s a wound – a wound so deep that it’ll never completely heal, my lovely. There’ll always be a scar. A part of me marked by the fact he’s gone.’
Lisa stroked Winnie’s arm, not really knowing what to say.
Winnie took a breath and lowered her voice. ‘I was selfish, you know. Even though I knew it was coming. I’d been there, seen the results – I knew nothing could be done – but I just wasn’t ready to let him go.’ Winnie bit her lip as it trembled once more.
Lisa felt that this was something Winnie had, perhaps, not shared before. It was a very intimate moment, just the three of them stood at Stan’s grave. ‘I think that’s understandable, Winnie. How could you be ready for that?’
‘He was. He needed to go – the pain was too much. But I wanted him to stay, I needed him to still be there. But you can’t stop time; it marches on if you’re ready or not.’
Lisa knew that all too well.