Chapter Twenty-One
‘You know you have two wonderful fairy godmothers in York?’ Mandy addressed the dogs in the kennels. Flame looked through the bars, her long tail switching from side to side. Twiglet tilted her head. Her ears pricked as she listened to Mandy’s voice. ‘Though hopefully you’ll be having Christmas in a lovely new home,’ she said to Melon. His button eyes were bright and he gave the tiniest bark in return. Mandy sighed. If she won the lottery, she would build a dozen rescue centres and keep all the animals for herself.
Or would that bring even more hostility from Hope Meadows’ invisible enemy?
Mandy shook her head. She wasn’t going to think about that, she reminded herself. Until they knew who was behind the attacks, there was nothing she could do, other than stay vigilant for any signs of trouble. Closing the door behind her, she headed into the cottage for breakfast. Adam was in the kitchen, making toast. Emily was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of her.
‘I’m due at the doctor’s this morning,’ Emily said. As if she could forget, Mandy thought. The time was imprinted on her brain.
‘You know I’ve got to be at Twyford.’ Adam’s glance was filled with worry. He hadn’t been able to put off a critical tuberculosis test so that he could take Emily to the surgery.
‘I know.’ There was no resentment in Emily’s voice. Veterinary practice had moulded their life for too long now.
‘I could come with you,’ Mandy suggested, though she suspected her mum would say no.
‘Would you?’
Mandy was taken aback. She looked closely at Emily. There was a trace of fear in her blue eyes. If this was difficult for her, how much harder must it be for Mum?
‘Of course I will.’ She made her voice as reassuring as she could. Monday mornings could be busy, but one way or another, she would get through everything in time. Squaring her shoulders, she stood up. ‘Better get on then,’ she said.
It looked as busy as she had feared, though when she studied the list closely, most of the work was routine. There was a spay she could do when she got back. Two vaccinations. One coughing dog. ‘Did you remind Mrs Jenson to stay in the car with Boysie?’ she asked Helen, who nodded. Ears. A skin follow-up for Demodex mites; Mandy hoped the treatment was working. Then one more vaccination. Unless anyone phoned with an emergency, she should be able to get through those by ten thirty.
Letting herself into the consulting room, she checked the first patient on the screen. Damocles Jamieson for a routine vaccination. Damocles? That was quite a name for a French Bulldog. Mandy grabbed a syringe from the drawer and the vaccine from the fridge. She checked the room. The stethoscope was on a hook on the wall: thermometer and covers in the drawer. There were wormers in the cupboard. Hearing the clinic door, Mandy went through to watch as Helen booked the first client in. Contrary to his warlike name, Damocles was a meek little pooch, all soft skin and soulful eyes. Mandy relaxed. She would take this as a good omen that the morning would run smoothly, she decided.
Damocles proved to be a reliable lucky mascot. The last patient left on the dot of ten thirty and Mandy changed in double-quick time to drive her mum to the surgery. It wasn’t far, and they could have walked it, but Mandy didn’t want to test her mum’s fragile reserve of energy. Mum sat beside her in the car, looking out of the window. Mandy’s fingers felt stiff as she changed gear. She rolled her shoulders back, fighting the anxiety that threatened to take over.
When they walked into the waiting room, three other patients looked up. Mandy glanced at the clock on the wall. It was five to eleven. Maybe some of them were waiting to see the nurse. She sat down with Emily just as the door to the nurse’s room opened.
‘Mr Abbot?’ The nurse was dressed in a dark blue uniform with white piping. She was gazing expectantly at the only man in the room. Mr Abbot looked about ninety, but he stood up as if he was much younger. The door closed again.
Mandy’s gaze wandered. There were blue chairs with wooden armrests, a busy notice board, two plants in large pots on the floor. There was nothing austere about the surroundings, but it was too quiet, sitting there. Mandy was glad when the door opened and the doctor called them in. Dr Grace had short brown hair in a no-nonsense cut and calm brown eyes. It was hard to read her expression. Mandy felt a tingling sensation in her fingers. She tried to slow her breathing. The last thing her mum needed was for her to start freaking out. Taking a deep breath, she sat down and concentrated on the doctor’s face.
‘Well, we’ve had the results back,’ Dr Grace said calmly, ‘and as well as being a little anaemic, you’re very low in vitamin B12. You must have been feeling poorly for a while.’ There was a steady smile now, to match the eyes. For a moment, Mandy felt as if she was weightless. Beside her, she could feel Mum shaking. She leaned towards her, pressing her shoulder against Emily’s as her mum’s fingers reached for her hand.
‘There are some further tests you should have,’ Dr Grace went on, ‘but we’ll start you off with some iron tablets and a vitamin injection.’
‘What might have caused it?’ Emily sounded as if she feared worse news.
Dr Grace was reassuring. ‘It can be dietary or there are a number of stomach problems that can trigger it. Mostly it’s nothing serious.’ The trembling slowed, though the hand that was gripping Mandy’s was still chilly. ‘I’ll just get the injections ready, then I’ll get you a prescription,’ the doctor said. ‘You should start to feel better quite soon.’
There was a lump in Mandy’s throat as they walked back out to the car a few minutes later. Her mum was going to be okay. She was going to be okay!
‘Was it true, what the doctor said?’ she prompted. ‘That you’d been feeling bad for a while?’ There was a tiny atom of frustration behind her relief. What if it had been something awful? ‘Wouldn’t it have been better to go sooner?’
Emily sighed. ‘It has been a while,’ she admitted. ‘But it came on so gradually, I couldn’t work it out. I just felt tired.’ Mandy drove out of the car park and stared out of the windscreen, concentrating on the road. ‘Then I started to feel like I wasn’t really myself. It was hard to remember things. I couldn’t understand what was happening to me. I wondered whether this was just what it felt like to get old.’ Mandy risked a glance at her mum. Emily had closed her eyes again. A single tear escaped and ran down her pale cheek. Mandy pretended not to see as her mother lifted a hand and brushed it away.
‘You’re not old.’ Mandy reached out and squeezed her mum’s shoulder. ‘You’re not going to be old for years.’ She felt a surge of protectiveness. If it had been frightening for her, it must have been unbearable for Emily.
Back at the clinic, with Helen’s help, Mandy performed the spay that had been booked in. It was a lurcher that looked so much like Flame it was uncanny. Though the slimness of the patient made the operation easier, the anaesthetic for such a muscular dog required a cautious approach. It was a relief when the operation was over.
‘I’m going over to the rescue centre,’ she told Helen when she had finished scrubbing her hands. She knew she would be able to relax properly in her beautiful glass and stone building, among the animals that trusted her with nothing less than their lives.
It was time to do some kitten training. Mandy was in the process of teaching them to open their mouths to be tableted. Forking a small quantity of tuna into a bowl, she went through to the cat area and took the first kitten out. He was black and white like his mother, with large golden eyes. He was already used to having his head and ears examined. The little animal was interested enough in what was happening to sit still. Now Mandy set to work, getting the kitten used to having his mouth opened manually. Each time she successfully held his head, she rewarded him with a flake of tuna.
By the end of the session, Mandy could grasp the kitten’s head, open his mouth wide and slip a finger in to deposit a sliver of tuna on his tiny pink tongue. Potential new owners would be taught how to practice so that when they eventually needed to give the cat a tablet, it would think it was a game. So long as there was something tasty to slip in as soon as the tablet was swallowed, then it would be far easier than starting out with the medicine itself. Mandy repeated the process with the second kitten, a larger female tabby. Both of them were so sweet. Repetitive as it might be, this was one of the best parts of the job.
Next, she spent some time with Tango, encouraging him to eat. His blood sample had come back clear, so it was possible he was just depressed. Some cats found it hard to settle in to kennel life. Mandy now took him out every day into reception and let him meander around while she did other work. He seemed to eat better when he could wander free.
When she had put Tango back, she pulled her mobile from her pocket. She should give Sally Harper a ring, she thought. The last order had eventually arrived, but she would need to make another before Christmas. Sally was very attentive. ‘If anyone tries to change the order this time,’ she said, ‘I’ll speak to them myself. And don’t worry, I won’t cancel or change anything unless I hear it directly from you.’ Mandy felt grateful as she ended the call.
She must ring James, she thought, to tell him about Emily. He was predictably relieved. Mandy was happy to be able to give him some good news.
As she was putting her phone back in her pocket, the door of the rescue centre swung open. Helen stood in the doorway.
‘Your dad’s back from Twyford and I’ve brought you some cake,’ she announced.
‘Ah, just the kind of visitor I like.’
‘It’s great news about your mum.’ Helen had brought a slice of chocolate Yule Log for herself and one for Mandy. ‘Has Jimmy been in touch yet?’
Mandy blew out her cheeks. ‘He turned up in that awful storm on Saturday, dripping all over the place. We had the most awful row.’ The memory made her feel sick.
‘I heard something bad happened at Running Wild,’ Helen told her. ‘I don’t know the details, but someone was taken ill.’
Mandy didn’t know what to say. Last week, when she had been waiting for Jimmy to call, this information might have made sense. But after Friday night, and then the appalling visit on Saturday, she couldn’t see that it made any difference. A tape played in her mind: the image of Jimmy’s hand on Molly’s back. The two of them holding hands across the table. ‘Was the person okay?’ Her voice sounded flat, even to herself.
Helen shook her head. ‘I’m not sure,’ she said. ‘The person I spoke to didn’t know much. Didn’t Jimmy mention it? You said you had a row on Saturday, but didn’t he explain anything at all?’
‘Not about that,’ Mandy admitted. ‘He admitted he had been with Molly.’ She paused to look at Helen, who had just taken a mouthful of cake. ‘He told me I was so determined to do everything myself that I pushed people away.’
Helen swallowed, then shrugged. ‘There may be a grain of truth in that,’ she said, ‘but it wasn’t you who pushed him to Molly. He did that all by himself. I hope you gave him a piece of your mind. If I see him, I might give him a piece of mine too.’ She grinned. ‘You should try this cake though. It’s delicious.’ Mandy found herself smiling. It was hard to feel down when Helen was around.
Afternoon surgery came and went and at the end, Seb Conway arrived.
‘What can we do for you today, Seb?’ Mandy came out from her consulting room on hearing his cheerful voice. Really, Helen and Seb were ridiculously well-matched.
‘I’ve got a present for you,’ Seb replied. ‘In the van.’
Together, they went out to the vehicle which was parked at the side of Animal Ark. When Seb opened the door, a tiny terrier was shivering inside. She cringed away from Mandy’s hands at first, but with time and coaxing, Mandy was able to draw her out of the cage. She could feel the dog’s ribs through her wet fur, and when Mandy picked her up, she weighed almost nothing.
‘She was found this morning,’ Seb explained. ‘She was in a ditch with a brick tied round her neck, poor little thing.’ He reached out a finger and stroked the matted coat. Now she was out of the cage, the little terrier seemed less distressed. Carrying her inside, Mandy examined her. Other than a wound on her neck, and her extreme thinness, the little terrier seemed in good health.
‘She’s only young,’ Mandy said, pulling back the dog’s lip to reveal healthy pink gums and clean white teeth. Fetching the chip reader, she ran it over the terrier’s neck, but there was nothing.
Helen sighed. ‘Probably someone going away for the Christmas holidays and couldn’t be bothered to find a kennel,’ she said. It was the only time Mandy heard Helen sounding bitter, when she learned that an animal had been maltreated. Mandy knew how she felt. Utter, utter bastards.
With Seb’s help, she set about cleaning up the dog’s fur. When she was dry and fluffy, and her neck wound had been seen to, she looked very sweet. Her newly washed coat was a delicate shade of silver.
‘She’s a lovely colour,’ Helen commented.
‘I’m going to call you Birch,’ Mandy told the little dog. Birch pricked up her rather long ears as if she approved. ‘We’ll take you out to meet the other dogs,’ Mandy said.
Whenever she had a new inmate, she tried to introduce him or her to the other dogs as soon as possible, especially the ones in the neighbouring cages. There was a small kennel beside Twiglet, but as she carried Birch into the room, her attention was caught by Flame. The golden lurcher stood up, her tail wagging, and gave a single loud ‘wuff’.
Mandy looked at Flame in amazement. Though some of the dogs barked frequently, Flame had never, ever joined in. Now she was staring at the little silver bundle in Mandy’s arms, her tail waving faster than ever. For a moment, Mandy wondered if Flame thought Birch was some kind of prey, but Flame bowed down her front end in an invitation to play. Then, as if realising she had to be quiet to be introduced, she lay down in her kennel.
With Birch in her arms, Mandy let Flame out and together they went through into the reception area. Once it seemed that they were friends, Mandy set Birch down. She watched, ready to interfere if Flame showed any sign of predatory behaviour, but the two dogs, one lanky, one miniscule, greeted one another nose to nose. Within moments, Flame was licking the newcomer as if she was a puppy. After a few moments of playing, Mandy took the two of them back through to the kennels. They squeezed into Flame’s cage and lay down together on her bed. Mandy could hardly bring herself to move Birch. She would take them outside together tomorrow, she decided.
With a feeling that Birch’s arrival might be a good thing for Flame, Mandy scooped up the little dog and popped her into the smaller kennel opposite. They settled quickly, looking at one another across the passageway.
Seb, who had accompanied Mandy out to the rescue centre, had watched all this with delight. ‘You really are working wonders with these animals,’ he said.
Mandy sighed. ‘They’re working wonders for me,’ she replied. It was true. There was nothing she could imagine that would give her more pleasure. If only everyone was as happy to have a rescue centre near them.
As if reading her mind, Seb spoke. ‘I know you’ve been having some trouble,’ he said. ‘Helen told me.’ Mandy hoped Helen had only divulged her problems about the centre and not about Jimmy.
‘I’ve already spoken to Ellen Armstrong,’ Seb went on. ‘I’ll give her any help I can with the investigation. She told me she’d found out about some kind of rumour in the Fox and Goose, but I’ve not heard anyone say a word against you.’ He scratched his head, running his fingers through the spiky hair. ‘There are some odd people around,’ he concluded.
That was the truth, Mandy thought. Anyone who tried to sabotage what she was trying to do must be very odd indeed.