Chapter Twenty-Two
Mandy rose early on Sunday morning. Outside her bedroom window, there was thick frost on the grass. Everything in the paddock seemed to be sparkling. Holly and Robin were standing nose to tail, basking in the morning sunshine. Mandy felt equally sunny, with the good news about Emily’s diagnosis and the donation from James’s café. Although she was still sad about Jimmy, she was starting to accept he was no longer in her life. Molly deserved better, she thought, but she wasn’t going to interfere. And there hadn’t been any signs of sabotage for a while now. She was starting to hope that whoever it was, they had got bored and gone away.
Susan Collins was due round later with her son Jack. Over the past months, Susan and Jack had been visiting the animals on a semi-regular basis, to Mandy’s delight. She and Susan got on well, and Mandy wanted her rescue animals to be socialised with people of different shapes and sizes. Mandy was careful to keep Jack away from any animal that seemed distressed, or might put him at risk, but most of them adjusted well. There was no objection from Jack. He seemed thrilled with the whole enterprise. He was surprisingly good, especially with the kittens, who needed gentle handling. Today, he had asked especially to come and see the donkeys.
As Mandy walked downstairs, she heard a chirp from her phone. Halting halfway, she pulled it from her pocket. The message was from Jimmy, the first since the stormy night last weekend.
Avoiding him forever wasn’t possible. He was an Animal Ark client with his dogs, for one thing. And he worked so close to Upper Welford Hall that Mandy was bound see him sooner or later. But right now, she was trying to ignore him. With a feeling that she could be entering a minefield, she clicked on the message.
‘I think there’s been a misunderstanding,’ the message read. ‘Can we talk?’
Mandy gripped the bannister and continued downstairs. The kitchen was empty. Pulling a croissant from a packet on the side, she put it in the oven to warm and set the kettle to boil. Sitting down at the scrubbed pine table, she pulled her mobile back out of her pocket. What should she reply? She didn’t know what to say.
It was difficult after the row they’d had. Not just because of Molly. His words haunted her. She couldn’t accept help and pushed people away. Even Helen had admitted she thought there was some truth to them.
She didn’t want to do everything on her own, she thought. Was that the impression she gave? She sighed. She knew how much her family helped her. Friends too. They were all wonderful, but to have had Jimmy as a partner would have been even better. He was someone she could have shared her worries with. Yet he wasn’t who she thought he was. He had let her down, just when she needed him most.
For a moment, she toyed with the idea of calling him. He had asked to talk. Her thumb hovered over the screen for a moment, but she couldn’t bring herself to press call. With a sigh, she texted back, ‘Sorry, but I don’t want to yet. I will get back to you when I’m ready.’ She looked at the message for a moment, then clicked send. He would wait, she thought. He would understand that she needed time.
Standing up, she opened the oven and pulled out her croissant. Wrapping it in a piece of kitchen roll, she pushed her feet into her boots and made her way out to the centre.
A few minutes before Susan and Jack were due to arrive, she went out to the donkeys. Whenever they saw her, they came racing over, though Mandy rarely took titbits of fruit and veg for them now. They seemed to enjoy her attention without any food. Both of them were quite willing to put their heads into their headcollars. Within a couple of minutes, she had them both caught and tied up. This was a new skill they were learning. Robin quickly got tired of standing still so Mandy didn’t leave them for long, but they needed to learn that they should wait patiently when they were put somewhere.
Mandy was walking round Holly, lifting up the donkey’s feet, when she heard voices. It was remarkable how much Jack’s speech had come on in the last six months. As he rounded the corner, Mandy could see that Susan was holding his hand to prevent him from rushing over. Mandy unclipped the donkeys so they were loose in the paddock, then joined Susan and Jack on the other side of the gate.
‘Donkeys!’ Jack was jumping up and down in his little red wellington boots and blue woolly mittens.
Susan, also in wellingtons and a warm hat, smiled at the excitement in the little boy’s dark eyes. ‘Donkeys indeed,’ she agreed. ‘This one is called Holly and this is Robin,’ she added.
‘Holly and Robin,’ Jack echoed. He always seemed solemn when he came near the animals. However excited he was at a distance, as he approached he became calm. A lot of adults could learn from him, Mandy thought.
‘Mary rode a donkey to Bet-lem,’ he announced, looking up at Mandy.
‘That’s right.’ She nodded.
‘She was pregmant. With Baby Jesus.’
‘Pregnant,’ Susan told him. ‘He’s going to be in the nativity,’ she explained to Mandy.
‘I’m the innkeeper,’ Jack said. He held up his little hands. ‘No room! No room!’
Mandy grinned. ‘I bet you’ll be a great innkeeper,’ she said. ‘Do you want to stroke Holly?’
Jack’s eyes opened wide. ‘Yes please,’ he said.
Taking him by the hand, Mandy led him through the gate. Holly regarded Jack for a moment with one ear back. ‘Stand very still.’ Mandy crouched down beside the small boy. ‘Don’t stare. Wait for her to come to you.’ They stayed together until Holly put her ears forwards and took a step towards them. ‘It’s very important with donkeys and horses that you don’t stand behind them,’ Mandy told Jack.
‘’Cos they can kick,’ Jack told her.
‘Very good.’ He had been listening, Mandy thought with amusement. Holly padded delicately over to them. Reaching out her smooth, light coloured muzzle, she sniffed at Jack’s hair.
Jack’s face transformed with delight. ‘Can I touch her?’ he whispered.
‘Yes.’ Mandy stood up and scratched Holly in her favourite place, below her ear. ‘Stroke her here,’ she said. ‘She likes it.’
The small hand reached out. Mandy watched Jack’s eyes grow huge as he touched the soft fur. ‘Why doesn’t Father Christmas use donkeys for his sleigh?’ he asked Mandy.
She wanted to laugh. He was so sweet. ‘I think reindeer have special feet so they can run on snow,’ she told him. ‘Donkeys just have tiny feet. Look.’ Together, they inspected Holly’s hooves. They were indeed very small.
‘I saw Father Christmas,’ Jack said. ‘There were no reindeers anywhere.’ He sounded crestfallen.
‘It must have been exciting to see Father Christmas, wasn’t it?’ Mandy prompted.
‘Sort of.’ Jack’s face brightened. ‘He gave me a present,’ he told her. ‘It was a horsey.’
‘Well, that was lucky,’ Mandy said. ‘I bet not everyone gets a horse for Christmas. Is it going to live in your garden?’
Jack frowned. ‘It wasn’t a real one, silly.’ His voice was stern. Mandy wanted to laugh again.
Pulling herself upright, she opened the gate and Jack trotted back to Susan. ‘Would you like to come in and see the rabbits?’ Mandy offered.
‘Yes!’ Jack shouted gleefully. Had she been the same when she was that small, Mandy wondered.
‘He was quite disappointed with Father Christmas,’ Susan told her as Jack fed the rabbits and then the guinea pigs. ‘We went to the grotto at the garden centre and there were no animals. The only thing he wants for Christmas at the moment is to feed the reindeer some carrots. No idea how I’m going to organise that one on Christmas morning. We’ve been going on “reindeer hunts” in the meantime. We’ve been all round Welford without any success.’
Mandy laughed. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I can do dogs and cats, rabbits and guinea pigs. I can even do donkeys, but I’ve never seen any reindeer in Welford.’
Susan gave her a mock glare. ‘Really,’ she said, ‘I don’t think you’re trying hard enough.’
‘Do you think they might be out on the moor, Mummy?’ Jack had turned his head to look at them.
‘Maybe they are,’ Susan called, suppressing a grin.
Jack turned back to the cage, holding out a small piece of carrot. Snowy the white guinea pig pushed her stubby nose towards him and took it, shuffling backwards and watching him with her shining eyes as she munched her way down the stick. Bubble, who was chestnut brown with a smooth coat except for two rosettes on his midriff, came over. Jack gave him a carrot stick as well.
‘I think it’s time to go now,’ Susan told him as he crouched down cooing at the two friendly creatures.
He turned his dark eyes to her. ‘Must we?’ he asked. Then he stood up and dusted off his knees, looking like a tiny old man. He sighed with the weight of all three of his years. ‘Okay then, Mummy,’ he said.
‘Come back soon,’ Mandy told him.
‘What do you say to Mandy?’ Susan prompted.
‘Thank you, Mandy.’ Jack stretched up to offer his cheek for a kiss. Mandy pressed her lips briefly against his cool, soap-scented cheek and straightened his woolly hat. She opened the door for them and waved as they walked down the path. Jack was skipping beside his mum, chatting about the donkeys.
Mandy was sitting at the desk when she heard the door open and close again. Looking up, she expected to see Jack and Susan, returning to find something they’d forgotten. But to her surprise it was Brandon Gill, Rachel’s fiancé.
‘Hello, Brandon.’ Mandy stood up.
As ever, Brandon looked faintly awkward, standing in his overalls among the Christmas decorations. It wasn’t like him to come in at the weekend and it was even more unusual that he had come to the rescue centre. So far as Mandy knew, Adam and Emily were both in the cottage.
‘What’s up?’ she asked. ‘Is it one of the pigs?’
Shuffling his feet while simultaneously gazing at them, Brandon eventually managed to glance her way. ‘It’s about the guinea pigs,’ he muttered.
Mandy frowned. ‘The guinea pigs?’ She hadn’t known he had any.
‘I want to adopt them.’ He paused, clearing his throat. ‘For Rachel,’ he added. ‘For Christmas.’
Mandy opened her eyes wide. ‘That’s a lovely idea,’ she said. Normally, she was cagey about animals for Christmas. Animals needed so much care that they shouldn’t generally be given as gifts. The recipient might not care for them properly. But Rachel loved Snowy and Bubble, and she had years of experience in caring for cavies. She would be the best owner Mandy could have asked for. ‘Would you like to see them?’ she offered.
He followed her through into the room where the small animal cages were stored. ‘I’ll buy a cage this week,’ he said. ‘Food and sawdust. We’ve already got hay.’
‘When do you want to collect them?’ Mandy asked. Opening the cage, she took out Bubble and handed him to Brandon.
Like most farmers, he knew how to handle the little animal gently. He smiled as he gazed down at the small face. Bubble made happy burbling noises as Brandon stroked him. ‘I could come for them on Christmas Eve,’ he suggested. ‘If that’s okay,’ he added, flushing his trademark shade of puce.
‘That would be perfect,’ Mandy said.
Once he was gone, she started up her computer. Navigating to the ‘Animals for Rehoming’ page, she marked the guinea pigs ‘Reserved’. Brandon’s gift idea was adorable and perfectly judged. He obviously knew Rachel well.
Mandy sighed as she added some video of Flame to the website. Much as she loved Flame, the lurcher had so much energy that Mandy wondered whether anyone would want to rehome her. Although her recall was much better, she still required a great deal of handling. Only someone very active could manage her. Closing down the computer, she went through to the dog area, remembering the promise she had made last night.
‘How would you like to go out with Birch?’ she asked Flame when she opened the kennel. As if in reply, the lurcher bounded out of her cage and rushed straight to Birch’s door. The two dogs stood gazing at one another, nose to nose, wagging their tails.
Mandy unlatched Birch’s cage and the little dog trotted out. The contrast between the leggy golden lurcher and the tiny silver terrier was almost painfully funny. To Mandy’s surprise, Birch led the way, walking to the door in a steady fashion. Instead of her usual dash, Flame trotted behind the little dog, the expression on her face as close to adoration as anything Mandy had witnessed. Outside in the orchard, the same thing happened. The silky little body trotted round with the lanky lurcher stalking behind.
‘Birch, come!’ Mandy thought recall was worth a try. Many dogs arrived with at least some training. Even if she didn’t know the terrier’s original name, she might still respond to the tone of voice. To her amazement, not only did Birch come, but Flame did too. ‘Come, Flame,’ Mandy added, when she saw the lurcher was heading towards her. When the two of them arrived, she was as encouraging and enthusiastic as she could be. Was this the secret to Flame’s training, perhaps?
Taking out her phone, Mandy took some videos and then several pictures of the strangely-matched pair. This was something she would have to show Helen and Rachel, she thought. Flame and Birch might be an odd couple, but Mandy had a hunch they were going to be an unbreakable team.