She swung around. ‘Gino, I need a lift to Critters’ Lodge. Can you take me? I don’t think I can ride my bike.’ Her handswere shaking. Critters’ Lodge was the heart of the charity, its rehabilitation and rehoming centre. Losing that would set them back decades, to a time when her mum did what she could at her cottage and often had to send animals on to other centres. She had to get there and find out what was going on.
Chapter Twenty-One
Mud splattered up the sides of the red metallic paint of Gino’s Audi A3. Ordinarily, Ava would discourage him from driving so rapidly down the country lanes, but today the urgency in Mary’s tone made her welcome the speed.
‘There has to be a simple explanation. It doesn’t seem like something the Bramlingtons would do. I’m sure there’s been a mistake.’ Gino gave Ava a brief smile before turning his attention back to the road.
His tone was reassuring, but Ava had an uneasy feeling about the whole situation and wrung her hands in her lap. It didn’t seem like something the late Lord Bramlington would do, but Henry, how well did she really know him now? If he were acting under his mother’s bidding, Ava didn’t know what he was capable of. As they drove through the gates of Critters’ Lodge, she undid her seatbelt, and was getting out of the car and heading towards the entrance before Gino had finished parking. Ava could see two official-looking men talking at the side of the building; presuming them to be party to whatever was going on she gave them a hard stare. She wanted to speak to Mary, and to establish some facts before speaking to them.
Having clearly been awaiting their arrival, Mary strode out of the door, drawing Ava’s attention. For a person so rarely fazed, Ava couldn’t help but think her friend looked flustered. The flush on her cheeks and neck was unsettling.
Taking Ava’s arm, Mary led her to the door. ‘Your boyfriend is selling this land!’
Ava looked over her shoulder to see if Gino was following. ‘He’s not my boyfriend, and we have a tenancy agreement.’
Mary nodded in the direction of the men Ava had glared at. ‘Well, according to them, they’re here to survey for development purposes.’ Mary led the way inside.
Catching up, Gino followed.
Aware of her proximity to the treatment rooms, Ava felt her stomach flip. She needed to stay focused on the matter in hand. She tried to look directly ahead, but the smell of disinfectant, mixed with the aroma of sick animals, played with her senses and took her back to her childhood when her mum would bring injured animals home to their cottage. She swallowed.
‘So Lord Gitlington, all sweet and helpful the other day is planning to sell the land from underneath us. He didn’t mention that when he was promising to stick by you, did he?’
‘Stick by Myrtle, not me,’ Ava managed, her mind whirring.
‘The charity won’t survive, and these animals need us!’ Mary’s words were fuelled by anger and passion, reminding Ava that Mary had been her mum’s apprentice. Reaching the office door, they went inside.
‘Here, take a seat.’ Pulling over the office chair, Mary encouraged Ava to sit down.
‘Hasn’t he been away? Perhaps he didn’t know the lodge was here.’ Gino shut the door behind them.
‘Of course he knew. It’s been here for years. It would have been here before he went away,’ Mary hissed, as she fetched Ava a plastic cup of water from the cooler in the corner. ‘Well, I’m not going to stand for it. Lord Snakelington might own this land but, as Ava said, we have an agreement to use it, and that means those men outside have no bloody right to be here!’ Mary glanced in Ava’s direction as if to check she was OK before heading for the door.
‘Wait. What are you planning to do?’ Gino held on to her arm.
‘Hit them with a shot of tranquiliser?’ Mary raised a defensive eyebrow at Gino, before pulling her arm free.
‘Mary, listen to me. Use your head,’ Gino implored.
Mary lowered her voice. ‘Seriously, Gino, if you’re not going to be on our side and use some of that Italian passion I know must be in there somewhere, then you can bugger off back to your car—’
‘OK! OK!’ Gino held up his hands and met her gaze. ‘I’ll help you get rid of them. But, we are not tranquilising them.’
Ava was grateful to hear Gino step in, applying some common sense, while she attempted to get herself together.
‘So what’s your plan, then?’ Mary challenged.
Gino took a breath. ‘We’ll hose them!’
‘What?’ Ava couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but as her body was trembling, she wasn’t sure she would be able to stop them.
Mary faltered, looking at Gino, before smiling. ‘Genius! Let’s do it.’
As the door shut behind them and the room fell silent, Ava could hear the thud of her heartbeat and felt the prickling of sweat on her skin. She inhaled for the count of seven and exhaled for the count of eleven several times over, in an attempt to regain her equilibrium. Once she felt in greater control of her faculties, she stood and looked around the office with an increasing sense of achievement at having made it this far. She was inside Critters’ Lodge.
The furniture, some she recognised as being selected by her mum, some new, was functional. The whiteboard on the wall was filled with information about the animals currently in care, reminding Ava why she was there. Mary was right, just as her mum had always been: the animals needed them and it was their job to care for them in a crisis.
Noticing the countdown to the launch of their new website, also on the board, Ava felt a new wave of determination. The loyal volunteers had come through for the charity, as they always did. They were applying their skills to the task — sorting throughthe newspaper clippings, creating the new website — working towards the imminent deadline. She couldn’t let them down any more than she could let the animals down.Publicity!Publicity was what she needed, not only for the website but also for their current plight. Ava’s pulse raced, as much from the post adrenalin rush of entering the lodge as her determination to put a stop to the sale of the land.
