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Turning around, she dried her hands on the tea towel.
‘Oh, my goodness, the poor little thing.’ She dropped the notebook and pen she was carrying onto the table. ‘Has he kept him in?’
‘Yes, he’s going to have an X-ray and oxygen. Mack is hopeful, but there’s a risk he won’t make it.’ She looked down at her trainers.
‘Poppy, he’ll be fine. He may be weak and poorly now, but little Dougal has come this far. He’ll make it. Come here.’ Flora held her arms out.
Sinking into Aunt Flora’s warm embrace, Poppy let the tears fall, leaving dark splodges on Aunt Flora’s navy sweatshirt. ‘He will, won’t he?’
‘I have every faith that he will, lovely. We need to think positively. That’s all we can do now. There’s no point in worrying about something that hopefully won’t happen.’
Nodding, Poppy stepped back and wiped her eyes. ‘Sorry.’
‘Hey, don’t apologise, but this isn’t like you. Growing up, you were always the one to tell everyone else that you just knew even the poorliest of dogs would recover. What’s going on?’
‘I know, but… I don’t know. It’s everything at the moment, isn’t it? Me and Ben splitting up, him going on that date, Dougal. Even work’s been difficult these past few weeks. What if it’s me? What if it’s everything I touch?’
‘You think you’ve cursed Dougal.’ Holding Poppy by the elbows, Flora raised an eyebrow.
‘No, yes. I don’t know.’ Poppy shrugged. It sounded daft. She knew it did but she had been the one to find Dougal and now he was fighting for his life.
‘Dougal was lucky you found him. Imagine if you hadn’t been here. No one would have been at the counter, keeping an eye on the CCTV when he was dropped off. Who knows what would have happened to him had he been left out in the cold in that cardboard box until me and Ginny had got back. You saved his life, Poppy.’
Aunt Flora was right. Well, maybe not about the saving his life bit, but about it not being her fault. ‘I guess so.’
‘Now, Dougal is in the best of hands so all we can do is to put our trust in Mack and focus on the other dogs.’ Flora rubbed Poppy’s arm.
‘Yes, okay.’ Poppy took a deep breath and nodded. That was all they could do. They had other dogs to feed, walk, care for. Worrying wasn’t going to help any of them. ‘Oh, you’d given me your credit card instead of the charity one. I’m sorry but I had to use it. I would have used my own, but with the mortgage payment coming out, I didn’t have enough to cover it.’
‘Silly me.’ Flora chuckled and slapped her forehead. ‘Never mind. How much was it?’
‘The X-ray was three hundred and fifty, which is what I used your card for. We’ll have to pay for the rest of the treatment when we pick him up.’
‘Three…?’ Flora frowned, deep lines forming across her forehead. She shook her head and seemed to force a smile. ‘Never mind. Anyway, there’s lots to be getting on with. I’m just about to write another letter to Mr Thomas trying to persuade him to relinquish some of his dogs to us. I could do with your help if you’re not busy.’
‘Yes, of course.’
8
Poppy jumped back as the hose took on a life of its own and spun around in her hand. Water sprayed into her face and across her top, the freezing cold liquid quickly penetrating her jumper. Wrestling it back under her control, she aimed it back onto the floor of Dougal’s kennel and watched as the water burst the soap suds against the concrete flooring.
‘Bubble in the hose?’ A voice behind her rose above the sound of the splashing water.
Twisting around, she smiled. ‘Alex. You made me jump!’
‘Sorry.’ Holding his hands up, palms forward, he laughed. ‘Flora sent me to get you. It’s time for the staff meeting.’
‘Already? I thought I’d only been out here ten minutes.’ Turning off the hose, Poppy checked her watch. She must have been more engrossed than she’d thought. She watched as the last of the soapy water circled down the drain in the floor. ‘I’ve finished now, anyway.’
‘I was going to say I don’t think I’ve ever seen it as clean as it is now.’
Poppy grimaced as she wound the hose back up. ‘I may have gone a little overboard, but at least any lungworm eggs or anything won’t be able to reinfect Dougal after we pick him up tomorrow.’
‘True.’ Alex nodded as he ushered her through the door into the reception area.
Poppy rubbed at the wet patches on her jumper before opening the door to the kitchen. Flora and Ginny were sitting at the table while Susan, her honorary aunt, who had been part of the Wagging Tails team for as long as Poppy could remember, bustled about making mugs of coffee, and Percy, the home’s all-round caretaker, shook biscuits from a packet onto a plate. Sally, who had been busy scribbling into a folder, looked up as they walked in.
‘I found her!’ Alex grinned as he took a seat.
