Page 10

‘Yes!’

‘And you liked Mrs Appleby?’ Evelyn had liked her when they’d met a few days ago in preparation for Summer’s imminent start at the village school, but Evelyn wasn’t the one who would be spending every day with her.

‘I think so,’ Summer mused, ‘but she reminded me a bit of Nurse Marie. She wasn’t very funny.’

‘No, but she was a very good nurse. And Mrs Appleby isn’t Nurse Marie. I’m sure if you try your best, she’ll be lovely.’ She looked around. ‘Tilly, c’mere.’

‘Tilly, you should listen to Mum. Tilly, come!’ Summer rolled her eyes in an expression of such exasperation that Evelyn had to bite back a smile.

The little dog trotted obediently towards her young mistress, before getting distracted and bouncing off in another direction to sniff at something that was probably only interesting to a dog, and stick her nose into yet another hole that looked just like every other one she’d shoved her muzzle in that morning.

Evelyn laughed. ‘We’re really lucky to have woodlands this close to the house. I think she likes being a country dog, don’t you?’ She’d barely finished the question before Tilly screeched in pain and shot back towards them, a blur of distressed ginger fur. She dived behind Summer, almost knocking her over in the process, and sat there whimpering and shaking.

‘Mum, what’s wrong with Tilly?’ Summer fell to her knees and hugged the little dog. ‘Mum?’

‘Come here, girl.’ Evelyn gathered her up and gently checked her over. Nothing seemed to be amiss until she reached her front left paw, at which point Tilly yelped and tried to pull her foot away. ‘There’s a good girl, Tilly. Just let me have a quick look.’ Evelyn thought she spotted a tiny puncture wound, but it didn’t seem to be bleeding badly.

‘What’s wrong with her, Mum. Is she going to be OK?’

‘Of course she is. I think she just spiked her foot on a bramble or thorn. We’ll take her home, clean her foot and have a better look. And probably give her a treat as well. OK?’

Summer pulled a face. ‘OK. But I hope she still likes being a country dog. I like being a country girl!’

‘I think I missed being a country girl too.’ She carefully set Tilly on the floor. ‘Come on then, Little Miss Curious. Let’s get you home and cleaned up.’ She took a few steps, then realised Tilly was still sitting, her hurt paw held just off the ground. ‘Come on.’

Tilly took a couple of steps, but her leg collapsed under her.

‘Mummy?’ Summer’s voice was laced with worry, and the fact that she’d gone back to calling her Mummy told Evelyn how scared she was.

‘She’s probably just a bit sore.’ Evelyn forced her voice calm as she tried to reassure both dog and daughter. ‘You know how much needles hurt?’

Summer nodded vehemently. ‘Even with magic cream they’re nasty.’

‘Well, a thorn is a lot bigger than a needle. So it probably hurts a bit more.’

‘Oh, poor Tilly.’ Summer gave her four-legged friend another hug. ‘It’s OK. It doesn’t hurt for long. And you’ll be a lot better when we’re home and you can have a treat.’

‘It’s a good thing you’re not heavy.’ Evelyn cuddled the little dog as she picked her up.

Jake briskly rubbed the belly and chest of the kitten he’d just delivered, trying to stimulate the scrap of fur into taking its first breath of air. The queen – or mother cat – was younger than ideal, and was getting exhausted, so he was glad when her owner brought her in, and he’d been able to intervene. He’d given her drugs to help her push, and fluids, and the first four kittens were already mostly clean and mewling loudly, complaining at their treatment and nudging around looking for their first feed.

But this final kit just wasn’t responding. Working quickly, he cleaned his nose and grasped his head before covering him with his other hand and swinging firmly forwards. ‘Come on, little guy. Just take a breath. It’s only the first one that’s hard.’ He swung him again. ‘Come on.’ He hated to lose an animal. Most days, he loved his job, but he had to admit when he lost a life he considered giving it up and becoming a dog trainer, or librarian. Or anything that didn’t involve losing animals.

Grimly, he turned the kitten over and gave him a few firm taps across its shoulders before swinging it again. He was rewarded with the tiniest of wet, snuffling gasps, and grinned in relief. He gave the kitten another quick rub, checked he was breathing OK, then held him up for a quick look. ‘You are one lucky little tom.’ He tucked him with his mum, next to his brothers and sisters, and breathed a sigh of relief. Another win.

He looked forward to calling the owners and giving them the happy news, and then a not so happy reminder on responsible cat ownership – particularly pertaining to keeping unneutered females indoors when they were in heat. And then, he’d be able to go home and put his feet up.

The surgery phone started to ring while he was cleaning up, and he raced to dry his hands and answer it, at the same time grumbling at his lack of help. Ever since his nurse had gone on maternity leave, he’d been short-handed, but was reluctant to replace her. Erin had worked with him since he’d opened the surgery, and they got on well as friends and colleagues, and he wasn’t sure if he’d work as well with anyone else. If he were honest with himself, he’d always gotten on better with animals than humans.

He snatched the phone from its cradle. ‘Hello, Badger’s Hospital.’

‘Still not managed to replace Erin, then?’ His brother’s voice sounded amused. ‘Maybe you could train a parrot to answer the phone.’

‘I guess the salary would be cheap, at least. You know, cheep cheep!’

Callum groaned down the phone. ‘Your sense of humour hasn’t improved since we were kids.’

‘Well, it’s not like I had a good role model.’