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‘Scare me?’ Yvette choked the words out between sobs. ‘He tried to kill me!’

‘Don’t be silly. Why would he want to hurt you? Donkeys don’t even eat meat.’ Rick tried to reason. ‘Tell her, Angela.’

Ugh, she so didn’t want to be drawn into this, but the look Rick was giving her was pleading, so she muttered something vaguely agreeing.

‘See?’ He stroked Yvette’s hair.

‘It dragged me into that . . . pigsty, and tried to stomp on me,’ she whined.

‘What exactly did happen?’ Angela asked, needing to understand to figure out what had upset Ernie so much. And how she could try to undo any damage the blithering idiot might have done.

Yvette hung off Rick’s neck, tugging at him as she whimpered and fussed. As much as Angela wanted to help, she was worried her temper would only make things worse. She didn’t know why she found it so much easier to show kindness to animals than some people. Then again, animals rarely tried to con her out of anything more than the odd extra treat. Not that she was accusing Yvette of that — even in her head — but she couldn’t help but notice, for all the noise the woman was making, her make-up was still better than Angela’s would have been if she’d spent an hour trying to follow a tutorial. If she’d been as upset as Yvette was acting, she’d have snot and tears all over the place.

She shook her head, trying to understand the mumbled, breathy gasps.

‘You’re fine, baby. Nothing happened. You’re OK.’ Rick soothed before rolling his eyes at Angela. Apparently he was used to this behaviour. ‘Yvette was posing with Ernie, and I think he’d had enough of being a social media star. She was sort of hugging him while sitting on the fence, and when he stepped backwards, she toppled in. But—’ he stroked her hair again ‘—no one got hurt. You’re fine. Ernie’s fine. It’s all OK, isn’t it?’

‘He could have kicked me,’ she argued.

‘But he didn’t,’ Rick reassured, sticking up for the donkey.

‘He tried to,’ she insisted.

‘I highly doubt that.’ Angela stuck up for him. ‘Ernie is one of the gentlest creatures. I’m sure he wouldn’t have tried to hurt you. He was probably just scared.’

‘Why would he be scared of me? He’s the huge, vicious animal!’

Angela sighed, feeling the nagging of a headache behind her eyes. ‘The only thing Ernie poses any danger to is carrots. And my neighbour’s apple tree when he escaped last year.’

Yvette ignored her, still clinging on to Rick. ‘Baby, will you please take me home.’

‘Of course.’ He shot a helpless look at Angela. ‘Is that OK?’

‘Of course . . .’ She didn’t even get to finish before Yvette interrupted with a screech.

‘Why are you asking her? Why would you listen to her instead of me!’

‘Well, she is kinda my boss while I’m here.’

‘It’s fine. Really.’ Angela was more than happy to have Yvette far, far away from Bill’s before she could upset any more of her animals.

‘See, baby. She said it’s fine. Not like you needed permission. Take me home now,’ she demanded.

‘OK. Thanks, Angela.’

‘Humph!’ Yvette snapped upright and stomped across the courtyard. She got halfway to the gate before spinning on her high heel. Angela had to admit she was impressed. She’d barely be able to stand in shoes that high, let alone perform a manoeuvre like that without ending up on her backside. ‘Come on, baby. I need you to drive me home.’

‘I can’t drive you anywhere, babes. Driving ban, remember?’

‘But I’m upset!’ She stamped her foot hard on the cobbles, and Angela saw Rick wince as Ruby shot out of her favourite napping spot, blurring into a russet streak in her eagerness to get away from the squawking, screeching, stamping human. Angela couldn’t really blame the fox for wanting to escape — she was already seriously regretting not locking the gate.

‘You can’t expect me to drive when I’m this . . . this . . . traumatised!’

‘Then I’ll have to call for a lift,’ Rick offered.

‘Don’t be silly. You can just drive me. It’s an emergency.’

Angela bit her lip, trying not to lose her cool with the woman acting like a spoiled brat. As much as she wanted to read her the riot act, she suspected it would only make her squeal louder and upset even more of Bill’s residents. They needed calm, understanding and peace — not the blonde banshee act.