Page 7 of Last Dance, Second Chance

The British supermarket was quite a culture shock after so many years of living in the US. There was nowhere near as much choice as she was used to, and she wasn’t familiar with any of the packaging anymore. The shopping took her longer than she’d expected, and she hadn’t been able to get everything on her list, but at least she had healthy food for the next few days.

Monty was thrilled to see her when she returned, especially when she gave him some of the roast chicken she used to make herself a salad for a rather late lunch.

After she’d eaten, and still tired from travelling the day before, Jessica sat down on the sofa with a coffee and her iPad. She would catch up on some blogs she liked to read by ballet dancers around the world. She wasn’t sure of the exact moment she fell asleep, but when she woke up it was five o’clock and Monty was resting his head in her lap and gazing into her face beseechingly.

“I’m so sorry, Monty!” she said. “You must be desperate for a walk!” Getting herself up from the sofa she promptly downed a glass of water and gave her body a stretch to wake herself up. Making sure she had poop bags in her pocket, she attached Monty’s lead. She’d decided to head down to the river path by the golf course as her dad had suggested. That would give Monty the opportunity to be off the lead for a bit, and she would quite like to see the area again. She used to love going down there with her dad to get holly and ivy to make a wreath for the front door at Christmas.

Monty was very keen to be on his walk, and her dad hadn’t quite been truthful when he said Monty was good on the lead. He pulled Jessica along, forcing her to hold the lead with both hands. She’d have to look up some dog training videos on YouTube because this would drive her crazy if they were going to go on proper long walks together.

They turned into the lane which led down to the golf club. Shortly they’d branch off onto an adjoining footpath which wound down to the river. Fed up with being dragged around, and not seeing any cars about, Jessica let Monty off the lead — it was less than a hundred metres to the gate which signalled the start of the path anyway. Monty sniffed around, sticking close to Jessica, who was ready to grab him at any moment if it looked like a car was coming.

She heard a noise behind her and checked to see if it was a vehicle. It wasn’t, but Monty decided to choose that moment to bolt. By the time Jessica turned back around he was already fifty metres away from her and careering round the corner into the golf club car park.

She began to run after him. As she caught up with him in the car park, the reason for Monty’s excitement became apparent — he was chasing a squirrel. Jessica made a grab for his collar, but missed, narrowly avoiding losing her balance. She took a second to catch her breath, during which Monty raced off back down the lane again. Cursing the dog, Jessica resumed her pursuit.

She rounded the corner... just in time to see Monty run right in front of a black Land Rover. The driver slammed on the brakes. Jessica stopped, horrified and instinctively closed her eyes for a second. On opening them, it was to see Monty excitedly jumping around by the driver’s door. She let out a huge sigh of relief. The door opened, and a large man stepped out. A man Jessica had seen before, on her walk the previous day. Only now he looked furious. He slammed the car door shut and, ignoring Monty’s exuberant welcome, took hold of his collar and marched him over to Jessica.

“If you can’t control your dog, you should keep it on a lead,” the man barked. “You’re very lucky I didn’t run him over, and if I had it would have been completely your own fault.”

“I’m so sorry...” Jessica began. He was right, of course. Monty was her responsibility. Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes at the thought of what could very easily have become of Monty. Her dad would have been devastated if the dog had been hurt.

“Make sure it doesn’t happen again,” the man snapped, not allowing her to explain that Monty wasn’t even her dog. He went to go back to his car, but seemed to have second thoughts. He looked at Jessica properly. She thought she saw a hint of recognition there again.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” he asked, his tone softer.

“I wouldn’t have thought so,” Jessica replied. “I don’t live around here. Look...”

Her words died away. The man was already back in his car, and she quickly moved to the side of the lane so he could drive past and continue on his way to the golf club car park.

Feeling embarrassed and a bit shaky at the thought of what could have happened, Jessica attached Monty’s lead firmly to his collar. “And don’t think that’s coming off again until you’re safely in the house,” she told him.

She hung back, wanting to give the man time to get out of his car and out of sight before she continued their walk. She didn’t know if he was going to the golf club or down the footpath, but whichever it was, if she let him get ahead, she could stay out of his way while she took Monty for a much shorter walk than she’d originally intended. She had absolutely no desire to bump into that man again.

When she was sure he would be well out of sight, Jessica wrapped Monty’s lead around her hand so that he was kept close to her. The dog seemed to understand that he was in an awful lot of trouble and walked much more calmly back round the corner and to the gate leading to the footpath. They got through the gate without mishap and Jessica gave him a little more lead so Monty could have a sniff around. “Good boy,” Jessica muttered. Her heart rate had calmed down and she was even beginning to enjoy herself now. Thankfully Monty hadn’t been hurt and now that she knew what to expect from him, she would make sure she was much more on her guard.

They wandered along the path for about two hundred metres until it turned and ran alongside the river. The path was cool, shaded by the overhanging oak and sycamore trees. The water looked clear and inviting, sparkling in the late afternoon sun, and if she hadn’t had the dog with her, Jessica might have been very tempted to have a swim.

Jessica heard a whistle and a voice calling out, “Dennis, come!” Looking up the path ahead, she saw a springer spaniel who’d been heading towards them, spinning round. A moment later, and the whistler was revealed — the man who’d nearly run Monty over.

Quickly — and because there was nothing for it — Jessica pulled a bemused Monty behind a large tree. She squatted down next to him. “Be quiet,” she hissed, urgently. With any luck, the man would just walk right past them.

The man came closer and Jessica held her breath, willing him not to glance in her direction. He walked past and Jessica let out a sigh of relief... at the same time as Monty gave a big welcoming woof to his new best friend.

The man looked down towards the noise and immediately spotted Jessica.

“Are you all right?” he asked, his face a picture of bewilderment.

“Yes, thanks,” Jessica said as nonchalantly as she could manage in the circumstances. Hopefully he’d carry on his merry way. She’d give him a few minutes to be well out of sight... But Monty had other ideas. He was bored of being on the lead. He wanted to play with the man and his dog. He lurched suddenly, pulling the lead out of Jessica’s hands.

Thrilled at his new-found freedom, Monty began playing a very energetic game of chase with the springer spaniel.

“Dennis!” the man said crossly, attempting to get hold of his dog, and failing.

Jessica rushed to the dogs, intending to grab Monty by the collar but the golden retriever, misjudging a tight turn, bashed into her legs. Jessica fell backwards and went tumbling down the riverbank, only stopping just before the drop into the water. She screamed as a surge of pain ripped through her. Her foot had landed awkwardly, her full weight upon it.

Panic immediately flooded Jessica’s brain — not her foot. Please, not her foot! Monty stood in front of her, staring, his head cocked to one side, his excitement replaced with concern.

Jessica fought to hold back tears, not just at the pain she was feeling, but at the knowledge of what this meant for her career. She’d had enough injuries in her life to suspect this one was going to have her laid up for quite some time.

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