Page 2 of Happy Days Ahead in the Cornish Village

‘Do you think there’ll be a lot of people?’

Megan looked down at the sign hanging on the gate as they walked through. The words ‘New Volunteers Welcome Day!’ were emblazoned in bright yellow on a background of green.

‘I’m not sure. I think Flora said she was expecting about ten, but if they all show up…’ Sally shrugged.

‘That’s a good number, then.’ Megan paused as Sally closed the gate behind them.

‘Yes, it is. Of course, not everyone will become regular volunteers. Last time Flora put on a volunteer day, we had maybe fifteen people turn up, but only six are still volunteering on a regular basis.’

‘Really? How come?’

‘People always have good intentions, but I guess life just gets in the way sometimes.’ Sally glanced across at Megan. ‘Six is still a lot of volunteers to gain from one of these drives, though, which is why Flora asked Darryl to advertise it in the Trestow Telegraph again.’

As they crossed the courtyard, Megan could see a cluster of people making their way from the small car park towards the door into the reception area. Good, at least she hadn’t missed the beginning of the induction through her dithering.

‘Go on, you’ll be fine.’ Sally touched Megan’s forearm and nodded towards the door.

‘Thanks.’

Letting a flicker of a smile catch the corners of her lips, Megan began to walk towards the door, pausing to watch Sally head towards the paddocks. She was here now, she might as well go in. Reaching the door, Megan slipped in behind someone else, muttering her thanks and quietly closing the door behind her.

She looked around. The small reception area was crammed full of people, presumably all prospective volunteers like herself.

‘Again, for those just arriving, thank you all so much for coming.’ Megan recognised Flora’s voice. ‘It’s so lovely to see so many of you wanting to give up time from your busy lives to come and help us out. We’re currently at full capacity and so all the help we can get will be very much appreciated.’

Megan pulled her mobile from her back pocket ready to switch it to silent only to see the blank screen and remember the battery had run out.

‘Do you want to come in front of me so you can see better?’ The man in front of her turned around and stepped slightly to the side, indicating the small space in front of him.

Automatically shaking her head, Megan smiled. ‘No thanks.’ The last thing she wanted was to draw attention to herself. Even though Sally had said she thought this was a good idea, she still didn’t know how Flora would react, whether she’d be happy to see her or whether she’d ask her to leave. No, she was more than comfortable standing at the back behind the other volunteers. The last thing she wanted was to be called out in front of a group of strangers.

The man nodded and turned back around, concentrating on Flora’s talk.

‘…and so, without any further ado, I’ll give you a tour of Wagging Tails before we come back inside to discuss the boring bits. We’ll start outside and then you can have a chance to meet the dogs inside after our tour.’

Megan followed the group outside, stepping into the summer sun. As the reception area emptied, Megan positioned herself behind a couple standing nearby.

‘That’s it. This way. We’ll begin at the paddocks where you can all meet our lovely trainer, Sally, and our longest standing volunteer, Susan.’

The couple in front of Megan moved forward, leaving Megan standing there at the very moment Flora walked past. Megan swallowed as Flora paused in front of her, her words caught in her mouth for a second before she nodded slowly and made her way towards the front of the crowd.

What had that meant? Should she just go now? Save herself the embarrassment? No, she was here for a reason. The very reason she was staying in Trestow. If she didn’t at least stay until the end of the induction and see what Flora had to say, then it would all be for nothing. She’d have travelled all this way for no reason.

As the other volunteers surged forward, following Flora as she led them towards the bottom paddock, Megan followed at a short distance. It wasn’t as though she had anywhere else to go. She no longer had anywhere to call home and the friends she’d thought she’d be able to rely on for support she hadn’t heard from. Lyle had probably made up some story or other to explain why she’d left him. That was the thing with Lyle, however bad his situation, however much he was in the wrong, he was quick to spin it so he always came out on top, so he was the one in the right.

‘That’s it, come on through. This is our bottom paddock, a safe space for the dogs to exercise off lead. It’s all enclosed and secure so they can let off some steam. When we have a new arrival, we assess them and those who are friendly with other dogs will have the opportunity to socialise.’

‘Can all the dogs you have be exercised together?’ A woman towards the front of the group shot her hand up.

‘No, but don’t worry, when you arrive for your volunteering session, there’ll always be one of us around who will tell you who can and can’t be exercised together. Plus, when we look round the kennels, you’ll see each kennel has a clipboard, information such as that will always be written on there, too.’ Flora shut the gate behind them all.

‘Will we be able to choose who we walk?’ the woman called out again.

The man walking next to Megan turned to her and shook his head, his dark hair bouncing. ‘Let me guess, she only wants to walk the cute ones.’

Megan grimaced. It sure sounded like it.

‘Up to a point. All of our dogs need to be exercised each day, and that needs to be done fairly. All the dogs in our care deserve our attention and love. As a volunteer, some of the dogs will be off limits, such as our resident dog, Ralph, who must be walked by someone he is familiar with at the quietest times of the day.’ Flora led the group across the paddock. ‘We have a list we tick after each walk so we know who has had their walk and who hasn’t.’

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