Page 32 of The Vet from Snowy River
‘Give me an hour or so, Ron. There’s a few places I haven’t checked yet.’
‘You got it. Call me if you need me. I can drive through the night and be there before morning.’
‘Thanks, man.’
Beth’s voice came in over the family room ruckus he could hear in the background. ‘What happened? Why did she run off?’
He pulled himself together. There’d be plenty of time for cataloguing his mistakes once Poppy was safe. ‘You remember Kelly? My age, curly hair, cried in class whenever she broke a nail.’
Beth’s voice was wry. ‘I blanked out every face in that town the day they ran me out at the end of a pitchfork.’
He would have grinned if he wasn’t so worried. ‘Well, unfortunately she hasn’t blanked you and me out. She was at the clinic this afternoon with her kid and an overweight guinea pig. Asked Poppy how she felt about everyone knowing her dad got seduced by his teacher and got her knocked up and—’
‘Oh my god.’
‘Yep.’
He heard Beth’s long drawn-out sigh. ‘We should have told her.’
He should have. He was the one who’d come back to Hanrahan, stirred up all the old gossip, all the busy eyes wondering just when had his and Beth’s affair started. He was damned if he’d give them the satisfaction of setting them straight.
‘I’d forgotten how occupied everyone got here with other people’s lives.’
‘Mmm,’ said Beth. ‘That’s small towns for you. And they never let the facts get in the way of a good story.’
He heard a crash followed by high-pitched screaming and wondered if one of the Seetos had just fallen through a plate glass window.
‘Boys! Cut that out. Nick, give Toby back his lightsabre. Toby, get your foot off Nick’s head. Josh, I’ve got to go before they kill each other. Remind me again why I had more children.’
He smiled. ‘Because you’re a great mum, and Ron was born to be the King of Dads.’
‘What a charmer. Call me after you’ve been to the bus depot, all right? We can call the police together, and either Ron or I will get in the car and drive up tonight. I’ll call her friends here in Sydney in case she’s made contact, or posted anything online.’
‘Will do. Talk soon.’
‘Bye, Josh.’
Bus depot. Now why hadn’t he thought of that? He reached for the ignition then paused. The depot was up the hill on the main road out to the Alpine Way. He could go on foot, check the streets on the way in case Poppy was loitering somewhere. All he’d need would be a torch; plenty of those in the treatment room.
A deep woof sounded as he let himself into the back office. Jane Doe. The vet nurse would have taken her for a walk before he left for the day, but she’d cope with another. Who knew? Maybe the old girl had sniffer-dog skills hidden under all that fur.
He grabbed a lead from the row of hooks lining the wall by the door and headed into the sleepover room, where Jane Doe was tucked up with her pups.
‘How’re you doing, sweetheart?’
The old lab thumped her tail against the floor and scampered up, dislodging the pups dozing against her belly.
‘Fancy a walk?’
The dog pricked her ears. She knew the word ‘walk’ fine, like she knew ‘treat’ and ‘sit’ and ‘nice try but get away from my sandwich’. She was someone’s pet for sure, or had been.
He unlatched the gate and led her into the corridor. ‘We’re going on a Poppy hunt, Jane. You ready to earn your keep?’
‘Talking to dogs now, Josh?’
Josh looked up at the man standing in the doorway. Tall. Fair hair worn short and sharp as a seasoned Navy officer, eyes just as ruthless. Shoulders that could withstand a premiership quarter tackle, or at least they could back when they’d been on the same Aussie Rules team at school. ‘Tom Krauss. It’s been a long time, mate.’
‘Same. I hear you’re up to your old tricks schmoozing all the ladies in town.’
