Page 48 of The Vet from Snowy River
‘Josh Cody,’ he said by way of greeting.
‘Mister? My mum’s seen your lost dog notice down at the Cooma Markets and she says you’ve got my dog.’
It took a second for the message to sink in. ‘Your dog … do you mean the brown labrador?’ He looked down at the fat animal currently sprawled over his boot.
‘Yes, sir. My Rosie’s been missing a couple months or more, and my brother told me the drop bears done her in and ate her for snacks.’
Josh closed his eyes. ‘How old are you, mate?’
‘Seven.’
‘Uh-huh. You reckon your mum can bring you into the clinic here in Hanrahan so we can see if our lost dog is your Rosie?’
‘I can ask her.’ The boy’s voice didn’t sound overly hopeful.
He tried again. ‘Maybe your mum can come to the phone and I can have a chat with her now?’
‘Oh, she’s not here now. She works nights on the new freeway with one of them Stop Go signs.’
‘Okay. Well, maybe when she gets home you can ask her to drive you here. Or call me.’
‘I guess.’
He wondered if he ought to mention the eight puppies snoozing away in their pen. ‘When did your dog go missing?’
‘When I was six.’
He grinned. This was like pulling teeth. ‘What’s your name, kid?’
‘Parker.’
‘Parker, when you were six, was that just a little while ago?’
‘I had a cake, even, from the bakery. Seven candles, so that makes me seven now.’
‘It sure does. Listen, you know anything special about your dog? Maybe she can do a trick, or has a scar, and I can check to see if this lost dog I’ve got here has the same one? Then we’ll know if this really is your Rosie.’
‘Well, she loves tuna out of a can with an egg cracked over it.’
Yeah, like that would narrow it down. What labrador didn’t love food? ‘Anything else?’
‘She drools when I eat vegemite on toast. Oh, and I know, she used to love swimming and running, but then she got some grey around her snout because she’s old and she just sleeps all the time instead of playing footie with me in the backyard.’
A soft snore rumbled out of the dog sleeping on his foot. Grey hair did sprinkle Jane Doe’s snout, just as the boy described. ‘Get your mum to give me a call, Parker. And if this is Rosie we’ve got here, don’t you worry, because we’re looking after her, okay?’
‘Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr Cody.’
He slipped the phone back into his pocket. Parker sounded pretty adorable, but still. Jane Doe had grown on him. He looked at his watch. He could go upstairs and put another coat of paint on the bathroom ceiling while he waited for Poppy to finish her shift, or he could go and have one beer at the café. Chat with his daughterandget his eyes on the new owner again, just to see if that spark she’d lit in him last week was the real deal.
He eased his boot out from under the snoring dog and headed for the back door. A beer it was.
CHAPTER
15
Vera had spied Marigold and Kev in the café just after sundown, but she’d been procrastinating ever since. Was she ready? Was she filled with courage and swag and all that other confident stuff she’d been talking herself into?
Of course not. Having a noble idea three nights ago about finishing her aunt’s quilt was one thing … actually doing it was another.
