Page 3 of Chasing Dreams at Wagging Tails Dogs' Home

Poppy pushed the door to the reception area of Wagging Tails open and stepped through, the heat from the small electric fire quickly warming her. She looked across at the counter, her eyes drawn to the flickering fairy lights strung across the front. She hadn’t noticed them yesterday. Someone must have added them this morning.

‘Poppy, lovely. How was your sleep?’ Aunt Flora pushed her reading glasses to the top of her head and walked around the counter towards her.

‘Good, thanks. And thank you for doing my washing. Sorry I’ve woken up so late.’ She leaned her head against Aunt Flora’s shoulder as she gave her a quick hug.

‘No worries, lovely. You were lucky the mud came out. Especially on your white vest top.’

‘Yes, I thought that would be ruined.’ Poppy shrugged out of her coat and hung it on the hooks behind the counter. It was only a short walk from the cottage, but it was freezing outside and she’d likely need it again if she took any of the dogs for a walk. ‘What can I do?’

Flora looked across at the clock on the shelf. ‘I’ve got to pop out with Ginny in a couple of minutes to make a home visit to a local animal hoarder. We’ve been working with him for months now to try to encourage him to surrender some of his animals and we’re hoping he’ll let us take a few on today.’

‘Oh, really? How many has he got?’ Poppy frowned. She’d watched a documentary on TV last year about an animal hoarder who had literally had at least a hundred cats.

‘He has twenty-eight dogs and fifteen cats. A lovely bloke, elderly. His farm was repossessed a few years back now, and I think he just missed the animals. He squats in one of the old farm worker’s cottages on the edge of his land and has just accumulated all these animals.’ She shook her head. ‘It’s a really sad case. You can see he loves each and every one of them, but with his health going downhill, he’s just not been able to give them the care and attention they need.’

Poppy grimaced. ‘Wow, that many? Do you think he’ll really give them up?’

‘I hope so. We’re working with a local cat rescue, too. He’s giving the animals the basic care so they can’t legally be taken away without his consent but the conditions they’re living in,he’sliving in…’ Flora shook her head.

‘It sounds positive that you think he might let you rehome some today, though?’

‘Yes, yes. Although we’ve been here before. Two weeks ago, he promised to let us take a couple and then wouldn’t even let us into the property, but we’ll see.’ Flora crossed her fingers and held them up so Poppy could see. ‘Anyway, Susan is at the supplier’s today, Alex is up at the top paddock with Ralph, and Sally, our trainer, has taken Fluffles down to the village to do some on-lead training, so are you okay holding down the fort here for a bit? Sally should be back soon, and Alex’s number is in the book if you need him.’

‘Umm, okay.’ Poppy nodded. She hadn’t ‘held down the fort’ as her aunt put it for years, but as a teenager, she’d loved feeling as though she was in charge, even if the reality had been that there had always been other people on site.

‘Talking of Ginny, here she comes now.’ Flora grinned as a woman walked through the door, wiping her hands down her jeans, adding mud to the large splodges on her knees. Flora turned to her and said, ‘Did Ronnie have you over again, Ginny, love?’

‘His best one yet. He might not be huge but he’s one strong dog.’ Ginny shook her head and laughed as she closed the door. When she noticed Poppy, she beamed. ‘Hi, you must be Poppy? Flora said you were coming to stay for a while.’

‘Hi, yes. Lovely to finally meet you, Ginny. I feel as though I know you already, the number of times Aunt Flora has mentioned you.’

‘Oh, yes?’ Ginny looked from Poppy to Flora and back again. ‘Should I be worried?’

Poppy laughed. ‘Nope, it’s all been good. She’s forever singing your praises.’

‘Argh, that’s a relief.’ Ginny smiled and looked down at her hands, which were still smeared with mud. ‘I’d give you a hug, but I don’t think you’d want me to.’

‘You get cleaned up while I grab my coat.’ Flora turned to Poppy. ‘And you’re sure you don’t mind me running out on you on your first morning here?’

‘Of course not. Go and rescue those pups!’ Waving them off, Poppy grinned. She’d go and see the dogs and then see if Aunt Flora had left any paperwork to do. She knew Flora liked to scribble down any new dog’s details before writing them up for the website. Poppy had always enjoyed helping with that.

After Flora and Ginny had left, Poppy opened the door to the corridor that led to the kennels, grabbing a handful of treats on the way.

* * *

Tapping the top of the pen against her chin, Poppy looked down at what she’d written so far… ‘Fluffles, a diva of a poodle-cross, had arrived at Wagging Tails looking forlorn’…

Nope. Forlorn? Really? She scribbled it out… Changed it to ‘rather sorry for herself’. Better.

Poppy leaned back on the stool and looked across at the CCTV monitor her aunt had installed a few months earlier. Something had caught her eye – a flicker of movement at the front gate. She watched as a car pulled up and a woman jumped out, removing a box from the passenger seat before speeding off again.

She squinted at the small black and white screen. A box had definitely been left there. Odd. People normally popped in with donations instead of leaving them at the gate. She must have been in a hurry or perhaps Aunt Flora had been expecting whatever it was she’d been dropping off.

Stepping outside, Poppy pulled her cardie tighter around herself as the cold wind whipped around her. She looked up at the sky. Dense white clouds hung low, not even a sliver of blue could be seen. There’d be snow this year, she was sure of that.

She pulled the gate open, bent down and lifted the box, immediately lowering it again as the weight in it shifted to the side.

‘What?’

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