Page 77 of Chasing Dreams at Wagging Tails Dogs' Home

‘Are you sure you can see properly?’ Mack leaned forward, too.

‘Enough. It’s a lot heavier than before, though.’ She turned right down the narrow country lane. With the road covered in so much snow and no visible markings, all she could do was use the grass verges as markers and hope for the best.

‘It’s a lot heavier. I can hardly see out at all.’

‘Same here. I don’t think it’s too much further, is it?’

‘A couple more miles along this road and then down the dirt track across the field to his house, from what I remember.’

‘Oh, great.’ Poppy lurched as a tyre got caught on something and the van dipped across the bump. She glanced at Mack before focusing on the road ahead again. ‘What was that?’

‘Umm…’ Twisting in his seat, he looked towards the back window. The only light was the pale red glow of the rear lights. ‘Probably the kerb or something.’

Poppy nodded. ‘Okay, the kerb is fine.’ She turned right again and groaned.

‘Ah, I’d forgotten about this bit.’ Mack leaned forward in his seat again.

Poppy looked ahead. The road rose uphill a few metres in front of them. From what she remembered from when she’d collected some of the other dogs with Flora, although the hill was steep, it didn’t go on for long. And although it seemed impossible, the snow appeared to be getting even heavier. Even with the windscreen wipers on full speed, the time between them clearing the glass and a layer of snow forming again was barely a millisecond.

‘Do you think we can make it?’

‘There’s only one way to find out.’ Mack grimaced.

‘Okay. Hold on.’ Poppy switched to first gear and pumped the accelerator. ‘I want to close my eyes.’

‘That’s not advisable.’ Mack chuckled. ‘It’ll be fine. The worst that’ll happen is we get stuck.’

‘I hope you’re right.’ As they approached the bottom of the hill, she tightened her grip on the wheel and gritted her teeth. The van crawled up, the tyres crunching against the newly fallen snow. ‘It’s working! We’re getting there.’

‘Yep.’ Mack nodded.

Poppy was sure she could see the summit of the hill ahead. Only for a split second before the snow covered the windscreen again, but she was sure she had.

But before she could celebrate, she felt the tyre beneath her hit something in the road. The van stopped abruptly, throwing both her and Mack forward. She pumped the accelerator pad, and the van lurched forward before once more hitting whatever it was. Revving the engine, she willed it to go over whatever was in the road.

‘It’s stuck. It’s stuck on something. What do I do?’

‘Let the van roll back a little and then pump the accelerator and turn hard right. Hopefully, we can get around it.’ Mack wiped condensation from the windscreen and peered out. The road was dark around them, the snow swallowing the pale light from the headlights.

‘Okay, okay.’ Poppy took a deep breath and quickly compressed the clutch before pushing the gear stick into neutral. The van inched backwards, slowly at first, before the tyres lost control and the van slipped backwards. ‘No, no, don’t do this.’ Poppy hit the brakes, a seemingly futile attempt to slow the inevitable. ‘It’s not working. The brakes aren’t working.’

Mack twisted in his seat, looking behind him, before turning back around and laying his hand over Poppy’s on the gear stick. ‘Pop it into first again. Hopefully, we can get some sort of traction going.’

Doing as Mack suggested, she let his hand guide the gear stick into first and pumped the accelerator again. For a moment it felt as though the tyres had found grip and the van moved forwards, but only for a moment, just before it started to roll backwards again.

‘We’re going to crash.’

Leaning over in front of Poppy, Mack gripped hold of the steering wheel. ‘Keep your foot flat on the accelerator and that should slow us down.’

‘I hope so.’ With her foot flat against the accelerator pad, Poppy gripped the steering wheel, both her and Mack’s knuckles turning white.

Twisting in his seat to look behind them. Mack guided the van as it propelled backwards down the hill. ‘Almost at the bottom now.’

‘Right, okay. That’s good.’ Poppy swallowed as they finally came to a stop.

‘Are you okay?’ Mack turned to Poppy as he yanked the handbrake up.

‘No… yes. Yes, I think so. You?’ She looked down at her shaking hands before looking across at him. ‘I guess we’re walking, then.’

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