Blue Skies Over Wildflower Lock (The Wildflower Lock)

Chapter 58

‘I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry,’ Daisy said, as she scooped the dog up in her arms and carried him into the boat. Pools of water were forming at her feet as it streamed from his shivering body.

She had found him under the small table. The same one he had been sitting under when Daisy, Yvonne, and Shaun had been eating their salads the night before. It was the only smidge of shelter he could reach, given how she had his leash short enough to mean he couldn’t set a foot off the boat. She had done this. She had done this to him.

‘Here, I’ve got a towel,’ Yvonne said, throwing one across to Daisy, who placed the dog on the rug by the sofa and hastily tried to dry his fur. His ribs stuck out beneath his fur and every part of him was trembling from cold.

Guilt filled the pit of Daisy’s stomach. She had done this to him. She had left him out in the middle of a storm. So much for thinking she didn’t want an animal. She didn’t deserve one.

‘Can you get him some food? Something warm?’ Daisy suggested. She didn’t know whether you were meant to feed dogs warm food or not, but she was willing to try anything to help warm him up.

‘What about porridge?’ Yvonne suggested. ‘Or scrambled egg? Do you think he’d like either of those?’

‘Make them both,’ Daisy replied. Whatever he wanted to eat, he could have. That was the way she felt as he continued to lie there, eyes closed, body shaking.

‘It’s okay, Johnny. I’m going to get you warm and dry. You’re going to be just fine. I promise, you’re going to be just fine.’ As Daisy looked down at the dog, his left eye opened ever so slightly and he beat his tail on the ground. The flood of guilt intensified as it washed through her.

In barely a minute, the towel was already soaked through, but Johnny’s fur was a long way from dry and the shivering still hadn’t stopped. Daisy needed to get him dry fast. The thought had barely formed when an idea struck.

‘I’ll be back in one second,’ she said, then stood up, not even bothering to ask Yvonne as she dashed into her cabin. It was crazy how much a place could change, she considered, as she looked around her former bedroom. There were no incense sticks, but several large crystals sat on the windowsill and bedside tables and Yvonne had even brought her own lampshade, which she had placed on a small lamp. Daisy wondered momentarily where all her belongings had gone, only to dismiss the thought. She didn’t have time to worry about things like that now.

With her heart pounding, she opened the top drawer of her cabinet and pulled out the hairdryer.

She was in the doorway, ready to start drying Johnny, when something caught her eye and caused her to stop. Or rather, several things did. Several small cardboard packages and several plastic bottles, too. Medication. Was Yvonne ill?

Her concerns for Johnny were pushed from her mind. There were certainly quite a few tablets there for someone who seemed as healthy as Yvonne. Then again, she knew her mother was on several medications for everything from acid reflux to analgesics for back-ache. Yvonne was a good couple of decades older than her mum. It was probably normal for someone of her age to need to take one or two tablets.

Brushing the worry from her mind, Daisy went back into the living room, plugged in the hairdryer, and got to work on Johnny.