Chapter Eighteen
Archer
I take Queenie to work at the Community Wellbeing Center the next morning for the first time.
I put her crate in my car in case she finds it difficult to settle, but from the moment my first client walks into my office, she proves to be a roaring success.
She’s excited to meet new people without going mega crazy, and she treats everyone as if they’re her new best friend.
She looks up at one of my older patients with adoring eyes as he tells her how much his late wife would have loved her, and sits between a couple whose body language normally illustrates their frustration and resentment, but today they both turn towards her, laughing as they fuss her and reminisce over the dogs they’ve had, bringing them together for the first time.
I take her out to the garden in between each client, and make sure she has a couple of toys and a chew for when I’m busy, but she seems happy to stay at my side, and looks at me when I talk to her as if she understands every word.
I work until lunch, then, leaving my car at home, I clip her lead on and head up to the PAWS Center.
Clouds move quickly across the sky as we walk, and the breeze is on the brisk side, but the sun is out.
Queenie pulls a little at the beginning, but I have some treats in my pocket, and by the time I reach the center, she’s trotting by my side looking up at me expectantly.
A few more walks like that and she’ll have learned to walk to heel.
She’s going to be easy to train, which is helpful.
We go through the gate, past the sign, and walk up the drive to the center.
It’s busy today. Isaac’s here with his three mates—one is doing some rewiring, another is refitting some old window frames, while Isaac and the other guy are taking out the old kitchen cupboards.
Two guys are also here cleaning out the water tanks, so we’ll have running water soon.
Cullen and Isla are here, too, out the back.
Isla’s kneeling on a pad, removing weeds from the patio, and Cullen’s just finishing mowing the lawn.
His German Shepherd, Ghost, comes over to say hello to Queenie, and she greets him with a wagging tail—another positive sign that she’s going to work well at the center.
Cullen mows the last strip of uncut grass and empties the cuttings, then comes over and bends to fuss Queenie. “How’s she doing?” he asks.
“Really good. She settled very easily, and my clients loved her.”
“Yeah, she’s going to be great.” He ruffles her hair, and she licks his face and makes him laugh.
“I need to work on her recall,” I say. “She has to come when she’s called. I was wondering whether it’s something you can help with?”
“Yeah, we’ll get her sorted, don’t worry. You got any treats?”
I take the ones out of my pocket and hand them to him.
“Come on, Queenie,” he says, and he takes her onto the newly mown lawn. Before long, he’s getting her to sit and stay while he backs away, and rewarding her when she comes to him.
Isla sits back on her heels and watches him with a smile, then winks at me. “He’s happy.” She tips her head to the side. “And you don’t look sad, either. Been seeing Beth?”
I chuckle, pulling up one of the plastic chairs and sitting. “Yeah, she came around yesterday. We’re taking it slow, but it’s going well.”
“I’m so glad,” Isla says, pulling out a few more weeds.
“I’ve been worried about her for a while.
It’s funny because I’ve been there myself, trying to give life support to a relationship that died a long time ago.
I’m sure everyone else could see it was over, but it takes time to come to terms with it because you don’t want to fail, you know?
Especially when you’ve invested so much time and energy into it.
But they have to invest the same amount, and Jude just wasn’t. ”
“It helps to know you think so.”
She gets to her feet, stretches, then sits in one of the chairs and studies me thoughtfully. “I hope you’re not blaming yourself for their breakup.”
“No…”
“Because it absolutely wasn’t your fault.”
“Yeah, I guess I know that. They’ve both told me it was over. I do wonder, though, if Beth and I hadn’t gotten together, if they might have tried to make a go of it…”
“And that would have been a bad thing,” Isla says firmly.
“A disastrous thing. If you did stop it, it was for the best.” She smiles.
“Beth’s very quiet and gentle, and it’s easy to think she’s easily manipulated, especially because when she was with Jude she took the route of least resistance at times.
But that doesn’t mean she can’t stand up for herself.
Has she told you about what happened when we did our work placement at the Riverside Clinic? ”
“No.”
She picks up a water bottle and unscrews the top as she speaks.
“The clinic was huge and understaffed, and they worked us into the ground. The practice manager was a woman called Vicky. She treated the students as free labor and made us do all the jobs nobody else wanted to do. One day, she wanted us to come in on a public holiday for a stock take. We were both going away for a long weekend, but I wasn’t brave enough to say no.
But Beth told her we wouldn’t be coming in. ”
Isla chuckles at the memory and has a mouthful of water.
“The point is,” she continues, “she didn’t back down.
She stood her ground even when Vicky turned nasty and threatened to write a bad report for our placement.
Beth said she’d go and speak to the course coordinator and tell her never to send students to the clinic again. That shut Vicky up.”
I smile at the thought of the young, feisty Beth fronting up the bossy older woman. “I bet that was a sight to see.”
“It really was. She doesn’t shy away from doing the right thing, even if it’s hard. And she won’t do something just because someone tells her to. She’s with you because she wants to be. She just needs time to work her way through the forest, that’s all.”
“Is Archer around?”
I turn at the sound of a male voice and see Tyr Donovan talking to Isaac. “Thanks,” I say to Isla, “that helps.”
“I’m glad.”
I get to my feet and go inside, and Tyr thanks Isaac, walks up, and shakes my hand.
“Good to see you,” I tell him.
He looks around. “It’s a big place.”
“Yeah, and it’s going to look great when it’s done.” I wave as I see Dane Harper coming through the open front door. “Hey, Dane. Good of you to come.”
“Hi,” he says.
I introduce Tyr and Dane to each other, and they shake hands. My heart then gives a significant jump as I see Natalie Price walking up the path… with Beth. I clear my throat; I hadn’t expected her to turn up. “Oh, and here are our other visitors, bang on time… Hey everyone.”
They wave as they see us and cross the room. “Hello!” Natalie says brightly.
“Hey.” Beth smiles at me. “I hope you don’t mind me coming. I thought I’d join in on the tour.”
Joy fills me at the thought that she’s considering working here.
“Of course not, I’m really glad you made it.
” I introduce them all to each other, and they all shake hands.
“Thank you all for coming,” I say. “I thought I’d kill all the new members of staff with one stone, so to speak, and show you all around together.
” I wince as I realize what I’ve said. “You know what I mean.”
“They’ve been here two minutes and you’re already committing murder,” Isla jokes as she tosses more weeds into the bucket.
I grin as the others laugh. “This is Isla Markham. She’s going to be our Practice Manager. Isla, this is Tyr, Dane, and Natalie. You know Beth, of course.”
“Hello!” She holds up her hands in their dirty gloves. “I won’t shake! But it’s nice to meet you.”
“I think some of you might know Cullen,” I add as he comes in with Ghost and Queenie. They all greet each other while I fuss Queenie and tell her she’s a good girl for practicing her recall.
“Are you showing them around?” Cullen asks.
I nod. “I thought I’d give a general introduction, tell you what we’re hoping to achieve here, and show you around the place.” I glance at Beth, who gives me an encouraging smile. I’m guessing she can sense the fact that I’m a little nervous at this first step of bringing the staff together.
I take a deep breath. “So you’ve probably seen the sign at the front—we’re going to be an Animal-Assisted Therapy Center.
What does that mean? We’ll be treating clients suffering from a range of disorders from PTSD to anxiety and depression with animal-led therapy.
Animals have been shown to lower blood pressure and heart rate and to ease anxiety, they provide comfort, they help balance and motor skills, and they can help with social interaction and focus, for example with clients who have Alzheimer’s. ”
“So how does it work?” Tyr asks. “Each therapist has a dog in their room with them, and the clients pet the dogs?”
“Like in the Farmer’s in his Den,” Natalie says. Tyr looks at her and raises an eyebrow. “You know,” she continues, “the nursery rhyme? The farmer wants a wife, and she wants a baby, and the baby wants a dog…”
“I thought the baby wants a nurse, and the nurse wants a dog,” Isla says.
Natalie snaps her fingers. “Oh, that’s right, and then we all pat the dog.”
“I don’t have kids,” Tyr says.
“But you were one once, right?”
Tyr glares at her, and I wonder whether I should tell Natalie that he’s all bark and no bite, but she just grins at him, showing she’s not bothered by his brusque manner. I chuckle, sensing that she’s going to make his life a misery with her sunny nature.
“Yes,” Cullen says, trying not to laugh, “that’s part of it, but depending on the client’s problems and goals, we can also introduce activities like grooming, brushing, walking, playing with, or feeding the animals.”
“Oh…” Dane says, “yeah, I thought it was just about having an animal in the therapy room as well.”