Adulting 101 #4
Who would have guessed that a pet shop harboured such treasures?
That’s how the dogs also went home with tartan coats.
Shona wasn’t sure if they actually needed them, but they looked adorable.
Next came grooming brushes, bowls and more food – and then she discovered the shop’s other departments.
Surprisingly, the dog section wasn’t even the biggest. They even had accessories for alpacas!
So she bought pretty halters for her new herd – also with a tartan pattern of course – before she strolled through the horse section.
As a little girl, she had loved braiding her pony’s mane in ever different styles, and this store offered the most incredible things for crazy horse girls like she had been.
Had all these things been available back in the day too? She couldn’t remember.
Lost in thought, she wandered through the aisles and eventually found herself in front of a picture of a beautiful, proud Arab stallion.
She involuntarily thought of Azzedine, who also had noble Arab blood flowing through his veins.
She had seen him covered up a few times on cool mornings spent with Nessie in the small paddock outside of his box.
The old blanket he had been wrapped in must have come from Uncle Rupert’s supply.
It was a worn, ugly thing that might serve its purpose but didn’t do the beautiful animal justice.
On a whim, she bought a new blanket sporting a smart blue and grey tartan – Azzedine was Scottish too now!
– and picked out a matching halter. This would be her present for Kendrick tonight.
Following their spa visit, Orla and Higgins looked amazing, especially with their matching tartan collars.
They were still far too thin, but at least they no longer looked scruffy.
In fact, Shona almost felt a little underdressed next to them.
It was five o’clock when they arrived back in Kirkby. Marlin was already waiting for them.
“Sorry it took so long,” she apologised as she jumped out of the car and let her dogs out too.
Marlin smiled good-naturedly. “A successful trip, I see.” He petted Orla and Higgins. “We’ve made good use of our time too. Do you want to have a quick look round the old barn? I’ll help you carry your things in afterwards.”
Shona and the dogs followed Marlin to the barn, where a carpenter’s van from the neighbouring village was still parked.
“Wow,” she exclaimed as they entered the building.
The transformation was impressive! The large, previously empty space was now divided into segments.
On one long side were two areas that looked like oversized horse boxes, and next to them were two smaller pens.
“Isn’t that a bit much for four alpacas?
” she asked. And a bit expensive, she thought but kept that to herself.
She was surprised her father had been able to come up with such professional-looking structures basically overnight.
“Initially, I thought I’d just get a big old cattle truck for the time being.
That would have been a good enough place to put the four of them at night.
But then I made a few phone calls this morning, and when I got Robertson on the phone, he told me that he and his construction crew had demolished a stable in Abersky last week.
Some of the interior fittings were in such good condition that he took them off the farmer’s hand for cheap and stored them at his place.
He’s a canny lad with a nose for good opportunities,” Marlin explained happily.
“So two canny lads made a deal I take it,” Shona commented with an amused smile. “But seriously, isn’t this all a bit much?”
“Maybe, but you never know what you’ll need down the line. Until yesterday, you didnae think you’d have four alpacas and two wolfhounds today.”
That was true, so Shona didn’t argue but waited to see what else he had in store for her.
“Anyway, this gives you two open pens where you can theoretically put eight or ten animals each, and the small boxes could come in handy if a mare has a wean. You could even accommodate horses or some of my sheep, I thought.”
“Okay. And how much does this all cost?”
“No need for you to worry about that. The material wasnae much more than a used cattle truck would have cost us. And I’ll do most of the work with my pals.
” Marlin looked so pleased with himself that Shona didn’t have the heart to argue.
As it had been his idea to adopt all the circus alpacas, she thought it quite fair that he would spring for their lodging.
Especially if he was considering keeping some of his sheep in here too.
“I reckon we’ll be done in a day or two at most, and then the animals can move in.
Maybe we’ll even manage to put up a nice wooden fence around the meadow this autumn.
And then I was thinking ...” He stopped when Shona raised her hand.
“I’m sure you’ve got plenty of brilliant ideas, but one thing at a time, please. Right now, I need to bring my shopping in and then ...” Bollocks! She didn’t want to tell her da about her date with Kendrick. Although then again Kendrick hadn’t explicitly called it a date. But who was she kidding?
“I suppose you’ve got plans tonight.” Marlin gave his daughter a knowing smile.
“Aye. No. Well, it’s not what you think!”
“What am I thinking?”
“Oh, nothing. Please could you just lend me a hand with all the stuff in the car and then ...”
“Get the heck out of here?”
“Da, don’t be like that!”
“Princess, I’m just teasing you. Whatever you’re doing later is none of my business. But I hope you’ll have fun.” He gave her a wink, then walked resolutely to the car and began to carry her things into the tasting room.