Forty
‘There you go, sweetheart, make yourself comfy in there. Auntie Juliet will be down to check you out soon and after that, we can give you some nice tasty food. Good girl, there, there…’
Sally gently stroked the trembling, long-haired tabby she’d just put into a quarantine pen. She’d received a call from another rescue asking if she could help because the location of this poor girl was closer to her than them. She’d been in her new van and out the gate within five minutes of ending the call. A woman had found the cat in her garden that morning but had drawn a blank when she’d asked her local neighbours if it belonged to them. Sally had a suspicion the cat may have been dumped because she could see the poor thing was in her senior years and the area where she’d been found was quite rural. Juliet would scan her for a chip when she checked her over.
She grabbed the Polaroid camera and took a photograph that would shortly be attached to the form she took from the tray on the desk and began to fill in with the details of where the cat had been found along with the date and time. Juliet would add further notes on the state of health and general condition along with any meds and treatments she had to administer.
‘Now, what shall we call you?’
She looked at the cat for a moment before scribbling “Tabitha” on the top line of the form.
Satisfied she’d filled in everything she had to at that time, she signed her name, put the form in a plastic folder and dropped it in the slot on the front of the cage.
Sally’s eyes settled on the cat again, who had now made her way into the little igloo in the pen, and felt once again the combination of pain and rage that always came with rescue cats. The pain for the distress they were in and the rage for the people who’d let them down.
She spun on her heel and walked over to switch on the softer, low light in the pen and turn off the bright overheads. Matt hadn’t been kidding when he said her cats wouldn’t ever want to leave because they were getting every possible luxury here.
As she walked through to the sluice room, where the carrier cage Tabitha had been transported in would be washed down and disinfected, Sally knew he had a point. She had gone to town on trying to make everything as perfect as possible but these poor creatures deserved the best she could give them after the horrors most of them would have experienced.
There was, of course, the small matter of her not-so-small bank balance which, despite her massive spending over the last year, had barely even had a small ding put in it, never mind any kind of a dent!
Thinking of her bank balance had her suddenly checking her watch – Craig the accountant was coming over this afternoon and she was going to have to tell him everything. January was when tax assessments had to be done and she didn’t know where she stood with that.
She picked a clean carrier cage off the shelf and took it out to her specially fitted van. The words “Bramblebush Cat Rescue” were emblazoned along the sides in cream and they stood out beautifully against the dark purple of the van. Inside, it had been modified to allow up to six carrier cages to be securely transported along with a small first-aid area in the event of immediate assistance being required.
After she’d disinfected it and moved it into position under the car-port area Matt had erected, she walked over to the new surgery to see how Juliet was getting on. When she walked into the reception area, she found Essie sitting manning the phone and appointments.
‘Hiya, Sal, everything okay? Juliet said you were off to pick up a stray, how is the poor little mite?’
‘Scared at the moment, although her overall condition doesn’t look too bad, but the prognosis could change after Juliet has seen her. If she’s old, and I suspect she is, she could have a condition and that’s why she’s been dumped because people can’t always afford the treatment.’
‘Oh, that’s cruel.’
‘Yeah, well… that’s people for you.’
‘I hope she’s okay. Anyway, I’ve made up a rota of who’ll be manning the reception for the next month. My ladies from the WI were all very keen to do their bit in volunteering to assist you once I explained to them that all profits from the surgery were going towards the rescue.’
‘Hmm, are you sure about that? I reckon most of them will be hoping to see more of Nick Davies…’
Essie chuckled. ‘I think you’re absolutely right about that, especially as I did happen to let it slip that he’s involved with the surgery but as it’s all for a good cause…’
‘You’re incorrigible, Essie!’
‘It has been said, I confess, and mostly by my Craig!’
‘Who I’m due to sit down with soon so I’d better get on. I just wanted to check that everything was going okay, this being the first day of business and all…’
‘No problems so far. Jools’s on her last patient now for this morning and everyone she’s attended to so far has come out singing her praises. I think she’s going to be an exceptional asset.’
‘Oh, that is good to hear. Can you let her know, please, that she needs to go over to the QU when she's finished here?’
‘Queue?’
‘Quarantine unit. Too many syllables in there!’
‘Of course. I’ll be sure to do that.’
‘Thank you. Right, onto the next task. It’s never ending.’
‘You do have a lot going on, Sally, but the good news is that I’ve found two candidates who’d be happy to do a few hours of cleaning each morning in the B&B. A husband-and-wife team who are now retired but would like to have a small part-time job. They’d like to rotate if that’s ok with you.’
‘Sure, I don’t mind. As long as the beds are changed and the rooms are cleaned, the seven dwarves can come along too!’
‘Oh, you also want dwarves… leave that one with me!’
This time it was Sally who burst out laughing.
‘Essie, with your skills, nothing would surprise me!’
She turned away with a small wave and made her way down the outside steps, thinking again on what a blessing Essie had turned out to be. As the opening day for the surgery had drawn closer, Sally had realised that she wasn’t happy with the idea of the appointments being managed by Nick’s surgery because it meant there was no one to greet the clients when they arrived, however, employing a receptionist would eat into the profits which would take money out of the rescue. It was Essie who’d suggested getting in volunteers and said she knew exactly who would be reliable candidates to ask and she hadn’t let her down. It was another thing she no longer had to worry about although there was plenty she did, such as having everything ready for Craig’s arrival and dealing with the daunting task which lay in front of her.
‘Oh, Sally, I know I’ve said it before but I’m saying it again – your filing skills are quite exceptional. If only all my clients were this conscientious with their receipts, it would make my job so much easier.’
‘I never used to be, I can assure you. I learnt the hard way.’
She looked at the box files all lined up in their respective months and she knew the receipts inside were arranged in date order with notes attached if more details were required. She actually felt quite pleased with herself.
‘So, the first thing I need to look at is the current bank balance for the business and then I can work my way back from there, matching the receipts against the outgoings.’
‘Ah, right…’
‘Is there a problem?’
‘No, Craig, absolutely not. I just think… well… oh, I’m just going to show you…’
She pulled the keyboard towards her and logged onto her bank account. She noted the balance before turning the screen towards Craig and saw that it had increased again. It didn’t seem to matter what she spent, the interest – even at the current ridiculously low rates – soon pushed the total back up again.
She waited quietly for Craig to take in what he was seeing. When he looked back at her, his surprise was clear to see.
‘For real?’
‘Yup,’ she nodded, ‘for real.’
‘Wow! That was unexpected. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve worked with values considerably greater than that when I was doing accountancy full-time but they were attached to business accounts, never one individual.’
‘It was a lottery win that we chose not to make public.’
‘I can’t say I blame you. Wow!’
She watched him take off his glasses, give them a wipe and put them back on again.
‘Doing that won’t change the numbers, Craig,’ she grinned.
He chuckled. ‘So it would appear.’
Sally quickly explained that the account had been opened purely for the winnings and pointed out to him the sparse values which had been taken out prior to Steve’s death – a sum to pay off their mortgage and the cost of the fatal Aston Martin along with a few grand to cover a holiday they were planning to take but had never happened. After that, it had lain untouched until she’d bought the farm and every outgoing since had a receipt to match it.
‘I’ll be honest, this does make things easier from a start-off point of view. I’ll look at some different options on how best to do this and then discuss them with you once I have the relevant information collated.’
‘Good. Easy is good. Now, I’m going to go and refresh these coffee mugs while you get your head around it all. Once you’re done here, I’ll introduce you to Juliet, or Jools which she says she prefers, as she’ll oversee the invoicing for the surgery and meds used for the rescue.’
‘Just one thing, Sally, while I remember, I believe you told Essie that the profits from the B&B will be going towards the running of the rescue?’
She halted at the side of the desk. ‘That’s correct.’
‘Do you think the B&B will generate enough business to make that feasible? I mean, I’m guessing that’s your cover story to hide this…’ Craig pointed at the balance on the computer screen.
‘I’ll be honest, it was a concern I had too but no more. The website went live on the second of January and from next week, I’m fully booked, Monday through to Friday, for the next three months!’
‘Seriously? My goodness… well done!’
‘Yeah, it turns out I fall into the catchment area for the large conference centre a few miles up the road and while they do provide in-house accommodation, it would appear not everyone wants to stay on site. Lucky me!’
‘That’s a great result. And it’ll stop the locals from being too nosy.’
‘And that can only be a good thing, yes?’
‘Oh yes!’