Chapter 15
On the way back, Jade stopped for a coffee at Sarah’s and nipped in to say hello to Callum, who was working at his laptop, which was on the dining-room table, amidst some scattered papers.
‘Hi, Jade.’ He glanced up in surprise. ‘I don’t see you out and about very much, what’s occurring?’
‘We’ve just been for our final dress fitting,’ Sarah told him. ‘Well, hopefully our final dress fitting. I told you.’
‘Aye, of course you did.’ Callum swept his mop of red hair back from his face. ‘All good? Everything still fit?’
‘Yes, no thanks to you and your gorgeous food. Callum made some brownies,’ Sarah said, turning to Jade. ‘Would you like one? I’d better ease off on them. In fact, it would be great if you could take a few home for Finn. That’ll stop me getting tempted.’
‘Thanks.’ Jade smiled. ‘I will.’
‘Callum’s making the most of Ben being at school and catching up on admin,’ Sarah told Jade as she made them coffee in the kitchen and got out the brownies, which like all of Callum’s food were melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
‘Of course, it’s the last day of term, isn’t it?’
‘Yep, and then six weeks of holidays. Not that I ever have a problem with what to do in the holidays, thanks to my best friend’s animal sanctuary.’ She clicked her tongue. ‘Are you looking forward to getting inundated by kids?’
‘They’re vetted before they come in and anyone under fourteen has to be accompanied by a responsible adult,’ Jade said quickly. ‘Ben being a notable exception.’
‘Which reminds me, I spoke to Ben’s teacher about a school trip, and she said she’d speak to the head.
She didn’t seem to think it would take that long to organise.
The main thing they’d have to do is a risk assessment.
You know, all that health and safety stuff.
Things like checking how near the road you are and whether you’ve got any dangerous animals.
I told her you had some dangerous geese. ’
Jade laughed. ‘You’re not wrong. They can certainly give you a good peck if you’re not careful.’
‘Yes, I know. Anyway, I gave her your number. So she’ll get in touch. She thinks it would probably be in the September term.’
‘I’ll look forward to it. I take it there have been no more fights at school.’
‘No, thank goodness. Ben’s been a model pupil apparently. He wouldn’t have been wanting detention this close to the school holidays. And I think we’ve moved on from Mr B’s swear words. I hid the list.’
‘Sounds like a good idea.’ Jade took another bite of her brownie and it melted in chocolate divineness in her mouth. ‘Oh, God, these are amazing. Are you sure you don’t mind me taking some for Finn?’
Her phone pinged with a message as she spoke and she reached for her bag. ‘That’s probably him now asking me to pick something up while I’m in town.’
But it wasn’t Finn, it was a message from Malcolm Williams.
Please see attached the avian version of Love Story.
‘Ooooh, Sarah, look at this.’ Jade took her phone across the kitchen and then pressed play so they could watch the video together.
It opened with two parrots perched at either end of what looked like the back of Malcolm’s brown leather sofa. Mr Spock was on the far left and Talky Tallulah was on the far right. Mr Spock was the first to speak and said something that sounded like, ‘Come in, you buggers.’
Sarah clapped her hand over her mouth. ‘He hasn’t lost his foul mouth then since he’s got a lady friend.’
‘Doesn’t sound like it, does it!’
There was a five-second pause and then Talky Tallulah chipped in. ‘Sling yer ’ook.’
‘Blimey, that doesn’t bode well, does it.’
‘What’s occurring, people?’ That was Mr Spock. And as he spoke, he hopped a little closer to Tallulah.
Then she hopped a little closer to him.
‘Sling yer ’ook,’ she said again.
‘They don’t actually understand what they’re saying though, do they?’ Sarah asked Jade.
‘No. They’re just repeating what they’ve learned.’
Callum appeared in the doorway. ‘What are you two watching? Sounds like parrots.’
Sarah showed him and the three of them watched the rest of the video, which was about three minutes long and consisted of a series of squawks, hops and curses as the two parrots moved closer and closer to each other along the back of Malcolm’s sofa.
It culminated with them beside each other, bright feathers touching and their beaks close. And then a series of hearts floated up from the bottom of the screen.
‘Ahhhh,’ Sarah and Jade said in unison. ‘That’s amazing.’
‘Someone knows how to edit a video,’ Callum remarked, looking impressed. ‘I bet it took longer than a few minutes for the wee birds to hop all the way along that settee.’
‘Do you think?’ Jade couldn’t stop smiling.
‘Yes, he’s probably right.’ Sarah was smiling too. ‘It’s brilliant though, isn’t it. Ben’s going to absolutely love that video.’
‘I love it too.’ Jade felt her eyes misting with tears. ‘He was such a nice man.’
‘You can tell you twos have been wedding dress shopping. You’ve gone all soppy and romantic.’
‘Getting married is romantic, I’ll have you know.’ Sarah put her hands on her hips and Callum laughed.
‘It’s very romantic, aye.’ He backed out of the kitchen. ‘I’ll give you that!’
‘Men,’ Sarah remarked. ‘Sometimes I swear he’ll be glad when the wedding’s over.’
Jade made suitably empathetic remarks and then said her goodbyes, and left with a plastic tub of Callum’s brownies under her arm, but as she drove home she thought, not for the first time, that she’d be quite glad when all the wedding fuss was over too and they could get back to normal.
Sarah loved being the centre of attention but Jade wasn’t so keen. She found people stressful, especially ones she didn’t know. With a few exceptions, she much preferred the company of animals.
When she got back, Dawn was in reception talking to a woman who had a hamster cage at her feet, complete with fluffy golden hamster. It sounded like they were just finishing up. The woman was signing the form which passed ownership of her animal over to Duck Pond Rescue.
Jade left them to it and wandered down the yard.
It was still nice weather, although so far July hadn’t been as hot as June had been.
Today the blue sky was dotted with clouds that passed over the sun and sent shadows rolling across her land.
She passed the cattery and popped in to say hello to some of the cats.
Sampson and Delilah, the two silver tabbies in the nearest run, came to greet her, rubbing their heads against the wire mesh fronts of their runs.
They were relatively new residents. They’d been dropped off a month ago and they were pretty cats so Jade had high hopes they wouldn’t be around too long, although she was hoping to rehome them as a pair, as they’d been together since they were kittens, which might put some people off.
The cattery was almost full. There was only one spare run.
It was the same story in the kennels. They had one run left. They had some lovely dogs in too. Youngish ones were generally easier to rehome. It was the older ones people didn’t want.
Jade sighed as she stroked Buddy, a seven-year-old liver and white spaniel, who she’d strategically placed nearer the entrance so he was the first one people saw.
He was just on the cusp of being too old for lots of people, who wanted a rescue but not one who was set in his ways – or just about to get pricey when it came to vet insurance, if you took the cynical view.
‘We’ll find your forever home soon, Buddy,’ Jade told him, stroking his ears. ‘And if we don’t you can come and live with us at the house and be a sanctuary dog.’
Buddy wagged his tail in approval and Jade wondered if she should really adopt him herself. When she’d first opened Duck Pond Rescue she’d decided to be very boundaried about which animals she took on personally and which animals should be available for rehoming.
Mickey had been one of the first dogs she’d taken in.
He’d come in via Sarah – he’d been given up by her neighbour because she had asthmatic grandchildren – and he’d been such a scruffy ragamuffin who couldn’t even see out of his mop of brown hair that Jade’s heart had melted.
She was a sucker for a sob story. And Mickey, who’d proved himself to be an adept thief, wasn’t a great prospect for rehoming.
It was the same with Diesel, a big black cat, who’d also earned his place as well as his name thanks to his difficult past. He’d been found trapped under the bonnet of a diesel truck and had lost much of his black fur.
Fortunately he hadn’t been too badly injured but he didn’t like people very much.
Diesel had free range of the yard and buildings too, although he rarely ventured into the house. He was happier keeping the local mouse population down.
Jade had often wondered if she should get another dog to keep Mickey company. He loved it when Chocko was around. But it wasn’t as if he didn’t have the company of other dogs. Dawn was here a lot with Chocko’s sister, Monet. Ursula was here too with Milo and Candy.
Jade sighed and went back up to reception to ask Dawn what the hamster’s story was.
‘The cost of living apparently,’ Dawn told her. ‘That’s the number one reason people are giving them up these days. You wouldn’t think a hamster would cost that much to keep, would you?’
‘No, but it’s the hassle factor too. We’re just coming up to the school holidays. People go away and suddenly remember they’ve got no one to look after their pets. Pet sitters can be expensive.’
‘You’re right. I know.’ Dawn crossed to the table where the cage sat. ‘Sad, isn’t it? I’d better get him settled somewhere before Diesel works out he’s in here and thinks he’s a mouse.’
‘I do have one bit of heartwarming news.’ Jade got out her phone and showed her the Mr Spock video.
Dawn’s face lit up as she watched it. ‘How wonderful. What a lovely man.’
‘We definitely need to focus on the happy endings. There are lots of them.’
‘Which reminds me.’ Dawn paused. ‘Finn said to tell you he’s gone up to town to talk to someone who’d like a commission.’
‘Brilliant. Where’s Mickey then?’
‘He’s with Ursula. She’s been doing dog walks with one of the teenagers and you know how Mickey likes to supervise.’
‘Thanks, Dawn. I’ll go and get changed back into my scruffs and I’ll be out to help.’
As she walked back into the cottage, Jade spotted Diesel sitting on a wall, and looking like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. His black ears flicked back and forth as he surveyed his domain.
The question of whether she should invite Hector to the wedding popped back into her mind. But she pushed it out again, deciding to take her own advice. Today was all about focusing on happy endings.