Vet in Harness Read online

she had seen a lot of unwanted animals through her hands.

  I could hear the firm pencilling sounds as she took notes then, "Well

  now that sounds fine. He's the sort we can usually find a home for. When

  can you bring him along?'

  "Now,' I replied.

  The misty look in Helen's eyes as I marched out with the dog under my

  arm told me I was only just in time. And as I drove along the road I

  couldn't put away the thought that if things had been different - the

  future settled and a proper home - this little brown creature rolling on

  his back on the passenger seat with his wide mouth half open and the

  friendly eyes fixed questioningly on mine would never have got away from

  me. Only when the occasional car trashed by did he spring upright and

  look from the window with the old despairing expression. Would he ever

  forget?

  Sister Louisa Rose was a rather handsome woman in her late forties with

  the sort of healthy smiling face I had imagined at the other end of the

  phone. She reached out and took the terrier from me with the eager

  gesture of the animal lover.

  "Oh, he looks rather a dear, doesn't he?' she murmured.

  Behind her house, a modern bungalow in the open country near the

  hospital, she led me to a row of kennels with outside runs. Some of them

  housed single dogs but there was one large one with an assortment of

  mixed breeds playing happily together on the grass.

  "I think we'll put him in here,' she said. "It'll cheer him up quicker

  than anything and I'm sure he'll mix in well.' She opened a door in the

  wire netting surround and pushed the little animal in. The other dogs

  surrounded him and there was the usual ceremonious sniffing and

  leg-cocking.

  Sister Rose cupped her chin with her hand and looked down thoughtfully

  through the wire. "A name, we must have a name .. . let me see .. no ..

  . no .. . yes .. . Pip! We'll call him Pip!'

  She looked at me with raised eyebrows and I nodded vigorously. "Yes,

  definitely - just right. He looks like a Pip.'

  She smiled impishly. "I think so, too, but I've had a lot of practice,

  you know. I've become rather good at it.'

  "I'll bet you have. I suppose you've named all this lot?'

  "Of course.' She began to point them out one by one. "There's Bingo he

  was a badly neglected puppy. And Fergus - just lost. That bigger

  retriever is Griff - he was the survivor of a car crash where his owners

  were killed. And Tessa, badly injured when she was thrown from a

  fast-moving vehicle. Behind her over there is Sally Anne who really

  started me in the business of Animal Sheltering. She was found heavily

  pregnant with her paws bleeding so she must have run for many miles. I

  took her in and managed to find homes for all her puppies and she's

  still here. Placing those pups got me into contact with a lot of pet

  owners and before I knew what was happening everybody had the idea that

  I regularly took in stray animals. So I started and you can see the

  result. I shall have to expand these premises soon.'

  Pip didn't look so lonely now and after the preliminary courtesies he

  joined a group watching interestedly a fierce tug-of-war on a stick

  between a Collie and a crossed Labrador I laughed "You know I had no

  idea you had all these dogs. How long do you keep them?'

  "Till I can find a home for them. Some are only here a day, others stay

  for weeks or months. And there are one or two like Sally Anne who seem

  to be permanent boarders now.'

  "But how on earth do you feed them all? It must be an expensive

  business.'

  She nodded and smiled. "Oh I run little dog shows, coffee mornings,

  raffles, jumble sales, anything, but whatever my efforts I'm arraid the

  strays keep munching their way into the red. But I manage.'

  She managed, I guessed, by dipping deeply into her own pocket Around me

  the abandoned and rejected dogs barked and ran around happily. I had

  often thought when I encountered cruelty and neglect that there was a

  whole army of people who did these unspeakable things, a great unheeding

  horde who never spared a thought for the feelings of the helpless

  creatures who depended on them. It was frightening in a way, but thank

  heavens there was another army ranged on the other side, an army who

  fought for the animals with everything they had - with their energy,

  their time, their money.

  I looked at Sister Rose, at the steady eyes in the clear-skinned,

  scrubbed, nurse's face. I would have thought her profession of

  dedication to the human race would have filled her life utterly with no

  room for anything else, but it was not so.

  "Well, I'm very grateful to you, Sister,' I said. "I hope somebody will

  take Pip off your hands soon and if there's anything else I can do,

  please let me know.'

  She smiled. "Oh don't worry, I have a feeling this little chap won't be

  here very long.'

  Before leaving I leaned on the wire and took another look at the Border

  terrier. He seemed to be settling all right but every now and then he

  stopped and looked up at me with those questioning eyes which pulled so

  hard. I had the nasty feeling that I, too, was letting him down. His

  owners, then me, then Sister Rose, all in a couple of days . .. I hoped

  it would work out for him.

  Chapter Eighteen.

  I found it difficult to get that dog out of my mind and I lasted only a

  week before dropping in at the Animal Shelter. Sister Rose in an old

  mackintosh and Wellingtons was filling the feed bowls in one of the

  kennels.

  "You've come about Pip, I expect,' she said, putting down her bucket.

  "Well he went yesterday. I thought I'd have no trouble. A very nice

  couple called round They wanted to give a home to a stray and they

  picked him out straight away., She pushed the hair back from her

  forehead. "In fact I've had a good week. I've found excellent homes for

  Griff and Fergus too.'

  "Fine, fine. That's great.' I paused for a moment. "I was wondering .. .

  er .. . about Pip. Has he gone out of the district?'

  Oh, no, he's right here in Darrowby. The people are called Plenderleith

  he's a retired civil servant, quite high up I believe and he gave a

  generous donation to the centre though I didn't expect one. They've

  bought one of those nice little houses on the Houlton Road and there's a

  lovely garden for Pip to play. I gave them your name, by the way, so no

  doubt they'll be coming round to see you.'

  A wave of totally irrational pleasure swept over me.

  "Ah well, I'm glad to hear that. I'll be able to see how he's getting

  on.'

  I didn't have long to wait. It was less than a week later that I opened

  the waiting-room door and saw an elderly couple sitting there with Pip

  on the end of a very new lead. He adopted his usual gambit of rolling on

  to his back as soon as he saw me, but this time there was no helpless

  appeal in his expression but sheer joyous abandon with the comical

  little face split across by a wide panting grin. As I went through the

  ritual of chest rubbing I noticed he was wearing a new collar, too