a pack of poodles hyped up on Speed.
Stepping from the dehumanizing air of the hospital into the noisy but colorful street, with the roar of cars, the swish of buses and the rush of people on their way to work was like stepping from winter into spring. I drew in a lungful of lovely crisp morning air, held it until the hospital crap disappeared from my lungs and then slowly let it out again. I figured hospitals were fine for visiting—but not for staying in.
Thing is, there was someone out there, or in Barney’s case, some faceless they, who got their kicks from filling hospital beds—or even worse—adding to the body count at the morgue.
11
By the time Ben dropped me home, Jake was hard at work. He’d let the first six dogs into emptying yards and I could hear him singing along to something on his iPod while mopping out their kennels. What a doll. Hey, if my dreadlocked assistant was a few years older I’d ask him to marry me. That is—older—with a real job—the English language according to normal—and oh, yeah, a fashion sense that didn’t include beads, ear-piercing and sequined head bands.
“Hi, Jake,” I yelled, snaffling leads from their numbered hooks on the wall and looping them over my arm. I had to yell to be heard over the din. The moment I entered the kennel-house every dog wanted to tell me their life story. “Sorry you got left to do all the work last night. I suppose Ben filled you in on what happened.”
Jake’s silver rings shimmied along with his eyebrow. He grinned. “Lucky punch, eh?”
I gave him a serious I-don’t-want-to-talk-about-it-now-or-later frown and switched on the mechanical walking-machine. It paid to warm up the motor before attaching the dogs to the equipment.
“Any problems while I was away?”
“Verity, like, came in season.”
I almost stamped my foot. “Blast. I’ll have to scratch her from Monday night’s race. And just when she finally drew box 8.” Verity was a wide runner and I’d been waiting weeks for an outside trap so the owners, a syndicate of enthusiastic young guys from the local soccer club, could have a decent bet on her. “The boys will be peed off big time,” I growled.
Exasperated, I bulldozed this last piece of crappy news to the back of my mind and buried it amongst the growing pile of angst already littering the area. No time to think about it now. Instead, while fastening collars and leads to the dogs due for a free gallop that morning, I told Jake about Barney’s accident .
Jake’s eyes rounded when I described the starting-box steward’s injuries. “Wow, man. That’s creepy. You’re not, like, hanging around here by yourself tonight are you?”
The word hanging didn’t sit well in my already troubled mind.
“Guess so.”
What was the alternative? It was fine sleeping at Tanya’s for one night but with a team of valuable racing dogs in my care, my first priority was to keep them safe. Who knew what the killer might do next? What if he broke into the kennel-house and shot the ears off some real dogs? I started to shiver, stroked the ears of the closest greyhound, a smiling black-and-white bitch with wickedly dancing eyes, as though by putting my mark on her ears, nothing bad could happen to them. I vowed vehemently that as well as changing the locks on my house, my kennel-house would be locked up tighter than the State Bank in future.
“I’ve been thinking,” I said. “Perhaps I should have something a bit larger than Tater to protect me. You know, until this all blows over. Is Lucky ready to come inside the house yet?”
“Lucky? For protection?” Jake’s rolling eyes said it all.
“A promise is a promise. She’s now a pet.” I let out a heavy sigh. “But I guess you’re right. If a black-hearted villain snuck in while I was asleep, Lucky would wash the guy’s face, offer him one of her treasured chew-bones and then lead him to the family silver—or me. Whichever the villain requested.”
Jake
Stepping from the dehumanizing air of the hospital into the noisy but colorful street, with the roar of cars, the swish of buses and the rush of people on their way to work was like stepping from winter into spring. I drew in a lungful of lovely crisp morning air, held it until the hospital crap disappeared from my lungs and then slowly let it out again. I figured hospitals were fine for visiting—but not for staying in.
Thing is, there was someone out there, or in Barney’s case, some faceless they, who got their kicks from filling hospital beds—or even worse—adding to the body count at the morgue.
11
By the time Ben dropped me home, Jake was hard at work. He’d let the first six dogs into emptying yards and I could hear him singing along to something on his iPod while mopping out their kennels. What a doll. Hey, if my dreadlocked assistant was a few years older I’d ask him to marry me. That is—older—with a real job—the English language according to normal—and oh, yeah, a fashion sense that didn’t include beads, ear-piercing and sequined head bands.
“Hi, Jake,” I yelled, snaffling leads from their numbered hooks on the wall and looping them over my arm. I had to yell to be heard over the din. The moment I entered the kennel-house every dog wanted to tell me their life story. “Sorry you got left to do all the work last night. I suppose Ben filled you in on what happened.”
Jake’s silver rings shimmied along with his eyebrow. He grinned. “Lucky punch, eh?”
I gave him a serious I-don’t-want-to-talk-about-it-now-or-later frown and switched on the mechanical walking-machine. It paid to warm up the motor before attaching the dogs to the equipment.
“Any problems while I was away?”
“Verity, like, came in season.”
I almost stamped my foot. “Blast. I’ll have to scratch her from Monday night’s race. And just when she finally drew box 8.” Verity was a wide runner and I’d been waiting weeks for an outside trap so the owners, a syndicate of enthusiastic young guys from the local soccer club, could have a decent bet on her. “The boys will be peed off big time,” I growled.
Exasperated, I bulldozed this last piece of crappy news to the back of my mind and buried it amongst the growing pile of angst already littering the area. No time to think about it now. Instead, while fastening collars and leads to the dogs due for a free gallop that morning, I told Jake about Barney’s accident .
Jake’s eyes rounded when I described the starting-box steward’s injuries. “Wow, man. That’s creepy. You’re not, like, hanging around here by yourself tonight are you?”
The word hanging didn’t sit well in my already troubled mind.
“Guess so.”
What was the alternative? It was fine sleeping at Tanya’s for one night but with a team of valuable racing dogs in my care, my first priority was to keep them safe. Who knew what the killer might do next? What if he broke into the kennel-house and shot the ears off some real dogs? I started to shiver, stroked the ears of the closest greyhound, a smiling black-and-white bitch with wickedly dancing eyes, as though by putting my mark on her ears, nothing bad could happen to them. I vowed vehemently that as well as changing the locks on my house, my kennel-house would be locked up tighter than the State Bank in future.
“I’ve been thinking,” I said. “Perhaps I should have something a bit larger than Tater to protect me. You know, until this all blows over. Is Lucky ready to come inside the house yet?”
“Lucky? For protection?” Jake’s rolling eyes said it all.
“A promise is a promise. She’s now a pet.” I let out a heavy sigh. “But I guess you’re right. If a black-hearted villain snuck in while I was asleep, Lucky would wash the guy’s face, offer him one of her treasured chew-bones and then lead him to the family silver—or me. Whichever the villain requested.”
Jake
Similar Books
