Tina Nolan

Animal Rescue: Honey the Unwanted

Puppy

'Can I see the kittens?' Annie Brooks asked.
  It was early Saturday morning and Eva had answered the door before anyone else was up. She dragged Annie into the house.
  'Have you any idea what time it is?' Eva demanded. Even though Annie was her best friend from school, she hadn't expected to see her this early.
  Annie nodded. 'I crept out before Mum and Dad were up.'
  'Is your mum still mad at us?'
  Annie nodded. 'I had to sneak out, I'm dying to see those kittens your dad found.'
  Eva smiled at her friend. She'd told Annie about her dad's latest rescue the day before, during school playtime. Her dad had found the kittens on Thursday night, in the car park behind the supermarket. 'Come and help me give them some milk.'
  Quickly, the girls scooted across the yard, ignoring the yelps and barks from the kennels and heading for the adjoining cattery instead. They went in and closed the door. 'Is anyone around?' Eva called.
  A tall, sleepy-looking figure emerged from the small office.
  'Hi, Joel.' Eva smiled. "Have you been here all night?"
  Joel Allerton nodded. He was the main Animal Magic assistant, and that meant sometimes working nights. "I've got the weekend off, so I've been trying to get up to date with some paperwork before I leave. It's been quiet all night, thank heavens."
  'Where are the new kittens?" asked Annie excitedly.
  Joel took Eva and Annie to a quiet corner where the kittens were kept in a basket under a special heat lamp. Then he went off to prepare some warm milk.
  Annie peered into the basket, which was lined with a red blanket and contained five adorable kittens - two black and white, one tabby, and two brown. They stared back with big, bright eyes, licking their lips with tiny, pink tongues and miaowing hungrily.
  'Aah!' Annie cried, carried away with delight. 'They're gorgeous!'
  Eva reached in and gently lifted the nearest kitten out of the basket. The helpless tabby nestled in her hand, licking her thumb with its rough tongue.
  'Ohhh!' Annie cried, reaching out to take it. 'So-o-o cute!'
  Joel came back and showed her how to offer milk to the kitten from a small plastic dropper while Eva got on with feeding the rest.
  'Here, little kitty!' Eva murmured, smiling as each hungry kitten opened its mouth and drank. 'How could anyone put you in a box and dump you?' she wondered.
  'Yes, how could they?' Annie echoed, thrilled by the whole thing.
  Eva fed four kittens and smiled as she watched them playing. She grinned at Annie, who was still feeding the little tabby. 'I can see I'll have to drag you away!' she said.
  Eva lifted the sleepy kitten from Annie's lap and placed it in the basket.
  'See you on Monday!' she called to Joel, whose eyelids were seriously drooping as Eva's mum Heidi came to take over.
  'There you are, Eva. And Annie, too. Eva, your dad wants you to walk the Jack Russells,' her mum told her. 'But have breakfast first.'
  'I'd better go, before Mum misses me,' Annie decided.
  She and Eva said goodbye in the yard, and then Eva wandered out of the front gate, along the street and down the lane at the far side of their house. She went in through a side gate, and was about to go back and walk the dogs when she happened to glance down and see a battered cardboard box placed carefully to one side of the lane. The box was taped shut. It had air holes punched in the lid and one word scrawled in black felt-tip.
  Eva's heart thudded and missed a beat. She crouched down and read the name: 'Honey'.
  Each time it happened, Eva felt sick. How could you? So cruel! So unfair! These were the thoughts that hammered at her head every single time someone dumped their pet at Animal Magic.
  But the she clicked into action, pulling back the tape and opening the lid a fraction. She peered inside.
  A pair of dark brown eyes stared back at her.
  'Don't be scared,' Eva said softly. She could hear a tiny whimper and made out a small, cream shape. She pulled back the cardboard flaps and reached inside, lifting out a shivering, frightened puppy.
  Eva's heart melted. 'Aah!' she exclaimed, nestling the puppy against her. 'You're beautiful! Ssh, don't be scared!'
  'What have you got there?' Karl appeared. Her brother had been watching from his bedroom window and come to investigate.
  Eva showed him the pup. 'Golden retriever,' Karl noted, reaching out to stroke the puppy's head. 'Probably about twelve weeks old.' He didn't let on to his kid sister that he too wanted to cuddle and comfort the puppy.
  He picked up the box and examined it for clues. 'Have you looked to see if there's a collar?'
  Eva checked around Honey's neck. 'Nope. Is there an address on the box?'
  'No, but I know where it came from.' Karl frowned as he read the print on the sides of the box.
  Too busy with the latest arrival to take much notice, Eva carried the puppy towards the surgery. Her mum came out to meet her, taking Honey inside and straight away putting her through the usual checks and tests.
  'She's not microchipped,' Heidi muttered, examining Honey under the bright lights of the surgery. 'And I guess she's not vaccinated, either. She's slightly dehydrated, but other than that she seems OK. Eva, could you mix up a drop of glucose solution in this dish? That's great, thanks. Look at her gulp that down!'
  Eva nodded. She'd begun to relax. I wonder where she came from? she thought. At least the owner cared enough to dump her somewhere they knew she'd be looked after. 'I bet she's hungry,' she said to her mum.
  'Yes, you fetch her some puppy-mix while I give her a jab,' Heidi agreed. As Eva hurried off, she prepared a needle for the injection. 'This might hurt a tiny bit,' she told Honey, as if the puppy understood every word. 'But it will stop you from getting any nasty bugs and it'll soon be over.'
  Eva heard a high-pitched yelp. Aah! she thought, fetching the food quickly.
  Before long, the creamy bundle of fur had her nose deep in the dish and was happily chomping her breakfast.
  'Good!' Heidi gave a satisfied nod.
  'Totally cool!' Eva agreed. She was already looking forward to taking Honey to meet the other rescue dogs - Jess, Molly, Nipper, Ollie and the rest. Soon she would have a nice warm bed and friends to play with. She and Karl would put Honey's picture and details on to the Animal Magic website and they'd find a new owner for her. 'You're so cute, you'll be snapped up!' she murmured in the pup's ear.
  Honey gobbled greedily.
  'Especially with those big brown eyes . . .'
  Honey licked every last scrap from the dish.
  'You're cuddly and soft . . . In fact, you're totally adorable!'

Animal Rescue: Honey The Unwanted Puppy © Tina Nolan, 2006. Published by Stripes.