‘Please.’ For some reason it mattered that he wasn’t the one doing it. He wanted to keep Thistle by his side for as long as possible. He reached down and stroked Thistle from his head to his tail. ‘You all right, boy?’
The dog wasn’t shaking or trembling and Brodie noticed with relief that his tail was wagging slowly. At least he wasn’t scared to be here; that was something. If the dog showed any signs of fear or being uncomfortable he decided he would make an excuse to have to take him to the practice and keep him there until he had found out more about the owners.
The front door eventually opened and a very elderly lady clapped her hands together in delight when she saw Thistle.
‘Derek, you’re back.’ She bent slightly and opened her arms and Thistle, or Derek as Brodie now knew his name to be, increased his wagging and pulled forward to get to her.
Brodie unclipped the lead, let the dog go and looked at Lettie. She was smiling and looking as relieved as he felt. As part of him felt. He realised the rest of him was sad that this was the last time he would have Thistle. No, he reminded himself, his name is Derek, with him.
‘He seems very happy to see you,’ Brodie said.
The old lady seemed to notice him and Lettie for the first time. ‘I can see you have a few questions you’d like to ask me and if you want to come inside for a cup of tea, then I can answer them for you.’
Brodie hoped he hadn’t shown his thoughts on his face but assumed that he must have done. He held out his arm for Lettie to go first. ‘We’d like to see him settled, so that would be lovely. Thank you.’
As Lettie followed the lady into her neat little home, Brodie looked around. They passed a small kitchen where he noticed a clean and filled water bowl on the floor, then into the living room where a dog’s bed with several blankets and a couple of toys lay to the side of an electric fireplace. The woman seemed to have catered well for Derek. Brodie watched as the dog came up to nuzzle him and he leant forward and cuddled the dog’s head and shoulders, before the dog went to his bed, turned in a circle a couple of times and then lay down.
‘He certainly seems settled here,’ Lettie said thoughtfully giving Brodie a side-eyed look.
She was right. But if that was the case then why had the dog run away?
‘Let me make that tea.’
Lettie exchanged glances with Brodie again and he gave a slight shake of his head. ‘Tea isn’t necessary, Mrs Broadbent,’ she said. ‘Why don’t you tell us what you wish to and we can be on our way and leave you and Th—Derek in peace?’
The woman sat and folded her hands in her lap. ‘Derek here isn’t my dog.’
Brodie tensed. He had no intention of leaving this dog with an imposter. He sat up straighter and leant forward frowning. ‘What exactly do you mean by that?’ Was this supposedly sweet lady admitting to getting Thistle under false pretences?
‘Please, don’t get me wrong. I am supposed to have him here. I didn’t fib when I said I was his owner.’ Her lined face crumpled slightly as she squeezed her eyes closed for a moment and appeared to be gathering herself. Opening them she took a deep breath. ‘I’m trying to work out how best to explain this.’
‘It’s fine,’ Lettie said calmly, shooting a pointed look in Brodie’s direction. ‘Take your time. We’re not in any rush, are we, Brodie?’
‘No.’ He took a steadying breath. ‘We’re happy to be here for as long as you need us to be.’ He looked at Derek lying comfortably in his bed, his big eyes staring up at him, and wondered what the dog was thinking.Don’t worry, my little pal, he thought, wishing the dog could hear what he was thinking,I won’t leave you here unless I’m certain it’s the best thing for you.Derek opened one eye briefly, looked at him as if to reassure Brodie that he believed him and then closed it again and began snoring softly.
‘Do go on.’ Brodie was looking forward to finding out exactly what the situation was with this woman.
‘It’s like this,’ she began, her fingers knitted together. ‘You might have noticed a matching bungalow next door.’
Brodie hadn’t but he nodded, impatient to hear her explanation.
‘The gentleman who lived there, Percy, moved in with his wifein the sixties when I moved in here with my late husband.’ Brodie wondered where she could be going with this story but didn’t show his confusion on his face. ‘We were neighbours and good friends for almost sixty years and supported each other when our spouses died.’ She stopped speaking for a few seconds and seemed to brace herself before being able to continue.
‘Please carry on.’ Lettie gave Brodie a sideways glance and he could tell she was as confused as him.
‘Yes, do.’ Brodie forced a friendly smile.
‘His wife died sometime in the eighties and he moved to another parish, near where you found Derek, I believe. Then, when my husband died about ten years later, Percy and I bumped into each other in town one day and became close. We were companions.’ She cleared her throat. ‘You know, accompanying each other on short trips away, that sort of thing. Then he became ill late last year and begged me to take Derek on.’ She took a handkerchief from her sleeve, blew her nose and looked at the sleeping dog. ‘We both miss Percy. Don’t get me wrong – I like the dog. He’s very sweet and not much trouble, but I’ve never had dogs before, only cats. Not that I have any of them left now.’
She took a deep breath and flattened her hands and fingers on her skirt, gazing at them briefly before looking up at Brodie and then Lettie.
Lettie shuffled in her seat and Brodie wondered what she was about to say. ‘I’m not sure though why Thi—er, Derek would be where we found him though.’
The older lady shrugged. ‘I asked one of the neighbours’ grown-up daughters if she wouldn’t mind taking Derek for a walk with her dog while I was out at the hairdresser and she happily obliged. But when I got home, she was waiting for me in a terrible state. She said she had taken him to the beach but that as soon as she had removed his lead to let him have a bit of a play, he ranoff, up the stairs to the car park and she couldn’t find him after that.’
Brodie understood what must have happened. ‘Was the beach near to where Percy and Derek lived?’
She nodded. ‘I suppose it was closer to that area.’ Her mouth dropped open. ‘You think he was trying to get home?’
