‘Doesn’t matter,’ Victor cut in, and Zoe thought he looked a little offended. It made her sad that he might be because he was one of the kindest souls she’d ever met. ‘I’m sure when Louisa is older, you’ll be able to pick it up again, if you fancy it.’
A loud whistle from the field behind them made Zoe spin to find the source, and her heart sank as she saw Lennon in the distance.
‘Here!’ he yelled, and it was then she picked out his dog, haring towards them. ‘Gunner!’
‘What the bloody hell’s he doing?’ Victor growled, any sign of good humour instantly gone. ‘Get that dog under control!’ he roared.
Lennon showed no signs of hurrying to do anything of the sort. He shouted at Gunner again, but the dog ignored him, and Lennon’s pace didn’t change. Zoe watched as the dog made a beeline for the alpaca enclosure.
Georgia turned around and let out a squeal. ‘Stop him!’
Victor ran over and stood in the way, but Gunner dodged around him and went straight for the fence. Leaping up, he barked and snarled, spittle flying from his jaws. This time, Victor went to pull him away, but the dog was too fast. He spun and sank his teeth into Victor’s arm.
As Victor let out a howl, Billie screamed, and Georgia ran to her. Zoe could see they were both shaking as they moved away from the trouble. A glance told her that Lennon was still somedistance way, so she picked up a branch and began to wave it in Gunner’s direction, hoping the distraction would make him loosen his hold on Victor’s arm. But the dog remained locked on tight. Zoe smacked him with the branch, but it was rotten and snapped in half as it made contact.
Victor, meanwhile, was keeping as still as he could, and Zoe realised he was doing the smart thing, trying to minimise the damage. It was obvious, though, that he was in pain and the effort was taking everything out of him.
‘Do something!’ Zoe yelled at Lennon.
This time, he picked up some speed and jogged over to help. A few seconds later, he’d managed to prise Gunner’s jaws open and get the muzzle on.
Victor fell to his knees, his skin grey. Zoe was afraid he was going to pass out.
‘You shouldn’t have got in his way,’ Lennon said impassively as he put Gunner’s chain lead on. The dog was straining to have another go – at Victor or anyone else he could reach.
‘What did you expect him to do?’ Georgia shouted as she comforted Billie. ‘One of his girls is pregnant! He couldn’t just let your stupid mutt scare her into a miscarriage, could he? That thing needs putting down!’
‘What did you say?’ Lennon hissed.
‘You heard me! Don’t think we won’t be reporting this!’
‘You’ll do no such thing—’ Lennon stopped, as if suddenly remembering that Zoe was there. Which suggested he was aware that she’d asked Chantal to get him to leave after the Heath incident.
‘Look,’ he said, straining to keep his composure, ‘Gunner didn’t mean any harm; he got excited when he saw them’ – he pointed at the enclosure – ‘things. He only wants to play.’
‘Aye.’ Victor got to his feet, blood pouring from his arm. ‘Plays a bit rough, though, doesn’t he?’
‘Mate,’ Lennon said. ‘I’m sorry about your arm. It doesn’t look too deep. He’s taken worse chunks out of me, messing around.’
‘We’ll let someone qualified be the judge of that,’ Zoe said, going to inspect Victor’s wounds. She let out a sharp breath. ‘We should get you back to the house and get that cleaned up, Victor.’
‘What about the tap in the stable?’ Georgia asked. ‘Wouldn’t it be a good idea to run some water over it straight away, so he isn’t walking around with germs in it.’
‘He hasn’t got rabies,’ Lennon spat.
Georgia turned to him. ‘Haven’t you gone yet? Take your dog and piss off!’
He looked as if he was about to throw a punch at Georgia but then realised what a terrible mistake that would be. Yanking on Gunner’s chain, the dog still desperate to cause more havoc, he dragged him away.
‘Let me see…’ Georgia rushed over to Victor.
‘Don’t get the little one too close,’ he said. ‘I’ll be all right when I get back to the house. Corrine has first aid bits and bobs – she can fix me up.’
He didn’t look all right. He looked far from it. Zoe wasn’t convinced he could even make it back to Daffodil Farm. He was tough, but he was an older man, and what had happened to him would have floored someone much younger.
‘Do you have Old Banger with you?’ she asked.
He shook his head. ‘Walked over. Nice day.’
