Grace loved how free the Greek women were on the beach. Everyone wore bikinis, from teenagers to ninety-year-olds, and in all shapes and sizes. She’d worried she might be too intimidated by the perfect bodies on show to ever take her bikinis out of the case, but she’d proved herself wrong. She’d bought a couple of sarongs in town too, printed with sea creatures and coral, and now there was no stopping her. The cove sounded like a good idea, once the heat started to disappear from the day.
A man running in her direction carrying something in his arms caught her attention.
As he got nearer, she realised it was Charlie, and, God, no, Buster.
‘Charlie!’
He didn’t react, just kept running. Grace rushed after him back into the vet’s.
The receptionist tried to stop them going straight in to see Angeliki.
‘Can you and your… son please wait outside.’
Grace didn’t have time to explain.
She pushed open the door. Angeliki held a large rabbit in her arms, but as soon as she saw the dog, she pushed it back into its cage and pointed to the operating table.
‘Put the dog here.’
Charlie’s eyes were blank. Grace pulled at his arms, so that Buster rolled gently onto the table. Angeliki gave the animal’s head a stroke.
‘What’s the dog’s name?’
Grace answered as Charlie was still in a daze.
‘He’s called Buster.’
‘What has happened? Tell me, quickly.’
Charlie stood there, mute.
Grace reached round and held his face in her hands to make him look at her.
‘You must tell her. I don’t know the answer, and she can’t help Buster otherwise.’
Charlie’s eyes filled with tears as he faced the vet.
‘He’s eaten chocolate, tons of chocolate.’
‘What sort of chocolate?’
‘Dark chocolate.’
Grace couldn’t miss Angeliki’s wince. Even she knew that chocolate was bad for dogs. And dark chocolate was really bad.
‘How long ago?’
‘About an hour, I think.’
‘OK, we’ve got to make him sick. It’s his only chance. And we’ve got to do it now.’
At that moment, the dog had a seizure on the table, and Charlie’s howl filled the room, bouncing off the walls and going directly to Grace’s heart.
Angeliki held the little dog down as his legs thrashed around.
‘I need someone to help me. Charlie?’
But the man was frozen to the spot.
