Stanley!she called out, her voice still faint, but with a tone that suggested she’d heard my barking.Stanley! Come here, boy!
I ran faster towards her voice. I knew it was going to be okay! I’d find Grace in these woods, or she’d find me, and everything would be fine.
Just as I picked up speed across the woodland floor, the hulking frame of a man suddenly loomed out in front of me from between a clutch of thick tree trunks. Seeing him appear out of nowhere gave me a fright—yet another one, which shredded my poor nerves even further—and I veered to one side to avoid him.
But he jumped forward and lunged for me. I didn’t recognise the man and didn’t know why he was trying to grab me when all I wanted was to return to my lovely Grace.
I evaded his grasping hands and kept running.
Until I was suddenly yanked off my feet as the man grabbed hold of my trailing lead and caught me.
Panicking, I yelped and scrabbled on the ground for purchase in an attempt to get away. But with the man’s hand firmly holding my lead, my efforts to escape were futile.
The man reached down and grabbed me with both hands, then picked me up and looked straight into my face.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he said.
Home,I tried to tell him.I’m going home to my lovely Grace.
But all he heard were yips and barks, and as he tucked me beneath his arm, I feared what might happen to me next, while wishing over and over again that I’d escaped him when I’d had the chance.
Because now, as the man carried me off into the woodland, I realised it was too late.
