Read Online A Gift to Remember by Melissa Hill - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Melissa Hill
Ads: Link
stranger.
‘I know, buddy, I’m sure you do want to go home.’ She put a hand behind Bailey’s silky ears and rubbed them. ‘But for the moment, my place is going to have to do,
OK? So let’s go and find a cab,’ she continued, resigned to the fact that this might take a while. Her plan was to try and get one on Fifty-Seventh Street going in the right direction.
Wheeling the bike alongside them, she and Bailey reached the intersection at Eighth Avenue, two blocks down from where the incident had occurred just hours before. It felt like a lifetime ago.
Checking her watch – a treasured gift from Joshua with the Dr Seuss quote,
How did it get so late so soon?
inscribed across the face – Darcy noted that it was now past
lunchtime. Small wonder she was feeling tired.
But as she turned right onto Eighth, all the while scouring the street for free cabs, Bailey suddenly stopped.
Darcy gently jiggled the leash and pulled in the direction she wanted to go. ‘Come on, boy, it’s freezing and we need to keep going if we want to find a cab.’ She tugged again
but Bailey resisted, and this time sat right down on the pavement.
Puzzled by this show of stubbornness Darcy tugged again, this time a little harder, but Bailey jerked backwards, almost pulling the leash from her hands.
Crikey, what if he ran away and got lost? she thought, panicking. She couldn’t lose him now, not after all that had happened. And especially now that Aidan Harris’s family would soon
find out she was taking care of him. No doubt they were distraught enough as it was about Aidan, let alone finding out that the stupid woman who had knocked him over had also gone and lost their
dog in the meantime.
Darcy sighed and engaged the kickstand on her bike, before crouching down to his level. ‘Bailey, come on now, come,’ she commanded a little more authoritatively.
But when he still refused to move, she took a deep breath and put her hands on her hips. ‘Bailey, come. This way. Heel?’ She tried several variations of the same command, but still
the Husky strained mulishly in the other direction.
Darcy’s shoulders sagged. ‘Bailey. Come on, buddy,
please
,’ she cried in frustration. ‘I really need to get you home.’
At the mention of the word ‘home’ again, the dog’s ears perked up once more. He stuck his tongue out and wagged his tail as if to say: ‘OK then, let’s
go.’
She shook her head at his perplexing change of demeanour. ‘Yes, but home’s
this
way.’ Darcy pulled the leash and waved a hand in the direction that she wanted to go.
Bailey once again resisted and pulled the opposite way, back up towards Columbus Circle and the Park. He stared hard at Darcy as if telepathically trying to deliver a message.
That famous quote from Groucho Marx about dogs being too dark to read instinctively popped into her brain, and she frowned, trying to figure out what the hell she was missing.
She wondered if maybe he was trying to tell her that home –
his
home – was back in the other direction. Understanding finally dawning, she looked again at the tenacious
Husky. ‘Are you trying to tell me that your home is that way?’ She pointed past Columbus Circle towards the Park. Bailey whined and then gave a sharp bark.
Darcy felt as if she was having a
Lassie
moment. She thought back to her childhood when she would watch the old black and white TV reruns of the show, remembering how the faithful
collie always seemed smarter than her owners. No change there then.
She recalled laughing with her mum at how exasperated the dog always looked when her owners would scratch their heads and ask: ‘What is it, girl? Did Timmy fall down the well?’ Even
as a child Darcy remembered thinking
,
Go on dummies, follow the dog. She’s smarter than all of you put together.
She bit her lip. Was it just her imagination or was Bailey now wearing a very definite Lassie-like expression?
Then the thought struck her. Of course! If she
‘I know, buddy, I’m sure you do want to go home.’ She put a hand behind Bailey’s silky ears and rubbed them. ‘But for the moment, my place is going to have to do,
OK? So let’s go and find a cab,’ she continued, resigned to the fact that this might take a while. Her plan was to try and get one on Fifty-Seventh Street going in the right direction.
Wheeling the bike alongside them, she and Bailey reached the intersection at Eighth Avenue, two blocks down from where the incident had occurred just hours before. It felt like a lifetime ago.
Checking her watch – a treasured gift from Joshua with the Dr Seuss quote,
How did it get so late so soon?
inscribed across the face – Darcy noted that it was now past
lunchtime. Small wonder she was feeling tired.
But as she turned right onto Eighth, all the while scouring the street for free cabs, Bailey suddenly stopped.
Darcy gently jiggled the leash and pulled in the direction she wanted to go. ‘Come on, boy, it’s freezing and we need to keep going if we want to find a cab.’ She tugged again
but Bailey resisted, and this time sat right down on the pavement.
Puzzled by this show of stubbornness Darcy tugged again, this time a little harder, but Bailey jerked backwards, almost pulling the leash from her hands.
Crikey, what if he ran away and got lost? she thought, panicking. She couldn’t lose him now, not after all that had happened. And especially now that Aidan Harris’s family would soon
find out she was taking care of him. No doubt they were distraught enough as it was about Aidan, let alone finding out that the stupid woman who had knocked him over had also gone and lost their
dog in the meantime.
Darcy sighed and engaged the kickstand on her bike, before crouching down to his level. ‘Bailey, come on now, come,’ she commanded a little more authoritatively.
But when he still refused to move, she took a deep breath and put her hands on her hips. ‘Bailey, come. This way. Heel?’ She tried several variations of the same command, but still
the Husky strained mulishly in the other direction.
Darcy’s shoulders sagged. ‘Bailey. Come on, buddy,
please
,’ she cried in frustration. ‘I really need to get you home.’
At the mention of the word ‘home’ again, the dog’s ears perked up once more. He stuck his tongue out and wagged his tail as if to say: ‘OK then, let’s
go.’
She shook her head at his perplexing change of demeanour. ‘Yes, but home’s
this
way.’ Darcy pulled the leash and waved a hand in the direction that she wanted to go.
Bailey once again resisted and pulled the opposite way, back up towards Columbus Circle and the Park. He stared hard at Darcy as if telepathically trying to deliver a message.
That famous quote from Groucho Marx about dogs being too dark to read instinctively popped into her brain, and she frowned, trying to figure out what the hell she was missing.
She wondered if maybe he was trying to tell her that home –
his
home – was back in the other direction. Understanding finally dawning, she looked again at the tenacious
Husky. ‘Are you trying to tell me that your home is that way?’ She pointed past Columbus Circle towards the Park. Bailey whined and then gave a sharp bark.
Darcy felt as if she was having a
Lassie
moment. She thought back to her childhood when she would watch the old black and white TV reruns of the show, remembering how the faithful
collie always seemed smarter than her owners. No change there then.
She recalled laughing with her mum at how exasperated the dog always looked when her owners would scratch their heads and ask: ‘What is it, girl? Did Timmy fall down the well?’ Even
as a child Darcy remembered thinking
,
Go on dummies, follow the dog. She’s smarter than all of you put together.
She bit her lip. Was it just her imagination or was Bailey now wearing a very definite Lassie-like expression?
Then the thought struck her. Of course! If she
Similar Books
