Follow My Lead Episode 26
As she finally returned to her room to get dressed, Lydia knew she had some serious thinking to do.
She had to think about earning an income, and how and where she might do that, which led to the bigger question of where her future lay.
Was it likely to include Basil?
It was true what they said, Danielle thought as she strolled along one of the paths near the wood. A trouble shared was a trouble halved.
That brief chat with Lydia this morning had made her feel so much better. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
She gave an outcrop of nettles a wide berth. She would never forget the agony of falling into a patch when she was seven.
Lydia had been staying for a weekend and they’d taken a family picnic to the gardens of a stately home.
A carefree game of hide and seek had come to an abrupt end with Danielle’s anguished cries bringing everyone running.
Her parents and Lydia had pulled up every dock leaf they could find to dab on the stings.
She smiled to herself, remembering the fuss and the consoling treats afterwards. It was funny the magic an ice-cream cone could work.
Just like sharing your troubles, she thought.
As she walked, the woods lush and peaceful around her, she found her mind had relaxed from its panic mode, and she could begin to think of solutions instead of the problems.
She would refresh her social media listings to play up her reliability and her qualifications.
She could even include some photos she’d taken of the dogs in her care.
There was that comical one of Ollie and Buster having a tug-of-war with a rope chew. That presented a positive image.
Thinking of Ollie gave her a pang, but she shook it off.
Anyone watching her as she ambled along would have thought she didn’t have a care in the world.
However, as ever when she was with the dogs in her care, her senses were on high alert, her eyes and ears attuned to their every movement.
As Ronald returned to her side and nosed at her leg for his ears to be rubbed, she smiled.
“Thank goodness I still have you, boy, eh? I think I’d miss you the most.”
As they shared a gaze of mutual adoration, she became aware of other sounds, of two or three animals crashing through the undergrowth nearby.
She drew her two charges closer, making sure their leads were secure and shortening them for maximum control.
The greenery quivered, then a young German shepherd erupted from the dense bracken. A German shepherd who greeted her with the ecstasy of recognition.
“Flossie! I was just thinking about you!”
As the three dogs gambolled together in happy reunion, she looked around.
Flossie wasn’t trailing a lead, but someone must surely be with her.
A piercing whistle reached her through the trees and Flossie took off.
“Bye, Flossie.” Danielle grinned at Ronald and Tallulah.
“That’s what you call a flying visit,” she told them.
She could hear male voices now, laughing and shouting to each other.
She could see their figures through the trees, striding along another of the pathways.
Four dogs were running around them, darting every which way, but loosely centred on their position. Were they all together, the men and the dogs?
She squinted. Was one of them Flossie?
The animal came sprinting towards her little group again, followed by another she recognised.
Ollie greeted her excitedly.
Was one of the men her rival?
She could see them more clearly now. The men had formed a tight circle, laughing at something.
It seemed to her that they were paying no attention to the dogs.
Still, it wasn’t her concern.
Flossie and Ollie ran off again, and she gathered up her two, striding along the path back to the car park.
The next moment, Ollie was back, trotting at her heels, with Flossie behind him.
She stopped and spoke sternly.
“No, you can’t follow me. Off you go.”
“Oi!” The bellow made her jump. “Are you trying to steal my dogs?”
It was one of the men, his cheeks flushed from running after her.
For a second she froze, alarm prickling her scalp.
She turned to face him.
“It’s nothing like that,” she said quietly. “I used to walk both Ollie and Flossie, and they recognised me, that’s all.
“They were enjoying a reunion with their pals.”
“Well, leave them alone or I’ll get the police to you.” His loud voice jarred in the tranquil setting.
She planted her feet and stood tall, refusing to be intimidated.
“I’ve explained what happened. I could suggest that if you had better control of them it wouldn’t be an issue.”
He opened his mouth to reply, but she felt she’d heard enough.
“Come on, you two,” she said, and Ronald and Tallulah stood obediently by her heels.
Her heart was pounding as she returned to the van and secured her two charges inside.
So that was her rival. What an unpleasant, overbearing man! And, more importantly in her view, not a very responsible dog-walker.
Unpleasant though the encounter had been, now that she’d seen him for herself, she found she was less worried than before.