Free Falling (26 page)

I headed into the kitchen, flicking on the lights as I went,
knowing that the word dinner would have him scuttling down the stairs within
seconds. After scooping out half a tin of dog food into his bowl and changing
his water, I stood back against the counter, watching the door. “Chester!” I
called again when he didn’t appear. I groaned in frustration and marched out,
up the stairs towards Alex’s room. By the time I got to the top of the stairs
though I realised that he wouldn’t be in there. The door was shut - unless
maybe Alex had shut him in there by accident. As I opened the door though I saw
that the room was empty, no indent on the bed, no tell-tale black dog fur on
the pillow, nothing.

“Chester, where are you?” I called loudly. I cast my eyes
around seeing that all of the doors upstairs were closed so he wouldn’t be up
here. I sighed and marched back down the stairs. We had a large cat flap in our
back door that was actually big enough for him to fit through. We usually kept
it locked while we weren’t home because Chester could get out through it fine
but could never seem to apply the same logic to get back in again. We only
unlocked it when someone was home so that they could let him in again.

I strutted to the back door, grabbing my keys on the way
past and unlocking it quickly, assuming that Alex had forgotten to lock the cat
flap this morning.
Poor little thing. If he’s been outside all day he’s
probably freezing!
As I pulled the door open I saw him. He was lying in the
middle of the grass, not moving.

“Chester?” I whimpered and stepped out quickly, rushing to
his side. I gasped when I noticed his shallow breathing. His eyes were closed
as if he was sleeping, but he seemed to be struggling to breathe. White foamy
spittle coloured the corners of his black lips. “Oh no,” I muttered, quickly
stroking him to see if he was hurt or anything. My eyes prickled with tears as
he let out a low whimper and his eyes fluttered open before closing again. I
didn’t know what to do; he was just lying there completely still. I needed to
call a vet or something.

My eyes landed on something a couple of feet away from where
I was crouched. It was a grease proof wrap, white paper, like what butchers
wrap meat in. I frowned at it then looked back at Chester. “Did you eat
something?” I muttered, shaking my head in confusion. When my gaze landed on
something else that was laying on the grass, I felt my body jerk in shock. A
white calla lily, exactly like the ones that I kept being sent, laid there as
if it was the most natural thing in the world.

A sob rose in my throat. I looked back at my dog, horrified
as realisation washed over me. Someone had poisoned my dog, and they’d done it
because of me. “No, no, please no.”

My hand flew straight to my pocket, pulling out my cell
phone and dialling the one person that I knew would be round here in an
instant. He answered almost immediately. “Luke! Oh God, it’s Chester,” I
croaked as I buried my face against the scruff of his neck and broke down into
hysterical sobs.

Chapter 17

Mere minutes later, Luke’s car screeched to a halt outside the
front of my house. He burst through the back gate seconds after cutting the
engine. I looked up at him pleadingly, silently begging him with my eyes to
help my dog.

Luke’s face fell as he looked from me to Chester who was
still lying motionless, struggling to breathe. “Shit. He looks bad,” he
mumbled, dropping down next to me.

I nodded, sniffing loudly. “He’s been poisoned. We have to
get him to the vets,” I croaked, swiping at my endless tears.

Luke frowned and looked at me with doubtful, yet sympathetic
eyes. “He hasn’t been poisoned, baby, he’s just old.”

I shook my head adamantly. “He has, look!” I pointed at the
lily and felt my chin wobble as guilt washed over me. “See? They left that!”

Luke raised one eyebrow as he looked at the flower. “Left what?
Maisie, what are you talking about?” He slipped his arms under Chester’s body,
lifting him gently. “Look, let’s just get him to the vet and see what they say.
But, baby, dogs don’t last forever; maybe it’s just his time.”

I groaned in frustration because he wasn’t really listening
to me. The rational part of me understood because he didn’t know about the
flowers or notes so of course he wouldn’t think anything of it, but the
grief-stricken part of me was annoyed with him for dismissing what I was saying.
Chester whined quietly and my heart throbbed as I looked down at him
apologetically. This was my fault; he was hurt because of me.

Luke strutted towards the gate without waiting for me. “You
need to lock your house,” he instructed as I stumbled along behind him in a
state of panic. I nodded weakly, not thinking clearly. I ran into the house,
locking the back door behind me and then running through the house and out the
front door, locking that too. By the time I got to Luke’s car I saw that he’d
already settled Chester in the back seat, laying him out carefully. The car
started as I jumped into the back with him and stroked his ears softly.

I cried the whole way to the veterinary clinic while Luke
tried to soothe me, telling me that they’d take care of him, that I should
think positive, that maybe he’d just eaten something that had upset his
stomach. Deep down I knew his words were true, he had definitely eaten
something - Sandy the witch had given him something that had been wrapped in
grease proof paper and had left me a lily so she could gloat about it.

By the time we got to the clinic Chester was worse. His
breathing was so shallow and rapid that it broke my heart. The muscles in his
legs were twitching and his nose was bleeding. As soon as the nurse saw Luke
carrying Chester in, and me crying hysterically, we were immediately rushed
through into a treatment room where two men in green scrubs fussed over my dog,
checking in his mouth and eyes, taking blood samples, trying to rouse him to no
avail. The nurse stood there asking me question after question about how I
found him, what he’d eaten, if he was fit and well this morning. I answered
everything to the best of my ability, telling them about the grease proof paper
that lay there and my suspicions that someone had poisoned him on purpose. They
too looked sceptical but took extra blood samples too so they could do a
toxicology report.

“Maybe it’s best if you wait in the waiting room?” the nurse
suggested when they started trying to make Chester vomit by squirting clear
liquid down his throat. Luke nodded, wrapping his arm around my shoulders,
pulling me from the room quickly. My legs barely worked as Luke guided me
across the waiting room to the seating area. From the corner of my eye I saw
the other pet owners looking at me sympathetically as they clutched their pets
closer to them unconsciously, obviously now thinking the worst for their ill
animals.

I sat down, struggling to breathe as I buried my face into
the side of Luke’s neck, clinging to him helplessly as I imagined Chester
dying, how awful it would be to never see him wag his tail again, or bark
excitedly when I came home from school. We’d had him since a puppy and I
couldn’t bear to lose him.

Time seemed endless as we sat there waiting for news.
Finally, one of the vets that were working on Chester opened the door and
called us through. I studied his face, trying to guess what the news was. He
looked grave, and my heart gave another painful thump in my chest as I imagined
the worst. Luke’s hand closed over mine as we walked into the room. My eyes
flitted to the table, the last place I’d seen Chester before I was ushered out,
but the table was now empty apart from some handheld equipment, tape, and a
pair of used gloves.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I waited for him to say
the words and tell me the bad news, so it surprised me when he smiled softly.

“He’s stable at the moment. We’re running a full toxicology
report, but preliminary tests suggest that he’s ingested some sort of rat
poison. We’ve cleared as much as we can, and given him some activated charcoal.
That will hopefully stop most of the poison being absorbed in his stomach and
intestines. We’ve also started a course of vitamin K which will help too. You
did the right thing by bringing him in here so quickly,” he said, smiling
kindly.

I sniffed, closing my eyes as the fear that gripped my
stomach loosened marginally. “So he’s going to be alright?” I croaked.

“The first twenty-four hours are crucial. Rat poison can be
fatal if not treated in a timely manner because it causes internal bleeding. I
think we caught it in time, but due to his age I can’t be sure. We’ll keep him
in the emergency room overnight and keep a constant vigil over him. We’ll do
everything we can,” he answered.

Luke’s hand tightened on mine as the vet spoke. I nodded
helplessly, knowing there was nothing else I could do but wait and see and
trust them to do the best for my dog. “Can I see him?” I asked weakly.

The vet nodded, waving his hand at a door at the back of the
room. Silently, I followed behind him, down the corridors and into a larger
room full of medical equipment. Everything was white and green and looked
sterile and clean. Chester lay on a table, a nurse sat next to him, scribbling
on a clipboard. She smiled when we walked in.

A little whimper left my lips as I stumbled over to his
side, looking down at him through teary eyes. He looked peaceful now, not
twitching anymore. His breathing had evened out a little though it still wasn’t
back to normal. I didn’t know what to say so instead I just bent my head and
kissed the side of his face.

“He’s sedated now. I’m working all night so I’ll keep a
close eye on him, don’t worry,” the nurse said kindly as she placed her hand on
my back in a comforting gesture.

I smiled gratefully and nodded. Luke was talking to the vet
on the other side of the room, looking over a piece of paper before he shook
his hand and came to my side. “We should go now, baby. We can call for an
update first thing in the morning,” he said softly as he wiped one of my stray
tears away. With his other hand he stoked Chester’s head.

“Okay,” I agreed. Luke led me out of the place while I
followed numbly behind, unable to think of anything other than my poor little
dog and how ill he was. As we got to the front door I stopped as a thought
occurred to me. “Wait, don’t I need to give them my details and pay or
something?” I croaked, glancing back at the reception desk.

Luke shook his head. “I’ve sorted everything, they’ve got
your details, and mine, so don’t worry.” He pulled me against his side,
wrapping a protective arm around me as he guided me out of the building and
over to his car. As he opened my door I pressed myself against him, closing my
eyes, grateful that he was here with me and taking care of everything so that I
didn’t have to. He hugged me tightly as I silently wondered what on earth I
would do without him in my life. Luke was my rock, and while I was in his arms,
I knew he always would be.

By the time I climbed in the car my legs were weak and my
tears had dried up. I sat there almost numb because the horror of what I’d just
been through had crushed me inside. Luke got into the driver’s side, starting
the engine. “Are you alright?” he whispered. I shook my head and turned in my
chair to look at him. He smiled sympathetically and reached out, stroking the
side of my face with one finger. “He’ll be okay,” he cooed, leaning over and
planting a soft kiss on my forehead.

I smiled weakly and closed my eyes. “Thanks for sorting
everything,” I mumbled. “You were so great. Thank you.”

He pulled back and waved his hand dismissively. “You don’t
need to thank me,” he replied, shaking his head. “I would like to know why you
think someone would have poisoned him on purpose though.” He raised one eyebrow,
his brown eyes locking onto mine as he cocked his head to the side curiously.

My thoughts instantly flicked to Sandy again. I clenched my
jaw tightly as anger built up because she’d definitely gone too far this time.
Chester was an innocent dog; he didn’t deserve anything like this to happen.
Hate wasn’t a strong enough word for what I felt for her in that moment. “It
was her,” I spat, shaking my head as my hands tightened into fists. I wanted to
go around to her house and kill her, force her to eat poisoned meat so she
would suffer like Chester just had. I wanted to watch her struggle for breath
as her organs started bleeding like his had.

“Her?” Luke questioned, taking my hand and squeezing gently.

I nodded, sniffing and swiping at my face roughly. I needed
to stop crying, I silently wished I wasn’t such an emotionally week person.
“Can we just go home and then I’ll tell you everything,” I mumbled, not really
wanting to have this discussion in the car. He frowned but nodded, immediately
putting the car into drive and pulling out of the parking lot.

The ride home was silent. He held my hand the whole time,
tracing soothing circles on the back of it while he drove. I sat there stewing
inside, plotting and planning on what I was going to do to her tomorrow. If I
knew where she lived I would go there tonight, but I would have to settle for
tomorrow instead. When we pulled up outside my house I noticed that Alex wasn’t
back yet. That was a good thing though because I wasn’t ready to say the words
about Chester yet, it was still too raw. Luke opened my car door for me and led
me towards the house, taking my keys out of my hand and opening the front door.
I chewed on my lip as I stepped inside. Even though I knew he wasn’t there, I
still looked up the hallway, waiting for Chester to skip around the corner
yipping excitedly. I wasn’t used to coming home to him not being there.

Luke sighed as he flicked on the lights and slipped his arm
around my shoulder. “Let’s go sit down and then I’ll make some coffee or
something. What time is Alex due home?” he asked, kissing the side of my head
as he guided me to walk into the lounge.