When I got to him he was laughing. "Would you help me down the stairs?" he asked. "I' d like to sit out in the garden. I can throw the stick for Meg."
"Of course, Dad." I' d been thrilled and from that moment on, he' d progressed in leaps and bounds.
Meg had been a friend to me, a playmate to the children, but she' d been so much more to Dad. She' d been with him all the time, keeping him company for the hours he had to spend alone. No wonder he' d declined. He had time to sit and brood and think, and sadness had settled all around him.
The following day, I settled Dad in the garden and left the children playing under his watchful eye.
"I won' t be long," I promised. "You' ll be all right, Dad? If you want anything, Matthew can get it for you."
"Thanks, love." Dad smiled. "Don' t worry. I' ll keep an eye on things."
I could never replace Meg, I knew that. But I could, perhaps, fill a void in Dad' s life.
I' d never been to an animal home before and wasn' t prepared for the shock. Not only dogs, but cats, a couple of ponies, three pygmy goats and several rabbits wanted new homes.
Two sisters ran the place. Hardly aware of what I was doing, I found myself pouring out my life story to them.
Bahs, one of the two nurses, led me to the end of the row of pens. There, in the very end, I saw Sadie sitting in the corner. She wasn' t sitting quietly. She was howling—a sad, heart-broken noise. As soon as she saw us, she stopped and came over to me, staring at me through the wire. She seemed to be weighing me up.
When I poked my fingers through the bars, she shied away from them. I spoke softly to her, coaxing her to come to me. After what seemed an age, she came forward and licked my fingers.
"She' s very gentle," I remarked, wondering how she would take to my noisy children. I' d already lost my heart to her in a way I never imagined possible!