As soon as we enter the adoption area of the RSPCA, my father turns around from the reception desk with a frantic look on his face. Regret fills me for leaving his side, especially after the fright he received when Tania hadn’t been in her bed this morning.
“KRYSTAL! SWEETHEART!” he exclaims frantically. Worry radiates off him but it is quickly replaced with relief as he hugs me tight. The police officer explains to my father that I had seen a dog with an axe through his head. He tells Dad that I wanted to make sure that the dog was going to be okay. Dad frowns and nods, understanding my concern. He is glad that I am alright and that I hadn’t been kidnapped, especially after those men in the flat car had tried to take me away.
After the policeman walks back to the animal hospital building, we make our way into the puppy area. None of us had yet decided on what type of dog we want to adopt. We just know that we do not want a dog which is as big as a horse. Trying to walk a horse would be quite difficult for a five year old! I decide to take a chance and I ask my dad if we could possibly get a kitten instead.
“No chance,” he responds before I had finished the question. My dad hates cats. I don’t know why and it makes me sad and frustrated that he hates them. I personally think they are wonderful.
I look closely at each puppy as I walk past their glass kennels. Most of them have already been adopted and the ones remaining are of the larger dog variety. The RSPCA staff member then asks if we would perhaps instead be interested in fostering a mother dog which is nursing tiny puppies. Dad asks what types of dogs need fostering and enquires as to what is involved. After being told that our job would simply be to keep them safe, ensure the mother has plenty of food and water at all times and to socialise the babies, we opt to become foster parents instead. Getting more excited by the minute, we make our way to the nursery.
Each glass cage inside the animal nursery contains one mother dog and her babies, plus one or two extra babies which the mother might have adopted if those puppies’ mothers had died or abandoned them. They are so teeny tiny! I see one dog that almost melts my heart. Small in stature, she shows absolutely no signs of aggression when we come close, regardless that her babies are feeding from her.
“Mindy here is half Jack Russell, half Mini Foxy,” the RSPCA man says to us. I peek through the glass and count the puppies that are drinking from their mum. Wriggling and massaging their paws on their mother’s belly as they drink, four squeaking puppies are eagerly quenching their thirst. My sisters and I look at each other, all of us smiling from ear to ear. We nod in agreement that Mindy and the puppies need to come home with us.
“Daddy?” I pull on the bottom of his shirt. “Can we bring Mindy and her babies home with us today please?” I ask. Our father looks at each of us, unsure about whether to proceed with the whole fostering deal. His face then relaxes and he smiles as soon as he sees the excitement and anticipation on our faces.
“I think that is a great idea,” he answers. My sisters and I cheer as quietly as we can so we do not wake up the puppies, all of which are now sleeping happily with very full tummies.
With the paperwork signed, Mindy is placed gently into a large animal carrier. One by one, her tiny puppies are also gently placed on the blanket inside the carrier. Mindy sniffs and licks each puppy as it is reunited with her. Dad carries the large animal carrier to the car, which is strapped into the middle of the back seat with a seatbelt holding it firmly in place. I sit on one side and Tania sits on the other. Both of us place our hands on the carrier, just in case the seat belt doesn’t hold properly. Leena sits in the front seat next to Dad. We gently talk to Mindy and her puppies the whole constantly during the drive so that they can start to get used to our voices.
A police car causes all of us to jump when its siren goes off behind our car. Dad pulls over to the side of the road. I pout, trying hard not to cry, having seen this happen many times on television shows, but Tania takes my hand on top of the pet carrier and squeezes it. I worry that the policeman will pull his gun and demand that Dad gets out of the car before making him lie on the ground so he can be handcuffed and dragged away. My sisters and I are too little to drive home! When he walks to Dad’s door, the police officer asks to see my dad’s licence and registration.
“Is there a problem, Chief?” my dad asks.
“Just a routine stop, Sir,” the policeman replies. He checks my dad’s papers, noting that three girls and an animal carrier are also in the car.
“My daughters and I have just fostered a dog and her puppies from the RSPCA,” Dad says, smiling. After another peek into the back seat, the policeman smiles and thanks our dad, telling him that everything seems to be in order before sending us on our way. I hug the cage as best I can, glad that walking the rest of the way home with Mindy and her sleeping babies was something I needed to worry about.
When we get home, Dad parks the car in the shade at the side of the house. He asks each of us not to slam any car doors as he reaches into the back seat to lift the animal carrier out. He takes it carefully upstairs and we quickly follow. Half way up the stairs, I stop and glance over at Rusty’s grave next to the fence line. Hopefully, Rusty understands why we are fostering Mindy and her puppies.
Setting up an area of the lounge room with a make-shift fence and warm blankets, our dad takes Mindy and her babies out of the animal carrier, one by one. He puts the animal cage in the corner of the fenced in area of the lounge as we watch. I hear a noise come out of my dad’s mouth which almost sounds like a whimper. When I turn around to see what is wrong, I am delighted to see that Dad is looking at the dogs with the biggest eyes and the widest smile.
“You did a good thing, Daddy,” I say as I hug him around his neck. He hugs me back.
“We did, didn’t we?” He says excitedly, trying not to be too loud. “So now that they are all settled, we need to decide which puppy we will keep!” Dad announces, trying to look tough and manly after his whimper at their cuteness just seconds earlier. It amuses me that he wants to keep up appearances, not wanting his daughters to think he has gone all sappy over a few tiny puppies. Each one is a different colour. One black, one brown, one grey and the smallest is a combination of all three. While I agree that all four of the puppies are absolutely adorable, I have a feeling that my sisters will not be happy with what I am about to suggest.
“Don’t get mad, okay?” I say to everybody in the room. My dad and sisters quickly look at me, wondering what I might say that would upset them. “The puppies are cute, yes, but we all saw how quickly the puppies at the RSPCA found new homes today.” Leena, Tania and Dad all look at me curiously. “We are just fostering right now, getting these puppies used to being with people and being loved. I also think we are able to choose which dog we want to keep, right Daddy?”
“Yes,” he answers, trying not to interrupt whichever direction my speech was heading.
“I think if all of the puppies go back to the RSPCA, they will quickly find homes. But Mindy won’t. Her babies will be gone and she will be alone with no family,” I continue. “I would be really happy if we could keep Mindy instead of keeping a puppy. We could be her new family. She will be used to us by then and she will not be so sad at the shelter by herself, possibly never having a home to go to.”
“I thought you wanted to name the puppy we keep? Wasn’t that the plan? It was your birthday gift,” Tania points out.
“Well, that was the plan, but we were also going to bring just a puppy home today. Instead we brought home Mindy and her babies,” I reply, trying hard to make my point. “Mindy has a name but she does not have a home. Her babies will have new homes very quickly. I would like my birthday vote to be that we keep Mindy instead. I would also like Mindy to keep her name. It suits her very much. She looks like a Mindy, doesn’t she?” My sisters put their thinking faces on, considering all of the facts which I had just laid out before them. Our dad stays quiet and lets us decide what we want to do. Finally, Leena and Tania nod their heads and agree. Wh
en the fostering is over, Mindy will be adopted by our family and the puppies will go back to the RSPCA to be adopted by other families.
“I am so proud of you, sweetheart,” my father says as he embraces me into a hug. “You really are growing up so fast.” Smiling, I hug him back. His words mean everything to me.
That night, as we are watching the news, a report comes on about a man who had mysteriously died today while in his jail cell, after being arrested and charged for animal cruelty. They show the mugshot of the man on the screen. It is the same man who had gleefully put an axe through the dog’s head. “An autopsy will be carried out this evening to determine the cause of death. We will update you as further details become available,” the reporter says. When the next news story comes on, I look at Mindy and her puppies, glad that they are with us and not with that evil man.
The following day, I see the man’s face again but this time it is on the front page of the morning newspaper. Handing the paper to Leena, I ask if she can please read it to me. Tania sits down beside us and listens carefully to see what has caught my interest so early in the day.
“Reports indicate that the man’s brain had completely liquidised and had poured out onto the coroner’s floor like soup when she tried to remove it to determine cause of death.” Leena stopped reading and a frown appeared on her face. “Yuck!” She then continued, although looking a little bit green around the gills. “It says that the cause of the trauma is unknown and occurred while he was alone inside his holding cell. The amount of blood vessels which had burst in his neck, eyes and face suggest that his death was excruciating.” A look of satisfaction crosses my face as I realise that Karma is in play once again.
“He hurt that poor dog! There is no justification for putting an axe through an animal’s head!” I scream, my hands hitting the table and waking the puppies. “Just imagine what that poor innocent dog felt – how incredibly helpless and afraid he was at being trapped with such a monster! The evil man put an axe into its head just because it was barking when he was on the telephone. He enjoyed doing it and he deserves to be dead.” Both of my sister’s jaws drop, not only at the harshness of my words but also at the fact that the newspaper report had not mentioned anything about barking or a telephone conversation. An uncomfortable silence ensued, but after glancing over at Mindy and her once-again sleeping puppies, they both agreed with me that he had most definitely deserved such a fitting demise.
Chapter Nine
Mornings are so different now. We each take turns in getting out of bed early to feed Mindy, take her for a walk downstairs on the harness so that she can go to the toilet, and then return her to the four hungry puppies upstairs. Dad wakes up every couple of hours during the night to check on the dogs. After two weeks, the puppies are already walking. For an hour each day, all four of us carefully supervise them outside of the pen as they inspect their surroundings. Their tiny yelps when they lose sight of their mum are too cute for words.
Before I know it, four weeks have already passed. We continue to let the puppies out of their enclosure so they can run around the house and get some exercise. I feel Mindy’s sense of relief at being let outside, giving her sore nipples a break. As the puppies grow, so do their appetites. Poor Mindy! Their fondness for food is only matched by their energy as they gambol happily through the house. I watch and laugh as they chase and tackle each other, just as I had done with my sisters when we were little.
During the seven weeks that they are with us, many items in the house fall victim to their growing teeth. Dad’s slippers, the bottom of the chair legs in the kitchen, one of our books …and even Leena’s big toe. My sisters and I’d had no idea that puppies liked to chew on everything they can sink their teeth into. Live and learn. I wonder to myself if kittens are the same, but know better than to ask my dad. A heavy sigh escapes my lungs.
Before we know it, all nine weeks have passed and it is time for the puppies to return to the RSPCA for adoption. The RSPCA van comes to our house with the paperwork required for our father to sign, including that which is needed to adopt Mindy as our own. Dad signs the papers, guaranteeing that he will take Mindy in to the RSPCA hospital for free neutering and microchipping at their next available time for him to do so. The people from the RSPCA also take away the enclosure, blankets and pet transport container so they can clean them and have them ready for the next foster family. We wave goodbye to the puppies as the van pulls out of the driveway.
Almost as soon as the van leaves, my sisters and I take Mindy for a walk outside in the yard. She seems to want to sniff everything before peeing on it, including the Frangipani tree which looks amazing. Even with all of its leaves gone due to the cooler weather, the shape of the branches is truly a sight to see. I often think about coming downstairs to try and draw it. We look at Rusty’s grave which is now covered in grass. A dirt ring remains in the centre of the grave for his drinking bowl.
“No dog will ever replace you, Rusty. Mindy is your sister and we will tell her about you and all the happiness you gave us during our time together, I promise,” I say. Mindy lets out a small bark in agreement. As I scratch behind her ears, Mindy smiles at me and wags her tail before leaning over and drinking from the water bowl.
With just one week to go before school starts, we all get busy trying to figure out how to keep Mindy entertained during the day when we are all away from the house. The most important thing is to keep her safe. Dad puts his building skills to work and turns the underneath of our house into a giant enclosure in the shade. The enclosure is almost as big as the entire house! Two and a half of the walls are solid, while the extra one and a half are steel mesh. This will be the biggest dog house ever made! Concrete is laid down deep into the dirt under the walls so that Mindy cannot dig her way out and put herself in harm’s way during times when she is at home on her own. My sisters and I have the task of shaking Mindy’s blankets out each day and they will be washed weekly. We also leave a large dirt area inside the enclosure where Mindy can do her business. It is our job to clean up her poo when we get home from school, but none of us complain. Mindy brings a joy to our home which has been missing since Rusty died.
The day before school begins, a phone call arrives. Mum has had her baby. She is at the hospital and would like us to come and visit so we can meet our new brother.
“Will Eddie be there?” I ask, scowling.
“Eddie is our brother’s daddy, Krystal. Of course he will be there,” Leena says.
“I don’t care. I don’t like him,” I say, matter-of-factly. “I don’t know why, but something just isn’t right about him.”
“Isn’t right? Like, how?” Leena asks.
I know that there is no way to explain it to her. His soul feels wrong somehow, but I know if I say it out loud, my sisters won’t understand.
Dad lectures me, telling me that Mum will be very hurt if I don’t go to see her. When I tell him that I do not want to be alone with Eddie, Dad thinks it is because of what my grandfather had done to me but he is wrong. Eventually, just to stop the arguing, I agree to go to the hospital on the condition that my sisters will be with me, no matter what. “Not only will they be with you, but I will be sitting downstairs in the foyer, waiting for you so I can take you home,” Dad says.
As our dad pulls the car into the drop off area in the maternity wing of the hospital, Eddie meets us at the door. Dad then goes to find a car park after reminding us that he will be sitting in the waiting room in the lobby. He has no interest in seeing our mother or her new baby, and his interest in interacting with Eddie is less than zero. Upstairs, we go to a private room. Eddie knocks on the door.
“You awake, Love?” he calls out to my mum.
Without waiting for her response, Eddie pushes the door open a little bit and peeks inside. He finds Mum on the bed, leaning back against her pillows while holding our new baby brother. Eddie opens the door wider so that my sisters and I can enter the room, before closing the door behind us. Many conflictin
g emotions come from Eddie so I stand right next to my mum’s bed. I seriously don’t like being in the same room with him.
“You need to be very quiet,” our mum whispers to us. “Your brother just finished feeding and now he is finally asleep.” She turns the little bundle around so we can see his face. He looks all red and pruned, like he has been in a hot bath tub for too long. When I look closer at him, my new baby brother burps at me before dribble starts running down his chin.
“Eww, it smells like milk!” I say, giggling. Eddie grabs my arm roughly, hurting me.
“Your mother told you to shut your mouth around the baby, so please just shut up, okay?” Eddie snaps. I look at his hand before glaring daggers at him. As the anger boils inside me from the pain he had just caused, Eddie quickly releases my arm when his fingers start smouldering against my burning skin.
“Never ever touch me again,” I say to him evenly, staring him straight in the eyes. His eyes widen and his face goes red from anger and embarrassment. Eddie’s soul almost seems toxic when I am standing in such close proximity to him. I dare you to do it again. Eddie and I lock eyes. You must feel like a big tough man, hurting a five year old girl, huh? I suddenly feel sorry for my mum and brother. They are the ones who have to live with this unmannered filth.
As my sisters coo and ogle at our baby brother, I quietly leave the room. Looking around for a staff member, I finally find a couple of nurses sitting behind a big desk.
“My daddy is in the waiting room in the lobby. Can you please show me where that is?” I ask. One of the nurses tells the other that she will be right back. We both go into the elevator and exit at the lobby. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see Dad sitting on a chair, reading a motorcycle magazine. He is such a welcome sight and I run towards him. I sit next to him, giving his arm a tight squeeze. “Thank you,” I say to the nurse. She smiles, nods her head and gets back in the elevator.
Once Upon A Karma (Karmic Krystal Book 1) Page 10
