by Lucy Daniels
‘Mandy?’ Emily put her head round the door of the spare bedroom. Mandy was making up the bed for James. She turned with a smile, but the happy feeling left her when she saw Emily’s pale face.
‘Are you okay, Mum?’ she asked, dropping the pillow she was holding onto the bed.
Emily blinked painfully. ‘Not really,’ she admitted. ‘I think I’m getting a migraine. It’s as if there’s something flickering in my left eye.’
‘Do you think you should go to bed?’ Mandy asked with a frown. She was starting to feel worried about her mum’s frequent bouts of ill-health.
‘I’m just going. It hurts when I move my eyes.’ Emily managed a smile, but Mandy could see it was an effort. ‘But I’m sorry, Mandy, there’s a call in. Jack Spiller has a lamb with a broken leg. I know James is coming soon and I wouldn’t normally ask but your dad’s in the middle of surgery.’
Mandy walked across and gave Emily’s hand a squeeze. ‘You don’t need to apologise,’ she said. ‘James won’t mind. I’ll send him a message. You go and lie down. James and I will make dinner when we get back.’
‘Thank you.’ Emily sounded so pathetically grateful that Mandy felt a stab of pain. Emily had always been so self-sufficient. She had been the one who looked out for everyone else.
‘You should go back to the doctor’s, Mum,’ Mandy said.
Emily sighed. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘My blood tests all came back normal last time. Dr Grace was lovely, but she said she couldn’t find anything else. You know what it’s like. Sometimes it takes ages for things to work.’
Mandy knew that only too well from her vet work. Sometimes there was nothing to do but wait and see.
‘I’d better get off,’ she said. She wished she could stay and help her mum, but the poor lamb couldn’t wait either.
Climbing into the car, she typed a quick text to James. ‘Going to Fordbeck Farm to see a lamb. Helen is in the clinic and will let you in if you arrive before I’m back. See you soon. Mandy x.’
Putting the car into gear, she turned down the lane towards the Fox and Goose, then headed onto the road that led up the fellside towards Black Tor. The lane rose steeply, emerging via a cattle grid onto the wide open moorland. A group of ewes lifted their heads to gaze curiously at the car. Two lambs skipped over the short grass under the late afternoon sky. Poor Mum, Mandy thought again. She would love to see this. Maybe I’ll bring her up here when she’s feeling better.
Jack Spiller was waiting for her in the farmhouse at Fordbeck. He opened the door in his boilersuit and grinned when he saw Mandy. ‘I haven’t seen you for a while,’ he said.
Just then, another car pulled into the yard. ‘Who’s this now?’ he asked, but Mandy recognised the driver.
‘James!’ she cried.
Jack Spiller laughed. ‘I should have known when you arrived that this young man wouldn’t be far behind,’ he grinned. ‘Never would see one of you without the other, back in the day.’
Mandy grinned. ‘The dream team is back!’
James climbed out from behind the steering wheel of his Ford. ‘Evening,’ he said to them both, then looking at Mandy, ‘I got your text message when I stopped for petrol. I thought I’d see if I could catch you.’
‘Great! You’re just in time to be my glamorous veterinary assistant!’ Mandy laughed.
‘No problem.’ James grinned.
‘So where’s this lamb?’ Mandy asked Jack and he led off across the smooth concrete and out into a paddock behind the house.
It wasn’t a bad break. The lamb was surprisingly sprightly on its three good legs, but Mr Spiller had penned it with its mother, so it couldn’t run far. It took only a moment to catch the woolly creature. James steadied the leg as Mandy applied a green padded splint and plenty of padded support bandages. The lamb bleated loudly as James set him back down in the pen, but Mandy was pleased to see he was already beginning to dot the newly bandaged leg on the floor. She grinned as he put his head down under the ewe, feeling for the teat. His tail started to whirl as her milk began to flow. ‘You should bring him into the clinic in a couple of weeks,’ she told Mr Spiller. ‘We’ll check how it’s healing and change the bandage.’
They went inside and washed their hands, then James followed Mandy back out to where their cars were parked. ‘I’ll follow you down,’ he told her.
‘Good.’ Mandy nodded. ‘Bye,’ she waved to Mr Spiller and climbed into the driving seat of her SUV.
She could see James in the rear-view mirror as she drove out onto the narrow lane that led back down towards Welford. It was like a grown-up version of the old days when they would ride their bikes in convoy around the village.
Before her, the village spread out in the last rays of the evening sunshine. There were pink blossoms on the trees on the green and in the churchyard. The Fox and Goose already had a few cars parked outside. The beer garden would be full on a lovely day like this. She bumped over the cattle grid and was back between the high walls. James was still behind her. To her right, the turning for Mr Chadwick’s hamlet led off through a small area of woodland. Mandy slowed down as she reached a bend in the road, and her heart began to race as she saw what was around the corner.
There was a grey van, half-tilted into the ditch, looking like it had just swerved off the road. Mandy slammed on the brakes and was relieved when James did the same, stopping a few yards behind her. Beside the van crouched a dark-skinned man wearing a turban. But what caught Mandy’s eye was the bundle of brown fur huddled in the grass.
Chapter Eight
She was out of her car in an instant. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked the man. The brown bundle moved. A wing extended, flapped weakly and then was still again.
‘I’m okay,’ the man said, still looking down at what Mandy could now see was a tawny owl. ‘It swooped out of nowhere and hit my windscreen,’ he said, finally looking up. Mandy could see he was close to tears. Behind her she heard James’s car door open and shut.
The owl stirred again, lifting its head. This time both wings moved, opening and flapping for a few moments. The bird managed to stutter a few yards along the grassy verge, then came to a halt, looking dazed. Its left wing hung down at its side. Mandy felt sick. If its wing was broken, she might have no option but to euthanise the beautiful creature.
‘It came out of nowhere,’ the man said again. He sounded shocked. He seemed oblivious to the state of his van, or anything else.
‘It’s a bad corner,’ Mandy told him. It was difficult light too, she thought. The sun was dipping below the horizon and must have been in his eyes, maybe in the owl’s too.
‘I don’t know what to do. I think it’s injured.’ He was shaking.
She laid a hand on his trembling shoulder. ‘It’ll be okay,’ she told him. ‘I’m a vet in Welford. We can take it to the clinic.’
‘You’re a vet?’ For the first time, he looked up at her. He had huge brown eyes, which were full of worry.
James had taken off his jacket. ‘Use this,’ he said. Moving round behind the owl, he manoeuvred himself into position while Mandy shifted closer to the bird’s head to prevent it from moving forwards. In a few moments, and with minimal disturbance, James had wrapped his coat around the speckled feathers and had lifted the bird into his arms.
The man was watching them, his eyes wide with relief. ‘What’s your name?’ James asked.
‘Raj,’ the man replied, and held out a hand, then seemed to realise that James had his hands full of owl and awkwardly lowered it again. ‘Raj Singh Bhuppal.’
‘I’m James Hunter,’ James told him with a reassuring smile. ‘And this is Mandy Hope. She’s a brilliant vet.’
Mandy could feel herself blushing, but she took pity on the man and shook his hand. Raj was looking less terrified already. James carried the bundled jacket over to Mandy’s SUV. Turning the internal light on, Mandy helped him unwrap the owl. The owl tried to flap its wings again, so Mandy held it tightly. There was blood on the brown feather
s just in front of the injured left wing. Parting them, Mandy could see a tear in the skin, just in front of the shoulder.
‘We’ll need to get it home to have a better look at that wound,’ she said. They would have to take some X-rays as well to see whether there were any broken bones. Owls were so reliant on flight for catching prey that they needed to be fully fit to survive in the wild.
‘Do you have a box or anything in your car?’ she asked James.
‘I’m afraid not.’ He shook his head.
‘What about you?’ she asked Raj.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he told her. ‘I do food deliveries, but I’m finished for today. The van’s empty.’
Mandy screwed up her face. ‘In that case,’ she said, ‘one of us will have to hold it inside the jacket while the other drives down. We’ll need to leave one of the cars,’ she told James.
James frowned as he looked up and down the narrow lane in the gathering twilight. ‘There really isn’t anywhere to park,’ he said. ‘The road’s too narrow and it’s miles back up to the top of the moor where there’s space.’
‘I’ll hold it.’ For the first time, Raj’s voice was decisive. ‘My van isn’t blocking the road, and it won’t come to any harm. I’ll come back later.’
Mandy was about to say she was sure they could manage, when James stepped in. ‘Thanks very much,’ he said. His voice was warm. ‘That would be a great help. Just hold him firmly, but not too tight, right Mandy?’ He handed over the injured bird, still swaddled in the lightweight jacket, then walked back to his own car. Raj opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat of Mandy’s SUV, still clutching the precious bundle. The owl looked terrified but Raj held it perfectly and they reached Animal Ark without incident. Sky sat in the back of the car, as good as gold.
Mandy was very pleased to see the lights were still on in the clinic. Evening surgery had run on and Rachel had just finished checking the inpatients.
‘Would you mind staying a few minutes longer?’ Mandy asked her, putting her head round the door. ‘I need to anaesthetise an owl.’
‘Of course.’ Rachel closed the cage on the youngest of the animals, a puppy that had been terribly sick and had been on a drip for the past two days. ‘I’ll just wash my hands,’ she said.
Mandy walked back into the prep room. Raj and James stood together in silence. Raj was still clinging onto James’s jacket with the owl inside. ‘I’m just going to set up theatre,’ she told them as Raj handed her the owl.
‘Okay, we’re going to go and see to Raj’s van,’ James said. ‘I’ll be back in a bit.’
Mandy nodded as they left. She was thinking furiously. It would be best to leave the owl wrapped up, if possible. The less it flapped its wings, the less damage it would do. She and Rachel could mask it down, still swathed. It was really important not to cause any more stress than they had to. She would leave its head covered until the last minute.
She flicked a switch on the wall and the overhead suction unit droned into life. Pulling out a cushion and a heat pad from under the counter, she set them on the table and covered them with a disposable blanket. She grabbed a surgical kit and laid it on the side along with some suture material and a scalpel blade. Lastly, she set up the anaesthetic machine, slipping the corrugated tubing into place and attached the mask. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do.
The swing doors opened, and Rachel appeared. Mandy switched on the oxygen. Between them, they unravelled the cloth from the owl’s head. Rachel held the bundle gently on the well-padded cushion while Mandy applied the mask to the owl’s face. Gradually, she added isoflurane to the oxygen. Within a few moments, the owl was still.
Between them, they unwrapped the slim body. Though she had been looking after injured birds for years, Mandy was still amazed by how little birds weighed compared to their animal counterparts. She turned down the gas a little. She didn’t want the bird to wake, but it was equally important that it didn’t go too deep.
Rachel had swung into action. She was already shaving around the wound. Once that was complete, she and Mandy checked the bird over for other injuries. So far as Mandy could tell, nothing was broken.
‘I’ve the X-ray machine set up, just in case you needed it,’ Rachel said. Mandy could have hugged her.
‘We should do that,’ she agreed.
The X-ray was clear. While Mandy scrubbed up, Rachel had checked over the rest of the body. There were no more wounds. She had wrapped the uninjured parts of the bird in bubble wrap to keep it warm, then cleaned out the messy wound on the shoulder. It must have been a stretching injury, Mandy decided as she inspected it under the bright overhead light. If she could suture the muscle well enough, the owl might make a full recovery. Slipping on a pair of surgical gloves, she picked up her scalpel and began to clean the wound, cutting away the dead tissue, then painstakingly began to stitch, pulling the ragged jigsaw back into shape.
By the time she had finished, there was only a neat line in the skin to show there had been a wound. Now she had to immobilise the limb. It was important to give support, but leave the owl with some movement. A few minutes later, she and Rachel stood admiring the neat wrap that encircled the wing. Mandy could only hope that when the owl was awake, it would tolerate the restraint. If it immediately pulled it off, they would have to rethink.
‘We should move it over to Hope Meadows before it wakes up,’ Mandy said.
For now, they would have to put it in a normal cage. It would be lovely to have a proper rehabilitation area for wild birds, she thought. Like everything else, it would cost more than she had just now.
Back out in the waiting room, she was surprised to see Raj sitting in one of the seats beside James. ‘James called Mr Farmer from the garage out to collect the van,’ he said, his eyes shining. He seemed far more relaxed than he had earlier. ‘I wanted to see how the owl was before I went home. Is it going to be all right?’ He stood up and walked towards Mandy, who was carrying the still-sleeping bird.
‘The wing’s not broken, just a nasty tear. I think it should be okay,’ Mandy replied. ‘We’ll keep it in for a few days. It’ll need antibiotics and pain relief and time to heal.’
Raj sighed and smiled. ‘I’m so glad you came along,’ he said. ‘Where will you keep it?’
‘I’m going to take it over to Hope Meadows, our rescue centre,’ Mandy said. ‘It’s just next door and I run it.’
‘I’ve heard of it, actually,’ said Raj with a beaming smile. ‘I didn’t realise it was here in Welford. I always thought it was a great name.’ Mandy glanced at James, a flicker of unease in her stomach. The name Hope Meadows had been chosen by Paul, James’s husband. Would it stir sad memories?
But James looked pleased and proud. ‘It is indeed an excellent name,’ he said, sending Mandy a grin, telling her he was fine.
The three of them crossed the short pathway over to the rescue centre. Mandy’s heart swelled with pride as she led Raj inside the attractive stone building with its huge glass windows, stretching to the roof, though the wonderful view of the fells was invisible in the darkness. She led them into the wildlife section and watched as James set up the cage with Raj’s help. It was fantastic to have James here. He loved animals just as much as she did.
Raj seemed to be almost a kindred spirit. He was in no hurry to escape. Once the owl was in the cage, Mandy placed a towel over half of the door to give it some privacy. The three of them stood well back as the bird began to come round. Though it was bleary-eyed, it remained calm as it woke. After a few minutes, it was on its feet, clinging to the wooden handle they had provided as a perch.
‘We should come out in an hour to offer it some food,’ Mandy whispered. The worry now was whether the shy creature would eat. They tiptoed out, closing the door behind them with a click.
‘How about a cup of tea?’ Mandy offered. She still had to do the evening check of the rest of her furry Hope Meadows inhabitants, but they could wait a little while longer.
Sky and Tango were waiting for them in the house along with Seamus and Lily, James’s beloved dogs. James must have brought them in while she was operating. The three dogs greeted them with their usual bouncing welcome, though Sky regarded Raj with some suspicion. She could often be a little hesitant around men she didn’t know.
Tango had no such reservations. He made a beeline for Raj, tail aloft, and rubbed his face against Raj’s leg. Raj leaned down. He seemed to enjoy the attention as Tango purred loudly, half closing his eyes and pressing his bony ginger face against the steady fingers that were stroking his ears.
Raj’s phone rang just as Mandy set the mugs of tea down on the scrubbed pine table in the kitchen. He pulled his mobile from his pocket, pushed the chair out and wandered over to stand beside the darkened window as he listened. ‘Thanks for letting me know,’ he said a few moments later. He sighed as he ended the call and walked back over to the table.
‘What’s up?’ James asked.
Raj gave a tight smile as he pulled out the chair and sat back down. ‘The van’s going to be out of action until tomorrow,’ he said. ‘They can’t fix it tonight. I need to get home,’ he said. ‘I need to feed my cat.’ A worried frown had appeared between his eyes.
‘Where do you live?’ James asked. ‘I could give you a lift.’
But Raj still looked troubled. ‘Halfway to York, I’m afraid,’ he admitted. ‘It’s a good three-quarters of an hour away. I’ll have to call a cab.’ Tango had returned to his side, but Raj looked distracted as he reached down to stroke the ancient cat again.
‘No need,’ James said. ‘I’ll take you. It’s really no trouble, I do that drive all the time. What about you, Mandy?’ he asked. ‘Will you come?’ James was so easy-going, Mandy thought. The tension had left Raj’s face already.
‘If you don’t mind,’ Mandy looked from James to Raj, then back again, ‘I should stay here and do my evening rounds.’ She smiled at Raj. ‘It’s not just your cat that needs feeding,’ she said with a grin.
