Laura Marlin Mysteries 1: Dead Man's Cove eBook (14 page)

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Authors: St John Lauren

‘Put to sleep?’ Laura was aghast.
The woman looked away. ‘It’s hideous, I know, but what choice do I have?’
She took out a tissue and blew her nose hard. ‘He senses that this afternoon I’m going to take him to a rescue centre, I’m convinced he does. They call dogs Man’s Best Friend, but it doesn’t always work the other way round.’
Laura said: ‘I’ll take him.’
The woman gave a surprised laugh. ‘You?’
‘Yes. I love animals and Skye is the most beautiful dog I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ll need to check with my uncle, but if he says yes I’ll take him.’
The shop bell tinkled. An over-tanned woman in a black hat swept in and said: ‘Is your Siberian husky still for sale? He’s too precious. I saw your “Home Desperately Wanted” sign when I was walking past yesterday and I said to my husband, Robert, “We must have him, poor thing,” and he said, “Absolutely, darling!” So here I am.’
She looked from the store owner to Laura and back again. ‘Don’t tell me I’ve been pipped to the post. He’s still available, isn’t he?’
The store owner was disconcerted. ‘I was just telling -
’
‘Laura.’
‘I’m Barbara. Laura here is also interested in adopting him. I was telling her — ’
The woman in the hat eyed Laura competitively: ‘Is it a question of cash? What do you want for him? I’ll give you a hundred pounds. Oh, make it two hundred. It’s only money. He’ll look fabulous in our new London pad. We’ve had it all decked out in white.’
Laura wanted to shout: ‘He’s not a living decoration, you know. What about love? How much of that are you going to give him? What about exercise and fun and companionship?’
‘Why don’t you take a closer look at him,’ Barbara suggested. As she reached for the husky’s collar, she winked at Laura. ‘Come, Skye, meet your potential new owner. She has a fabulous London apartment where you’ll be so much more comfortable than you were in our ramshackle seaside cottage.’
Reluctantly, the husky stood up and hopped out of the basket. The woman’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘He’s deformed.’
‘No,’ corrected Barbara, ‘Skye is one hundred per cent fit and healthy. He just happens to have three legs. When he was six months old, he was hit by a car and had to have a foreleg amputated.’ She pulled him towards her so his right side was exposed.
‘He’s two years old now and one of the most athletic dogs I know. He’s not himself at the moment, but usually he’s very loving. He’s a fierce guard dog too.’
The other woman looked at her watch. ‘Gosh, is that the time? I must be getting back or Robert will be fretting. We’ll discuss it, but I’m afraid it’s likely to be a no. The kind of circles we move in would expect us to have a normal dog.’
She was gone in a tinkle of the shop bell. Skye sank into his basket and covered his nose with his paw. ‘I wouldn’t be in the circles she moves in for all the chocolate in Switzerland,’ said Barbara. ‘I’m so sorry, Skye. I tried. I really did.’
‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’ Laura reminded her. ‘I’ve already said I want him.’
Barbara stared at her. ‘I thought you’d have changed your mind like all the others, because he isn’t “normal”.’
‘He’s better than normal,’ said Laura. ‘He’s special. That makes me want him even more.’
Before she could move, Barbara had hugged her. ‘Oh, thank you, Laura. Thank you, thank you, thank you.’
Laura wriggled free. ‘Don’t thank me until I’ve spoken to my uncle.’ She went to get her mobile phone from her school bag, but it wasn’t there. She’d left it on her bedside table. Squatting down, she gave Skye a kiss on his forehead.
‘Don’t go anywhere,’ she told him. ‘I’ll be back shortly, I promise.’
Laura went directly to the harbour, stopping only to grab a Cornish pasty so she didn’t faint from hunger. Her enquiries about the birdwatcher, ‘J’ and Mrs Webb would have to wait. She wasn’t sure where her uncle worked, but they’d be able to tell her at the Harbour Master’s office.
The Harbour Master came to the door when she knocked. He had sun-narrowed blue eyes and multiple tattoos. ‘Calvin Redfern? That’s some name,’ he said in response to her enquiry. ‘In the theatre, is he?’
Laura was frantic to get back to the shop in case Barbara decided she wasn’t returning and took Skye to the rescue centre. The thought made her sick. She said: ‘He’s a fisheries man. He counts fish stocks. Oh, you must know him. He’s down here all the time.’
‘The government officials who deal with such matters - the “fisheries” men as you call them - they don’t grace us with their presence too often because they’ve got the fishermen doing all their work for them. No time to fish any more, fishermen don’t, because they’re too busy filling in government forms. Load of old tosh it is if you ask me. As if a scientist at a desk in London could know more about fish stocks than men who’ve spent thirty years at sea.’
‘Please,
I have to find my uncle. It’s an emergency. He definitely works for the fisheries.’
The Harbour Master’s radio buzzed and he turned it down. ‘Not here in St Ives, he doesn’t, love. I know all the government officials and I can promise you there’s no Calvin Redfern. There’s a Dave Lawson, a Keith Showbuck, a Roberto Emmanuel, a —
’
Laura cut him off in mid-flow. ‘Thanks. You’ve been very helpful.’
She ran all the way to the clothing shop. Skye lifted his head as she entered. On the counter was a dog bowl, a box of biscuits, some flea powder, and a brown leather lead.
Barbara clapped her palms together. ‘Your uncle said yes?’
‘He didn’t get a chance to say no,’ Laura admitted, clipping the lead onto the husky’s collar. ‘It’ll be fine. Skye’s coming with me.’
16
‘IT’S NOT ME
you have to persuade, it’s Lottie,’ said Calvin Redfern, giving Skye a rub behind the ears. The husky was lying at the foot of Laura’s bed, where he’d taken up residence as soon as they’d arrived home. There’d been a hint of disapproval in her uncle’s stare when he saw the husky stretched out on the clean duvet, but to Laura’s relief he hadn’t given her a lecture.
Nor had he had a fit about her acquiring Skye in the first place. Laura had been braced for a confrontation. Weighed down by dog food and the accessories given to her by Barbara, she’d brought the husky to 28 Ocean View Terrace via the most direct route. The walk up the hill from Fore Street had taken an age because she kept stopping to admire him.
To Laura, Skye was nothing short of magnificent. She felt as if she suddenly owned her own wolf, although his aristocratic manner suggested that he owned her. She felt proud walking beside him. All the way home she’d thought dreamily about the wonderful adventures they were going to have together. Skye, for his part, had recovered his confidence as soon as he discovered that he was no longer unwanted and in trouble for making a baby allergic, but completely adored by Laura.
To avoid awkward questions from Mrs Webb, Laura had smuggled Skye into the house and up the stairs. She didn’t want the housekeeper seeing him before her uncle did. Upstairs in her room she’d fed him and filled up a big bowl of water for him. He’d wolfed down the biscuits as if he hadn’t eaten in days. Laura considered that a good sign, especially since Barbara had told her he’d been off his food. When she indicated that it was fine for him to get on the bed, he’d licked her hand and pressed his wet nose against her. Laura knew in that instant she’d made a friend for life. She could hardly believe her good fortune. He was the perfect dog for a detective.
Now her uncle was telling her that Skye might not be able to stay after all. Laura felt the ground shift beneath her feet. It hadn’t occurred to her that it might be Lottie, not her uncle, who refused to accept Skye.
‘But Barbara, who gave him to me, told me he was no trouble at all and is very friendly,’ she pleaded.
She didn’t mention that Barbara had also told her that many Siberian huskies ended up in pet shelters because owners couldn’t cope with their unique character traits. They could be highly disobedient, loved digging holes, were always escaping, and required a massive amount of exercise every day. But, Barbara promised, they were also tremendously loyal and affectionate.
Laura crossed her fingers behind her back and hoped that he was more loyal and affectionate than disobedient.
‘He does seem to have a nice nature,’ agreed her uncle. ‘He’s a very handsome dog, although he’s quite thin and anyone can see he’s had a hard time. Well, let’s hope that Lottie takes to him.’ To Laura’s relief, he didn’t seem in the least bit concerned that Skye had a missing leg.
‘What happens if she doesn’t?’
‘We’ll have to find him a new home. Laura, you need to be realistic. Worst case scenario, we’ll have to return him. I totally understand why you did what you did - I’d have done the same in that situation - but you should have checked with me first.’
Laura jumped to her feet, startling Skye. ‘There’s no way I’m taking him back. Barbara will rush him straight to the rescue centre. And I did try to get permission from you. I went to the harbour and they’ve never heard of you down there. They said you don’t work for the fisheries at all. So what is it that you really do when you go walking around in the dead of night? Or is that a secret, too, like everything else around here?’
A muscle worked in Calvin Redfern’s cheek and all at once he was the towering, remote stranger he had been on the night she first crossed his threshold. He turned abruptly and strode over to the window. ‘Is that how you think of life here, as full of secrets?’
Laura didn’t answer. She bent down and put her arm around the husky. He licked her on the cheek. When she glanced up, her uncle was watching her.
‘I’m not going to lie to you, Laura. There are no easy answers to your questions. None of this was planned, you know. I never intended to bring a child into this situation. But before you go getting on your high horse, it never crossed my mind not to open my home to you when Social Services contacted me. As soon as I knew you existed, I wanted you with me. And I love having you here - you’ll never know how much. I’m just trying to say that I’m aware of my limitations.
‘As for my job, I
do
work for the fisheries department, but I work undercover. I report directly to the head of it. I patrol the coastline at night and hang around when the catches come in first thing in the morning. That gives me a chance to keep an eye on any boat netting more fish than it’s legally entitled to. I’ve taken good care to ensure that nobody at the harbour knows who I am or what I’m up to. My job depends on it. As far as they’re concerned, I’m a retired fisherman who does some work for the coastguard. Now, if you have no other questions for the time being, perhaps we should attempt to get our dogs acquainted.’
Laura nodded dumbly. She called Skye, pleased when he responded to his name, and the three of them went downstairs. Lottie was lying in front of the Aga in the kitchen. As soon as she saw the husky, she gave a savage growl. Three deafening barks followed. Skye went rigid. Laura lunged for his collar, but before she could grab him he’d dropped to his belly and begun to wriggle forward, eyes lowered.
Lottie continued snarling until the husky rolled on his back and put his paws in the air. A puzzled expression came over the wolfhound’s face. She sniffed him at length and then flopped grumpily down in front of the stove. After a few minutes, Skye joined her. Lottie opened one eye but soon closed it again.

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