Chapter 7

 

 

Nothing was going to dampen Hannah’s mood. Not when she had an idea for saving the animals. She hurried into the shelter, desperate to tell everyone.

“Cory, I know how we can raise the money,” she started eagerly. Harry joined them at the office door, making sure he didn’t miss out on what was exciting her so much. “All we have to do-”

“You are never going to guess who my dad got for the concert,” Jessie interrupted, parading into the shelter like she owned the place.

“Who? Don’t keep us guessing,” Cory insisted.

“Yeah, we want to know,” Harry added. Hannah remained quiet, her idea overshadowed by the news.

“Lady Antelope,” Jessie said, beaming with pride. “They’ve agreed to perform and we’ll have them for the entire day. How great is it going to be?”

Cory squealed. “I love them!”

“I know, right? They’re like the best.”

“Well done, Jess,” Harry commended, patting her on the back. He turned to Hannah. “It’s great news, huh?”

Hannah forced a smile to her lips. “Great, really great.” She didn’t want to join in the celebrations. Instead, she picked up a broom and got to work while they raved on about how wonderful the concert was going to be.

She knew she should be happy that Jessie’s dad booked Lady Antelope for the concert. They were a big deal, she knew they would have no problems selling tickets with them on board. But she couldn’t stop the feelings of jealousy that engulfed her. They had wasted no time in dismissing her for Princess Jessie. That was the fact that hurt the most.

She spent the rest of the morning avoiding everyone. Harry, Cory, and Jessie were all walking on clouds with the news. Their smiles and laughter just grated on Hannah’s nerves. Every sweep of the broom or swipe of the cloth grew more and more forceful. If she didn’t get out of there soon, she was going to explode.

“Hey, Hannah,” Harry called out, getting her attention. “Do you feel like helping me hang posters for the concert?”

It was the outing she desperately needed. “Sure,” she replied, putting down the mop she was holding. She placed a Slippery When Wet sign on the floor and hurried out.

Harry was waiting on his bicycle, a stack of freshly printed posters underneath his arm. “I thought we’d cover the town in concert ads. What do you think?”

“You only have concert posters there?” He nodded in response. “Wait here while I grab something.”

She raced inside and grabbed a pile of kitten posters. If they were going to blanket the city, she wanted to make sure everyone knew they had kittens for adoption too. Even if one failed, hopefully the other wouldn’t.

She hurried back outside and tied the posters to the back of the bike. It would be a bit of a juggling act but she would do it. They set off and headed for anywhere they could hang posters – notice boards, light poles, parking garages, anywhere there was a blank canvas. And even some not so blank places got a cover too.

Next to each of the concert posters, Hannah made sure to hang Kittens For Adoption signs too. If the headline act didn’t get their attention, then a cute fluffy kitten would. Hannah knew which one would get her eyes to look first and it wasn’t the concert.

As they started cycling back after all the posters were gone, Harry slowed down so they could talk. “The concert’s going to be amazing. We’ll have that twenty thousand easy.”

“We’d better,” Hannah replied. She didn’t mean it to sound as curt as it actually did.

“What do you mean?”

“I guess I’m just nervous that we’re putting all our hopes on one concert,” she tried to explain, feeling like she was just wasting her breath. “If something happens, then we don’t have a backup plan. The shelter will close.”

Harry shook his head. “How could it not work? It’s Lady Antelope. Those kinds of bands never play in places like this. Everyone in town will go to it, perhaps even some from around the place. They’ll travel just to see them.”

Hannah shrugged, her theory of wasting her breath confirmed. There was no point in arguing, it was Princess Jessie that could do no wrong. “I hope you’re right.”

“Of course we’re right. We’re going to save the shelter.” He smiled, trying to reassure her. She couldn’t believe she was the only one that was seeing sense in the whole plan. Putting all your eggs in one basket was risky and, considering the lives of dozens of animals was at stake, she didn’t think the potential reward outweighed the risk. Her scientific brain wouldn’t allow it.

They returned to the shelter in silence. The outing helped Hannah calm down a bit from her frustration but only slightly. She started feeding the dogs, hoping they would bring a smile to her face. Harry followed close behind.

“You don’t agree with the concert, do you?” He asked, finally getting it.

Hannah stopped, mid-scoop, to look at him. “I’m worried about the animals. At the end of the day, we can go home to our houses and pretend like everything is okay. These animals can’t. We are all they have and if they don’t have the shelter, then they won’t have a future. I want to protect them.”

He took a step to stand beside her, placing his hands on her shoulder, he give her a squeeze. “It’s going to be okay. The concert will keep the doors open, you’ll see. The animals will all be fine. We wouldn’t let anything happen to this place, you know that.”

She didn’t know that, not for sure and she knew he didn’t either. His gentle lies were not enough, not when the stakes were so high. “But what happens if we fail? What happens if we have to shut the doors?”

“We won’t let it get to that point.”

“So we’ll just magically conjure up the twenty thousand dollars we need?” She shrugged his hands away, not wanting to be near him suddenly. The room felt too small and stuffy. She placed the food bowl in the dog’s cage to cover her discomfort.

“We’ll get it someway. My parents-” He was cut off as Jessie entered, interrupting was starting to become a habit.

“Oh, good, Harry you’re back. I can’t remember how to mix the rabbit food. Will you show me?” She cocked her head to one side, just like the dogs did when they were silently asking a question.

Hannah wasn’t going to let Harry fall for her ruse. She could see right through the girl. She stepped forward. “I’ll show you. Harry can finish feeding the dogs.”

The disappointment was written across her face. “Oh, if you’re sure, that would be great. Thanks.” Jessie disappeared back through the doorway. Hannah followed, not even looking for Harry’s reaction.

She mixed the food, giving clear instructions as she went. It wasn’t like it was hard – one scoop of grain to every scoop of the mixture. One for one, it wasn’t rocket science. Maybe just for Jessie it was hard, Hannah thought.

After they fed the rabbits, Hannah had an idea. Coco’s voice was replaying in her mind, telling her to befriend the girl instead of thinking of her as an enemy. “Hey, Jessie, do you want me to help you bathe the dogs? That was on your list today, right?”

“Yeah, that would be great,” Jessie replied eagerly. Together, they ran the water and pulled the first dog from the cages. Hannah made sure it was the little white one, the one that loved jumping out of the bath when you were least expecting it.

“We should start with Toto,” she said, slowly placing the dog into the warm water.

Hannah stood back and just watched it unfold. She only felt slightly guilty as Jessie was soon splashed and covered in water. So much for her expensive, dry clean only outfit. She should have known better than to wear it to an animal shelter.

She giggled, trying not to laugh. “I guess he’s not enjoying the bath so much.”

“You think?” Jessie grumbled, trying to get a hold of the sopping wet dog.

Hannah couldn’t take it anymore, the whole scene was way too funny. Finally, Jessie was getting some of the true shelter experience – just like everyone else who had volunteered there. “Do you need help?”

Jessie humphed, trying to blow back the stray pieces of hair over her face while her hands were occupied. Hannah stepped in, not wanting the dog to suffer from her incompetence. She pulled Toto from the water and held a towel up while he shook himself.

“Did you enjoy that boy, huh?” She cooed, like she didn’t have a problem in the world. She towel dried the dog as best she could while Jessie cleaned herself up. Not that there was much she could do, she didn’t exactly bring a change of clothes with her.

“Maybe you should grab Ruffles before you dry, he’s a bit of a jumper too,” Hannah suggested, nodding towards one of the other cages where a fat Labrador lay down. Jessie groaned and followed her directions.

The next two hours was spent the same way. By the end of it, there was not one part of Jessie still dry. From head to foot, she was covered in dog bath water and soapy suds. Her outfit, along with her perfectly done hair, were almost unrecognizable.

Guilt started to creep onto Hannah’s radar. She didn’t normally enjoy seeing people suffer, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t gone through herself when she first started volunteering. It was a ritual, all the newbie’s got to bath the animals. She was just lucky she hadn’t told her to bath the cats instead. That was a painful experience.

“What should I do now?” Jessie finally asked, using one of the dog’s towels to dry her hair. Hannah was mildly surprised, she expected her to run home even though her shift wasn’t finished yet.

Hannah looked around, trying to work out what else needed to be done. There was one thing, but was she cruel enough to get her to do it? Would she do it?

“Uh, the cages need cleaning?” She half asked, half suggested.

“All the cages?”

“We have to do them regularly or the animals might get sick. Plus, it makes everything smell much better in here.”

Jessie sighed. “Where do I start?”

Hannah reached over and grabbed a dustpan, handing it over. “Start with the big stuff first and then disinfect.”

She watched as Jessie got to work. Hannah retreated to the kittens, making sure the mothers and babies were okay. As she saw Jessie struggling with the mess, she started to wonder whether she had misjudged her.

Sure, Jessie was a spoilt little rich girl and she was probably manipulating Harry to spend time with him. If Hannah turned her back and let her guard down, she would probably stab her in the back too. But Jessie was trying. She could have given up and she definitely didn’t have to follow Hannah’s directions.

But she did and she was actually doing it pretty well. And without complaining. A pang of guilt was definitely creeping in.