You're the One by Angela Verdenius Page B

chase you? He’d have eaten you for
dinner!”
    “Ugh.” Del
have a shudder. “That dog was big enough to eat both of us.”
    “Whose dog was
it?”
    “Cutter’s,
maybe. I don’t know. I do know that the bloke who leashed it was a
sadistic bastard.”
    Mr Miller
fingered the edge of the newspaper. “Cutter and another bloke
showed up on your property? Last night?”
    “In the dark?”
Mrs Miller added.
    Uh oh. “They
came for the dog. Okay, I gotta go and pick up Missy’s food or I’ll
be late to open the shop.” Del gave her parents a quick wave and
made for the door.
    “That Cutter
is bad news.” Mrs Miller hurried behind her, Missy clutched in her
arms. “You be careful around him.”
    “I’m not
making friends with him, Mum. Not him or Dawson or-”
    “Brand Dawson
turned up as well?”
    Crap on a
stick. Del barrelled out the front door. “They came for the dog,
remember? Not for a cup of tea.” She shut the door before her
mother could go any further. “Don’t keep the door open, Mum, or
Missy will get out.”
    That
effectively stopped her mother. For all of about three seconds. She
simple started calling through the door as Del escaped to the car.
“I’m worried, Del!”
    “No need, Mum.
I’m fine. Just look after Missy for me until tonight, okay?” She
opened the car door. “See you shortly.”
    Oh boy. Del
drove into town. Talk about a slip of the tongue. She shouldn’t
have mentioned the blokes that was for sure. Now her parents would
start worrying.
    The
supermarket was quiet, only a few people in the aisles doing early
morning shopping. Will, the rotund, grey-haired owner, called a
cheerful greeting to her, which she returned before disappearing
into the pet food aisle where she chose a number of small tins, a
box of kitten biscuits and several small cartons of kitten milk.
She was sorely tempted to get a litter tray and some litter, but
mindful that the kitten might belong to someone and be claimed, she
resisted. The small box filled with sand would do for now.
Surprisingly, the thought of Missy going to someone else didn’t
make her happy. Funny how fast she was becoming attached to her.
Not a good thing. She could become attached once she found out if
Missy had an owner or not. Another job to do today.
    Del headed
back to her parent’s house with the bag of food and milk, dropping
it off quickly and making her getaway before her mother could grill
her too much more about keeping bad company and being careful.
    For sure it
wasn’t going to be the last she heard of it. She had to pick Missy
up that night and return her the next morning and…and maybe she
wouldn’t have her by tonight, never mind tomorrow night. Sobering
thought. Hopefully no one would come forward. Sometimes it sucked
being honest.
    By lunchtime
she’d put a notice up in the shop window, had Dee put one up in
hers, Will on the supermarket notice board, rung the vet, the
stock-feeders, the two churches, the cop shop and the estate agent.
Figuring she’d done as much as she could - no way was she forking
out for a notice in the local rag, she had to drawn the line
somewhere with her budget - Del locked the shop and headed into the
newsagents.
    Dee looked up
from where she was cleaning out the display case holding a small
selection of mobile phones and covers. “Hungry?”
    “Yep.” Del
waved an apple and the foam cup of instant noodles she’d dug out of
the back of the pantry.
    “Wow. Talk
about a feast.”
    “Nothing wrong
with instant noodles.”
    “Someone say
noodles?” A voice asked cheerfully from behind them.
    Del turned as
Ash and Molly entered. Her gaze fell on Molly’s empty arms. “Hey,
where’s the baby?”
    “Lily is with
Mrs Miller. Not your mum,” Molly added. “Dee’s mum.”
    “Why’s she
with Aunt Beth?”
    “Because I
mentioned that I was working three mornings a week at the bakery
again. The bakery is happy for my shifts to be when Kirk’s off duty
so he can have the baby,