Page 30 of Winter Wishes at Pennycress Inn

‘Okay.’ He nodded.

Tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear, she shook her head. ‘No, sorry, that didn’t come out the way I meant it to. I don’t mean you’re awful or if we got together, the relationship would be awful. Far from it. I just need to work on myself. I need to build myself back up again before I even think about trusting anyone in that way again.’

‘I understand.’ He gave her a small smile. ‘I hope we can still be friends?’

‘Yes, of course.’ Scarlett felt a wave of relief wash over her. ‘Please. I’d like that.’

‘Good. I’d like that too.’ Rowan held his arms wide.

Shifting towards the edge of the driver’s seat, she let herself be wrapped in his arms as she reached hers around his back. She hoped they really could continue to be friends. She really hoped. ‘Thank you.’

20

A loud clatter sounded from the back of the van before Claudette’s nose nuzzled them and Scarlett jumped back, her heart racing again. Grimacing, she opened her door and jumped out.

‘Hey, Scarlett. Everything okay?’ Charlie walked towards them, carrying a huge sack in his arms. ‘You jumped out of that van quicker than you might after you’d seen a ghost.’

‘Yep. I’m good. We’ve got Claudette in the back and she just gave me a fright.’ She didn’t need to go into details about her sheep phobia, Charlie clearly doted on Claudette. ‘We found her on the grass verge down the road.’

‘Claudette?’ Charlie frowned and looked down at the sack he was carrying. ‘I’ve only just seen her a few minutes ago. I went to feed her and realised I’d run out of food up at the field so popped back to grab this.’

‘Oh, right.’ Scarlett shoved her hands into her pockets. She couldn’t be certain because she was close to useless when it came to directions, but she’d thought Claudette’s field was on the other side of the farm to where they’d found her wandering in the road. If that was the case, then she was either super-fast or there must be a shortcut somewhere.

A loud noise sounded from the van, and Charlie placed the sack on the ground, leaning up against the fence before slipping through the open gate and peering through the window of the van. ‘Huh, that’s so strange. It can’t have been more than fifteen minutes since I saw her. Although what do I expect when she’s a master at escaping?’

Rowan chuckled. ‘At least she didn’t make it to the village this time.’

‘That’s very true. Fortunately, I’m organised, at least a little anyway.’ He pulled a halter hanging from his back pocket and held it up. ‘I’ve learnt to carry this around with me when I go and check on her as there’s been so many times she’s slipped out of the gate as I’ve been making my way in. Let’s get this little lady back to her field, shall we? Are you okay standing by to grab her if she slips past me when I open the door?’

‘Yes, of course.’ Rowan walked back towards the van, positioning himself between the road and the van door.

‘I’ll get the door.’ Hurrying over, Scarlett placed her hand on the door, waiting for both Rowan and Charlie to nod that they were ready. At least from this position she was helping without having to be directly involved with Claudette. Hopefully.

‘After three?’ Rowan asked before counting down, ‘One, two, three.’

Scarlett pulled the door open gingerly, giving Charlie enough time to step forward. She stifled a scream as Claudette struggled as Charlie placed the halter over her head, only relaxing a little once the halter was in place and Charlie had control.

Looking down as Claudette attempted to pull away from the halter, Charlie frowned. ‘That’s odd; she’s used to this and it doesn’t usually bother her.’

‘Maybe she was enjoying the freedom of the open road.’ Rowan shrugged.

‘Maybe, but…’ Still gripping the lead attached to the halter in his hand, Charlie knelt down in front of Claudette and tilted his head. She continued to pull away even as he reached out and fussed over her, something Charlie had assured Scarlett she loved. Looking back towards Scarlett and Rowan, Charlie raised his eyebrows. ‘This isn’t Claudette.’

‘It’s not?’ Scarlett widened her eyes as she imagined having to manhandle the sheep back into her van and travel for miles with the fear it was going to emerge through the curtain and into the cab once again as she and Rowan tried to locate the farm she’d escaped from. And what if they couldn’t? Would they just end up driving around for hours with the impossibly fluffy cloud-like creature hitching a ride? Or worse, what if Rowan told her he couldn’t come, and she’d be left on her own in the confined space with just the sheep? Clenching her fists, she dug her nails into her palms as she felt a cold sweat begin to form across her forehead. She’d had enough of testing her phobia for today, thank you very much. Heck, she’d had enough contact with a sheep for the rest of her life.

Charlie shook his head firmly. ‘No, Claudette has a little scar above her right eyebrow which she got on one of her escapades in the village. This little one doesn’t.’

‘Right, what now? Should I take her back to where we found her? Or go round the local farms with her to see if anyone is missing her?’

Taking a Rich Tea biscuit from his pocket, Charlie held his hand out, the biscuit lying on the flat of his palm. Without thinking twice, the sheep guzzled the biscuit up before Charlie fussed her head. ‘No, I don’t think so. We all know where this little one will end up if she’s returned, and she’s made it this far.’

‘That’s true. What will happen to her now though?’ Was there a farm animal rescue centre Charlie would take her to?

‘She can have a home here with Claudette. Sheep are social animals, and who knows, if Claudette has someone else to keep her company she might just be less intent on escaping and running off to the village to explore again.’ Charlie chuckled as he stood back up. ‘And there’s only one way to find out if Claudette will tolerate her or not.’

‘You’re going to introduce them now?’ Scarlett asked. Although there was a huge part of her that wanted nothing to do with one sheep, let alone two, she was at least a little curious to see how that introduction would pan out.

‘Come up to the field with me if you like?’ Charlie glanced between Scarlett and Rowan.