String of Fate

Chapter Seventy Eight

I picked up the last of the four dogs that I was walking today and started heading in the direction of the park. I loved walking the dogs that I did the dog walking for, but they were a peculiar bunch. I had Spot, a Jack Russell, Curly, the Bichon Frise, Tiffy, the Pomeranian, and Donny, the Dalmatian. I guess that I was just lucky that they all got on.

I walked through the gates to the park and headed down the path to the back corner where I could let them run the whole length of their leads. It was so quiet in the corner of the park. I headed there and sat in my usual spot on one of the old walls there that were beginning to crumble. As usual, Tiffy hopped up next to me for cuddles while the other three ran about. I was surprised that they didn't tangle their leads together.

After giving them a couple of minutes to run about the section of the park, I decided that it was actually time to give them a proper walk. I stood up, Tiffy taking it was a sign that we were moving and jumping off the wall to land by my feet. With her quick movement, her lead kind slipped from my hand.

I expected Tiffy to stand by me like she usually did, but then she started running off – away from me and the other dogs. It was really unlike her – and I was stuck untangling the other leads as she ran off. "Tiffy! Wait!"

I had to stop untangling the other leads, starting to run after Tiffy. Spot and Curly lagged a little behind me as I ran, but Donny was in front of me as we headed down the path that Tiffy had run down. I was glad that Donny didn't run ahead because he easily could if he wanted to.

The weird group of us headed around the corner that Tiffy had run around and I felt a little bit of relief as I saw Tiffy. It just surprised me a little as I saw where she actually was. She was in the arms of a tall, strong looking guy with short brown hair. Tiffy looked extremely happy to be fussed by this guy in his arms. The guy also had a dog that was sitting next to his feet – a huge Alaskan Malamute that actually looked like he was grinning with his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he panted.

I came to a stop now that I knew that Tiffy was not running about, which made me pull a little on Donny's lead, who managed to stop. Spot and Curly, on the other hand, didn't realise that I was stopping and they both knocked into me, causing me to fall over. I landed a little hard on the floor, somehow managing to bring my arms up in time to not hit my face and keep a hold of the three leads that I had left. I may have made a sound as I landed.

I turned over, groaning as I did so. I saw a lot of shadows across my vision but blinked to notice that it was all the dog heads and the guy, who was still holding Tiffy. He looked a little concerned as he looked down at me. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, thank you, I'm just not used to running with all the dogs. It's the first time one has run off on me so I had to catch her." I replied, sitting up and pushing my hair out of my face. I checked my hand and arms and noticed that everything was fine. There was a little scrape on my left hand, but it's nothing that would kill me. I stood up and brushed off the back of my jeans, gesturing to Tiffy in the guy's arms. "Thank you for catching her for me."

"Oh, this little ball of fluff is yours?" He asked, fussing Tiffy on the head again. She gave a little happy bark.

"Technically, no, but I walk dogs for four elderly people in the neighbourhood daily and she's Tiffy." I explained to him, glancing down and starting to untangle the other leads. "I've been doing it for a few months now since I like dogs but my parents won't let me get one. This helps, and the exercise is good."

"Yes, that is true." He replied, putting Tiffy on the floor and handing me the lead back. "I should let you get on with it then. It was nice to meet you, though. Hopefully, I'll see you around. Come on, Bear."