Katie in the Kennel (Humane Society Book 1)

Chapter 1 The Rise and Fall of Katie McKendrick

Katie McKendrick lived her life on her own terms. Never one to sit idly by, she used the gifts and talents she possessed to get as far away from the town that raised her as soon as she could.

Raised by a widowed father, she learned from the locals how to act, how not to act, how to care for animals, and she never got in trouble if she could help it. She continued to live like that even after moving into her luxe condominium in New York.

Katie, an avid animal lover, became the best-known dog-walker in the Big Apple. She had clients crawling over themselves to schedule their dogs into Katie's crammed schedule. When these high strung high society canines went out with Katie, they returned well-mannered, tired, and ready for cuddles. In other words, she created perfect pets by being around them.

Katie started a blog, filmed dog training videos, and her audience grew from one city to the next state. Soon, she was getting questions from audience members as far away as Japan.

Once Katie got invited onto Good Morning America to do dog tricks for stay-at-home parents, that was it. Her star exploded, and the Katie McKendrick Dog Care line was in every PetSmart, PetCo, Target, Walmart, and grocery store in the country.

She was living the high life. She partied with celebrities, wrote training books, and played herself in comedic movies. The awkward, yet polite girl from Paradise Prairie had come a long way.One fall morning, Katie was riding in the backseat of a Lincoln Town Car to her next appointment, with Peony Plumtree of the Upper East Side. It was a long drive for Katie, who lived in the Fort Greene part of Brooklyn, but she enjoyed the ride, as it gave her time to blog.

Paul and Peony Plumtree were an affluent couple who lived in a large townhouse with their two children, Peter and Polly. Paul was a lawyer, while Peony was an odd housewife who loved alliterative names. When Katie introduced herself, Peony Plumtree was only half impressed that Katie's name was somewhat alliterative. Her bleak, blue eyes framed in long, fake eyelashes looked Katie up and down.

"You did call for a training session?" Katie asked, feeling uneasy.

"Yes. I had no idea you'd be so..." With another once-over, she stopped mid-sentence and turned on her heel. The maid motioned for Katie to follow.

She led Katie to the back sunroom, where a camera crew was waiting with the small children and a shrill Pomeranian. The Pomeranian barked at anything and everything that moved."What's with the cameras?" Katie asked Peony Plumtree.

"It's for a new reality show. I knew you wouldn't mind." She brushed Katie off as she strode forward, as she pointed her claw-like pink nails.

Katie got down near the dog, Poochie was his name and waited a few minutes for him to come to her, but he didn't try. His black eyes were beady in terror as he frothed at the mouth and barked at anything that moved.

The crew was quiet, though they appeared bored. Katie held out a hand to Poochie Plumtree, but he snarled at her.

"Get on with it!" Peony Plumtree barked. Poochie snapped at Polly, nipping her lightly. Polly rushed toward her mother, who stepped away at the last moment so Polly ran into her Nanny's arms instead.

Peter, slightly bigger than Polly, was playing with a ball, which suddenly caught Poochie's attention. He growled at Peter, who realized that all eyes and cameras had left Poochie and Katie. The split-second Peter looked away, Poochie pounced, biting for the ball, but chomping Peter's hand instead.

"Aaaaagh!" The portly blonde child belted, half in pain, half making a scene.

The cameras continued rolling as Katie jumped up to grab the dog, not caring if she were to get bitten. Until Poochie bit her harder than she'd ever been bitten before. She felt his needle-like teeth slide through the skin of her forearm, before letting go as she dropped the small dog off a short step that led to the terrace.

"You threw away Poochie!" Polly cried, wagging a chubby finger in Katie's direction. "Mommy! She hurt Poochie!"

Katie's arm was wet and sticky with her own blood, mixed with dog spit. She could hardly hear what was going on around her as adrenaline pumped through her body.

"What have you done to my dog?!" Peony demanded. "How dare you throw a dog, just because you can't handle them. Maybe you shouldn't be handling animals in the first place! I'm calling Oprah!"

The crew of the reality program was in a flurry, recording everything that was going on. Katie hurried to the nearest sink to wash her arm. She kind of hoped she got blood on the carpet.

When her arm was clean, Katie grabbed a paper towel and pressed it against her wound. Peony Plumtree's sycophants were interviewing her on the sofa of the terrace. She held a clearly drugged Poochie. Both of her children by her side.

"I'm shocked. She came so highly recommended. But to be unable to handle demure animals like my Poochie!" She made a smooching sound as she kissed the air above Poochie's head. "She's a disgrace. I'm only sorry I didn't do more research before I hired her."

Dumbfounded, Katie grabbed her things, and rushed out the door. Her good arm reached for her phone to call her lawyer for damage control.

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Thank you for reading the first chapter of "Katie in the Kennel: Humane Society Book 1." Keep an eye out for the next installment, later this week!