Jamie Campbell - A Hairy Tail 2

A HAIRY TAIL 2

Also by theAuthor:

Ashes to Ashes

Gifted

Trouble

Dark Eyes

A World Without Angels

Before The Fall

Cinderella is Evil

A Hairy Tail

A HAIRY TAIL 2

JAMIE CAMPBELL

Copyright 2013 JamieCampbell.

Smashwords Edition.

Jamie Campbell asserts the moral rightto be identified as the author of this work.

This novel is entirely a work offiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it arethe work of the authors imagination. Any resemblance to actualpersons, living or dead, events or localities is entirelycoincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of thispublication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permissionof the author.

DEDICATION

For Tom.

CHAPTER 1

T here were so many kittens surrounding Hannah she thought forsure they were going to overpower her. But they were so delicateand fluffy that they wouldnt be able to do anything except killher with cuteness. It wouldnt be a bad way to go.

She giggled to herself as she stoppedtwo of the little cats from being tangled in her shoelaces. All thekittens were less than a month old, they weighed practicallynothing and were still trying to get used to walking. They wereadorable in their clumsiness.

Hannah stood in the middle of them,unable to even comprehend being able to find homes for them all.They couldnt stay at the animal shelter forever; they needed to beplaced into homes so they could be part of a family. That was hermission, but she had no idea how she was going to do it.

She suddenly felt arms snake aroundher waist, locking together over her stomach. She leaned back intoHarry, feeling right at home in his arms.

I dont know whats cuter,you or these kittens, he whispered in her ear, just loud enoughfor only the two of them to hear.

Hannah couldnt stop the smilespreading across her face, nor could she remove it. Ever since shemet Harry, she didnt think she would ever be able to erase thatsmile. There was something about him that had such an effect onher, like she was struck with lightning every time he wasnear.

Youre such a liar, sheteased back at him, holding onto his arms so he couldnt take themaway. But I like you anyway.

Im not lying, its adifficult decision.

I would vote for thekittens, nothing beats a kitten for cuteness.

He leant his head on her shoulder indefeat, giving up. Fine. But you are a very close runnerup.

He dropped his arms to crouch down andpick up two of the grey kittens. They pawed at him playfully, tinyin his hands. The mother watched on from the side, too tired to doanything about it. She was over her protectiveness, there were toomany to mollycoddle.

Hannah sat on the ground and strokedthe mom; she had done well looking after her babies. She deserved arest. How are we going to find them all homes?

Harry shrugged. I dont know. Wemight have to put up a serious amount of posters to let people knowwe have more kittens than we know what to do with.

We could convince theradio to make an announcement. Or set up an information boothsomewhere. We could fundraise at the same time. Hannah wasinstantly excited by the idea. Spending her summer volunteering atthe animal shelter was one thing, but she didnt want to stopthere. Not after all the good she had seen take place within thewalls.

All excellent ideas, Corycommented from the door. Feel free to do it, we need all the helpwe can get. Its been a bumper kitten season this year.

I cant believe people canjust dump their cats like this, Hannah muttered, picking up alittle tabby. Who wouldnt want these little guys?

Plenty of people, trustme, Cory said before she retreated back into her office. She wasthe manager of the shelter, there nearly twenty-four hours a day tomake sure everything ran smoothly.

The bell on the reception door rang,signaling an end to their kitten time. Hannah and Harry carefullyplaced their cats back onto the ground and hurried through to thepublic area, hoping it wasnt another delivery of unwantedbabies.

A woman stood there, not holding anyanimals but with her brow wrinkled in distress.

Can I help you? Hannahasked, fearing there must be something seriously wrong with theirvisitor. She was clearly in distress.

My dog is missing, I cantfind her anywhere. Please, you have to help me find her. The wordscame so fast they both had to concentrate to understandher.

Harry pulled out a missing animalreport sheet. We will need to fill in this report and then we cansee if shes here anywhere. What type of dog is it?

A Cocker Spaniel. Hernames Lolly and shes only a puppy. She cant look after herself,she wont last a night out in the cold.

Hannah wanted to point out that it wassummer and the nights were still balmy, there was no chance of thedog freezing to death, but she held her tongue. The poor woman wasin enough distress.

We havent had any CockerSpaniels come into the shelter, Harry replied. But we can keep alookout for Lolly and call you if someone turns her in.

I guess thats something,the woman sighed.

Harry ran through the rest of the formwith her, covering everything from when she last saw Lolly to howshe might have escaped. According to the woman, the dog was lockedin her yard with absolutely no way of escaping by herself anyway.She mentioned Lolly was being trained to compete in dog shows. Ifshe didnt get her back, then she would have to start all overagain with a new dog. And she would probably be too heartbroken todo that.

Well call you if Lollycomes in, Hannah said, giving her a comforting smile. She didnthave any pets herself but could imagine how awful it would be tohave one missing. It wasnt like they could call and let you knowthey were safe. It was unlikely the puppy would even be able tofind her way home if she got lost.

Please look out for her, Icant live without my little Lolly, the woman begged beforecasting one more heart wrenching look their way. She shuffled out,leaving them both feeling awful for her loss.

Youre getting good atfilling in those reports, Hannah pointed out once they were aloneagain. How many is that this week?

Thats the fifth one inless than a week.

Thats a lot of dogs to gomissing, is that normal?

Harry shook his head sadly. Ivenever heard of that many being missing before.

A run of people beingcareless? Hannah offered. It was summer and people did tend to beoutdoors more. That could easily lead to more gates beingaccidently left open, more dogs escaping their leash in the parks,any number of things.

Probably, Harry agreedbefore taking a step closer to her. I hope you remember our datetonight? Prepare to have your mind blown.

You talk it up enough, Ihope you can live up to my expectation, Hannah teased. Harry hadbeen talking about their first official date for days. He wouldntreveal any of the details, just teased her with hints. So far, sheknew it had something to do with water and there would be dinnerinvolved. She was clueless about what he had arranged.

I offer a money backguarantee if youre not completely satisfied. Hannah blushed as hetook her hand. Trust me, it will be spectacular. Ill pick you upat eight.

She nodded and watched him disappearinto the back of the shelter. Thinking about their date made herterrified and excited at the same time. Either she was going tospend the entire night freaking out, or she would be able to relaxand enjoy it. It could still go either way.

She picked up the missing pet reportand filed it with the others, hoping they would all get resolvedsoon.

CHAPTER 2

T heminute Hannah stepped into her house, she felt like running rightback out again. She had made a huge mistake telling both her momand best friend about her big date. As she looked at both of them,grinning like fools in front of her, she vowed she wouldnt makethat mistake again.