Every Vow You Break by Julia Crouch Read Free Book Online Page B

and headed out of town, welcoming the tall trees that lined the road, enjoying the extra oxygen that seemed to pool underneath them. She powered on up a slight slope and took a turn along an unmetalled track running parallel to the river. Mist spilled out of the wild flowers that formed a hedgerow before the forest proper began. Her footsteps echoed in the empty countryside, and she settled into her rhythmic running breathing. She rounded a bend and came upon a large white bungalow set on a massive lawn manicured to within an inch of its life. Two four-wheel-drive vehicles sat on the driveway and, like everywhere else, the place appeared to be deserted.
    ‘Ugh,’ Lara said. It looked like the kind of place you suffocated in. She carried on, but a fearsome barking from behind the bungalow made her stop in her tracks and pause her iPod. A large black dog rocketed across the grass, straight towards her. Standing still and keeping her eyes on it, Lara bent and picked up two stones. She had read somewhere this was the thing to do. If an animal came at you, you chucked the first like a ball and shouted ‘Fetch!’ hoping your attacker would be fooled into playing with you. If that failed, you kept the second to use as a weapon.
    Lara threw the first stone. It had no effect on the dog, which she could see now was at least half Rottweiler, red-eyed and foam-jawed. She braced herself with the second, ready to kill the beast if necessary. It continued to bound towards her, its legs pelting so quickly they blurred into one. But, as she raised the stone above her head, the creature seemed to hit an invisible brick wall, jolting backwards with a yelp. Lara noticed a line of metal poles, each about the size of a fairy wand, stuck into the lawn at regularly spaced intervals. That was what was stopping it.
    Regaining its composure instantly, the animal continued to bark, snarling and baring its teeth, but unable to get at her. Other distant dogs took up its noise, echoing around the surrounding hills.
    ‘Extraordinary,’ she said, sticking her tongue out at it. She dropped the stone and picked up her pace.
    She had only run a couple of hundred yards when another large dog came loping along the road towards her. Like its predecessor, it clearly had her in its sights; but it had a different air to it. Lara looked around for stones, but there were none close to hand. She froze, hoping by doing so she would show the creature she was no threat.
    A few paces away from Lara, the dog stopped and stared at her with round, yellow eyes. It was enormous, bigger even than the previous animal, like a black Great Dane. It hunkered down and she got herself ready, her fists clenched, to deliver a punch to the heart as it launched itself at her. But, to her astonishment, it settled on the ground and gazed up at her, whimpering.
    ‘Hello, boy,’ Lara offered, and held out a hand. Better to make a friend than an enemy.
    Keeping himself low, the dog crawled along the dirt road towards her, until his muzzle was close to her fingers. As Lara held her breath, he touched his nose to her palm. She reached forward to stroke him and he leaned into her, rubbing himself around her like a cat. Then he sat and held a front leg out.
    ‘Pleased to meet you,’ Lara said, shaking his paw. She felt round his neck for a collar so she could address him by name, but there wasn’t one. ‘What shall I call you? How about Dog? Better be getting on my way, Dog.’
    She started to walk away from the animal, then stopped and looked back. He sat there, watching her leave, seeming as if he would wave at her if he could.
    She ran on with no further incident – except nearly running into a bright blue bird with a reversed quiff jutting from the back of its head – until she reached a bridge that took her back over the river without having to return past the hellhound.
    It was nearly too hot to run by the time she arrived at the house. But the hour of exercise had flushed her