I could never replace Meg， I knew that. But I could， perhaps， fill a void in Dad’s life.
I’d never been to an animal home before and wasn’t prepared for the shock. Not only dogs， but cats， a couple of ponies， three pygmy goats and several rabbits wanted new homes.
Two sisters ran the place. Hardly aware of what I was doing， I found myself pouring out my life story to them.
Bahs， one of the two nurses， led me to the end of the row of pens. There， in the very end， I saw Sadie sitting in the corner. She wasn’t sitting quietly. She was howling—a sad， heart-broken noise. As soon as she saw us， she stopped and came over to me， staring at me through the wire. She seemed to be weighing me up.
When I poked my fingers through the bars， she shied away from them. I spoke softly to her， coaxing her to come to me. After what seemed an age， she came forward and licked my fingers.
“She’s very gentle，” I remarked， wondering how she would take to my noisy children. I’d already lost my heart to her in a way I never imagined possible！
“Her owners moved away，” Babs said. “They put her in boarding kennels， saying they’d be back in a week but they never returned. She won’t give her trust easily， but if she’s given enough love—well， who knows？”
“How cruel！” I gasped.“How could they？”
“Oh， it could have been a lot worse，” Babs continued. “She was never physically hurt， but her confidence has taken a terrible battering. She needs constant reassurance and can’t bear to be alone.”
“She’d never be alone，” I said and Sadie wagged her tail as if she understood. “And in our house， believe me， there’s no shortage of love！”
When I got home， Matthew and Laura were out of sight. Dad， as always， was staring into space. He didn’t even bother to read any more， but seemed to spend his whole life just watching time slip away.