Gabby by Barby Keel

Author:Barby Keel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Citadel Press
Published: 2019-12-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

BAD NEWS

“Happy Birthday, Barby!” A sea of smiling faces greeted me as I entered the kitchen. I laughed out loud when I saw them all. The room was filled with balloons, and they’d made a banner that sagged slightly as it ran along the kitchen cupboards.

“Well, it was hardly a surprise, was it?” I laughed. “You lot have been out here whispering and making sandwiches for the last hour!”

“Come now, old lady, come and sit down and enjoy your birthday tea. We’ve all taken time off from the animals to celebrate with you. Don’t you go having a grump with us,” Di teased, grinning broadly.

All the gang were there: Diane, Harry, Dan, and several other volunteers who were in that day.

“Did I say I didn’t like it?” I bantered back. “It’s my party and I’ll be grumpy if I want to! I’m only joking everyone, this is lovely, thank you all very much,” I said, my eyes sweeping across the pile of food laid out. There were sandwiches, chips, cut-up salad bits, and, best of all, a dog bowl on the table filled with premium ham.

“You’ve laid a place for Gabby!” I exclaimed, clutching my heart. The thought touched me. “How lovely. Where’s my guest of honor? There she is . . .” I bent over to pick up my dog, who was sniffing about at my feet as usual.

“We’ve even got her a paper hat,” smiled Dan. He was right. There was a row of blue and pink cone-shaped hats for everyone, with a nice pink one by Gabby’s bowl. I chuckled at the sight of that.

“Right, come and sit down. I’ll make you a cuppa. Now how old did you say you were . . . ?” Di jested, bustling around to locate cups and the ceramic pot with the tea bags in.

“I’m not discussing my age. That’s between God and myself. You should never ask a lady how old she is!” I said with mock affront. I didn’t really care who knew my age. I wasn’t precious about getting older. The years tended to roll into one, and I rarely celebrated birthdays these days.

I spotted a beautiful bunch of flowers arranged on the side.

“Oh they’re lovely,” I exclaimed, going over to sniff them. I’ve never been very good at knowing which flowers are which, but they looked very pretty.

I lifted Gabby onto a chair, and popped the pink hat on her. She really looked so adorable. Everyone burst out laughing. Gabby didn’t seem to mind one bit. She nudged my hand with her nose, asking to be stroked, with the hat sliding to one side, making us laugh even harder.

But the day got even better, courtesy of my dog in her lopsided hat, who had already wolfed down the treats laid in front of her. She jumped down once she’d eaten enough birthday tea, and she rushed to greet Beany the dog when Fran walked in from the fields.

“Have I missed anything?” he grinned, grabbing a vegan roll.

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