Becoming Maddie (The Casterhouse series Book 1) Read Free Page B

side of town. If there was one thing Marvin loved more than his red cushion, it was chasing and barking at the birds in the trees or scaring the ducks in the pond.
    Grabbing his lead and muzzle from the hook by the front door, she bent to her husky. There is no way that Marvin would ever attack a person unless he was told to by her. Something she had never done and was sure she never would. But that didn’t stop mother’s firm grips pulling their children away from him as if he was unsafe. If only they knew what a big softy he was and how well he was trained. Mind you, it didn’t help that when someone got to close to her he growled. It was never in an attacking manner but done more in warning. That person was getting to close to his mistress and he wanted the stranger to know it. Her Marvin had not had an easy life, it had taken her months to get him to even trust her to touch him. But she had spent the time and along the way she had won his trust and heart. Now there was nothing that he wouldn’t do to protect his ‘mum’. So to make people feel safer she popped a muzzle on him. Although he didn’t like it, he tolerated it and as soon as she was in the woodland it came off. Plus when she walked him late at night he didn’t have to wear it at all. Those walks he loved the best. As for Marvin, if Maddie wanted him to wear it he would, just to make her give him an extra scratch behind the ears.
    “How about we head to the park.” She said putting on the muzzle then the lead. “You can chase some ducks and I can watch and drink a hot chocolate.”
    Standing on all fours the dog shifted restlessly. This she took as agreement to her plan and grabbed her keys before walking out in to the hall and locking her door.
    “Marvin!” A young voice cried.
    Turning in surprise to the stair well, she saw the boy from next door run towards her.
    “Ethan.” A woman's voice shouted out after him. “Wait!”
    Ethan was Sarah’s son and along with her little girl, Rosie, they lived next door to her. She used to work hard to try and not bump into them in the hall because Sarah liked to stop and chat to her. There was nothing really wrong with this because Sarah was a nice person. It was more that Maddie liked to keep herself to herself. She lost her ability to mingle with people easily a long time ago. Sometimes it bothered her enough that she thought about going next door and inviting Sarah round to share a bottle of wine…but then she thought about something else and the urge went away. Slowly Sarah stopped talking to her so much in the hall to the point where all they did these days was share an awkward little smile and move on. Her children on the other hand adored Marvin and would not be stopped from saying hello to both her and her companion.
    “Hi, Ms Smith.” Ethan said happily before turning his full attention to the dog.
    Because he had met and petted the dog so many times he knew exactly what to do and how to approach him. The little boy held his hand out palm up waiting for his hand to be sniffed before the husky lowered his head in a way that meant he was okay with being stroked.
    “Hi, Marvin.” Ethan giggled as he petted the white head of her best friend. “Are you taking him for a walk?”
    Sarah came round the corner carrying several bags of food shopping and looked slightly out of breath. They lived on the top floor of a 3 story block.
    “Sorry I couldn’t have stopped him even if I could have caught up with him.” Sarah said looking down at her son and letting the bags sit on the ground. Releasing them she started to stroke her hands. Sarah was an attractive woman who was maybe a little older than Maddie, say in her early 30s. She had Blonde hair that was shoulder length but normally always up in a ponytail. Her face was make-up free and red after her rushed walk up the stairs after her son. She was probably carrying a bit too much weight on her shorter frame but she carried it well and, more