Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
14
Briefed by a Lawyer
We awoke early the next morning to the sound of high-pitched whining. In my semi-con-
scious state I inadvertently flinched. Thinking we must be back in
monsieur's
car, I thrust
my arm out of the bedclothes and made a wild grab at the closest thing - Jack. But then, as
I came-to, I realised it was just Biff telling us that he was close to bursting point.
“Do you mind, darling?” I said sleepily, “Biff needs a wee.”
Jack immediately started grumbling because he'd misunderstood my seizing him for a
pre-breakfast cuddle.
“Oh, for goodness sake, darling, we haven't got time for that sort of thing, we need to
get cracking. Don't forget that the dogs need feeding and walking. Then Biff needs his med-
ication and…”
“Here we go again. As usual, it's always the bloody dogs. Huh, I suppose I should be
used to it now.”
“What?”
“Being at the bottom of the pile when it comes to care and attention.”
“Oh honestly you're so melodramatic.”
After a bit of persuasion he slipped some clothes on and took Biff out.
I set about rousing Sam. In sharp contrast to Biff, Sam must have a bladder approaching
the size of a hippo because he very rarely bothered to pad outside for these early morning
jaunts. He usually preferred to remain on his bed 'guarding the room' until the last possible
moment. However, once I managed to chuck him out I got showered and packed our bags.
With the team more or less in order, we went down to breakfast. I took advantage of our
tranquil setting to re-brief Jack on the next property. He took a fairly dim view of this, ex-
plaining that it was far too early to endure a verbal onslaught. It was made worse, he added,
because I had him at a severe disadvantage, trapped as he was behind a plateful of croissants
and conserve. He sniffily reminded me that he didn't particularly like eating the stuff but
was obliged to because we
were
in France.
Perhaps today's breakfast menu was slightly restricted but, as I pointed out, soft,
slightly soggy food was a much better choice for his cavity. Judging by his display of grump-
