"There-" A kind woman's voice echoed through Lucy's head as she began to drift her way back to the world of consciousness. "A nice cool glass of water for when you wake up" The voice continued, and as Lucy began to open her eyes, she spotted Helen at her bedside. The woman had just set a glass of water on Lucy's side table, wiping her hands on her apron before turning to leave the room, not noticing that Lucy was in fact awake.

"Hm?" Lucy sat up tiredly. "OW!" She exclaimed, suddenly freezing in place, her ankle. It hurt!

In a tick, Helen came rushing back, setting her hands gently on the rather large bandage wrapped around the girl's ankle. "Careful. It was quite nasty what you went through." Helen warned gently.

Lucy gave her a baffled look for a moment before nodding along tiredly, yawning behind the back of her hand. "Oh… yeah-" She said drearily.

"Oh you really must get some rest before lunch." Helen said, walking over to Lucy, tucking her in under the thick blankets. Lucy almost immediately pushed them off.

"I don't want to go to sleep!" Lucy protested.

Helen chuckled softly. "Just like a toddler you are" She teased. "Now come on, drink up-" She tapped the edge of the water glass "I shall fetch some pills for the pain if you'd like." She said, turning to leave once again, Lucy was fine with that all for a moment before something struck Lucy, she had to call Helen back!

"Uhm- Helen!" Lucy called.

Helen paused and turned around with a kind smile. "Yes?"

"What happened to that dog?" Lucy asked worriedly.

Helen sighed and took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Oh- James will have to put the thing down sooner or later…" She said rather sadly. Yes, it began to seem to her as if Lucy had quite liked the dog for whatever reason that Helen simply couldn't understand. But Lucy could.

Lucy sighed. "Oh-" She nodded. "Yes. That's probably best" She agreed reluctantly.

Helen nodded, flashing the younger girl a saddened smile. "Yes… I am terribly sorry- it's the law i'm afraid- '' She continued before standing up. "Now, you rest up, I'm making my famous chicken soup for lunch!" Helen exclaimed as she trotted her way back down the stairs. And, instead of heading back to the kitchen where said soup was cooking away on the stove, Helen waltzed right into the surgery.

"Have you got a moment?" Helen asked, poking her head through the door. Thankfully, it was just James, he seemed to be filling in some paperwork.

James looked over his shoulder and nodded with a smile. "Always!" James said happily, setting his pencil down.

"It's about that dog-" Helen began hesitantly.

Seeing his wife's hesitance, James felt the need to hurry his response. "Yes yes, I am going to put it down this afternoon" He assured her as Helen sat down. That usually meant that it was most likely something serious.

"It's just that, Lucy was asking after it" Helen said. It perhaps made her a little worried that Lucy in fact cared for that dog… Or worse, wanted to keep it. Well, Siegfried wouldn't have that.

"Oh I see-" James said, beginning to catch on.

"Yes. I was wondering if you might have a talk with her, and be firm." Helen continued softly before the surgery door swung open again, a mop of blonde hair appeared popping through the door, of course, and rather thankfully, the mop of blonde hair did not belong to Siegfried, but belonged to Tristan. "Talk with whom?" He asked cheekily.

"Oh Tristan-" Helen teased. "You never keep your nose out of other people's business!" She nudged him.

Tristan beamed and slipped into the surgery, hands deep in his pockets. "And you still have not answered me" Tristan said back teasingly.

"Oh uh- Lucy wants the dog." James beamed.

Helen nudged her husband, making him falter.

"Which- I am about to tell her is impossible-" James continued.

Tristan laughed dangerously "Siegfried won't like that" He muttered.

James rolled his eyes and pushed past Tristan with a chuckle, on his way upstairs. "Shut up Tris" He muttered jokingly.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

"Lucy-" Jame said softly as he stood at the door.

Silence.

"Lucy?" He called out again.

"Hm-?" Came the reply from inside as Lucy quickly finished her sip of water, quickly swallowing it and putting it down on the side table again. "Come in!" She said hurriedly.

James walked in.

"Ah- hello Lucy- how's the leg?" James asked softly as he went to sit down on the edge of the bed. He was unfortunate enough to accidentally sit on her-

"OW! You rotten son of a-" Lucy exclaimed

"LUCY!" Siegfried yelled, how on Earth was he able to hear her from the living room!? "I will not have that kind of language in this house!" He exclaimed.

James froze and stood up again before sitting in a better place on the mattress. "Oh- I am sorry" He apologised sincerely. "I suppose it's still a little bit painful," He said softly.

"Wow- I wonder how you guessed-" Lucy said through gritted teeth as she shuffled herself into a sitting position. "What did you want?" She asked.

"Oh well Helen said that you asked about the do-"

"Yes!" Lucy exclaimed before getting a little bit quieter. "Well- I thought that we could.."
"Lucy, no." James said, trying his best to be firm with her. Helen had always taught him to be firm. He wasn't very good at any kind of confrontation. "That dog is far too dangerous to keep!" He exclaimed.

"But you can't just kill it!"

"Lucy-" James shrugged, suddenly feeling very helpless and very sad for the girl indeed, he could tell that she cared a great deal about animals. Good she ended up there then, he supposed. "It is just the legal protocol I'm afraid, plus, no one in their right mind would want a beast like that" James hissed.

"Then what if I was not in my right mind?" Lucy challenged, it was very easy to win James over, he was a very very vulnerable man. That would soon be his downfall. "And, if he can't stay here, then I'll stay out there with the dog-" The girl nodded her head in the direction of the window.

"There would be no need for that Lucy, if we-" James sighed. He let a small, content smile appear on his features. In all truth, James cared for all animals too… It would indeed feel heartless to put that animal down when it could have such a life in front of it. A life, quite possibly in Skeldale. That was if Siegfried never found out. Difficult, but not impossible… Well.

"Oh fine then!" James said teasingly with a chuckle. "Our little secret then Lucy" James smiled.

Later on, the five of them had sat down for Helen's wonderful home-cooked lunch. One that simply no one could ever pass on. Lucy had in fact managed to hobble her way downstairs with great effort to enjoy this meal.

But she didn't know where to start. Lucy hadn't had anything very substantial to eat in a long while. Her diet consisted of mostly stolen bread, cheese, that sort of thing. There would be the occasional family that would let her come round for lunch but nothing more than that. Something told Lucy that her visit to Skeldale House wouldn't be so brief.

As overwhelmed as she was with where to start with the rich food piled onto her plate, she couldn't start. She didn't know where to start.

"Come on!" Siegfried exclaimed encouragingly as he slapped the young girl on the back. "Eat up, wouldn't want you to starve!" He chuckled, going back to his plate. "That's it-" He encouraged as Lucy began to pick more at her food, and in turn, Siegfried shovelled a large fork-full into his mouth. "Say James-" He continued curiously. "Did you have that dog put down yet?"

James spared a glance to Lucy, then to Helen before he smiled at Siegfried, setting his glass down. "Yes-" James nodded firmly. "Had him put down just this morning!" He said somewhat brightly.

"Well- I think it was very mature of Lucy to let that animal go" Helen said triumphantly as she raised her glass.

"Yes…" Siegfried muttered thoughtfully as he too raised his own glass. "Intelligent girl are you? Education?" His eyes landed right on Lucy.

"Well… Up until the age of 13 yes…" Lucy answered, Siegfried seemed horrified by the answer, but perhaps that was because she was speaking with her mouthful.

Turns out that it was both.

"Lucy. Please refrain from eating with your mouth full and spraying us with Helen's wonderfully prepared lunch. There are manners to be had here, you would do well to comply with them"" He scolded softly as he immediately contradicted himself as he took up another mouthful in the middle of his sentence.

There was a pause.

"You can at least read. Can't you?" Siegfried glared at the young girl over his glasses.

James threw down his cutlery with a loud clatter. "Oh leave her alone Siegfried!" He exclaimed, having been on the receiving end from this all before, he knew what Siegfrid was like.

Lucy shrugged. "A little. No need for it really."
"No need for-" Siegfried exclaimed as he removed his glasses. "Literature is a wonderful thing Lucy. Very helpful."

Lucy rolled her eyes.

Siegfried waved his hand dismissively as he set his cutlery down rather violently. "See? That's your problem now-" He stood and wandered back over the living room to the bookshelf, picking up a stack, each book being well over an inch thick. "Let's start you off on something easy eh?" Siegfried smiled half-heartedly as he set the books down on the table, Lucy having to hurriedly move her plate out the way, lest it be shattered. Helen noticed this, and as Siegfried went to bring over more books, Helen thought it best to clean up the table, retreating back to the kitchen.

"That's easy?" Lucy exclaimed in disbelief.

"Siegfried. That's not very fair to her is it?" Tristan backed her up, having fallen victim to this exact situation before.

"Fair! Of course it's fair! Wonderful books these-" Siegfried tossed one of them over to Tristan before turning to Lucy with what she could only describe as a cheeky smile. "You know- Tristan's reading levels were inadequate prior to his revision, were they not?" He glared at Tristan "What was that book you used to read when you were fifteen, ah.. Mother's Little Guide To Ducks? And seventeen, Mr McDonald's Big Book of Farm Animals? And, if I remember correctly-"

"Alright! Siegfried," Tristan laughed nervously. "I think we get the idea. Remember that your idea of helping was to force me to read poetry. Not just any poetry, Lucy, poetry he had written for himself!"

Lucy sniggered.

"Absolutely awful literature." Tristan muttered.

"Ah- You may think so Tristan, yet I believe that dear old Lucy appreciates the artform and would be extremely eager to learn more"
"Actually I-" Lucy began

"Yes! Perfect!" Siegfried beamed as he slapped the girl on the back with a hearty laugh. "Then we'll begin tomorrow morning. Seven o'clock sharp mind you, these tutoring sessions wont come easy-"

"Tutoring- wh-" Lucy began before Tristan let out a loud, booming laugh as he retreated from the room, he tossed the book back to Siegfried (which the man made no effort to catch, resulting in the book landing with a loud BANG- on the ground before the older man's feet) before he retreated. The phone rang at that exact time, and a very uncomfortable James stood to get it. It was almost as if James and Tristan were doing anything to avoid Siegfried's Tutoring, and they were.

Jump. Jump… JUMP-

Lucy looked up, her heart filling with dread as she looked up through the large window set behind the dining table. It was the dog. The Dog James had promised to keep shut away and put down, the dog that wasn't supposed to be….there.

It seemed quite happy, just leaping up and down, and up and down and up and- well, the point was that the only person who would certainly not be very happy with any of this, would be Mr Siegfried Farnon.

"Something the matter, Lucy?" Siegfried asked, turning to look over his shoulder. Lucy immediately panicked and leapt forwards, grabbing onto his shoulders and spinning him around to face her again.

Lucy forced a tight smile. "Fine! Everything's fine"

Then, her heart sank.

During all the commotion, Tristan had caught the faint noise of a bark. A dog barks. It could have come from the waiting room, but it was coming from… Outside?

Tristan edged his way around to the back door, cracking it open ever so slightly before sighing heavily. The boy opened the door completely before leaning, arms crossed, against the door frame. There, jumping up and down and up and down at the dining room window was the dog. Black and white fur and all.

"Oh James you damned liar!" Tristan exclaimed as he joined the dog at it's side. Tristan grinned at Lucy before he stuck his own tongue out, eyes bulging as he too bounced up and down and up and-

"Uh- Siegfried- don't you think the surgery will be packed?" Lucy excused lamely as she grabbed onto the elder man's shoulders.

Siegfried went to look over his shoulder, a hint of nervousness to his demeanour before Lucy panicked, lunging forwards with her hands to grab both of his cheeks. Siegfried shook them off and laughed concernedly. "Lucy-" He scoffed. "What on Earth is the matter?"

"I just thought James could need some help that's all" Lucy beamed as she grabbed Siegfried up by the shoulders, ushering him quickly out of the room.

"Lucy I-" Siegfried chuckled, baffled before-

SLAM- The door shut.

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief before shooting a glare over at Tristan. Unsurprisingly, he'd stopped.

The young girl marched her way over to the large window and opened it, wide. "Tristan what the hell do you…" Lucy trailed off, watching with dread as the dog leapt through the window quite happily- "...Do you…"

"Do I what?" Tristan said merrily as he hopped through the window before-

SMASH-

Siegfried immediately glanced up from his work on a young boy's bunny rabbit before the crash seemed to happen.

"What the-"

"I'll see to it Siegfried!" James exclaimed, a hint of worry spiking up in his voice as he did so before dashing out of the door.

"Oh that boy-" Siegfried muttered.

"What the HELL are you two up to!?" James screamed as he burst through the door to the living room.

Tristan and Lucy were the ones James was talking to. Oh no! Not the dog that had spent the last few moments knocking over the Farnon mother's favourite vase, then tearing a pillow to shreds. The beast was still going at it.

Meanwhile, Tristan and Lucy stood there quite pathetically. Lucy having to spit a few loose white feathers out the corner of his mouth.

"It was Lucy" "It was Tristan"

Were the words simultaneously spoken by both the people who had fallen victim to James' anger.

James threw his arms in the air helplessly. "I don't care who it was! Just- oh-" James noticed something. As the feather floated down to the ground from Tristan's mouth, the dog leapt for it eagerly. This gave James an idea. The man bent down and picked up a handful of feathers. The dog wagged his tail excitedly.

"That's it," James cooed softly. "Come on- come on boy!" The dog willingly followed him.

Tristan pushed past him, not wanting to associate with that dog. His excuse being that he had to keep Siegfried distracted. Lucy and James on the other hand were to lead that dog upstairs.

"What are you going to name him?" James chuckled softly as he continued to lead the dog up the stairs. So far, so good. The dog seemed to be quite happily distracted by the pile of feathers in James's hand.

"Pepper." Lucy answered firmly before shrugging, "He looks like a Pepper"

Then. The worst that could've happened, happened. The barking started.

"Keep that thing down will you!" Siegfried exclaimed crossly as he glared in the direction of the waiting room door.

"You've got a nice dog Mr Farnon" The child owner of the rabbit that Siegfried had been treating said happily as he looked past the elder vet and through the doorway. Where he could just about spot the staircase, and with it, a fluffy black tail.

"Dog?" Siegfried scoffed in concentration as he continued to do his work on the small brown rabbit. "We don't own a dog here," Siegfried said.

The child giggled and shook his head, pointing through the open doorway, Tristan's heart stopped.

"That one!" The small boy exclaimed. "The one with the black fluffy tail!"

"Nice talk Siegfried! Gotta go!" Tristan exclaimed quickly as he dashed out of the room. Siegfried was curious at first before he shook his head dismissively. Client's always first.

As Tristan came barreling through the corridor and straight into the living room, he didn't miss the horrified and perhaps even scared looks on their faces. "I'm going to distract him!" Tristan exclaimed in a hushed tone. Just in case Siegfried came out to check what was going on.

And he did.

"TRISTAN!" Siegfried yelled as he stormed through the corridor after his brother. James and Lucy pressed themselves against the wall. Lucy looked down at the dog in horror, the animal opening its mouth to bark. Lucy saw this and leapt down to clasp her hands around its mouth like a muzzle. Thankfully, it worked.

James and Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, Tristan wouldn't have time to do that as he attempted to salvage what was left of the vase while brushing the remains of the vase into the ripped pillowcase.

"TRISTAN!"

That was funny. The voice sounded much closer now… Almost as if Siegfried was right behind- oh.

Tristan tossed the pillowcase to the ground and turned to his brother., smiling brightly. "Oh hello Siegfried!" He beamed.

Siegfried's eyes darted quickly down to the filled up pillowcase, a hint of recognition and anger before they darted back up towards his little brother. The man marched towards Tristan and opened his mouth to shout again before Helen came through the door. 'Not in front of the women' as Siegfried would always say. And so, he calmed for a moment.

"Siegfried." Helen said sweetly, "our client informed me that he must've been mistaken about the-"

"Ah- Siegfried, what's the matter?" James entered the room after Helen. The silence was deafening.

"James-" Tristan muttered fearfully as he gestured to his cheek. "You have a little bit of-"

James reached up to where Tristan was showing him and wiped off a bright, fluffy white feather. One that came from that pillow-

"James you-" Siegfried began.

Lucy had come barrelling downstairs like James had, joining James and Helen at their sides. Once again. Deafening silence.

It took a moment, but Lucy eventually let out a wretched cough in which a white feather, much like the one James had brushed off his cheek, came up. She spat at the odd texture for a moment before letting it glide down to the ground, smiling up at Siegfried.

"What have I missed?" Lucy grinned innocently, shoving her hands in her pockets.

Then, there was barking again.

Siegfried marched out the room, straight up the stairs. "JAMES! IF YOU KEPT THAT DAMNED DOG ALIVE-"

Helen gasped "James!" She folded her arms. "I thought you were more mature than that!" She exclaimed before huffing a little as she stormed out of the room.

"Helen, please!" James reached out to her helplessly but it was no use. "Oh damned-"

Tristan nudged James with a chuckle, which earned him a hard glare. Lucy meanwhile, raced upstairs.

"Siegfried! I can explain!" Lucy yelled as she leapt up the stairs, as fast as her bad ankle could painfully carry her, catching sight of the room that she had very hastily locked shut with a spare chair.

The man turned on her angrily. "I suppose you do young la-"

"I told James that I wasn't going to stay any longer unless we kept it!" Lucy cut in.

Siegfried paused and looked at her through his spectacles. "Thought about leaving so soon my dear?" He frowned.

"I- uh-" Lucy stammered before Helen marched her way upstairs, dog bowl in hand as she placed it on the ground next to the door.

Helen sighed. "Oh Siegfried! Let the poor thing eat something at least" She begged.

Siegfried was reluctant at first, but he soon opened the door. Slowly. Carefully. The dog stopped barking. Instead of barreling towards the three humans in the room, he went right for the dog bowl, licking up the food graciously. Helen beamed a warm smile.

"Helen." Siegfried said slowly. "I would've thought you would have been all for putting the thing down." He asked, leaning against the bannister.

"He's got a sweet face," Helen chuckled softly.

Siegfried looked over at Lucy. "You named him didn't you?" He asked.

Lucy nodded. "Pepper…" He trailed off. "Well- he certainly can't stay in the house." He mused, rubbing his chin in thought. "Well- if there is no change in Pepper within the ten days then I am afraid by law- we have to put him down… However- Lucy I am confident you would be up for the task?" He asked almost hopefully.

"Task?" Lucy was confused for a moment before her heart was suddenly set in dread. . "Oh.. Training-"