“Bella come!” My two-year-old Labrador looked up from the pile of leaves in which she was energetically snorting. She turned her head, afforded me the briefest of glances and then returned her attention to the undergrowth.

I sighed and tried again. “Bella! Come!” This time the dog didn’t even bother to look up. “Oh for Goodness’s sake, come here NOW!”

As I watched my dog literally turn tail and scamper away in the exact opposite direction to me, I didn’t so much sigh as bare my teeth and growl in anger. That was when I felt it. A spasm of pain that began to unfurl like a magnolia flower in my left temple.

“Bella please come, good dog…” I stuttered to a halt. It was clear that my dog was not coming. She was out of sight and apparently out of hearing range also.

I leant back against a tree trunk, suddenly aware that my own limbs were no longer capable of holding me upright. All of a sudden I felt too hot, much too hot. Then I was shivering with cold. I groaned feebly.

I was still groaning several minutes later when I heard a voice. “Excuse me? Is this your dog?” A young man in running gear was standing next to me, his hand wrapped tight around Bella’s collar.

Speaking seemed to require too much energy so I contented myself with a nod. “Are you ok?” he asked. I shook my head. “Come on then, let me help you.”

Past caring, I allowed him to take my arm and escort me and the dog all the way home and into the care of my eldest daughter.

“What’s the matter with her?’ Inquired my son as he returned from football training. “She’s got the flu,” replied my daughter. “She fainted when she was out walking the dog.”

“Blimey, is she ok?’ He inquired. “The dog I mean.”

“Yes!” I snapped. “She is, unlike me! I thought dogs were supposed to have that thing… where they’re always looking out for their owners?”

“ESP” grunted my son. “Yes, that’s it. Extra sensory perception!” I snorted. “You know Bella actually ran away from me? In my hour of need! Far as I’m concerned that dog couldn’t tell an aura from an Audi.”

“That’s all you know!” Interrupted my daughter dropping a meaty treat at Bella’s feet.
I stared at her. She stared back. “Well, you know who that was don’t you? The bloke Bella brought right to my front door? That was Lucas!” I was non the wiser.

“Lucas! You know - Lucas, the fittest bloke in the upper sixth! Lucas – the boy of my dreams.” She waggled her mobile phone at me. “And guess who’s got his number?”

She smiled dreamily as she bent to kiss the dog’s head. “I don’t care what they say,” she murmured in Bella’s ear, “you are definitely an ESPecially clever dog.”