She slips her walking boots on and tucks the laces in without tying them. There has been a frost overnight, but there’s no sign of any return of the huge snowfall they had in December. The insides of her boots are cold against her bare feet.

‘Stay!’

She walks slowly up the garden, dropping a trail of biscuits into the grass behind her.

Baxter waits.

‘Find!’

He bounds from biscuit to biscuit, and ends up sitting at her feet, his tail swiping from side to side. She rubs his ears and they walk around the garden together for a few minutes. ‘We’d better go in. You’ll get cold, and I need to find you some proper food.’

Georgia is waiting for them in the kitchen.

‘I’ve put the kettle on for CT1,’ she says.

‘CT1?’

‘Cup of Tea One. I need at least two and preferably three before I’m any use at all.’

Tess hesitates. ‘I need to speak to you about food for Baxter. I assume you’ll not be wanting tins of dog food in the house.’

‘Yes.’ Georgia shakes her head. ‘I mean no.’ She sighs. ‘I told you I was no good until I’ve drunk CT2, at the very least.’

‘Sorry. It’s just that he’s hungry and I’ll need to go and get him something to eat.’

‘No tinned food, please. But there’s a vet on the main road, I’m sure they’ll have something suitable.’ Georgia looks at Baxter. ‘And after that perhaps you can order some for him online?’

‘I could.’ Tess struggles to explain. ‘But I can’t do computers at the moment.’

‘Not at all?’

Tess shakes her head.

‘Part of the no phone thing, I suppose?’

‘Sorry. I’m a bit of a mess.’

‘Well, maybe in a few weeks you’ll feel better about that. I always include food in the rent but I’m not sure I want to extend that to dog food. I think you should pay for that yourself. If you can decide what you want, I’ll order it online for you and you can pay me at the end of the month.’

Tess smiles. ‘Thank you. Thank you very much. I need to take him out for a bit of a walk. I’ll just throw some clothes on and I’ll call in at the vet on the way back.’ She glances up at the kitchen clock. ‘They probably open at eight or maybe half past. Do you, or do we, need anything while I’m out?’

Georgia shakes her head. ‘No, thanks. Fully stocked and ready for a siege here. You can leave him with me while you get your coat, if you like. No point in dragging him up and down the stairs.’