Once upon a time there was a woman who was interested in astrology and the time came that she must buy a new computer as the man who designed her astrology programs had gone beyond the point that her existing computer could reach. The woman's husband had received a legacy from his grandfather which enabled the couple to buy many things they needed. One of these was the new computer.

     Now the woman's husband was very interested in technology and, even though he was blind, he was a very good sound engineer, and was himself always interested in getting new machines that could do ever more wonderful things. So he said to the woman, 

     "Buy the best computer you can get." And there was a computer that had got Internet, but the woman said she did not need Internet, all she wanted to do was study astrology, write astrology reports and write books. But the man said she must get the computer with Internet, because she did not know what might happen as a result of that. And so she let herself be persuaded.

     And lo! they bought the computer which was called Packard Bell. And the computer they had before that was called Amstrad. And lo, Packard Bell was capable of so much more than they had dreamed. It enabled the woman to learn web design, and to format and publish tremendously professional looking books, instead of things that came out on concertina-folded perforated paper. And the woman was well pleased. But that was not all the computer could do.

      And lo! the woman and her husband were keen gardeners. They had three allotments on which they grew organic food. And they were interested in something called 'Heritage Seed', and this cost them a lot of money annually through the Henry Doubleday Research Association. And the woman discovered that she could find people who had heritage seed on the internet, and she found a Swap List. And she read the swap list and after many entries she found someone who had things she would like, and who wanted things that she already had. And so she wrote a letter. Or to give it its proper name, an email.

     She received in return a charming letter, as well as the promise of seeds. And it was a gentleman to whom she wrote, he was a Cuban living in Miami. And a regular correspondence began. Now the woman did not feel quite at ease writing to this young man when he had a wife, so she asked if the wife could also write to her, and this was done. And one day she received an email from a woman she did not know, who said that she worked with the young man's wife, and they had asked her to let me know that their computer had broken down, and it would be a while before they could write again.

     And so this new lady, who was also Cuban, began to write emails. And thus it was that Packard Bell brought forth and materialised this Cuban, who came over on a visit in May 1998, declared herself in love with England and, particularly, its sheep, and decided to return and live here permanently, which she accomplished in August 1998.

     Now the couple of the first part invited this Cuban lady to stay with them while she looked around for a place to live and something to occupy herself in England. The woman also searched on the Internet to find out about all the rules and regulations that must be complied with for an American citizen coming to live in England, and these facts she conveyed to the Cuban, who did not listen. They prepared a room in their house for the Cuban lady, and lo she did arrive and live in it for fully ten months. This was very hard for the couple in terms of loss of privacy and the woman began to despair and think that the Cuban would never leave, though her husband said "she was no trouble to him".

     Now the woman would have liked to ask the Cuban to leave, but that she had made a pact with a pendulum which an old wise woman had given her, and she had promised to consult it whenever she needed help and to take its advice. So every morning she sat on the edge of the bed and asked the pendulum if she could ask the Cuban Lady to leave, and every morning the Pendulum said No. And then the woman would ask if the Cuban Lady would leave of her own accord, and the Pendulum did say Yes, but it did not say When. And in any case, the Cuban Lady had no friends in England apart from the Couple, and refused to leave the house without at least one of them, and this was often the Husband, as the Woman liked time to herself so she could write. And so it seemed hard to ask her to leave.

     But one day the Woman had had Enough. And she decided the Cuban must leave no matter what the Pendulum said, and she told this to the Cuban, who said that her grandmother might die at any time, and then she would have to return to America in a hurry, and so she could not think of having her own house, though her husband sent her pucks of money every month and she could well afford it. But the Woman had made up her mind and she kept silence. But one day she said to the Cuban,

     "I am going shopping this morning. Would you like to come?" And the Cuban did. And after the shopping she said, "Now we are going to get you a house," and the Cuban said,

     "Oh but I told you, etc, about my grandmother," because she had an answer for everything, and always got out of every situation. But the woman repeated that they were going to get her a house, and led the way to the estate agent. It was a holiday and there was only one estate agent open. 

     They went in and the Woman said they wanted a house in Barrowford, because that was where the Cuban Lady would like to live. And the assistant said they had only one house in Barrowford, and the Woman said,

     "We only want one." And so it was done, and the house was liked, and the Cuban signed up for it. But that was not the end of it, for it is a long story, and a fascinating one, but we are talking about the dog.

Finally, we get to the dog

The Cuban said, if she must live alone, then she must have a Dog. And that the Woman must go with her to all the rescue kennels and help her find a dog. And this was normal, for she could do nothing on her own, but must always be supported.

     And so the two women went to many, many terrible places where poor, abandoned dogs were kept. And these places stank to high heaven, and the noise was indescribable, for the dogs could not understand why they were kept in prison, when all they wanted was a human being to look after, and fresh air to breathe, and fields to run in under the sky. And so they continually cried and wept and barked until their poor throats were sore. And the Cuban Lady did not like any of them.

     And in one of these prisons, one day, the Woman walked down a stone corridor between cells containing dogs, all of which were barking and leaping at the bars, but then there was one dog which did not bark, but which came to the bars and looked in her eyes and licked her hand. And this was Benji, only his name was Patch, which is a horrible name and not good for him at all.

     And for some reason the Woman did not say to the Cuban, get this Dog, because something had happened that was only between the Woman and Benji, and this something was to change both their lives. And so they went away and the Cuban Lady did not get a dog in that place.

     But the Woman, who was Me, could not forget the Dog. When she went to bed that night and shut her eyes, she could see the dog's face. And she could not stop thinking about him, though indeed she did not want a dog. For there had been a dog, once, which belonged to her husband when she married him, and her husband became very jealous of the dog's love for her, and so she had given it away to a friend who loved it, because she could not bear to see it unhappy due to the husband's jealousy. So no way did she want to go through That again. But every time she shut her eyes she saw the dog's face, and eventually she remembered that the staff had said they had volunteer dog walkers, and so she thought,

     "I will go and walk that dog." And so she returned to the prison and asked to walk the dog. And she did this often, and every time she was going there she thought, "I am going to see Benji," and when she got there she had to remember to ask for 'Patch'. And the staff worked on her to have the dog, because he had been in prison eight months, from being sixteen months old, and he was not allowed to go anywhere with children, as his owners had said he bit their child. And they knew he would not live much longer, as he suffered from anxiety, and all his hair fell out, and all his paws and forelegs were scratched and bleeding from his continual jumping at the walls of his cell. But they all loved him so much.

Val takes up the tale

The first time I walked Benji, my heart ached to see how he never even looked round to see who was taking him out. I thought, This dog has been taken for walks so many times, by so many people, that he no longer cares who is on the end of the lead. And the staff told me he must not walk on roads, it would be too painful for him, with his scratched and bleeding paws, I must only walk him on soft grass. So we went into the field next to the prison. And it was rough ground, and as he was pulling, I tripped and fell. If I am going to fall I let it happen, so I fell full length on the ground. And he ran back, and licked my face. And I thought, he does care. But I still had this problem with Wolfram and his jealousy. I couldn't go through all that stuff we had with Kimba. We had never thought of having a dog, it was all for the Cuban.

     In the end I knew I had to have Benji, and then the staff said my husband must also come and walk the dog and then we would be visited in our home. And he was in agreement to have the dog. But I still had Big Doubts and felt it was a wrong thing to do. The day I had to pick him up was a Sunday, and I still had doubts and so I said nothing to the Cuban, though we had no car and if we were going to get him, she would have to drive us. And I argued with myself all day, saying I would not go. Then, when there was only enough time to spare to get there before they shut, I rang her and said,

     "We have to go get my dog." And still when I was walking down that stone corridor to his cell, I was saying to myself, What are you doing here, why are you getting this dog? Then suddenly, a very strange thing happened. When I got near the cell, as soon as I saw him, a Voice in my chest said, "That's my dog, give him to me!" And this Voice was not mine, and was not even in my head, where my 'other' voices usually are. I 'felt' this voice 'leaping' out of my chest. And I know now that it was my Heart speaking, for science has discovered that the heart is not just an insensate organ, but that it knows many things before even the brain knows them, and in some sense is controlling the brain. And this was very strange, even for me, and I am used to Strange.

The first Night

     And at first it was two people and a dog living in our home

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