Shelley Munro

I had a ball writing Never Send a Dog to do a Woman’s Job. Not only did I get to interact with the characters from Talking Dogs, Aliens and Purple People Eaters again, but I had a chance to showcase different parts of New Zealand when Alex and Lily set off on a research trip of our beautiful country.

Here are some of the photos relating to Alex, Lily and Killer’s (the talking dog) trip:

“But,” Richard said, “as Luke said, we don’t know much about this male so as much as I trust Lily to do what’s right for her, I think we should ask Killer to stay here to keep an eye on matters.”

“Oh! Yes! Good plan.” Hinekiri clapped her hands together and blew a kiss to her man.

“Good thinking, Dad,” Luke approved.

Janaya paused then nodded slowly at the sheer brilliance of Richard’s idea. The spotted dog would make the perfect spy.

Killer stilled then pricked her black ears forward. “Spy?”

Janaya winked at Luke. “We’d pay you, of course.”

Killer sat on her haunches and stared at Janaya. “I want collar. One with shiny studs. A black one to go with my spots. And food. Lots of food.”

Janaya bit back the grin that ached to burst forth. “That could be arranged.”

Killer nodded. “Deal. I agree to spy for collar and food. Start right now.” She trotted to the door. “I be like famous dog detectives—Scooby and Scrappy.” She disappeared from sight but Janaya heard the click of her claws as she climbed the stairs. “Maybe get own TV show,” she said, her bark of satisfaction drifting back down the stairs.

After they turned off the motorway, they passed lush green pastures dotted with cows, sheep and horses. Alex noticed the small towns they drove through were similar to Sloan, some bigger, some smaller, but each full of what he was becoming to regard as Kiwi character.

“Killer, you stay with me, sweetie. They don’t like dogs in there.”

“Huh!” Killer sniffed in clear disdain. “I have talk with Alex.”

That didn’t sound good. Alex pointed to a sign. It bore a dog with a big black cross through it.

“Someone graffiti on dog,” Killer snapped.

“That means no dogs,” Alex countered. And to prove it, he strode up to the ticket booth. “Can I take my dog in?”

“Not his dog!” Killer yelped. “Meddling alien!”

“Sorry, sir. No dogs allowed,” the young woman in the ticket booth said.

Alex smirked. Damn it felt good to best the devil creature.

Then there were the geysers. Pohutu, the largest, erupted high into the air on schedule, spewing large quantities of water and steam. Mud pools, cooking pools, and the brainpot pool that was supposedly used to cook the heads of enemies in times past. Alex snapped photos of them all. He glanced at his timepiece and saw to his horror that almost two hours had elapsed. Picking up the steps, almost jogging, he pushed past the tourists throwing coins into the water for young children to retrieve. Alex burst through the exit, catching sight of the bright blue car immediately. Killer bounded over to meet him.

When they arrived in Taupo, the trio of mountains on the far side of the lake was barely visible in the rapidly closing dusk. Acute disappointment bloomed in Lily, but she promised herself she’d get up early in the morning and walk along the edge of Lake Taupo so she could savor her favorite view to her heart’s content.

Despite three stops during the drive to the bottom of the North Island, they arrived in Martinborough mid-afternoon.

“There are some wonderful places to stay around here. I wondered if you’d like to stay here for the night instead of driving into Wellington?” Lily grinned. “That way I can try some of the local wines without worrying about driving.”

“I don’t like this,” Killer whined. “The floor moves.”

“It won’t feel so bad once we’re up on deck in the fresh air,” Lily said patiently.

Alex wanted to wring the bloody dog’s neck. Once they’d left Martinborough, she started right in on him, throwing Janaya and her prowess as an Imperial guard in his face. Alex was all for tossing the devil creature overboard. But in the interests of peace and his sanity, he suggested the one thing that would take the dog’s mind off her uneasiness at being on the water. “There’s food upstairs.”

“Food?” Killer’s tail gave a half-hearted wag and her ears perked up as much as a pair of floppy ears could. “Did ya mention food?”

“Yeah, I don’t quite believe it myself. Let’s go.”

They walked past several parked vehicles and still more drove slowly up the ramp to park on the lower deck. The noise grated and exhaust fumes were heavy in the air.

Killer sneezed. Twice. “Don’t like down here,” she grumbled. “Tickles nose.”

“Walk faster,” Lily whispered, her blue eyes full of silent laughter. “Before you blow a fuse.”

Alex frowned at the unfamiliar saying. Sounded painful to him, so he increased his pace as he led the way up the narrow staircase.
Up on the main deck, the exhaust fumes were replaced by the tang of the sea. White birds wheeled through the sky, other passengers chatted with excitement and waves caused by other boats surged and retreated with soft swishes against the side of the ferry. A sense of wellbeing flooded Alex as he curved his arm around Lily’s waist and balanced on the deck. Perhaps bonding with Lily wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to him. For the first time in years, he felt content within himself. Something to consider, he thought.

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