A Story By Vanessa
An Italian family moved in next door sometime after we got our dog Sophie. They came to run the Plantation House and had 2 young daughters. The girls were younger than we were, but that didn’t matter, they were new playmates and spoke English! We spent many happy afternoons playing together, either in the pool at the hotel or on the beach.
They decided at some point to get a dog. I don’t know where they got a Doberman puppy, or why this breed was chosen, but Una arrived to the delight of Andrea and Martina. Like Sophie our dog, Una delighted in being naughty. Because of this she could not be left inside the house, so they devised a way to keep her in the small space out back. The family was often gone all day and Una was not happy with this arrangement. She was very vocal and we could hear her from our house, as could our dog.
Since our dog was free to roam she would go and visit Una. They became great friends and soon Una found a way to escape and would come to visit us. The words “Una, go home!” were yelled in our family so often that foreign guests would leave with that one sentence in English ingrained in their brain.
Our neighbour Tanty Minnie kept chickens, as did various families in the neighbourhood. Sophie loved to chase the chickens and eventually started killing them. We were obliged to pay for the chicken each time this happened. Eventually Una also got a taste for chicken blood and the two dogs were unstoppable. I don’t know what became of Tanty Minnie’s chickens, if she had a coop or sold them, but I do know there came a time when all the chickens were gone, and I thought the worst. Probably the worst happened.
Sophie and Una then moved on to goats. They started straying farther and farther and soon mummy was getting calls about ‘our’ two dogs. Never mind Una wasn’t ours, she became ours by association! I do remember some delicious goat curries as a result of those 2 dogs. I went up Mount Pleasant once to collect them after someone called with a complaint, to find them harassing a cow. They weren’t exactly the smartest of dogs and I should have left the cow to deal with them; one swift kick might have cured them!
One summer Una’s family went back to Italy for a trip and asked us to take care of their dog. By this time they had moved further up the hill from us but still within earshot for the dogs. We declined. Una and Sophie on their own were trouble enough. The two of them for a wholel summer would be devastating. They begged us to look after the dog but we really didn’t want the headache. Then they threw in the keys to their house, and we said yes.
This house had a pool, and we had always wanted a pool. For many years we begged for one. But it made little sense, with the sea right there. And with water being scarce half the time it was a real waste. So swimming in a pool was a real treat and we loved it.
One evening mummy had a meeting at Gingerbread House. We were to play outside until she was done. However, Una had followed the scent of the car and found us playing outside. We tried to keep Una out of trouble, but eventually she ran into the restaurant and mummy told us to get her out. Nothing could be done with that dog, she was just so bad! Finally mummy told us to lock her in the car. Una was not happy about this arrangement, I can tell you that! We went to check on her and what we found shocked us. Rachie ran back to mummy, who told her “not to interrupt when adults are speaking”. Poor Rachie looked at mummy and said “But mummy, Una ate the car!”
The dog had indeed eaten the car! Large chunks were eaten out of the dashboard and the passenger side of the car. Not only would repairs be costly, but they would take for-evah! That was it; nothing more could convince us to take on that dog!
Eventually the family moved back to Italy and paid to have the dog shipped there. I forever have visions of Una being ‘walked’ in an Italian city, chasing pigeons and wishing for the good ole days of chickens and goats!