Upstairs Bear watched with suspicion as they filled the bath a few inches with cool water. He was sure something fishy was going on, but he didn’t want to leave the action, so he paced about the bathroom, sniffing the air.
‘All right, you muddy little Bear,’ said Jill, picking him up at cooing at him as she lowered him into the bath.
When his feet touched the water he stood stock still for a minute, and Jill took the opportunity to dump a splodge of shampoo onto his back. And that’s when all hell broke loose. Four slipping and sliding paws resulted in splashes flying and an instantly soaked dog. Mud splattered on the tiles. The shampoo bottle was knocked off the side and into the bath. Claw marks scraped trails into the porcelain of the tub as he tried to scramble out.
‘Oh shit shit shit,’ cried Jill. ‘Alice, turn the shower attachment on, we can’t let him out with all the foam on his back.’
Alice obeyed but this just freaked out Bear more, and Alice made a snap decision.
Standing up she whipped off her jeans and climbed in the bathtub in her knickers and T-shirt. Bear scrambled up her like a totem pole, holding on to her for dear life against the evil pool of water below. The claws on his hind legs dug into her bare thighs and she wondered why the hell she hadn’t suggested Jill do this instead of her. Or why she hadn’t just kept her jeans on and put up with the horrid feeling of damp denim against her skin.
‘Shhhh,’ she soothed him as she scooped small trickles of water into her hands to remove the suds.
Jill helped from the other side, gently cleaning his legs and the back of his neck, while he was distracted by licking the water off Alice’s face.
When he was sud-free Jill lifted him from the bath and he went for a shaking rampage around the house, furiously rubbing his nose against anything and everything to dry it. Jill helped Alice out of the bath.
‘Thanks for that,’ she said. ‘Nice pants, by the way.’
‘Slightly regretting my life decisions right now,’ replied Alice, inspecting her arms and legs, now covered in tiny scratches.
Jill laughed and held the towel out in the air for Bear to rocket face-first into as he sped back into the bathroom. ‘You’re going to make a brilliant dog mum one day.’
