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Everything after that was a blur for a while, as I was carried down from the loft and laid on a stretcher, while Poppy leapt on top of me and licked my face, until someone lifted her off me. My gag was removed and my hands and feet were gently untied. Had it not been for Poppy’s wet tongue and the warmth of her body against mine, I would have thought this was a hallucination. I remembered nothing more until I woke in hospital to see my wrists bandaged and a drip attached to my arm. A nurse reassured me that I had been dehydrated but was now well on the road to recovery.
‘We’ll have you out of here in no time,’ she said briskly, her round face creased in a smile.
‘Where’s Poppy? Where’s my dog? Is she all right?’
‘I’m afraid we can’t allow dogs in here,’ she said, muttering about t
