I was walking in the winter sunshine recently and enjoying the crispness of the day. To be fair, it was more than crisp and by the time I'd walked for an hour I was cold... bloody cold in fact.

Quickening my pace and swinging my arms to generate extra heat helped, but my fingers were quite numb and a drip appeared at the end of my nose.

The route I followed was circular and I was on the homeward leg... thoughts of a hot, strong coffee were foremost in my mind when a head appeared over a gate and two doleful eyes regarded me from a dirty, dejected face.

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I offered a greeting and the head recoiled as though struck... damn, was I really that scary?

Backing off a pace or two I spoke quietly and with a smile in my voice. The head slowly reappeared and with pricked ears; those doleful eyes stared suspiciously in my direction.

I continued my soft dialogue and slowly raised my hand. The head immediately snapped backwards; they eyes opening wide with fright. Then she was gone... poor old girl. Someone had obviously treated her badly... abused her... why else would she be so timid?