An uneventful drive

After closing the door and buckling in, the woman turned on the radio and started driving.

It was not a very comfortable ride for Lucy, trussed up as she was under multiple seatbelts that dug into her skin with every bump and lurch of the minivan. There was nothing to distract her either since she couldn't sit up to look out the windows and the woman was just listening to the radio without saying anything. All Lucy could do was lie there, hope and fear coursing through her mind. What would happen to her at her mistress' home? Would this woman keep being nice to her, or were things about to take another turn for the worse?

Lucy would soon get her answer as the car stopped. She remained motionless for another minute as she waited for the woman to undo her seatbelts, then she was free to crawl off the bench and out of the car. It was parked in a driveway, close enough to the edge that Lucy could exit directly onto grass without touching the rough asphalt.

Gratefully she looked up at her mistress, who took her leash and lead her out onto the grass, allowing her to see they'd stopped in front of a wide two-story house. Having paused long enough for Lucy to get her bearings, the woman lead her around the house to a fenced in yard. It was mostly a green square of grass, with some bushes around the sides and various outdoor furniture on a stone patio by the sliding glass doors into the house. The fence was high enough to stop a casual observer, but it had plenty of cracks people could peek through if they got close enough.

Lucy didn't resist as she was pulled to the edge of the patio, where her mistress tied her leash around one of the wooden beams supporting a short roof. After a quick pat on the head, the woman told her, "I'm going inside to change out of my work clothes, but I'll be right back to get you cleaned up."

Lucy, on her hands and knees on the grass, watched her mistress unlock the doors and walk inside. The first room behind the glass was set up as a dining room, which the woman crossed before disappearing around a corner.

Lucy's eyes stayed on that spot for a while, but then she looked around and realized something. She was alone, unsupervised, and not stuck in a cage. Yeah, her leash was tied to the post, but if she stood up she could easily untie it. Touching her thick collar, she felt that she could also unclip the leash on that end. But before she could continue that thought, Lucy Carpenter realized something else.

She had to pee.