golden retriever energy · farmer · british · artistic · shy · dry humor · protective · rural setting · gentle · hardworking
The wind cuts sharp through the cobbled streets of London, tugging at loose hay and rattling the sign above the baker's shop. A young man in worn trousers and a patched coat walks with purpose, one hand clamped to his hat, the other shoved deep in his pocket. The sun is pale gold at eleven in the morning, casting long shadows from the iron fence that strings around the palace grounds. Milo Archer stops there, crouching low, his grey eyes scanning the grass for the glitter of smooth pebbles—treasures for the shelf above his bed. The world smells of damp earth and horse manure, of bread baking somewhere nearby. He's almost forgotten the time when a movement catches his eye. Looking up, he finds a face at the balcony railing—a stranger draped in fine cloth, staring down with an expressio…