‘Some people’s bodies just can’t cope with alcohol,’ Rufus said. ‘It’s like poison to them.’
‘Harry was standing by the car. When he spotted me, he seemed really pleased to see me, but he had an ulterior motive.’
‘He wanted you to drive them back to Sweetwell.’
I nodded. ‘Later, they said it was in case the police were waiting round the corner, which they used to do quite a bit then. But I’ve no idea how he persuaded me, because my memories, like the dreams, always end with him standing by the car, smiling and asking me to the party.’ I shivered.
‘Come on,’ Rufus said, setting off up the path and pulling me with him. ‘Let’s go home.’
‘Actually, I know Harry’s perfectly happy now, because I saw him in Heaven while I was in the coma,’ I found myself suddenly confiding in him.
‘Really?’ He seemed so genuinely interested that I told him about the near-death experience and being pulled down a tunnel towards a bright light.
‘It was an Alice-falling-down-the-rabbit-hole feeling, because I was curious, but not afraid,’ I said. ‘Then all at once I was standing near a wonderful garden full of flowers in colours I couldn’t even put a name to. The sky was brilliant azure blue and the air filled with soft, strange music … There were people in the garden and I really wanted to join them, but I couldn’t,’ I added regretfully.
‘Why not?’
‘As I moved towards the gate in the wall, my mother appeared in front of it and stopped me. Harry was standing right behind her, with my old dog, Patch, frolicking round his feet as if he was a puppy again – and that’s when I realised I was in Heaven … or almost in Heaven. I didn’t quite make it. My mother said it wasn’t my time and I needed to go back, because I had important work to do.’
‘And that’s when you regained consciousness?’ he asked.
‘I was pulled back down the tunnel and into my body, even though I didn’t want to go. The next thing I knew, Debo was shaking my shoulder and telling me to wake up. Debo and Judy didn’t really believe me when I said I’d been to Heaven. They thought it was the drugs and the blow to my head.’
‘I believe you,’ he said, to my surprise. ‘One of my friends came off his motorbike and had a similar experience, only in his case his granny ordered him to go right back and sell his bike, then give the money to his auntie Dora, who needed it. So he did.’
‘And did she need it?’
‘Yes, her cat had been run over and had to have an expensive operation, so she’d got herself into debt with a loan company.’
‘I was sent back to help other women improve their lives through my skills with textiles,’ I said. ‘I only went wrong when I met Kieran.’
‘So far, my whole life seems to have been wrong,’ Rufus said morosely.
‘Perhaps, but now I’m sure it’s turned right and you’re meant to be here in Halfhidden, just as I am.’
Spring Cottage was dark and quiet, so Tom must have gone to bed. We passed Cam walking down the path after dropping his grandfather off at the shop and chatted for a moment. Although so dissimilar, Rufus and Cam had taken to each other and Cam invited him to go to look at his gallery next day. I said I might pop in to see the new folding doors, too.
It was only after we’d wished each other good night and parted company that I realised I was still holding hands with Rufus, and I wondered if Cam had drawn the wrong conclusion. But it seemed unfriendly to disengage my hand at that point, especially since Rufus insisted on taking me all the way to the Lodge, even though I told him I’d walked the path alone a million times.
‘You’ll have to brave Howling Hetty on the drive,’ I pointed out and shivered again.
‘Didn’t you say she only haunted that hollow round the first bend, where the accident was?’
‘Allegedly.’
‘I’ll go back down the path and cut round to the other side, if it will make you feel happier.’
‘I wouldn’t say happier, but certainly relieved.’
On impulse I invited him into the Lodge for coffee, warning him to be quiet since Debo and Judy would be fast asleep. I was surprised to find Babybelle in the kitchen, curled up with Vic and Ginger. There was a note on the table, explaining that some of the dogs had got out earlier, but Debo and Judy had heard them barking and quickly rounded them up. Only Babybelle had refused to go back, so they left her downstairs.
‘The sooner you get some decent kennels and perimeter fencing, the better,’ Rufus said, having read this missive over my shoulder.
‘They don’t all get out, and this is the first time any have escaped for ages,’ I protested, though if you counted Babybelle, I suppose that wasn’t strictly true.
Babybelle had marked our entrance into the kitchen by opening her eyes and thumping her tail on the hearth rug. But on hearing the sound of a biscuit tin being opened, she deigned to get up and lumbered over hopefully, followed by the other two dogs.
Rufus didn’t stay long. I think he could see that I’d had such a drawn-out and emotionally draining day that I was exhausted.
As soon as he left, I went to bed, and although after Jonas’s stories I was nervous about turning off the light, when I did, I remembered the comforting strength of Rufus’s hand enclosing mine and instantly plummeted deep into sleep.
Chapter 17: Dog Daze
‘Come on, Simon – you get in the back with Cara, so Izzy can get in the driver’s seat,’ Harry urged him.
‘I don’t want him in here with me, he might be sick again,’ she protested.
But Harry was hauling Simon upright, even as I was echoing, blankly, ‘The driver’s seat?’
What seemed like seconds after my head hit the pillow, I shot bolt upright, wide awake again … but now the sun was shining through the rose-patterned curtains and it was morning.
I really would have to talk to Daisy again about my dreams – memories – whatever they were.
I went for an early dip, so it was at breakfast, while I was fending off a determined attempt by Babybelle to snatch the food from my fork mid-air, that I found out Judy and Debo had had an even more eventful time last night than I’d realised.
‘The doorbell rang soon after you went to the pub, Izzy, but when I opened the door, there was no one there, except a big Alsatian that had been tied to the front porch,’ Judy said. ‘I could hear a car revving away towards the road, but it was out of sight.’
‘It’s a bitch,’ Debo said.
‘It certainly is,’ I agreed heartily.
‘No, I meant the Alsatian is a bitch. The poor thing’s been used for puppy farming, from the look of her.’
‘But she’s not a dangerous dog, so she could be rehomed?’ I asked hopefully.
‘She doesn’t seem dangerous, just very cowed,’ Judy said. ‘What do you think, Debo?’
‘I think you’re right, but we should get the vet to check her over before she moves on to Lucy’s.’
‘Fair enough, but will the Ferrises be working on a Sunday?’ I asked doubtfully.
‘I expect one of them will pop in for a look at her,’ Debo said.
‘And charge twice as much because it’s also Easter, don’t forget, and a bank holiday weekend,’ I pointed out.
‘It’ll probably be Will, and I don’t think he’ll charge more than usual,’ she said optimistically. ‘Anyway, last night we’d just settled the Alsatian into a kennel and gone back to bed, when a couple of the other dogs escaped.’
‘They must have been jumping at the gates and knocked the latches out, though they haven’t done that for ages,’ Judy said.
‘It’s odd how it’s almost always weekends when they do,’ Debo said. ‘Don’t tell Rufus they got out, will you?’
‘Too late. I invited him in for coffee, so he read the note, too. But don’t worry, he knows we’re going to make things much more secure as soon as we can.’
‘How lovely that you’re getting friendly with him,’ Debo said brightly. ‘I’m sure once he kn
ows us all better, the nice Baz side of him will come out more and more.’
‘I don’t think he’s like Baz in the least,’ I said doubtfully. ‘And he’s certainly got his share of demons. But I’m sure he’ll mellow, once the Halfhidden effect takes over. In fact, he already has, a bit.’
‘It’s the mineral water,’ Judy suggested. ‘We’re all so chilled, we’re cool as cucumbers.’
‘I don’t think he’s had any of it yet,’ I said doubtfully.
‘Then he should,’ she said, and actually, it was a good thought!
After breakfast I took a look at the new arrival. No one had mentioned that she was a white Alsatian – or she would have been, if her fur hadn’t been so matted and dirty that it looked yellow. She was also little more than skin and bone.
My heart was wrung to think of all the puppies she must have had, which had probably been removed at barely six weeks. No wonder she had a cowed, beaten air.
But at least she didn’t look remotely vicious and her tail thumped when I said softly, ‘Poor old girl!’
‘She’s going to be all right,’ Sandy assured me, on her way past with a wheelbarrow full of sacks of dog biscuit. ‘Vet’s just been. They must have dumped her because she’d had such a bad time with the last litter that she was no good for breeding any more. Will gave her a kennel cough vaccination and she’s having a bath later, followed by worming, flea treatment and ear drops.’
‘That sounds like a fun day for her! I hope she …’ I began, and then, looking up, saw Rufus and lost the thread. The sun was glinting off his shiny, dark chestnut hair and, since a smile was softening the effect of that Roman nose and cleft chin, he looked less as if he was about to engage me in a gladiatorial contest that I was bound to lose.
‘Hi, Izzy, I’m just on my way to Cameron’s gallery. I wondered if you wanted to come and see these amazing folding room dividers.’
‘I thought you’d be too busy to go. Aren’t you opening your garden antiques centre tomorrow?’
‘I am, but I’ve been up since the crack of dawn, so there isn’t a lot left to do. Foxy’s just arrived, too, although I wasn’t expecting her on a Sunday and she says she’s coming tomorrow as well, even though it’s a bank holiday.’
‘The Lane girls don’t take a lot of notice of weekends. You’ll have seen Sandy’s here, too. Debo and Judy keep having to force her to take time off.’
‘After tomorrow, Foxy will have to take Mondays off, at least, because that’s my usual closing day. And on the others, I’m only open to the public from ten till four, or by appointment, so she doesn’t need to work long hours.’
‘I think you’ll find that, like Sandy, she turns up whether she’s paid for it or not.’
While we’d been talking, the so-far-nameless Alsatian had got up and slowly approached the front of the pen. Now Rufus spotted her and squatted down, eye to eye.
‘Hello! Who’s this?’
I told him the tale of her arrival, by which time he was stroking her head through the mesh and her tail was wagging eagerly.
‘I’ve never had a dog … or any pet,’ he said absently. ‘I didn’t have a settled home to keep one in, what with Fliss dumping me with her friends in the school holidays. Some of those had dogs or cats, though.’
Babybelle, who Sandy had lured back to her pen on the far side of the kennels, must have got the last morsel out of her treat ball, for she now gave a long, abandoned howl.
‘Come on,’ I said to Rufus, ‘let’s escape before she does!’
We found Lulu in the gallery, though she’d only popped in for a quick look at the new folding doors, since the pub was quite busy.
‘That lovely American couple are leaving for fresh haunts today, but the others are staying till tomorrow morning,’ she added, handing me a mug of coffee.
We watched as Cam demonstrated to Rufus the ingenious way the big glass and wooden room dividers smoothly and silently opened and closed, so that one minute we were in a huge gallery space, and the next in a studio.
‘Boys and their toys,’ Lulu said, and Cam grinned.
‘I’ve found a few artist’s donkeys and studio easels on eBay for when I start running painting classes here. Battered but fine,’ Cam said.
‘Donkeys?’ questioned Rufus, puzzled.
‘Like a bench that you sit astride, with an easel on the end,’ Cameron explained. ‘They’re from a private art school that’s closing down, only they’re in Cornwall and it’s a bit of a hike down there.’
‘We could go together in one of my vans, if you like,’ offered Rufus. ‘If we started in the early hours and took it in turns to drive, we could do it in a day and I’ve got a contact down there who often has some unusual bits and pieces for me, too.’
‘Great!’ Cameron said. ‘There’s a “buy it now” option, so I will, and then we can work out when will suit you to go down with me and collect them.’
‘I wish I could come; it sounds like fun,’ Lulu said regretfully, then put her cup down and got up. ‘I’d better get back.’
I went out with her, leaving Rufus helping Cam to hang paintings. It was good that he was getting on so well with one of my best friends, but really, I think he was just too afraid of Foxy to go back to Sweetwell!
Lulu drove off down the lane, and as I crossed the Green, the church bell (known locally as Little Knell, due to its being about the size of a budgie’s toy) began clonking away in a slightly cracked, but not unpleasant, manner. Money had never run to getting it recast, because keeping the roof on the church had always seemed more of a priority.
Judy was among the locals heading up the gravelled path to the church, locks of her hennaed hair undulating in the breeze, like bright flames. I knew she’d been looking forward to the Easter service, which was always in addition to the normal monthly one, and she’d be helping the vicar’s wife with the Easter egg hunt for the small children around the Hut later.
The faint strains of Jonas warming up the organ with a brisk rendition of ‘I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside’ competed with the bell to lure the parishioners to worship, and I felt that God was in his heaven and all was right with the world.
All was evidently not well in Babybelle’s world, for she was still emitting occasional howls, like a faulty burglar alarm. I thought I’d better take her for a run before I did anything else.
She determinedly headed down the path to the lower pool, so I thought that she was probably feeling fitter already … or maybe it was just that she liked to get very, very wet.
On our return, she was pretty set on going back into the Lodge for lunch with me, too, where Debo told me that Rufus had stopped by on his way back from the gallery, to say hello to the new dog.
‘Sandy said he’d already made a fuss of her earlier and she’d come right up to him.’ Then she added, ‘Sandy seems to be fine with Rufus now, by the way, so I think Foxy must have told her he was OK.’
‘Good, because you don’t want your staff frogmarching your landlord about,’ I said drily.
‘I’m sure she’ll be fine, now he’s shown he’s a dog person,’ Judy said.
‘We’ve called the Alsatian Pearl,’ Debo said. ‘If Rufus could give her a home at Sweetwell, that would be perfect.’
‘I wouldn’t jump the gun, Debo,’ I cautioned her. ‘He told me he’d never been able to have a pet because either he was at boarding school or farmed out with some of Fliss’s friends.’
‘How cruel!’ Judy said, her soft heart stirred. ‘Some people just aren’t fit to be mothers and Fliss is certainly one of them.’
‘I think Rufus might be interested, though I told him that Tom was coming tomorrow to choose a new dog and perhaps he’d like Pearl,’ Debo said.
‘But Tom’s already taken the greyhound,’ I reminded her.
‘Oh, yes, silly me,’ she said innocently. ‘How could I have forgotten?’
I finished designing the prototype of my sari/Grecian/flamenco skirt, then rummaged about in the boxes, lo
oking for a pretty fabric to make it up into. Time had flown by, so even though I knew Cam was coming to help me tweak the Izzy Dane Designs website into shape, I was still surprised to see him.
Completing the website was yet another important step, and once the first consignment of stock arrived and we’d done the photo shoot, I’d finally be ready to go live … so long as I’d finished sorting out PayPal and all the rest of it, of course.
‘So much to think of, so little time!’ I said to Cameron. ‘I thought I had organised most things before I even got home, but now as fast as I tick one thing off my list, I have to add another.’
‘Have you remembered that you’ll have to register as self-employed for tax purposes? We both will.’
‘Yes, and I’ve already started keeping an account of what I’ve spent on the business so far,’ I said. ‘Rufus must be an old hand at all that stuff, since he’s been running his own business for years, so if we get stuck we can always ask him.’
‘True. I like him now I’ve got to know him a bit, and it was kind of him to offer to go to Cornwall with me to pick up those easels and benches, wasn’t it?’
I agreed. ‘When we first met, we were at cross purposes, blaming each other for things that happened in the past. But now suddenly I feel I’ve known him for ages. It’s very odd.’
‘Perhaps that’s why you were holding hands on the path last night when I passed you, then?’ Cam teased.
I laughed. ‘Oh, that was just a joke really, because Jonas had scared us silly with his stories.’
‘And there was me, thinking you’d fallen instantly in love!’
‘Rufus has, I think – but with a dog, not me!’ I told him about Pearl and then took him to see her. She’d been washed and treated by then and was looking much better. Sandy said she was eating like a horse.
Debo stopped scrubbing out a pen with the big stiff yard brush and came over. ‘I’d like to keep her for a few days, until she puts on a bit of weight,’ she said. ‘And anyway, Izzy, you said Rufus was very taken with her, so we ought to wait and see.’
Creature Comforts Page 18
