Willow Cottage – Part Four: Summer Delights. Bella Osborne

Beth was too much to comprehend. She would never forgive him.

      Jack shot past Shirley and she shut the door as a high-speed Mittens came skidding across the polished parquet floor. Shirley scooped Mittens up into her arms and the cat clung to her cardigan like Velcro, her tail the size and colour of a bleached toilet brush. Doris came to a halt in front of them and proceeded to bark her excitement.

      ‘Now stop,’ said Shirley and she bent her small frame forward and rested a bony finger on Doris’s wet nose. Doris stopped barking and went to lick the finger, her eyes shooting to the cat who was now very close indeed. Jack went to grab Doris’s collar. ‘No!’ said Shirley firmly. ‘They need to sort this out between the two of them.’

      Jack struggled to think of a worse idea. ‘I think they said the same about Germany and Poland and look how that turned out!’ He agitatedly ran his hands through his hair. Shirley gave him an old-fashioned look. ‘I’m kind of in a hurry,’ said Jack, checking his watch and wishing he hadn’t as it reminded him of how long Leo had been missing and that it would soon start to get dark.

      Shirley ignored him and carried Mittens off into the kitchen with Doris trotting after her in silence. Jack stood in the hallway shaking his head. This was getting him nowhere and precious time was ticking away. He could now see a glimpse of the madness of Dumbleford that Beth referred to.

      The kitchen door reopened. Shirley came out and carefully closed the door behind her. Jack gave her a quick once-over with his eyes but she appeared to be all intact – no scratches, no bite marks.

      ‘Don’t worry about them. What was it you were in such a hurry for?’ asked Shirley.

      ‘Yes, right,’ said Jack, reordering his thoughts. ‘Wilf and Ernie, was there somewhere they liked to go? Or perhaps a place they played when they were children?’

      Shirley was staring at Jack like he’d gone loopy. ‘Why?’

      ‘Leo and Ernie are missing.’

      Shirley drummed her fingers across her lips while she thought. ‘They used to play at the farm, we all did,’ said Shirley, her face softened by a smile as her eyes wandered off to somewhere over Jack’s right shoulder.

      ‘Bramble Hill Farm?’ asked Jack, his mind whirring away trying to work out his quickest route there.

      ‘Yes, we had such jolly good fun up there, me and the boys,’ said Shirley with a girlish giggle and Jack’s eyes widened.

      ‘Anywhere else?’

      Shirley gave a pout as she thought. ‘On the green, obviously, and the farm and all the fields around and about.’

      Jack felt his shoulders sag. Fields and countryside surrounded the village; it was impossible to cover it all before dark but he started towards the front door all the same. A thought struck him. ‘Was there anywhere that was a sanctuary, Shirley? Somewhere you would escape to?’