Page 58 of The Village of Lost and Found

Lucy shrugged. ‘Of course not. I’m not very bright. I don’t have any real skills. My parents have always been disappointed that I’m not some kind of high-flyer with a great career like them.’ She reached out to stroke the petals of a sunflower that was part of a display nearby. ‘I used to love coming down to Cranbridge every school holiday. That was my escape.’

‘I remember your aunt,’ said Belle. ‘She was very kind when I had to move here.’

‘I loved their apartment upstairs. It felt like a real home for once. Not sure what she’d say about Bridget’s decorating ideas though,’ said Lucy, with a grimace.

Amber winced. ‘It’s not very, er, country, is it?’

Molly looked embarrassed. ‘Bridget told me that it was the latest fashion in home decorating.’

‘What? Gothic princess, you mean?’ drawled Belle. ‘It gives me a migraine going in there. Why do you think we always meet at the pub or in Amber’s apartment?’

‘So does this mean that you’re staying for the summer?’ asked Amber.

Lucy nodded. ‘Absolutely. If I think it’ll do any good and help the newspaper,’ she said. She hesitated before adding, ‘And if you can put up with me too.’

Amber and Molly both nodded whilst Belle broke into a large smile.

‘Brilliant,’ she said.

‘And we’re going to need all the help we can get if that quarry gets the go-ahead,’ said Amber, biting her lip.

They all sighed heavily and Lucy realised just how stressful the news of the quarry was to everyone.

‘Hey, how about I do pizza for us all tonight?’ said Molly. ‘If you can stand the gothic princess decorations obviously.’

‘Sounds great,’ said Lucy.

As Lucy headed into the shop with the others to choose their home-made pizzas, she realised that although she hadn’t planned on making friends when she had come to Cranbridge, that was exactly what was beginning to happen. And the thought made her happier and stronger than she had felt in a long time.

31

Monday morning dawned sunny and warm once more. So Lucy slipped on her knee-length shorts and T-shirt, deciding that she might as well dress casually for work as everyone else did in the village.

Despite the worry over the newspaper, she had a spring in her step as she and Molly headed around the corner of Riverside Lane and past the shop. She felt as if she could achieve anything that day.

But as they went towards the office, Lucy heard a familiar whimper and stopped suddenly to crouch down to peer underneath the veranda.

She found Henry’s dog was under there once more.

‘Hey, boy,’ she said softly to him. ‘What are you doing back here again?’

‘Awww,’ said Molly, leaning down next to her to look at the dog. ‘Poor thing.’

Lucy held out her hand. ‘Come on. You must know me by now,’ she urged.

The dog seemed to understand and crept out from underneath the veranda to come and sit immediately on her feet.

‘He’s so sweet!’ said Molly. ‘Whose dog is he?’

‘Henry. That farmer over at Cranley Court Farm,’ Lucy told her and then made a decision. ‘Look, tell Tom I’ll be back as quickly as I can. I’m going to drop the dog back to the farm.’

‘OK,’ said Molly, nodding.

The summer air was so warm even at 9 o’clock in the morning that Lucy wound both front windows of the car down. The dog automatically stuck his head out of the passenger-seat window to let his ears flap in the breeze. Lucy smiled to herself. He really was quite sweet, if somewhat in need of a bath.

It was lovely to be heading down the country lanes which were ablaze with colour and butterflies. Uncle Frank had been right, she thought. Summertime really was lovely in Cranbridge.

As they drew up next to the farmhouse, Lucy saw that Henry was tinkering with the engine of his van, which was parked up on the driveway. He looked up as her car pulled up next to his.