Page 79 of The Second Chance Supper Club

There were tears and laughter at the wake, held at The Star Inn in the village. And, of course, lots of gorgeous food – a buffet prepared and served by the pub, but with personal touches, no doubt initiated by Andreas, to give a Greek-Cypriot twist to the proceedings. Lots of family had come up to stay overnight; the village and pub suddenly filled with London accents, and Greek expressions, with stories of Maria’s various antics, and touching memories.

Eleni and her new husband were there, having taken the trip up from London by train, and Cath found herself chatting with them later. Cath told them how delighted Maria had been with all the wedding photos they’d recently sent. She smiled as she then heard how Auntie Maria was known as the fun but feisty one, back in the day. She could be strict too, but always fair, and sociable and kind with it. Her family suppers were legendary, apparently.

‘Hey, Andreas, do you remember when you didn’t come home that night?’ Eleni started. ‘Mum told me all about it. Been clubbing too hard at The Roxy, slept on some mate’s floor … but you didn’t think to tell your Ma … Maria had been so worried, and then went totally crazy with you. You were grounded for weeks! And banned from baklava …’

‘Yeah, that was the worst of it, she made me forgo my favourite food. Anyhow, stop spilling my secrets, Eleni. I was only seventeen …’

They both grinned.

Andreas’s sister came over to see Cath too, talking about how much Andreas loved his new life up here. How Maria had settled in well, and been made so welcome by the local community too. A world away from her small flat, her last London home, in the borough of Enfield. Andreas’s family seemed lovely, so warm and friendly, much like Andreas, and of course Maria. The characterful matriarch no doubt having nurtured and influenced them all.

Will had called in at the wake, and had a word with the lads, but didn’t linger. Cath never had the chance to talk with him, other than a brief, polite ‘Hello’ and ‘How are you?’ earlier, as they’d met at the church. The pair of them merely sharing a guarded smile across the room at the pub. The awkwardness was still there, and she had to admit it hurt. But hey, one day at a time, she reminded herself. And today really wasn’t about the two of them, it was about celebrating the life of a wonderful lady.

Chapter 45

With family staying over, lots on, and still immersed in grief, before leaving the wake, Cath offered to help the lads by walking Shirley. It was the least she could do at such a busy and emotional time for them, and she’d grown fond of the little terrier. Dan happily took her up on her offer, asking if she’d call round the next day to take the Westie out for a stroll. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, and the early-September countryside was looking glorious, a patchwork of pale gold and green. Cath and the terrier were enjoying their wander in the open grassy fields that bordered the river. There were no sheep grazing here just now, and they were away from any roads. At times with the lads, she’d seen Shirley trotting about off lead, so thought it might be an ideal place to give her a little freedom to sniff about a bit, and perhaps do her business. They had gotten used to each other by now, after all.

All started well, with Shirley keeping just a few paces away from Cath, happily mooching about, as they skirted the edge of the field. That was until they came upon a small copse of trees, to one side of the field, which had a low wooden fence around it. It was Shirley who spotted it first, dashing over, barking animatedly, and then with laser-like concentration she sat staring fixedly at one of the trees. Cath was looking to see what the commotion was about when a grey squirrel zipped down the trunk to land teasingly just in front of the dog. Then the creature whizzed off through the copse and away … and so did Shirley, like a bolt of lightning.

‘Shirley, no! Wait! Leave it!’ Cath called frantically. Oh shit. But Shirley very much had other ideas, and was already on the hunt. Cath lost sight of the dashing duo within seconds. As panic began to rise within her, the next thing she spotted racing out away from the copse wasn’t a squirrel, oh no, but a rabbit bolting across to the far end of the field, with … oh yes, Shirley in hot pursuit. Cath tried her best – and failed miserably – to catch up. Jeez, could that little dog run! The rabbit went off through the parallel wires of the field’s fence … and so did Shirley. Bloody hell, Cath cursed herself, feeling panic rise within, she should never have let her off that lead. But it was too late, the dog was on the loose, and Cath wasn’t quite sure where. Heading for the spot where she last saw the dashing duo, she stood calling as loudly as she could, ‘Shirley, come on. Here. Good girl!’

This became a regular chorus, as she ploughed on over the next field, with still no sign of a white terrier’s furry back. Shit, and double shit.

What was she meant to do now? Keep going forward? But she wasn’t sure quite which way. Retrace her steps? Stay still? She stuck with the latter option for the next fifteen minutes, calling frantically, adding ‘biscuit’ and ‘dinner’ to her repertoire to try and entice the errant Shirley, but nothing was bringing the little dog back. Cath started to feel sick. What if anything happened to her? Could she be stuck down some rabbit hole? Might she have dashed onto the nearby lane into traffic and be injured? Tried to swim the river … and couldn’t? Her head was filled with tragic and awful scenarios.

She needed help, but she really didn’t want to alert Andreas and Dan to her reckless move in unleashing the dog, and then losing her … not just yet. The last thing they needed right now was extra worry. Nikki, Lily … and Will, they might help. They could have a quick look around the village? Perhaps even pop and subtly check if Shirley was in fact back on her own doorstep by now; it wouldn’t be out of the question. Then she could stay here by the river, carry on calling and keep a watchful eye out for the canine absconder. She puffed out a heavy sigh, as she fired over a short message to the three of them.

Help needed! Lost Shirley in the Tillside Park Farm fields near river. I’m still here looking. Can you check village area for me? And perhaps by the shop in case she’s bolted home. Thanks x

A call came through within seconds from Nikki, despite the fact that she’d only just finished serving out her Sunday roast for the family, bless her.

‘Hell-oo, I’m out in the street now.’ Nikki was stood there in her slippers. They all knew how much that little dog meant to the lads. ‘So, where are you now, and what’s happened exactly?’

Cath relayed the tale of the squirrel and subsequent rabbit chase, feeling the panic mounting the longer Shirley stayed missing.

‘Right, I’ll work my way down the street. I’ll get Lily on the case too, I’ll get her to do the start of that walk by the river, yeah?’

‘Yeah, we started on the path from the village by the bridge.’ ‘Okay, yep, no worries. And we’ll keep in touch.’

‘Okay, thank you. I’ll stay here, where I last saw her. She might come back this way. I’m near that little copse down by the river, Blakelaw way, about half a mile from the village. I’ll keep calling for her.’

‘Ah … Will … over here,’ Nikki shouted out, still on the phone.

Oh, he’d come out, too. There was some muffled offline discussion and then, ‘Right, Will’s off to the shop to have a hunt around there – I told him to be subtle. I figure the lads don’t know yet.’

‘No, I mean we’ll have to tell them soon, if she’s still lost … but let’s try and find her first. They’re having a stressful enough time of it, as it is. Shit, I’ve been so stupid.’

‘It could happen to anyone.’ Nikki tried to keep Cath’s spirits up.

‘Not if they didn’t let the dog off the lead,’ Cath cursed herself.

‘Ah … don’t worry, we’ll find her.’

‘Thanks.’ Cath finished the call and let out a heavy sigh.

Back to the task in hand, she scoured the landscape, trying hard to keep a cool head. But still no little white Westie. Oh no, she’d never forgive herself if anything bad happened to her.

A full thirty minutes had passed, which felt like three flipping hours in all honesty. Cath was frozen between leaving and looking elsewhere, feeling that the Westie might just appear back on the trail where she’d disappeared, having retraced her scent and her steps.