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Chapter 38
As soon as she had ended the call with Gerald, Abigail gathered her things together and loaded her suitcase into the small boot of the car. She packed up the projector, the box of movie reels, and all Ulysses’ doggy things, and loaded them on to the back seat. She got the dog into the car and set off.
She didn’t know how Ulysses would take to Penelope. Had he even been in a car before? Would he be sick on the back seat? She needn’t have worried. Driving along the empty North Circular, to her surprise, she could hear doggy snores coming from the back seat. Ulysses had settled down and quickly fallen asleep, despite the engine noise of the old Beetle. Abigail yawned, thinking that making the journey so late was a bad idea. Even so, the roads were empty, and she made exceptionally good time, pushing Penelope up to seventy miles per hour along the M25 before hitting the A12, which wasn’t bad going for such an old car.
Two hours later, she drove the little Beetle on to the gravel drive. She was trying to be quiet, but it just wasn’t possible unless she switched the engine off and got out to push Penelope, which wasn’t going to happen. As soon as she’d parked the car, she looked over at the lighthouse. She wasn’t surprised when she saw a light on. She’d woken her neighbour. She really didn’t care. She got out of the car and took what she needed, lifting her tired dog into her arms. They’d already made a couple of pit-stops on the way – Ulysses’ whining from the back seat had reminded her that she needed to let him out of the car for toilet breaks.
She unlocked the door, switched on the light, closed it behind her and carried Ulysses straight up to her bedroom. He was surprisingly heavy for a little dog. She put him gently down on the end of her bed. He looked at her a moment, sniffed the duvet cover, decided it met with his approval, and fell asleep.
The rest of her things would have to be brought in and unpacked in the morning. She kicked off her shoes, pulled the duvet back, and crawled into bed fully clothed. Too tired to switch the light off, just like Ulysses she fell asleep almost immediately. Her last thought before falling asleep was of a little boy at a birthday party.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘Jinx!’ Lili and Abigail said in unison. They had asked each other the same question as soon as Abigail answered the cottage door to her friend. She opened the door wide to let her in.
‘I thought you’d returned to London?’ Lili looked at her in surprise. She added, ‘Joss told me at work yesterday. I thought it couldn’t be true. You wouldn’t leave without telling me.’
Abigail looked at her sheepishly. ‘Sorry.’
‘What happened?’ Lili guessed before Abigail even uttered a word. ‘They found out, didn’t they, about the cottage?’
Abigail nodded solemnly.
‘I swear I said nothing, and I’m sure Joss didn’t—’
‘It was Penelope.’
‘Who?’
Abigail followed Lili into the kitchen. ‘Daphne’s car. I couldn’t believe I’d been so stupid, driving it to the Hall.
‘You named your car?’
Abigail smiled. ‘No. It’s what Daphne called her.’
‘So, you upped sticks and left for London.’ Lili followed her into the kitchen. ‘What I don’t understand is what brought you back so fast?’
‘Why don’t you take a seat in the lounge? I’ll show you.’ Abigail caught her frowning. ‘What?’
‘Did you sleep in those clothes?’
‘Yes.’
‘You didn’t stay up last night late watching that projector?’
Abigail heard the concern in her voice. She smiled. ‘Don’t worry, I haven’t slipped back to the bad old days when I first arrived here and holed up on the sofa watching Toby’s home movies.’
‘So, what’s all this about?’
Abigail shooed her friend into the lounge. ‘I’ll tell you in a moment. Just let me make some tea. I have some news.’
Lili looked at her curiously but did as she was asked.
A moment later, Abigail heard Lili exclaim, ‘There’s a dog on your sofa!’
‘Oh, that’s just Ulysses.’
Lili poked her head into the kitchen and side-stepped as Ulysses brushed past her and padded over to his water bowl.
