AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Thankfully, Geraldine appeared from the kitchen.
‘Here’s her lead,’ she said, clipping it onto Suki’s collar and handing him a bag of treats. ‘Be a good girl for Calvin. Not thatyou take any notice of me anymore, do you?’ Her eyes lifted to Calvin. ‘You’ve stolen her heart, you bad man. Although I really can’t blame her. She’s not the only female falling for your charms.’
‘Not just female,’ Esme said, smiling. ‘Rowan’s a bit smitten, too.’
Both women laughed and Calvin decided it was time to escape. ‘On that note, I’m off. See you later, ladies.’
‘Bye!’ they chorused, waving him off.
Securing his baseball hat in place, he headed outside to his car, Suki trotting obediently by his side.What had happened to upset Kate?he wondered. And so early in the day. He hoped it wasn’t Rowan’s scary ghost stories that had unsettled her.
Suki looked up with a puzzled expression when he opened the car door. ‘In case we see Kate,’ he said, as if the dumb dog would understand him. ‘She might need a lift.’
With a resigned shake of the head, Suki jumped into the car, positioning herself on the front seat. He wasn’t sure whether he was supposed to put a seatbelt on her, or not. She sat upright, head high, looking quite regal as she perused her surroundings.
‘Don’t get used to it,’ he said, climbing in next to her. ‘You’ll be in the back later. I’m not having your muddy paws on my leather seats.’
She gave him a contemptuous glare and turned to look out the window – such was his relationship with females.
Heading away from the care home, he kept his eyes peeled for signs of Kate. Surely she wasn’t still upset about Friday night? He hadn’t seen much of her over the weekend but, other than being a bit embarrassed, he hadn’t got the impression she was too traumatised. They’d had a couple of brief conversations, mainly about work stuff, but perhaps he should have reassured her it wasn’t a big deal. Maybe she was worried he’d got the wrong idea, and was stressing over it?
He drove twice around the village, looking for her, struggling to see through the dense fog, but there were no signs of Kate.
Suki was getting fidgety, and he realised the poor animal probably needed a wee.
Turning into the lay-by next to Screaming Woods, he parked up and killed the engine.
‘Keep an eye out for Kate,’ he said, feeling a tad guilty for abandoning his search. He glanced at Suki, who tilted her head as if to say, ‘I’m a dog, you stupid human.’
‘Well, that’s debatable,’ he said, exiting the car and heading around to the passenger side.
Visibility was poor. The fog obscured the lane, making it precarious to cross the road. The other side wasn’t much better. The trees had lost their foliage, making the dark trunks and branches merge into the mist.
‘Don’t run off,’ he instructed Suki, unclipping her lead. ‘Stay close.’
He was subjected to another look.
‘I’m just saying.’ He stretched out his hamstrings. ‘I don’t have time to go looking for you.’ He broke into a jog. ‘Come on, keep up.’
But Suki had disappeared into the bushes, no doubt keen to relieve herself.
Calvin set his watch and settled into a steady jog. The air was damp and the terrain underfoot uneven, covered with fallen branches and low-growing ferns. His mind kept drifting to thoughts of Kate and whether she was okay. She’d openly admitted she was still struggling. Should he call someone? Alex, maybe? Supposing something happened to her?
A few moments later, Suki caught up with him and they ran together through the wood, their breath visible against the cold December air.
He wasn’t sure whether thoughts of Kate had conjured her up, or whether he’d started hallucinating, but a flash of red caught his eye and he ground to a halt. He turned sharply, recognising her long cardigan.
She looked to be embroiled in an argument with a tree. She was yelling at the large oak, hitting it with a thick branch, sending chunks of bark flying and knocking herself off balance in the process.
And then she disappeared from view.
He sprinted towards where she’d landed, fearful she’d injured herself. ‘Kate! Are you okay? Where are you?’
He spotted her red cardigan and ran over, the dog not far behind.
She was lying face down, her hands bunched into fists, her feet kicking the ground like a toddler having a massive tantrum. This was not good. He couldn’t work out whether it was better than dealing with a panic attack, or worse.
‘Kate?’ He dropped down beside her and placed a hand on her back. ‘What’s happened? Talk to me. You’re scaring me.’
