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‘You won’t know how to find Cobblers Yard without directions.’
Callum smiled at her concern. ‘I’m sure I will. It’s in the town – right?’
‘Yes, Cobblers Yard is just off the high street, but—’
‘Well, there you go,’ said Callum. He could see a car heading up their drive. ‘I’d better get going.’ He crunched the gears into reverse. ‘Send my love to Fergus. He’s a great lad. I hope to see him soon.’
Jack said, ‘Don’t worry, Callum. We’ll come and visit you at the bookshop.’
Beth turned to Jack. ‘You’re far too busy with work on the farm. And Fergus has school.’
Callum started to wind his window up in case Dickens got out. He overheard Jack say, ‘But you could visit when you pop in to see Lili with your autumn flowers.’
Callum slowly backed the van out of their driveway, giving the car passing him a wide berth. He happened to glance in his friends’ direction, intending to give them a final wave goodbye, when he saw Beth still shaking her head at Jack’s suggestion.
Callum continued to back out of their drive. If Jack knew about him and Beth, he wouldn’t be suggesting that they all drop by and see him in the bookshop. In fact, this would probably be the last he ever saw of them.
Callum shuddered at the thought. Jack was his best friend, and he didn’t want to lose that friendship because his wife had been infatuated by a fictional character in a television show and had acted out her fantasy on one mad night.
Callum berated himself for putting the onus completely at her door after what she’d said during their conversation.I went along with it, didn’t I?Only because I thought I was in love with her, and she was in love with me. How stupid can one person be?He should have realised that if she had been in love with him, she wouldn’t have married Jack.
Chapter 34
Callum headed down the lane in the direction of Aldeburgh. He thought he heard a grumpy cat complaining from somewhere in the van. ‘I’m stopping off to get you some food,’ Callum said, feeling foolish for speaking to the cat. Although to his surprise, he did get a response from somewhere; there was a stunted meow. At least that confirmed Dickens was still in the van.
‘Whiskas okay?’
Again, Dickens gave that funny stilted meow, as though he was actually answering Callum’s question.
‘I’ll take that as a yes.’
Callum found two grocery stores on the way into Aldeburgh. He quickly popped into one of them, emerging a short time later with some cat food, cat biscuits, bottled water and two cat bowls, along with some cat litter and a tray. They didn’t have Whiskas. He also had a four-pack of beer for himself. On his return, he was surprised to find Dickens in the driver’s seat again, front paws on the window, looking for him.
Callum opened the driver’s side door. He expected Dickens to jump out of the van, but the cat scooted over on to the passenger seat and nosed in the bag when Callum placed it on the seat next to him.
‘Yes, it’s all for you – apart from the beer, of course. Unless you want to join me for a drink when I finally get this thing parked up somewhere for the night.’ Callum couldn’t believe he was holding a conversation with a cat. He wondered if this was what his dad had done when he had been on the road with Dickens. Had he held conversations with his cat?Probably, thought Callum. He probably stopped in grocery stores to stock up on cat food and treats too.
He recalled what Beth had said about the bookshop – there was probably a flat above it. Perhaps it was furnished. That would be perfect. He’d rather stay there than drive around a place he did not know, trying to find where he could park up overnight. Although it had occurred to him that as Aldeburgh was a seaside town, he could park on the beach and wake up to a beautiful sunrise.This isn’t LA, he reminded himself.You can’t just drive your van on to the beach, park it up and sleep there. Although he didn’t even know if you could do that in LA; he’d never done it, although he had seen it in the movies.
He looked at Dickens with his nose in the carrier bag. ‘Come on – let’s find the bookshop.’ Apart from anything else, Callum didn’t really want to spend the night cooped up in the van with the world’s oldest cat. Did he even have control of his bladder anymore? Callum was relieved that he’d had the foresight to pick up some cat litter and a tray when he’d stopped off at the store. He sniffed the air. He couldn’t smell anything untoward, for now.
With that thought, Callum put the van into gear and drove out of the small car park, following the street signs for Aldeburgh town centre. ‘Not long now,’ he commented.
Dickens let out another stilted meow.
He glanced at the cat and saw him standing on his hindlegs, front paws on the dashboard, looking around.
‘First impressions?’
Dickens let out a long meow.
‘Yeah, I agree – it is kinda nice. Really nice, actually.’ He drove past a large church on the left and then down a small incline, where he reached another road. Neat little red-brick terraced cottages lined the street, but he also spotted some shops and an old Tudor pub on the corner. This was the town’s high street, where he knew he’d find Cobblers Yard. He drove slowly, keeping an eye out for Cobblers Yard that Beth had said was up a side street.
He thought of something else Beth had said:You’re going to find somebody, Callum, I just know you are. And when you do, don’t blame me if I feel a little jealous.
Callum frowned. He hadn’t spotted Cobblers Yard yet. Looking for the bookshop reminded him of the promise he’d made his father to find the girls in the photo – girls who would now be young women.No, I don’t have to find them, said a voice in his head.Remember what Jack said – dad is unwell. Whoever he thinks these girls are, and whatever the reason is that he thinks he needs them to have the campervan … it’s the dementia messing with his mind, with his memories.
Callum thought he’d ask the cat. One stilted meow foryeswas all he needed. ‘Dickens, can I ask you a question?’
