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She glanced at the clock on the bedside cabinet. It was still early. Despite closing her eyes again, sleep eluded her. It didn’t help that Hester, who had retreated to her basket the previous night, jumped up, front paws on the bed, and licked her face.
‘Urrgh, Hester!’ Alice sat up. Sad brown beagle eyes looked at her. Alice sighed. She could never be cross with her dog for long. ‘Oh, I didn’t mean to tell you off.’
Hester took the change in her tone for an invitation to join her in bed. She jumped up on the bed and gave Alice more doggy kisses as she sat up. ‘Okay, all right. I’m getting up.’
She gently pushed Hester to one side and got out of bed, reaching for the cardigan she’d left on an easy chair by the window and slipping it on over her pyjamas. She opened the curtains, thinking of home. She knew she really ought to phone her family that morning.
Thinking of contacting them, Alice’s gaze shifted from the window to the dressing table in front of her and the pad of writing paper with the wordsThe Guest House at Shingle Coveprinted at the top. It was identical to the notepaper that someone called Wendy had used to write a letter to Jeffrey all those years earlier. A letter that sounded as though they were breaking things off.
Alice decided to write a letter to Jeffrey using the notepaper. The trouble was that it would give the game away as to where she’d gone. But she couldn’t resist. She was about to sit down at the dressing table when she glanced at Hester. Before she did anything else she needed to take her dog out. She didn’t want her to have an accident in the bedroom.
‘Oh, my goodness, it’s cold out there,’ Alice said under her breath as she closed the door to her bedroom and took off her coat. Hester came scampering in after her and made a beeline for the bed. It was early and Alice had counted on nobody being up and about as she stole through the house with her coat over her nightwear. Fortunately, Hester had been quick doing her business in the garden, appearing as keen as Alice to get back inside into the warmth.
‘Now, where was I?’ said Alice to herself as she slipped her cosy cardigan back on. Her eyes roved to the headed paper on the dressing table. ‘Oh, yes. I was going to write a letter.’ She took a seat. There was a little stack of envelopes too, in a cream colour, just like the one she’d found in the loft. Alice sat there, her pen hovering over the notepaper, thinking of a woman called Wendy whom she’d never heard of before she found that letter.
Alice jumped when her cat appeared on the desk. ‘Oh, Marley! You gave me a fright!’
She watched Marley examine the notepaper. Then he decided to nibble the end of her pen.
‘Hey.’ She held the end of the pen in the air, thinking it was out of his reach. Marley proved her wrong, standing on his hind legs, paws making a grab for the pen.
‘You’re playful this morning,’ commented Alice, thinking that it had been some time since she’d seen the playful side of her cat. She knew she had Emily to thank for that. And Joss, who had given her a lift to see the vet.
Alice twirled the pen absently, letting Marley enjoy the game while she thought about Emily and Joss. She still felt responsible for the way things had turned out.
Alice shook her head.Young love.She remembered it like it was yesterday.
Marley caught the end of the pen between his paws, and nibbled on it, reminding her what she was intending to do. ‘Stop that now,’ Alice said, moving the pen. She picked Marley up and put him on the floor. He meowed in disapproval and immediately jumped back up on the desk.
Hester, who had been snoozing on the bed, jumped down and came running up to the desk to see what was going on. She woofed.
‘No, you’re not missing anything Hester. The game is over.’
Realising she wouldn’t be left in peace to write her letter, Alice walked over to the food bowls laid on a mat in the corner of the room and put a couple of scoops of dried cat and dog food into two bowls – one for Hester, the other for Marley. She put Hester’s down first. When she was finished wolfing down the food, Alice said, ‘Bed!’ She pointed at the basket.
Ears down, sad puppy dog eyes staring at Alice as though she’d been told off, Hester padded over and flopped down on the cushion in the basket, adding a little whine just to make Alice feel guilty.
‘Good girl.’ Alice patted her head. ‘Stay!’ Hester did as she was told, as usual, giving Alice a chance to put Marley’s food down without Hester stealing it.
Marley sat on the bed, watching her. He licked his paw and started cleaning his fur.
‘Here you are, Marley. It’s breakfast time.’
Marley sat for a long moment, staring at his food bowl.
Alice wasn’t surprised. This was her cat’s modus operandi. In fact, she imagined it was the same with most cats. Marley would do things in his own good time. There was no ordering him around, like Hester. Telling him what to do fell on deaf cat ears, although he could hear her very well.
Alice resumed her seat, glancing at Hester, who was dozing once more.
She heard a dull thud and glanced over her shoulder. Marley had jumped off the bed and was eating his breakfast. She smiled and turned in her seat, her brow creasing in a frown, having second thoughts about writing a letter to Jeffrey. But she’d made up her mind.
‘Now, where is that pen?’
Alice searched the desk, then the floor around the desk, and even got out of her seat, pulling the chair out to see if it had dropped on the wooden flooring where she’d been sitting. The pen, as far as Alice could see, had vanished.
She sat down and scratched her chin. ‘Pens just don’t vanish into thin air!’ She glanced at Hester, who was fast asleep and oblivious to the search. Alice raised her eyebrows and turned around in her seat, just in time to see a furry tail disappear under her bed. ‘Marley!’
Chapter 24
