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‘This is their home? What if … well, what if Mum and Dad can’t find a suitable place and the pets have to ... go?’
‘Go?’
‘Be re-homed.’
Re-homed?Alice looked crossly at the loft hatch. That possibility had never entered her head.
‘There is an answer to that,’ said Theo.
‘Which is …?’
‘Well, they could stay with us … permanently.’
We’re selling my home,Alice thought.You’re not taking my pets too!
‘Oh, Theo, that’s a lovely thought. And I know how attached you are to them, but …’
‘But … what?’
‘Well, what if we want to go travelling?’
Alice sat waiting to hear what they said next.
‘I take it you’re not talking about a two-week holiday abroad?’
Alice could hear Theo’s tone change.
‘Well, what if I need to go on an archaeological dig somewhere?’
‘You mean to Egypt.’
‘Yes.’
‘Oh, we’re not back to that again. When do you think that’s going to happen? And besides, even if it did, I’m not exactly going to drop everything and go with you – am I?’
Alice didn’t hear Freya respond. She’d heard them having words since they’d come to live there. Alice knew Theo just wanted Freya to settle down and stick with her part-time job at the museum. The problem was, she knew her daughter. She was meant to be getting married, settling down. But how much was this house-buying business what Freya really wanted?
The sound of Marley jumping out of the box stalled the conversation about her pets that Alice wished she hadn’t heard.
‘What was that?’ Theo asked. ‘It’s coming from the loft.’
Alice reached for Marley, chasing a bit of crepe paper along the floor, and scooped him up.
‘I expect it’s a rodent or something up there.’
Or something, thought Alice, looking at Marley’s grumpy cat face.
‘So, aside from whatever travelling you think you’re going to do …’
Alice got the vibe that, like her, Theo thought Freya’s talk of archaeological digs abroad in far-flung places was a pipe dream. ‘So, do you think we could still take the pets in?’ he said. ‘You could have a word with your dad and suggest it.’ Theo was back to talking about Alice’s pets again.
Alice sat there frowning as their voices faded and a door shut down the hall. She gave Marley a kiss and put him down on the floor, rustling the crepe paper. Paws pounced on the paper. ‘I tell you what, Marley, I’ll let go of this house, but I am not re-homing you or Hester – or Percy.’
Alice was about to open the loft hatch when she heard a bedroom door open. She listened as Freya and Theo walked out of the bedroom. ‘I’ve got to leave for work, Theo, but I want to have a word with Dad first.’
‘Fine,’ Theo replied.
She waited a few moments before pulling the cord and watched the loft hatch open and the stairs unfold. Alice looked at the suitcase full of clothes, then at the other two suitcases. A quick glance through the chest of drawers, and the discovery of more items of clothing – and shoes – made her pause before climbing down the stairs. She filled the other two cases with various garments, nearly shutting Marley inside one when he nestled in the clothes when she wasn’t looking.
