Polly was beside herself and made no attempt to hide her fears about what might have happened to the pair of them. She said that Demi had promised she’d wait in her cottage for Mitch, but when Polly called her, there was no answer, so she went down to the cottage and found the door open and the lights on. That’s when she fetched Kit and he must still be searching for Demi now.
With no phone signal, the three of them could be anywhere. I feel light-headed. This fog, it reminds me of the dust after the explosion. After I lost Soraya and Esme disappeared. Jesus, I can’t lose Demi too. Then I tell myself this is Cornwall, not a warzone, and if Demi saw me panicking, she’d probably wet herself laughing and tell me to get a grip.
Even so, the second the taxi pulls up on the Kilhallon car park, I’m out of it. Polly’s standing by the front door of the farmhouse with a blanket and torch. She rushes to me and gives me a huge and totally out of character hug.
‘Still no sign?’ I ask as the taxi driver rumbles away into the fog.
She lets me go, but clasps her hands together. ‘No. Thank God you’re home. I’m so worried. Mitch has been gone for hours now, and Demi almost as long.’
‘Oh God, why did you let her go?’
‘I didn’t let her go! We tried to make her wait in the cottage, Kit and I. We told her it was pointless and dangerous going out in this fog, but you know her, she does what she wants, the daft bird. She must have sneaked out after Kit had left her and now he’s been gone over an hour and he could have met the same fate.’
‘Polly,’ I say gently, struggling to keep a grip on my own darker thoughts. ‘No one has met their fate. Knowing Demi she’s just determined not to come home until she finds her dog and, in fact, they could walk back into the yard at any moment.’
‘I told Demi that earlier to reassure her but I’m worried sick for them both now. You know what those cliffs are like in a pea souper like this, and there’s all the old mine workings …’
‘They were filled in a long time ago. More likely they’ve found Mitch and need to carry him home.’ My stomach turns over even as I say it. ‘He might have been chasing a rabbit and become disorientated. The works have all been made safe, as far as we can tell, but the ground is very uneven with some steep slopes and deep hollows in places.
If I’ve lost Demi …
‘Kit’s a star, but he doesn’t know the area that well and I’d have called the cliff rescue by now if it wasn’t for this fog. How can I get anyone out to help in this? And I keep hoping they’ll come back. Oh Lord, I don’t know what to do for the best.’
I lay a calming hand on Polly’s arm. ‘I’ll go and look for them. I know this place better than anyone. If I don’t come across them quickly, then we’ll have to call the police and cliff rescue, no matter what the conditions.’
Polly lets out a squeak of panic.
‘But I’m sure there won’t be any need for that. I know some of the places Mitch likes to hunt rabbits by the engine house. I’ll check there first. Try not to panic yet, Polly. I’ll find them.’
I transfer the blanket and spare torches to my backpack while Polly makes a flask of hot coffee and collects the first aid kit from the farmhouse kitchen. It occurs to me to call Robyn or Uncle Rory to come and help, but I don’t want to put anyone else in danger. No matter what I think of Kit Bannen, I really hope he has done his hero act and will emerge at any second from the fog, with Mitch and an adoring Demi by his side. God, I do hope so … any other scenario is beyond imagination.
I may know Kilhallon as well as the back of my hand, but even I’m struggling in the fog and darkness. The taxi driver charged my phone on the drive home, though the signal’s about as predictable as the fog, which shifts and wreathes round me. It’s also cold, and getting colder by the minute. If Demi and Mitch are lying injured, hypothermia could set in very quickly. I have to find them.
I call for Demi and Mitch – and even Kit – as I make my way along the coast path towards the engine house. I try to call Demi a few times but only get her answer phone. Polly’s given me Bannen’s number so I even try that.
It’s then I hear a ringing in the mist a few yards ahead. That’s a mobile phone.
‘Hello? Kit?’
‘Over here! I’m coming.’
Kit pushes through a narrow gap in the gorse and is on me almost before I can speak again. His blond mane is soaked by the freezing fog. ‘Any luck?’ he asks.
‘No.’
‘Been here two hours now. I’m worried.’
‘Not as worried as me. Let’s go to the far side of the engine house. Be careful. Stick to the path and keep within shouting distance. The coverage is rubbish up here and we can’t rely on it.’
‘OK.’ He rubs his hands together. ‘I hope we find them soon. It’s bloody freezing out here.’
‘I know. We have to find them and we will.’
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Demi
‘Help! Kit! Polly! Can anyone hear me?’
Mitch has stopped joining in with my cries. He lies next to me, whimpering from time to time. I think he’s broken his leg, judging by the strange angle it’s lying at. I hope I haven’t broken my ankle, I don’t think so, though the pain is sharp when I move even the slightest bit and it throbs sickeningly when I’m not moving. When the undergrowth gave way, I almost fell on top of Mitch. I think we’ve fallen into a hole that used to hold some old winding gear for the engine house. One edge is overgrown with brambles, but in the daylight you’d probably have spotted it.
The moon shines down and I realise that the fog has lessened. Thank God for that. I would try my phone again but there’s still no reception. This hole is a black spot in a black spot. Hugging Mitch gently for warmth, I press my cheek to his fur. His coat is thick but it’s also damp and I started shivering an hour ago. With his injured leg, I don’t know how long he can hold on. My throat is already hoarse, but I have two choices: lie here and keep Mitch warm and comfortable, hoping someone will find me soon, or try to climb out of the hole again and fetch help. Despite my coat, lying in the sodden leaves and bracken makes me shudder with the damp and cold.
Someone must be looking for us by now, but I’m worried – Mitch might not make it until morning in these conditions. I have to do something.
Gritting my teeth against the pain, I crawl away from Mitch. I clutch at the brambles for support and I clamber to my feet, ignoring the prickles scratching my hands. I know some people would say he’s ‘only’ a dog, but he means everything to me. Him and Cal, they’re the things that matter to me now. I wish Cal hadn’t gone to London. I wish he’d stayed here. What if he’s decided to go back to work for the charity? Or go back to the Middle East? Why would he, though, when he had such an awful time before? When he’s said that Kilhallon is important to him? It’s only the cold and my worries about Mitch that are making me think such crazy thoughts.
I have to get a grip. I’ve got us both out of sticky situations many times before, and this is just another one, although possibly stickier than most. Below me, Mitch lets out a whimper that stabs at my heart.
‘It’s OK, Mitch. Someone will find us soon.’ I lift my face to the sky that’s somewhere above this fog. ‘Hey! Kit! Anyone! Helpppp!’
Holding on to the root of a bramble bush with one hand, I wave the torch around above my head, screaming until my throat burns.
‘Hey there! We’re here! Somebody help us!’
There’s nothing. My ankle throbs and I almost throw up as I try to clamber up the brambles. Why did I leave my gloves behind? Why did I fall down this hole? Why did I not watch Mitch more carefully when I was chatting to Kit?
‘Arghh!’
My hands slip from the brambles and I tumble backwards onto the undergrowth again. My cry of pain draws a bark from Mitch. Winded, I lie on my back, staring up at swirling darkness. My ankle pulsates and I feel faint and see stars …
Real stars. Above me, the stars twinkle as if someone has torn a small and ragged hole i
n the fog. Seconds later, the hole is closed again and all is grey. I let out a yell of frustration and rage.
‘For God’s sake, will someone get us out of here?’
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Cal
Bushes rustle and twigs snap a few yards to my side. The fog has swallowed up Kit and although I know it’s him making his way over the heath a few yards from me, hearing but not seeing him is still an eerie experience.
How then must Demi feel, frantic and alone, looking for Mitch? Thinking her beloved dog might be hurt or worse. My guts twist sharply and I know that sickening sensation. It’s the same one I felt every time they opened the door to the stinking room they held me in in the Middle East. I remember the bullet holes in the walls, the heat pressing down on me, the sun beating down on the tiled roof. The sound of their boots ringing on the hard earth as they came for me. Every time I thought it was the end.
‘Cal!’
‘Jesus!’
‘Sorry I scared you.’ Kit looms in front of me. He appeared as if from nowhere in the middle of the path.
‘You didn’t scare me. I was trying to listen.’ He angers me although he’s done nothing wrong.
‘OK. Let’s try again. You call and we’ll both stand here and listen.’
‘Demi!’ I shout at the top of my voice. ‘Mitch!’
My pulse pounds in my head as I strain to listen but there’s nothing. Kit looks at me enquiringly and I shake my head. He grimaces.
‘You carry on searching that side of the path and I’ll go this way,’ I say. ‘And don’t go getting lost. We’ve enough on our plate. Keep within hearing distance,’ I tell him again.
The gut punch subsides to a gnawing anxiety as we approach the engine house. I try to calm myself, wondering if Demi and Mitch have already made their own way home and are huddled by the fire in Kilhallon House, waiting for us to give up and return. But when should we give up? At some point, Kit or I are going to have to go somewhere with a decent mobile signal and ask Polly if they’ve returned on their own. Otherwise we’ll go round in circles looking for each other. And if Demi isn’t found soon, we really will have to call out the cliff rescue team.
If only I’d let her go to Brighton, she wouldn’t be lost in this godforsaken place in this nightmarish weather. She’d be serving up amuse bouches at Eva Spero’s and making her name as a chef or a cookery writer. Despite her passion for Demelza’s, I haven’t forgotten that things could still all go wrong here at Kilhallon, in a business sense and in a far worse one.
I’ve made a huge mistake in not seeing what was in front of me for far too long.
‘Wait! What was that?’
Kit’s torch sweeps over the wall of the inside of the engine house and back to me. I blink, dazzled by the beam. ‘What was what?’
‘Shhh.’
‘Help us!’
Kit mouths, ‘Demi?’
I nod, straining my ears until my temples throb.
‘Kit? Polly? Anyone? We’re here!’ The shout is followed by a faint but definite bark.
‘It’s them!’ Kit says.
My heart rate takes off. ‘I think they’re over there on the other side of the engine house. Be careful, follow me!’
‘Demi, we hear you!’
‘Cal? Is that you?’
‘Yes, me and Kit. Keep calling!’
‘We’re here in a big hole beyond the engine house. Mitch is hurt!’
‘Hold on.’
All I can think is that she’s alive and OK, and so is Mitch. Until this moment, I hadn’t realised how terrified I was of any other outcome. I surge through the undergrowth, Kit behind me. Demi’s voice grows louder and Mitch yips.
‘Watch out. The edge of the hole gave way!’
Demi’s voice seems to almost come from next to me but I still can’t see her. Whoa. I stop suddenly almost overbalancing. I prod the bracken ahead of me with my toe and realise there’s no solid earth under it. It must overhang a hollow. ‘Be careful!’ I warn Kit. ‘They must have fallen through here into a pit. Looks like the depression left from the winding gear. I don’t think it’s the entrance to an old shaft, but you can’t be too careful.
‘Don’t move!’ I call to Demi.
‘I can’t bloody move! If I could, I’d have climbed out. My ankle’s done for.’
Although I’m almost out of my mind with worry, I’m relieved to hear her back chat. She’s going to be OK. Edging forward gingerly, I direct the torch into the darkness below. The beam shows the broken tendrils and roots of the brambles and, to my enormous relief, Demi’s pale face peers upwards, six feet below. She has her arms around a very still and subdued Mitch who yips softly as he spots us. I let out a sigh and call to her. ‘We’re coming down.’
Thanking every star they’re safe for now, though I’m worried about the state of Mitch, Kit and I scramble into the hole.
Demi grabs me and clings on for a second or two then pushes me away. ‘You have to help Mitch. I think he’s broken his leg. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him.’
Realisation slams into me, a punch to the chest that sucks away my breath: I was thinking exactly the same thing about Demi.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Demi
Annie, the emergency vet, settles a groggy Mitch in an overnight bed at Cooper’s Surgery in St Trenyan. After Kit and Cal had helped us out of the hole, Kit carried Mitch and Cal lent me his arm so I could limp back along the cliffs to Kilhallon. The fog had cleared a bit, which made things slightly easier, but it was all I could do not to cry like a wuss. I was so worried about Mitch. As it is, I lost it when the vet finally told me the results of the X-ray she took while Mitch was sedated, but I’m calming down now.
Mitch lays his head on his paws and drifts off to sleep in the recovery cage.
‘Are you sure he’ll be OK?’ I ask.
She smiles. ‘Well, it’s not broken, but it’s a nasty strain. I’ll strap it up and he should make a full recovery. He’s still a young dog and he’s fit. You need to get your ankle treated.’
‘That’s only a sprain too.’
Annie ignores me. ‘It might be a hairline fracture. It looks very swollen to me.’
‘You wouldn’t X-ray it for me, would you?’ I ask Annie.
‘She’s joking.’ Cal takes my elbow. ‘Come on, I’m taking you to A&E’
‘No way. There’ll be a long wait and what if they keep me in for ages and I can’t come and see Mitch when he comes round?’
‘He’ll be fine and you need some rest,’ the vet says. ‘Even if you won’t go to hospital, strap it up and rest it and take some paracetamol.’
Cal’s arm tightens on my elbow. ‘I’ll do it.’
‘You?’ I ask.
‘I may only have done half a medical degree but I can deal with a twisted ankle. If it’s only twisted, that is.’
‘Whatever you decide, you should go home and rest it,’ says Annie firmly. ‘My nurse will take care of Mitch and we’ll call you to come and collect him in the morning if he’s fit to be released.’
Cal helps me to the car, and every step makes me wince in pain. Now the ordeal is over and I know Mitch will be safe, I’m also shaking like a leaf.
Gently, Cal helps me back into the car and drapes his wax jacket over me. ‘Here, put this on,’ he says gruffly.
On the drive home to Kilhallon, Cal is very quiet. I don’t mind, I’m exhausted, hurting and still thinking about Mitch, even though I know he’s going to be fine now.
‘I don’t know what I’d have done if you and Kit hadn’t found me. Thanks.’
‘It was luck. We heard you calling. You might have lain there all night otherwise. Why did you go after Mitch on your own?’
‘Why do you think? He’d have died if I hadn’t. He means everything to me.’
Cal glances at me briefly. ‘You could have hit your head and been knocked out. We might not have found you till it was too late.’
‘I was fine,’ I say, wondering why
he’s so quiet and distant. Now Mitch is safe, I’ve started to wonder what might have gone on in London.
We reach Kilhallon and find Polly and Kit still up, despite it being the small hours now, and drinking tea in the kitchen.
Kit jumps to his feet. ‘How is he?’
‘Fine.’
‘Demi isn’t. Look at that ankle,’ Kit says.
Polly gasps. ‘It’s black and blue! You should have it X-rayed!’
Cal sighs. ‘I’ve told her that until I’m hoarse.’
‘It looks bad,’ Kit says. ‘Cal’s right.’
‘Will you all just leave me alone!’
Polly’s face crumples with hurt.
I give her a brief hug. ‘Sorry … Sorry, Polly. It’s been a long night.’
Polly huffs and pats my back.
‘You’re exhausted and I need to do something with that foot. Sit down,’ Cal orders.
‘You should do as you’re told, Kit says quietly. ‘I’m glad you’re safe and Mitch is on the mend. I’d better go and leave you to Cal’s tender care.’
Cal’s mouth is set in a line, but I manage a smile as Kit shrugs on his coat. ‘Thanks.’
He smiles back. He is nice. Not as lovely as Cal, but kind under the awkward exterior. ‘It was a pleasure.’
Cal turns round, holding the first aid kit. ‘I think she should get some rest. I’ll look after her now.’
‘I know you will,’ says Kit pleasantly enough, but the air prickles between them.
‘I’m getting back to my bed,’ says Polly, clearly oblivious to the virtual cock fight going on in front of her. ‘As you should be, Demi. I’ll be round to see how you are first thing. You’re welcome to come up here for breakfast.’
Cal says nothing but catches my eye. His are dark and intense, and threatening something, though I don’t know what.
‘Thanks,’ I say, determined to have it out with him the moment we’re alone.
Polly plants her hands on her hips. ‘Are you sure you’ll be OK?’
‘Demi will be fine. She’s staying here with me tonight.’ Cal slips his arm around me while I sit in my chair and kisses the top of my head.
Christmas at the Cornish Café Page 13