Mum came out from the kitchen as soon as I closed the front door. She’d got home before me after all.
‘Amber dropped you off, did she?’ She blinked as she looked me up and down. ‘You’re dressed up, aren’t you, for a night out with your friend?’ She corrected herself at once, smiling and adding, ‘You look very nice.’
‘Thanks, Mum.’ Again, I had to look away, the ridiculousness of lying to my mother at the age of thirty-five making me feel like a child and lessening the excitement of the evening.
‘Like a coffee?’
‘No, thanks. I think I’ll go straight to bed.’
I wanted to run through the whole evening again in my head. It had been … different from what I’d expected – in a good way. I’d enjoyed our date, and I was looking forward to doing it again. But as soon as I got into bed and closed my eyes, I found myself thinking, not about Craig, but Josh, an annoying little voice in my head insisting on reminding me that he was still my husband. Despite the fact that, as far as I was concerned at least, the marriage was over in all but name.
What about your marriage vows? the annoying little voice said. Remember how sure you were on your wedding day that you’d never want another man as long as you lived?
But that was then, I told the annoying voice. This is now. Things have changed.
Think how devastated Josh would be, though, if he knew you were dating someone else.
I turned over, giving the pillow a shake and a thump, trying to silence that stupid voice.
Would he? I retorted inside my head. I don’t actually think he’d care less. And anyway, he should have thought about that, shouldn’t he. He should have cared about me more, shown me more love and affection when he had the chance. It’s too late now. Josh is in my past, we’re separated and eventually we’ll be divorced. Craig’s making me feel good about myself again. Now, shut up, irritating little voice, and let me get some sleep.
I was still awake for half the night, though. And it was only when the morning light began to stream through the curtains and the cockerel, as usual, started crowing his head off down the lane that I managed to banish those thoughts of Josh, and enjoy the memory of the previous evening.
CHAPTER 23
I purposely didn’t walk next to Craig when we met for the dog walk that morning, conscious that I didn’t want any of the others to pick up on anything between us and become the subject of gossip. But I couldn’t help sneaking glances at him as I walked next to Sara, discussing the latest news about the park campaign. And whenever he caught my eye he gave me a little grin and a wink.
‘It’s great to see people taking the situation on board like this,’ Sara said, glancing over to a group of children enjoying a picnic spread out on blankets, while the parents of one little boy, whose birthday it evidently was, were pouring out drinks and handing around cakes for them all. ‘The use of the park has increased massively since we had the public meeting.’
It was true. At one time, we rarely saw anyone else when we walked our dogs through the park, apart from an occasional jogger or a family out for a stroll together. Now, there were always groups like this birthday party having picnics, and families getting together to organise games of rounders or races for the children. Because the grass had been cut, on hot weekends there were teenagers lying on the grass sunbathing, looking at their phones, chatting, laughing and flirting, reminding me with a pang of my younger days. Amber and I used to lie here in the sun like this, on hot days in the summer holidays when we were teenagers, talking about our plans and dreams for the future. I wondered, now, how many of those dreams had come true, for either of us.
‘Are you all right?’ Sara said, somewhat sharply, and I realised I hadn’t replied to her.
‘Sorry. Yes, I’m fine. You’re right, there are lots more people here now. Let’s hope it continues like this.’
‘Well, we’re doing all we can, aren’t we, but to be honest I’m still not particularly optimistic about it. In fact,’ she looked around at Craig and Simon, to include them in the conversation, ‘I’ve got to let everyone know there’s been further communication from the council. As we expected, our petition has merely prompted a standard acknowledgement. But meanwhile we’ve had a formal letter, stating the council’s reasons for wanting to close the park. Apart from the fact that they claim it’s underused, of course.’
‘Go on,’ said Simon, frowning. ‘What else?’
‘Well, firstly the play equipment is in a dangerous condition…’
‘It’s been like that for years,’ I said. ‘It’s their fault for not maintaining it.’
‘Quite. But they’re obviously not intending to either and they don’t want to be sued if a child gets hurt on it.’
‘Nobody ever uses it,’ I said scathingly. ‘It’s rusting and falling apart.’
‘Yes. As we know, the playground’s now been fenced off. And the equipment’s been scheduled for removal. It’s an eyesore as well as being dangerous. But of course, they’d prefer to sell the whole park for housing.’ She sighed. ‘And then there’s the paddling pool. They say that’s a hazard too.’
‘There hasn’t been any water in it for years,’ I protested.
‘Exactly. It’s a dirty great hole, and that’s fenced off because someone might fall in it and break their leg. Their point is, you see, that the whole park is hazardous so they’re better off selling it than spending money on it.’
‘Unless we, as a community, as Friends of the Park, spend our own money on it.’
‘That’s right. So they’re giving us the rest of this year to come up with the dosh to make the park safe, prove it’s being used as a valuable community asset and being properly maintained, or they go ahead with selling the land.’
‘The rest of this year?’ Craig said. ‘That’s less than six months.’
‘Yes. So we really need to get the community on board with this. Not just using the park more, but supporting the pet show and the fundraising in general and joining the Friends of Furzewell Park.’
‘Will they at least remove the old play equipment if we take over management of the park?’ Simon asked quietly. ‘I’ve been thinking: if we can raise the money for materials, we could propose replacing the play equipment with an adventure playground made of natural materials: wood, with rope swings and so on.’
‘Oh, I’ve seen something like that in a park somewhere else,’ I said. ‘Much nicer for kids to play on than these old metal structures.’
‘Great idea,’ Sara said.
‘And we could include a properly planted nature walk,’ Simon went on, his enthusiasm showing. ‘With shrubs that attract butterflies, and different types of trees and wildflowers.’
‘That sounds really nice,’ I agreed.
‘And a designated dog-walking route,’ Simon added. ‘And a kids’ cycle track or skateboard ramps.’
‘I’d like to see the old paddling pool enlarged and made into a proper lake,’ Sara said. ‘With an area for children to play with their boats, and the rest left to nature. And suitable safety precautions, of course: lifebelts, warning signs…’
‘If only we had the money to do all this,’ Craig pointed out.
‘So we have to make sure we raise it,’ Sara said. ‘We need to drum up support, especially with the new families on the High Meadow estate. We need to get as many people as possible signed up as Friends of the Park. I propose we send out a newsletter, telling everyone about these ideas, so that they’re all as enthusiastic as us, whether they’re dog walkers, families with kids or just people who like to walk and enjoy nature. We need to make them all aware: if we’re going to keep the park open, if we’re going to provide these new amenities, we need funds, and we need helpers.’
We all nodded agreement, each of us, I suspect, more determined than ever to do our bit to help.
‘I don’t mind knocking on doors to talk to people about becoming Friends,’ I said. ‘And I’ll have a word with Louise – I’m sure she’ll hel
p too. She lives on High Meadow so between us we can cover the new houses there as well as my side of the village.’
‘Thanks, Nic,’ Sara said – and Craig, behind her back, gave me another wink, making me blush and grin. We were at the far side of the park by now and I let Smartie off his lead to run and play with the other three dogs. He was growing up fast, happy now to respond to my commands, to come, to sit, and stay, so that I felt much more confident about letting him have a run like this. He followed Craig’s Judy faithfully, seeming to admire her the most of all the dogs, looking up at her and wagging his tail as if to ask to be her friend. But for a good romp, he liked to gambol after Simon’s big Max, trying to keep up with him, and turning to trot back to me when, inevitably, he got left behind, giving me a little whimper of disappointment.
‘You’ll catch him one day,’ I would promise him with a laugh. ‘You’re still only a little boy, yet. Wait till your legs have got a bit longer!’
But in some ways I wished I could keep him this size forever. He was so cute at this half-grown puppy stage, so cuddly and fluffy and yet so intelligent, with his big black eyes, shiny nose and waggy tail. I just wanted to hug him all the time.
Louise came round that afternoon, ostensibly bringing Eddie to play with Mia, but, as soon as the children had run off into the garden, she sat down next to me and demanded to know how my date with Craig had gone.
‘It was nice,’ I said, with a smile.
‘Nice? Is that all?’ She looked disappointed. ‘Come on, what was he like? Did he kiss you? Did you go back to his place?’
‘No, Lou, I didn’t,’ I laughed. ‘Yes, we had a kiss—’ I ignored her squeal of excitement, ‘but it was just, like I said, nice. We went for dinner, we chatted. He was … quite a gentleman, actually.’
‘That doesn’t exactly tally with what you’ve told me about him!’ She looked at me with her head on one side. ‘So are you going to see him again?’
‘Yes. Well, I hope so. He said he wants to.’
‘You sound … a bit lukewarm, Nic. Are you having second thoughts?’
‘No. Not most of the time, anyway. I do want to go out with him, and I don’t see why I shouldn’t. After all, Josh and I are separated. I’m a single girl, as my mum keeps reminding me.’ I paused, not quite sure what I was trying to say.
‘But you’re still feeling a bit guilty? About Josh?’ Louise suggested gently.
I shrugged. ‘I keep trying to talk myself out of feeling guilty. I shouldn’t feel guilty, should I?’
‘Well, no, but…’
‘But what?’ I looked at her, immediately on the defensive. ‘You think I’m rushing into this? I should wait till Josh and I are actually divorced?’
‘That’s not what I’m saying. But look, from what you’ve told me, you haven’t been with anyone except Josh, and you started dating him when you were just teenagers. I’d say you’re bound to feel a bit weird about it, that’s all. It’s only natural.’ She hesitated. ‘As for whether it’s too soon: only you can decide that.’
‘I enjoyed the date. Just being out with him, having a meal together. Josh and I … well, we just weren’t doing anything like that in the end. Not for years, actually. He was hardly ever home. We just didn’t spend time together. And Craig … he was attentive and paid me compliments. Made me feel better about myself.’
‘So enjoy it, Nic. Enjoy going out with him. As you say, why not? But don’t take it any further until you’re sure it’s what you want. The days of men having to be rewarded in the bedroom for taking us out for a meal are long gone.’
‘Yes, you’re right. I’ve said I’ll pay next time, anyway. And I’ll just see how it goes – how I feel about it.’
Mia and Eddie came tumbling back into the room just then, closely followed by Smartie who was barking and wagging his tail in excitement.
‘Can we have a drink and a biscuit please? And can we have the football goals up?’ Mia said.
I’d taken them down to mow the lawn.
‘We’ll talk some more later,’ Louise said. ‘Shall I put the goals up while you get their drinks and snacks? It looks like Smartie wants to join in the game!’
‘He does.’ Eddie laughed. ‘He’s been running after the ball!’
‘Come on, then. After you’ve had your drinks maybe Louise and I will come out and play with you.’
So it wasn’t until we finally stopped, worn out from running around outside with the kids and Smartie, that we resumed our conversation. And even then, we didn’t get back to talking about Craig, because Louise had something else to tell me about.
‘I forgot to say earlier,’ she said, collapsing onto the garden bench outside the kitchen door. ‘There’s another cat missing. I was talking to another of my neighbours, Jane, and she told me her Siamese has disappeared. She’s frantic with worry. She’s seen all the alerts and notices about the missing cats, of course, and she was trying to keep Suki indoors but, well, you know what cats are like.’
‘Yes, I do. You can lock the cat-flap, keep all the windows closed and still they can slink out of the door when you only open it a fraction to take something off the doorstep.’ I sighed. ‘I was beginning to think that, whatever has happened to all our cats, at least the disappearances had stopped.’
‘Now it seems not. I’ve told Jane that we’ll add her Suki to our list. She’s already told the vets about it, because Suki has been microchipped – but it’s hard to know what else anyone can do that we haven’t already done.’
‘I know. It’s frustrating, isn’t it, that none of our appeals have worked. Nobody’s come forward to say they’ve seen any of the cats. Not even after the big write-up in the paper.’
Louise nodded. ‘I’m not saying this to Jane, of course, but to be honest, I can’t see any of these cats turning up after all this time. And the fact that there’s another one missing now – unless it’s just a coincidence – means that if there really is someone in the village with a vendetta against cats, doing them some harm, then they’re still out there, doing it.’
‘Despite all the publicity,’ I agreed. ‘It’s a horrible thought, isn’t it? Well, I’ll tell the others. We ought to put out another warning, in case cat owners were thinking it had stopped, and were starting to let their cats out again. Maybe the vet could put another big notice up, warning people this is still going on.’
‘Local radio is a good bet, too,’ Louise suggested. ‘And social media – the local paper could post about it on there too.’
‘Yes. I’ll put an alert on the Furzewell Village Facebook group, too. And by the way,’ I remembered, ‘I’ve kind-of volunteered you to help with a door-to-door blitz around the village.’ I told her about the conversation that morning with Sara, the need for urgent fundraising for the park. ‘We could use that opportunity to warn people about the cat situation too.’
I contacted the rest of the group on WhatsApp, telling them about the new missing cat and asking them all to spread the word, warning people to keep their cats indoors. Soon afterwards, Louise and Eddie went home. And I felt like the enjoyment of the day had been spoilt by the thought that someone was still, apparently, prowling around our village, preying on people’s innocent pet cats. What sort of person would do that? It was hard to imagine; but there didn’t seem to be any other possible explanation for so many disappearances.
CHAPTER 24
The end of term was only a week away now, and my little charges in the reception class were becoming more and more restless. The weather was warm, they were tired and ready for their holiday. Learning progressed more slowly, and the only thing really keeping their interest was the prospect of the talent show to be held on the last-but-one day.
Mia was excited about it too.
‘I’m going to sing a song,’ she’d announced over dinner a few weeks earlier.
Mum and I had looked at each other in surprise. This was a huge stretch from the shy, unhappy little girl who’d started at the school in February.
>
‘You’re going to sing, up on the stage in front of everyone?’ I said, wondering whether she’d actually realised what was involved.
‘Yes. We’ve been practising.’
‘Oh, you’re not doing it on your own, then?’
‘No,’ she smiled happily, ‘it’s me and Eddie. We’re going to sing ‘This is Me’ together.’
I shouldn’t have been surprised. They’d been singing that song together ever since they watched the film, The Greatest Showman. I wasn’t convinced they knew all the correct words, though.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Mia said with a shrug. ‘Eddie knows the words better than me, but Mr Gregory says we can have the music playing, and we’ll just sing the bits we know.’
I’d had a chat with Mr Gregory about it the following day in the staffroom.
‘I’d never have imagined Mia having the courage to get up on stage in front of the whole school like this,’ I said.
‘I know: isn’t it great?’ he said. ‘Those two kids both had a difficult start here, but look how far they’ve come. They’re both so much happier and more confident now.’
‘I hope they’ll be OK, though. I mean, what if one of them gets cold feet when it actually comes to it?’
‘Don’t worry, Nicola. I’ll be at the side of the stage, and I’ll join in and sing it with them if necessary. But honestly, it really is amazing how different Mia is now.’
Two days later I’d been reading her school report, struggling to hold back the tears, as the grades and comments for every subject – reading, writing, maths, science, art, even PE – showed how much she’d improved. The comment from Mr Gregory at the end of the report, saying that despite a shaky start, Mia had now caught up and was back where she should be in every area, finished with the words: ‘Mia is now a confident, pleasant and hard-working member of the class. Well done, Mia!’
The Lonely Hearts Dog Walkers Page 19