Fenella backed out of the room, nearly stepping on Winston, who had come up behind her without her noticing.
“Woooff,” he said softly. Fenella jumped and grabbed Shelly’s arm at the sound.
“Are you okay?” Shelly asked.
“I will be, once my heart starts beating again,” Fenella said, trying to calm her breathing. “I didn’t know he was there,” she explained.
“I would have guessed that,” Shelly said dryly.
“There’s just the bedroom to check, then?”
“It has an en-suite, which is the only bathroom in the flat,” Shelly told her. “But I’m not sure I want to go in there.”
Fenella nodded. If Harvey was in the apartment, he had to be in either the bedroom or its attached bathroom. That he hadn’t come out to greet them suggested that something was badly wrong.
“We could just go and call the police,” Fenella suggested.
Shelly sighed. “Maybe he’s just sleeping,” she said. “Or, um, using the loo. I’d feel awful if we dragged the police down here and they found him having a nap.”
“Let’s just do this,” Fenella said with more determination that she felt. She marched across the room and pulled open the bedroom door. She thought she was doing well until she realized that she’d shut her eyes tightly as soon as she’d touched the doorknob. Shelly joined her in the doorway.
“He’s not here,” she said softly.
Fenella forced herself to open her eyes. The bed was empty and had been neatly made. That just left the bathroom to investigate. The door was standing open and a quick glance inside made both women feel momentarily better.
“He’s not here,” Shelly said. She crossed to the bathroom and took a good look around inside. “It’s far more tidy than the en-suite in my flat,” she told Fenella. “And it’s definitely empty.”
“So what now?”
Shelly shrugged. “Maybe now we should ring Daniel,” she suggested.
“Woof?” Winston said.
“What do we do with this big guy?” Fenella asked.
“I don’t want to leave him here,” Shelly told her. “Not when we don’t know where Harvey is, or when he’ll be back. I suppose I can take him back to my flat, at least for a little while.”
After a short debate, the two women agreed that it made sense to take Winston’s food and water bowls with them. Shelly also grabbed the half-full bag of dog food that she found in a kitchen cupboard. After writing a note to Harvey explaining what had happened, they headed out.
“What do you think you’re doing?” a loud voice shouted as they stepped out of the elevator on the ground floor. Fenella swung around and stared at the large, red-faced man who was standing behind them.
“We found Winston running around loose,” Shelly said. “I don’t suppose you know where Harvey is?”
“Harvey?” the man snapped. “It’s not my job to keep track of the residents, is it?”
“We came to look for him, but he wasn’t home,” Shelly explained. “We’re taking Winston back to my flat until we can find Harvey.”
“You’re taking more than just the dog, aren’t you, though?” the man demanded, looking at the bags in Fenella’s arms.
“Just his food and water bowls and a bag of food,” Fenella said. “That way we can look after him while we wait for Harvey to turn up.”
“I’m not sure about this. How do I know you two can be trusted?” the man asked.
“You can look in the bags,” Shelly suggested. “You’ll see that we’ve taken nothing but dog supplies from Harvey’s flat.”
A loudly ringing telephone startled them all. Winston began to bark and the man frowned.
“I’ll remember you two, if there’s any trouble over this, you know?” he said angrily before turning on his heel and stomping away.
Fenella blew out the breath she’d been holding and looked at Shelly. “He was very scary,” she said.
“We aren’t doing anything wrong,” Shelly pointed out. “In fact, we’re doing something good. But let’s go quickly before he comes back.”
Fenella followed her friend and the large dog down the uneven steps and the broken sidewalk.
“I can’t believe I’m bringing a dog home,” Shelly said as they entered their own apartment complex. “I have no idea what Smokey will think.”
It didn’t take long for Shelly to find out the answer to that. As she opened the door to the apartment, Smokey sat up on the couch. She looked at Winston and then let out a huge yowl that shocked both Fenella and Shelly. Winston began to bark loudly in reply. Shelly looked over at Fenella and then quickly pulled the dog out of the apartment. She shut the door, leaving Smokey inside.
“That didn’t go well,” Shelly said to Fenella.
“I don’t think Smokey likes dogs.”
“No, clearly not. But what should we do now?”
“I wonder what Katie thinks of dogs,” Fenella said. She opened her own door and then led Shelly and Winston into her apartment. Katie was sitting in her favorite spot in the living room. She lifted her head and then jumped down and walked over to the trio.
“Meeerrrreeww,” she said to Winston.
“Woooofff,” he replied.
Katie studied him for a minute and then seemed to shrug before turning and walking away. Winston quickly followed her and the pair disappeared into Fenella’s spare bedroom together. Fenella held her breath, waiting to hear something crash to the floor or for Katie to start yelling, but she heard nothing but silence.
“I can’t keep him forever,” she told Shelly as the other woman helped her fill Winston’s bowls.
“Hopefully, Harvey will ring any second now,” Shelly replied. “But while we wait, I think I’d feel better if we rang Daniel and just had an informal chat with him about the whole thing.”
Fenella nodded. “Do you want to ring him?” she asked, suddenly feeling shy about talking to the man.
“I can do,” Shelly said. “Do you have his mobile number or should I just ring the station?”
“Why don’t you try the station? I don’t want to interrupt him if he’s busy.”
Shelly used Fenella’s phone, so Fenella got to hear half of the conversation.
“Hello. Would it be possible for me to speak to Daniel Robinson? It’s Shelly Quirk.”
“Daniel? How are you?”
“Fenella and I were just having a walk on the promenade and we came across a stray dog. I know the dog’s owner, so we tried to take him home, but the owner wasn’t there. I’m quite worried about my friend, actually.”
“Okay, yes, I’ll be at Fenella’s. Smokey doesn’t like dogs.”
Shelly put the phone down. “He’s coming over,” she told Fenella. “He said he’d rather get my statement in person than over the phone.”
Fenella glanced down at her outfit. It was covered in splashes of sandy seawater and mud. No doubt her hair was a tangled mess and her makeup had probably all blown and smudged itself across her face. This wasn’t the way she’d wanted Daniel to see her for the first time since she’d been back on the island.
“I should change,” she muttered to herself.
“That’s probably a good idea. Maybe you should comb your hair, too,” Shelly said gently.
Fenella sighed and then chuckled. “I must look a mess,” she said.
A knock on the door interrupted Shelly’s reply. “That can’t be Daniel already,” Fenella said as she crossed the room.
It wasn’t; it was Peter.
“Welcome back,” he said brightly. His smile faltered as he took in Fenella’s bedraggled appearance. “I hope you had a nice time in London,” he said after an awkward pause.
“It was great,” Fenella told him. “But Shelly and I have been out walking all morning and then we found this dog and…” she trailed off and shook her head. “It’s a long story,” she concluded as she stepped backwards to let the man into the apartment.
“I thought I heard a dog barking,” Pe
ter said. “I was wondering where it was coming from.”
“Smokey doesn’t like dogs,” Shelly explained. “Luckily, Katie seems more open-minded.”
“You’ve brought home a stray dog?” Peter asked Fenella incredulously.
“He isn’t really a stray,” Fenella said. “Shelly knows his owner.”
“It’s Winston,” Shelly said.
“Harvey’s Winston?” Peter exclaimed. “I don’t like the sound of that. Those two are inseparable. Did you try Harvey’s flat?”
“Yes,” Shelly replied. “No one was there.”
“That’s odd,” Peter said. “I hope everything is okay. I wonder if we should ring the police.”
“Daniel is on his way,” Fenella said. She looked down at her outfit again. She really needed to change. The knock on the door told her she was too late.
“I know I’m a mess,” she said to Daniel as a greeting.
The handsome man raised an eyebrow and then slowly looked her over from head to toe. “It looks as if you’ve had an interesting morning,” he said mildly.
Fenella felt herself blushing brightly as she stepped back to let the man inside. “Shelly and I went for a long walk and then, well, then Winston,” she said, waving her arms in frustration.
“Winston?” Daniel echoed.
“Woooofff,” came from the spare bedroom. A second later the large dog ambled into view. He stood in the bedroom doorway, surveying the crowd.
“That’s Winston,” Shelly explained. “He belongs to Harvey Garus, who lives in the building next door.”
“I’ve known Harvey for years,” Peter added. “And I’ve never seen Winston out on his own. He and Harvey do everything together.”
“Maybe we should sit down and I should take some notes,” Daniel suggested. He headed for the couch, but Winston got in front of him and rubbed his head against Daniel’s leg.
“Well, hello, Winston,” Daniel said. He scratched the dog behind his ears and then rubbed his head and neck. “You’re awfully friendly, aren’t you?”
Winston didn’t move, he just leaned against Daniel with his eyes shut.
“We did try taking Winston home,” Shelly said after a moment. “But there wasn’t anyone there.”
“No one answered your knock, you mean?” Daniel asked.
“No one was there,” Shelly replied. “The door swung open when we knocked and Winston ran inside before we could stop him. Since we had to chase after him, we had a quick look around the flat. There was no one there.”
Daniel frowned. “You should have rung 999 when the door swung open,” he said. To Fenella it seemed as if he was trying to sound stern, but the effort was rather ruined as Winston began to lick his hand.
“We were going to, but Winston pulled his lead out of my hands and went inside,” Shelly replied. “We weren’t sure what might be inside and we didn’t want Winston to see something awful.”
“I’d rather you two didn’t see anything awful, as well,” Daniel said. He took a few steps forward, with Winston shadowing his every move. When he sat on the couch, Winston sat at his feet and put his head on Daniel’s lap.
“I think something terrible has happened to Harvey and Winston knows it,” Shelly said.
“Let’s slow down on that sort of thinking,” Daniel said. “We need to start back at the beginning, please.”
Daniel had Shelly tell him about her day, starting with breakfast and moving on from there. As usual, he took extensive notes in one of the notebooks he always carried. When Shelly was finished with her day, Daniel looked over at Fenella.
“Do you have anything to add to Shelly’s statement?” he asked.
“No,” Fenella said. “She did a good job and I think she remembered more details than I would have.”
Daniel nodded and closed his notebook. Winston hadn’t moved from his spot at the man’s feet. “You really are lovely,” Daniel told the dog as he patted the top of Winston’s head.
“He’s all the family that Harvey has,” Peter told Daniel. “They’re devoted to one another. I can’t imagine what could have happened to Harvey.”
“I’ll ring the hospital and a few other places,” Daniel told him. “These sorts of cases usually resolve themselves fairly quickly. In the meantime, at least someone is looking after Winston.”
“But I can’t keep him,” Fenella said quickly. “I mean, he can stay for a short while, but you really need to find Harvey.”
Daniel nodded. “I’ll make a few inquires. If Harvey doesn’t turn up in the next hour or so, I’ll turn the case over to my counterpart who deals with missing persons. She’s better equipped to take over if the case turns out to be more complicated than I’m hoping it will be.”
“What happens to Winston if Harvey stays missing?” Shelly asked.
“As long as Fenella is willing to keep him, he can stay here,” Daniel said. “Otherwise, we’ll have to move him to a shelter until Harvey can claim him back.”
“I feel funny keeping the man’s dog,” Fenella admitted. “I don’t even know him.”
“I’m rather busy with work right now,” Peter said. “Otherwise, I’d take him. He doesn’t seem as if he’d be too much bother.”
“I’d have him, if Smokey didn’t object,” Shelly said. “If he gets to be too much for you, maybe you could have Smokey for a while and I’ll take Winston,” she told Fenella.
“Hopefully we won’t ever get to that point,” Daniel said. “Let me ring a few people and see what I can find out. I’ll probably come back later to let you know what’s happening.”
“We’d appreciate that,” Shelly said. “And we’ll ring you straight away if Harvey gets in touch with us.”
“Did you lock the door to his flat behind you?” Daniel asked.
“We couldn’t,” Shelly replied. “You need a key to lock it. We just shut it behind ourselves.”
Daniel made a note and then rose to his feet. Winston stood up as well. As Daniel headed for the door, Winston followed on his heels.
“I’ll be back later,” Daniel said. “Or I’ll ring you.”
“Wooffff?” Winston said at the door.
“I’m going to do everything I can to find your owner,” Daniel told the animal. “Meanwhile, you have fun with Fenella and Katie.”
Winston looked at him for a moment and then sighed. He turned and walked over to the windows, flopping down in a patch of sunlight.
“I think he wants to go with you,” Fenella said.
“It’s a tempting thought,” Daniel said with a grin. “But I don’t think it’s a very good idea.”
Fenella opened the door to let the man out and then shut it behind him. Katie wandered in from one of the bedrooms and crossed to Winston. She studied him for a moment and then wiggled her way against him until she was snuggled up next to his head. A moment later both animals seemed to be fast asleep.
“It seems Katie doesn’t mind a bit,” Shelly said with a laugh.
“It doesn’t look like it,” Fenella said. “But I’m not sure I’m ready to be a dog owner.”
“Hopefully, it’s only very temporary,” Shelly said.
“I came over to see if you wanted a ride to the grocery shop,” Peter told Fenella. “I assumed you didn’t have any food in the flat after your fortnight away.”
“You’re right about that,” Fenella said. “Aside from some bread and milk that Shelly kindly provided so that I could have breakfast, that is. But I’m not sure I want to leave Winston home alone.”
“Why don’t you give me a list?” Shelly suggested. “I’ll go with Peter and get whatever you need.”
Fenella wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but it felt like a better plan than leaving a strange dog alone in her apartment. She quickly made a list of a few basic items that would get her through a couple of days and gave it to Shelly.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” she asked her friend.
“As it’s my fault you’re now looking after Winston, it’s
the very least I can do,” Shelly said.
As Fenella shut the door behind Shelly and Peter, she felt a sudden rush of apprehension. She’d never had any pets before she’d moved to the island and she knew nothing about caring for dogs. She glanced over at Katie and Winston, hoping that they’d both stay asleep until Shelly returned.
“Well, no doubt you’ve ruined your chances with both Peter and Daniel,” Mona said as she appeared in the living room. “Imagine letting them see you looking like that.”
Fenella glanced down at her filthy clothes and sighed deeply. “I was more worried about Winston than about my appearance,” she said defensively.
Mona nodded. “I hope they both realize that. It might just be enough to excuse you, this one time. But go and get cleaned up before anyone else sees you.”
Fenella headed for her bedroom. Whether Mona was a figment of her imagination or truly was the ghost of her recently deceased aunt, Fenella knew the woman was right. When she saw herself in the mirror, Fenella was even more horrified. Her face was as mud-splattered as her clothes and her hair seemed to have clumps of wet sand clinging to it. She quickly piled everything she was wearing into her laundry basket and then dove into her shower. What looked like a pound of sand washed out of her hair and off of her body. She could only hope it wouldn’t block her drains. Dressed in clean jeans and a light sweater, she combed out her hair and then pulled it into a ponytail. Redoing her makeup only took a few minutes, but she felt much better when she was finished.
“That’s better,” Mona nodded approvingly when Fenella walked back into the living room.
“Gee, thanks,” Fenella said.
“How was your trip?” Mona asked.
“It was good, thanks,” Fenella replied. “I hope you weren’t too bored here while I was away.”
“I was away for some time as well,” Mona said. “I just returned yesterday, actually, but before you were back.”
“Did you have a nice time away?”
“Yes.”
Fenella thought of a dozen questions she wanted to ask her aunt, but she could never be certain when the older woman was telling her the truth or when she was teasing. Sometimes it was easier to not ask.
“You can imagine my surprise this morning when I found you here with Winston,” Mona said after a moment. “He’s such a lovely dog. I’ve always liked him.”
An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Collection - DEF Page 3