Page 19 of The Runaway Wives

‘Really? Then happy birthday.’ The man smiled and squirted chocolate sauce on both cones, then stuck an extra flake in Dee’s.

‘Thank you.’ Babs handed over the money, insisting it was her treat, then they both set off across the beach again.

‘I’ll have gained a stone by the time we go home,’ Dee said as she licked the ice cream before it dripped off her cone.

‘There’s worse things than having a bit of extra weight,’ Babs told her. ‘You worry too much about your figure. Stop trying to please Nigel.’

Dee knew her friend was right, but it was hard to change the habits of a lifetime. Nigel had an image to keep up, and as his wife, he pointed out that Dee did too. He kept a firm eye on his weight, and how he dressed, and expected Dee to do the same. Babs and Geoff were both far more relaxed about it and never let the thought of putting on a couple of extra pounds stop them from eating their favourite foods.

‘That was delicious, but my hands are all sticky now. I think I’ve got some wipes in my bag.’ Babs opened her bag, she always carried wipes and tissues with her because she was forever spilling things. She took out a packet of wipes, handed the packet to Dee to take one, then took one herself and slipped the packet back into her bag.

‘Thanks.’ Dee wiped her fingers carefully and looked around for a bin. Suddenly a gust of wind blew the wipe out of Babs’ hand and onto the sand in front of her. Before she could get to pick it up a voice shouted. ‘Oi, pick that up! Do you realise what harm litter does to wildlife! You holidaymakers are always the same!’

A tall, well-built man with a thick mop of dark auburn hair and a beard was walking towards them, evidently furious. ‘Apart from littering the beach and making it look disgusting, if those wet wipes get swept into the sea, they’ll play havoc with marine life.’

Babs glared at him. ‘Wind your neck in! I was about to put it in the bin when the wind blew it out of my hand.’

‘That’s everyone’s excuse!’ the man retorted.

‘Actually, it’s the truth!’ The man really was so rude, Dee felt compelled to speak up. Babs had retrieved her wipe by now and was marching over to the bin with it. Dee followed suit. They took the crumpled tissues they’d use to wipe their feet out of their pockets and put them in the bin too.

‘Make sure you don’t drop any litter again, or I’ll report you and you’ll be fined,’ the man said, pointing to a ‘don’t drop litter’ sign beside the bin. Then he strode off.

‘What an unpleasant man! Though he is quite striking, rather like a Titan,’ Babs said. ‘I hope we don’t bump into him again or I might not be able to stop myself from giving him a piece of my mind.’

‘He was unpleasant but there is a lot of litter on the beach, I can see his point, even if he did judge us too hastily,’ Dee said.

Babs pulled a face. ‘You’re always too forgiving with people.’ She took out a tissue and mopped her forehead, making sure she held it tightly in her hand, then returned it to her bag. ‘It’s getting hot.’

They took a walk around the town, popping into several of the little souvenir shops, coming a full circle to Sunset View. Dee paused as they approached the row of cottages, looking out for Primrose Cottage, Snowy’s home. There it was, the second one along, and she could hear a cat miaowing. She glanced over the low wall with an iron gate surrounding the front of the house, and saw Snowy yowling plaintively, scratching at the front door as if asking to be let in. Edna must be out. Dee’s eyes flitted towards the bay window, the curtains were closed, and so were the upstairs’ bedroom curtains.

‘What’s up?’ Babs glanced over. ‘Oh, it’s Snowy. It looks like Edna’s out, no wonder he came to you for food.’

‘Strange for her to go out without opening the curtains,’ Dee mused. Checking her watch she saw that it was gone two o’clock. She had an uneasy feeling in her gut. She often visited local elderly people and helped with their shopping, and knew how particular they were about opening their curtains. And how vulnerable they were. And Snowy sounded very distressed. What if Edna was ill? What harm would it do to check? Dee opened the gate and stepped inside the front garden.

‘What are you doing?’ Babs asked curiously.

‘Just making sure that everything’s all right.’ Dee headed for the front door, stooped down and shouted through the letter box. ‘Edna! Are you there?’

Snowy had stopped miaowing now, his dark eyes watching her. Then she heard it. It was faint but audible.

‘Help! Help me!’

14

‘Edna’s hurt. I have to phone an ambulance.’ Dee reached for her phone and jabbed at the number nine key three times. The lady who answered calmly assured her that an ambulance would be there as soon as possible, and the police would be alerted too. Whilst Dee was phoning, Babs quickly checked around the back to see if she could get in.

‘The gate’s locked and it’s too high to climb over,’ she said.

When Dee finished her call, she shouted through the letter box to ask Edna if she had a spare key, but there had been no answer. What if the poor woman was unconscious and the ambulance didn’t arrive in time?

‘Let’s check under the stones and plant pots, she might have hidden a key there,’ she suggested. But they couldn’t find one.

Dee checked her watch. Fifteen minutes and still no sign of an ambulance.

‘We’ll have to see if we can get over the back gate,’ she said. ‘Come on.’

They both raced around to the back. As Babs had said, it was locked and there was no sign of a keyhole so it must have a bolt, which would probably be near the middle otherwise it would be too high to reach. Dee looked up at the wall. Could she shimmy over that without breaking her neck?

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