Page 51 of Hope and Happiness in Bluebell Wood
‘To the wood?’ Linnet asks hesitantly.
‘Do you want to find your son or not?’ I demand.
Linnet nods. ‘Of course I do.’
‘Well, come on then.’
Linnet’s raincoat is still very damp, and to be honest it doesn’t look like it’s kept much rain off her, so I quickly find her one of Evelyn’s huge waterproof oilcloth coats that still hang in the hall cupboard. Then I pull on one of my own waterproof jackets and a baseball cap, and we head out with Merlin to look for Robin.
Linnet seems to hesitate as we reach the entrance to the wood.
I sigh. What use was she going to be if she was frightened of going in there? She’d hardly be bravely searching in the dark and out-of-the-way places Robin was likely to be hiding in, would she?
‘I don’t suppose you have anything on you that smells like Robin?’ I ask suddenly, getting an idea.
Linnet shakes her head.
‘Why don’t you go back to your house and pick up a piece of his clothing that he’s recently worn?’ I suggest. ‘Then I can let Merlin smell it and it might help him to find Robin.’
‘Do you think he could do that?’ Linnet asks in amazement, looking at Merlin.
‘It’s possible,’ I reply. Merlin was a fabulous dog – intelligent and super friendly – but even I doubted whether he was up to tracking a missing child just by their scent alone. ‘You go back to your house and check if Robin has turned up yet. You never know?’ I say when she looks uncertain. ‘He might just have wandered off and now he’s come home again. If he’s not there, then collect a piece of his clothing, call me and I’ll come and meet you.’
Linnet nods. ‘Wait, isn’t your phone out of charge?’ she asks.
‘Er no, I’d accidentally left it on silent,’ I hurriedly reply. ‘And Linnet,’ I say just before she goes, ‘if you see anyone that you think might be able to help us look for Robin, will you ask them to come to the wood too.’
She nods again. ‘Thank you, Ava. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.’
‘Thank me later when we’ve found him,’ I say, trying to sound reassuring. ‘Now go.’
Merlin and I head into the wood. ‘Where do we start?’ I ask my canine friend as he sniffs about by my feet.
I bend down next to him before I unhook his lead. ‘Merlin, listen,’ I say, turning his head to look at me. ‘If you understand anything of what I say, then we must find Robin, the little boy you met at the school.’
Merlin looks at me with his head cocked to one side.
‘I know you met a lot of children yesterday, so how about you try to find any child hidden here in the wood?’ I suggest. ‘There can’t be more than one.’ I unhook Merlin’s lead and he shoots off into the long grass.
The wood looks just as pretty today as it had when I’dstopped to photograph the bluebells. But today I don’t see the flowers, or the way the light dapples delicately through the trees, my only thought is to find a missing little boy.
I felt partially to blame for his disappearance. I shouldn’t, I know; he might have run off even if he hadn’t met Merlin and me at the school. But Linnet said Robin had wanted to come and see us. Perhaps if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be missing now.
I take Merlin’s lead and follow him through the wood. I don’t know if he’s heading anywhere in particular, or if he’s just wandering where his fancy takes him, but he knew as much as I did, so why not follow his animal instincts?
Every so often I call out Robin’s name into the silence, and a few startled birds fly up from the branches of the trees.
A couple of times I think I’ve heard something and I stop to listen for a moment. But it must just be a woodland animal darting away from where we’ve disturbed it. When I come across a deep thicket of trees or a patch of dense shrubbery, I hope desperately that Robin might be hiding in them, but my hopes are quickly dashed when my search of them proves fruitless.
‘Robin!’ I call again as we move deeper into the wood, into an area we’ve only walked through a few times on our longer outings. ‘Are you there? Merlin would like to see you!’
I stop and listen yet again, in case I might hear a little voice calling back to me. But instead of the silence I was getting used to, all I hear is a voice I know well.
‘Ava?’
Before I see him, I hear his footsteps running towards me.
‘Callum!’ I call, relieved to see him appearing through some trees.
