Page 62 of Clara's Secret Garden
‘No... it’s not. I...’She breaks off and fear clutches at my heart.
‘What is it, Lois? Tell me. What’s happened?’
‘It’s Bertie. I’ve been driving around, looking for him, butI can’t find him. He’s vanished.’
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
‘I have to go,’ I mumble to Rory, on my feet.
Oh, God, where is he?
Maybe he’s just hiding from Lois, as a joke?
I blunder out of the room and Rory catches up with me outsidethe main entrance. ‘What’s going on, Clara? Is everything all right?’
My heart is beating so fast, I think I might be sick.‘Bertie’s gone missing. I have to find him.’
‘I’ll come with you.’
‘No, you go back in. Elsie will want to see you after the show.’I start running in the direction of home, past shops and restaurants, dodgingpassers-by and calling back to Rory, ‘I’ll let you know when we find him.’
Panting and out of breath, I slow down when I come to theend of the high street. Rory picked me up and drove me the mile or so into thevillage. It’s going to take too long to walk home. I look frantically backalong the street, as if a miracle will happen and a taxi will appear with itslight on. But of course it doesn’t.
Running on, I hear someone calling my name several times.And turning, I spot a familiar car pulling into the kerb alongside me.
Shaun!
Of course. He said he’d meet me after the show and we’d gofor something to eat. In all the panic after Lois’s phone call, I’d completelyforgotten. He leans over to open the door and I slide gratefully into thepassenger seat.
‘Can you drive me home?’ I gasp. ‘I need to see Lois. Shecan’t find Bertie.’
‘Where’s he gone?’
‘She doesn’t know.’ I gaze at him desperately as he glancesin his rear-view mirror and roars away from the kerb. ‘He just disappeared.’
Shaun nods and steps on the accelerator, sensing theurgency, and we lapse into a tense silence as we leave the village and head forthe turn-off to Clifton Park.
The journey of less than a mile seems to take forever, but atlast, Shaun is pulling up outside the house and I’m scrambling out. The frontdoor is open and I run in to find Lois in the kitchen, looking white-faced and talkingon her mobile.
‘Have you found him? Is he here?’ I demand, going to thewindow and scanning the back garden, then rushing to the foot of the stairs andshouting his name.
‘He’s not here,’ calls Lois.
‘So what happened?’ I demand, going back into the kitchen.
She ends the call and flops onto a chair. ‘I don’t know,Clara. After he’d finished his pizza, we were playing a game and I just nippedto the loo and when I came back, he’d gone.’
‘So where’s Irene? You were supposed to be looking after himtogether.’
‘She went out.’
‘Well, isn’t that just bloody typical,’ I snap.
Lois sighs. ‘You know what she’s like. She gets bored.’
‘Bored?Bored of her ownson?’
She gives a sulky shrug. ‘It’s just the way she is.’
