Page 112 of All Wrapped Up
‘Did that sound a bit inappropriate?’ I asked her and wrinkled my nose. ‘This pasty is still warm…’ I started to say, ‘but it won’t be for much longer…’
Pixie yipped.
‘I know,’ I huffed, ‘Jason has got me second guessing everything now!’
By eight o’clock, a solid hour and a half after our arranged time, there was still no call from or sign of Ash, but the rain was lashing down harder and I’d eaten my supper.
‘If he’d broken down,’ I told Pixie, as I looked at my phone for the umpteenth time, ‘he would have called.’
She laid in front of the fire with her head resting on her paws. I took a quick photo of her because she looked so sweet, then joined her on the carpet for a snuggle.
‘Wouldn’t he?’ I sighed and she licked my cheek.
I was all but resigned to him being a lost cause for the evening, when I decided to call The Mermaid and ask Jeanie if he happened to be there. There had been no reply at the practice and I couldn’t think of anywhere else that was open that he might be.
‘Oh, hey, Clemmie,’ Jeanie said, when Jim, who had answered, handed her the phone. ‘What’s up?’
‘Hi,’ I said, feeling suddenly ridiculous to have rung in the first place, but unable to think of an excuse for calling that wasn’t the truth.
‘Do you want to book the pub for an AutumnEverything photoshoot?’ she suggested, with a smile in her tone. ‘Because we would be very happy to host you.’
‘No, thanks,’ I said. ‘Not today.’
‘Probably just as well,’ she yawned, ‘because there’s no bugger in.’
‘Is there not?’
‘Barely. The rain has seen them all off. Lightweights.’
‘No sign of Ash, then?’
‘Ash?’ she echoed. ‘No, he’s not here.’
‘Right.’
‘I daresay he’s down at the river with the rest of them.’
‘The river?’ I swallowed and sat down heavily.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘My Tim’s down there and I know Will is as well, so Ash has probably gone along to lend a hand, too.’
I knew Tim was a firefighter, but that didn’t explain why he, or Will, would be riverside on such a stormy night. Or any night, for that matter.
‘Which stretch of the river and to lend a hand with what?’ I asked, as my heart started to heavily thud.
‘By the bridge on the far side of Blacktop Farm,’ she told me. ‘There’s a horse slipped down the bank and they’re trying to get it out. Though how they’ll do it when the river’s running so fast, I have—’
I don’t know what she said next because, feeling sick tomy stomach and with the room starting to swirl, I’d ended the call.
‘You stay here,’ I said to Pixie as the rain dashed at the windows and I rushed to tug on the oversized waxed coat from the porch. ‘I won’t be long.’
I’d checked the fire before I set off, but I can’t say I paid as much attention to my driving. In fact, I had to slam my brakes on at one point and realised, as I coasted almost sideways across the sodden drove and frighteningly close to the deep dyke that ran alongside it, that I needed to slow down. Slow down and calm down.
As I drove slightly less recklessly, I thought more about what Jason had said. Not that I hadn’t considered it over the last few days, but this sudden influx of adrenaline highlighted things I hadn’t taken into account before.
In rather less time than it should have taken, I arrived to find a multitude of flashing blue lights in one of the fields that had the treacherous tidal river running alongside it. I couldn’t imagine there was a single emergency vehicle anywhere else in the Fens and I did just about muster the wherewithal to make sure I pulled up where my Land Rover wouldn’t be blocking the field entrance.
Having been in such a rush, I was suddenly glued to the seat, my knuckles white as I gripped the steering wheel. Through the steamed up windows and the still pouring rain, it was impossible to work out who anyone was among the people toing and froing, but I could just about make out Ash’s truck parked next to Will’s which had the practice logo emblazoned down the side.
