Page 17 of An Ill Wind in Seabury
Right now, he needed his friends. He needed a hug. And if it had to come from a hairy ex-arctic-explorer rather than his sweet little angel of a baby daughter, then so be it!
It didn’t take George long before the entrance to the driveway that led down to Seabury House came into view. Unfortunately, the massive SUV was there, indicating to come out of it.
George hit the brakes and slowed to a crawl… just in case the woman was about to make a second attempt on his life.
Not this time, it seemed. She pulled out carefully, gave him a sheepish little wave while angling her face away from him, and trundled forwards at about five miles an hour.
Just as she was passing, the woman turned and locked eyes with him.
Wait… what?!
It couldn’t be… could it?!
No… surely not?
The woman currently terrorising Seabury with her bad attitude and even worse driving looked worryingly familiar. Less than a second later, the SUV disappeared off down the road, leaving George to wonder if he was just imagining things.
Hereallyneeded that sugar hit.
‘You’re definitely in shock, my boy!’ he huffed, then jumped as someone behind him gave a friendly littletoot tooton their horn, reminding him that he was sitting stationary in the middle of the road.
George made sure that he was indicating, and then swung the van carefully onto the lane before bumping his way towards the double gates that led to Seabury House.
‘George, my good man!’
George stepped shakily out of the van onto the neat gravel outside of Seabury House. His knees promptly gave out from underneath him. Thankfully, Ewan Pepper was right there at his side in a matter of half a second and caught him by the elbow.
‘What on earth… are you okay?’ gasped Ewan, taking his weight and peering intently at his face.
‘I’m fine,’ said George, feeling his face flush with embarrassment.What a numpty!‘Sorry about that, must have tripped.’
‘That doesn’t explain why you’re all pale and clammy, though,’ said Ewan with a little frown. ‘Maybe you should come inside for a minute and sit down?’
Suddenly, George didn’t have the energy to argue. In fact, it was just what he’d been hoping for when he’d decided to visit Matt and Ewan anyway… though, hehadplanned to go about it in a slightly less humiliating manner!
‘Sounds good,’ he muttered, not quite meeting Ewan’s eye.
Ewan frowned and nodded, and without letting go of George’s arm, he led him into Seabury House.
‘Matt?’ he yelled as they made their way along the broad hallway in the direction of the kitchen.
George winced at the shout.
‘Sorry, man,’ chuckled Ewan. ‘MATT?’ he yelled again.
‘What?’ said Matt, frowning as he stuck his head around the kitchen door. ‘She’s not back, is she?!’
Ewan shook his head. ‘Nope. I’ve got a patient for you.’
‘Don’t exaggerate,’ tutted George.
‘Dude, I’m not the one who practically collapsed on the driveway,’ said Ewan with a shrug.
‘Collapsed?’ said Matt, taking George’s free arm and leading him into the kitchen.
‘I did nothing of the sort,’ said George.
‘What was it then?’ said Ewan, looking mildly belligerent as Matt gently pushed George down into an armchair near the fireplace and peered at him intently.
