Page 64 of The Bookshop of Memories

Thea had felt like beeping her horn, but the last thing she wanted to do was irritate whoever was driving it. She followed it all the way to the main road, about half a mile. With twist and turns along the narrow country road, she didn’t want to risk overtaking and be met by someone travelling in the other direction.

At least when she hit the main road to Wickham Market, it was nice and straight – and wide. She could see right ahead, and overtook.

Her next spot of bother came in the form of two horse riders, who were ambling along the road. ‘Seriously!’ Thea shouted. Not that they could hear her at that distance. But she saw them ahead, riding two abreast, and knew she’d have to slow down to a crawl. The horse riders were very considerate and waved her on when they knew the road ahead was clear. Thea waved back as she overtook.

As soon as she thought she’d cleared them by a safe distance, Thea put her foot down, hoping she didn’t come across a police car hiding up a side road. She was surprised at how well she was taking to driving Jenna’s car, considering she hadn’t driven for quite some time. ‘Like riding a bike,’ she said to herself. ‘What do you think, Winston?’ She glanced in her rearview mirror at the golden retriever, who was looking out of the window. He barked.

Thea winced. ‘Oh, my god! Indoor voices, please!’

When she’d left the house, the dog had howled, which wasn’t what she had been expecting at all. She’d tried to ignore it as she walked to the car, but she was worried about what Winston might get up to while she was gone. She’d spotted a large wire mesh crate in the utility room that she guessed had been used when he was a pup. He was still a pup, really, but he’d obviously outgrown the crate. In hindsight, she thought she could have shut him in the utility room, where he couldn’t cause any trouble.

At the time, though, his cries of loneliness had resulted in her rushing back to the house and giving him a big fuss before taking him with her. She hoped it wasn’t going to turn out to be a big mistake. She was wondering what would happen when she left him in the car during the hospital visit.

They’d just have to take turns going inside the hospital to visit. This idea suited Thea anyway; she needed to speak to Jenna alone. As she drove along the main road, passing cottages and small villages on her way to Leiston, Thea was thinking about that strange phone call. In hindsight, she probably should have hung up immediately on hearing that strange, synthesised voice. Whatever her sister had got herself involved in sounded dodgy to say the least.

‘Ten thousand pounds for a book,’ said Thea out loud, shaking her head and suddenly feeling anxious; what had her sister got herself into? More to the point, who was on the end of that call, and what would they be capable of if she didn’t deliver?

Thea passed the turn-off for Aldeburgh and took the next one to Leiston. She remembered Aldeburgh, the little seaside town with the lovely promenade, and recalled its streets full of cottages rising up behind the town and the lovely views over the rooftops to the sea. She imagined there were lots of holiday cottages and second homes. It definitely had a holiday feel about it.

Leiston was different. A short drive inland, it had a more local feel, with a bigger selection of shops and supermarkets. It was a larger town – somewhere Thea could easily drive around and lose her bearings. Fortunately, she’d managed to put the school postcode into the Satnav and soon arrived at a large school on the outskirts of the town.

The school looked deserted, apart from two teenagers sitting on a wall outside – one glued to her mobile phone, the other staring into space, looking bored.

As soon as Toby spotted her, he got down from the wall, heaved his bag over his shoulder, and walked towards the car.

Thea pulled up at the kerb and watched Toby get in the back of the car. She turned in her seat. ‘Sorry I’m late.’

Toby just shrugged.

Thea turned her attention to Katie. She was still on her phone. Thea had spotted her looking up, so Katie was aware she’d arrived. Thea stared at her, realising what was going on; Katie was going to make her wait. Thea waited. So did Toby.

Katie finally got off her phone and graced them with her presence. As she sat in the front seat, she said, ‘Where were you? Do you know how long we’ve been sat out here?’

Thea apologised again. ‘Sorry.’

‘What the hell?’ Katie turned around in her seat when she heard a woof from the back of the car. ‘You brought the dog with you?’

Thea glanced at Winston, who was lying on the back seat, his head on Toby’s lap. ‘I didn’t know what to do with him.’

‘Why didn’t you leave him at home?’

‘I was worried what he might get up to.’

‘Get up to? Oh, my god. Don’t you know anything?’ Katie said, her voice full of disdain. ‘He’s a golden retriever! He just sleeps all day.’

Thea bit her lip. She didn’t like being spoken to as though she was an idiot, but she was late, and Katie was back to her usual argumentative self. ‘He whined when I went out.’

‘Yeah, well that’s what they do. Try and pull on your heartstrings. Dad says we should ignore him, otherwise he’ll get what he wants all the time.’

Sounds like someone I know,thought Thea, glancing at Katie. She remembered she had promised she’d speak to her drama teacher about enrolling in the after-school drama club. That might cheer Katie up and put Thea back in her good books. ‘Now, I’ll just nip into the school and talk to your drama teacher about—’

‘Don’t bother!’

Thea raised her eyebrows. ‘Oh, don’t be like that. Just because I was late, it doesn’t mean the whole afternoon has to be ruined.’

‘Yes, it does. The teacher has gone home.’

Thea mouthed a great big, ‘Oh.’

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