Shit, no, that’s dark andscary!she thought.
Closing her eyes was not a good idea. However, she was now aware of the distant thrum of road noise. From where she’d left the van, the main road was probably less than a mile away, so if she headed towards the noise she should be heading in roughly the right direction. It was a revelation and it filled her with confidence. She positioned herself and set off confidently. Immediately she tripped over a root and faceplanted a tree.
She stumbled around for the next forty minutes until it was completely dark. She glimpsed a sliver of moon before it was engulfed in cloud. It certainly wasn’tenough to light her way. She’d not noticed before but it was getting colder. Enough to make her shiver and add to her low ebb. The scent seemed to have subtly changed from sweet and earthy to damp and decaying. This was no longer a fun adventure. Her phone began flashing insistently at her that she was almost out of battery. Best to save in case of emergency, she thought as she reluctantly switched it off. Now she felt totally alone.
*
Nora and Jay had not said much since leaving the house and the journey home had been particularly quiet, a silence thankfully broken every so often by Bruce, who liked to bark at things he saw out of the windscreen, like a furry canine sat nav. A police car with blue flashing lights and siren blaring came up fast behind them, making Nora grip the steering wheel and Bruce bark louder than before. For a moment she had a nasty feeling it was chasing her. Was destroying a police investigation an offence? She feared she was about to find out but the police car flew past. A glance in the rear-view mirror and Jay’s wide eyes gave her the feeling he’d thought the same. They continued in silence. It wasn’t that she was cross with Jay, it was more that it had all been such a lot to take in that it was easier to keep her thoughts to herself until she’d properly worked out how she felt about it all.
At last she pulled up outside Jay’s place.
‘Thanks,’ he said, getting out and coming around to unbuckle Bruce. The dog flopped down on the passenger seat, reluctant to leave. ‘Look, you don’t have to talk about any of what happened today if you don’t want to, but equally if you wanted to then…’ He pointed at his front door. ‘Maybe get a takeaway?’ Jay and Bruce looked at Nora with similarly tilted heads and hopeful eyes.
What did she have waiting for her at home? A chameleon who was far more interested in crickets and the occasional episode of David Attenborough. She had recently noticed that he would train one eye on the TV if that was on.
‘I mean,I’dquite like to talk about it,’ said Jay.
‘I definitely don’t want to talk about it,’ said Nora.
‘No, nor me. Best forgotten. But did you fancy a pizza? The one you like with the little meatballs?’ Bruce’s tongue lolled out of his mouth. ‘If not, I’ll be eating it cold for breakfast so you could at least save me from that.’
‘Yeah, go on then,’ said Nora, taking the keys out of the ignition and opening the driver’s door. Bruce decided he preferred that exit and got on Nora’s lap in an attempt to get out of the car at the same time as her.
Jay hung on and found that he was about to be pulled on top of Nora. ‘Here, you have his lead, that might be easier.’
‘I can only see fur,’ said Nora. ‘Phht– and now I can taste fur.’
‘Sorry.’
Nora took the lead as Bruce walked over her and out of the car, whacking her in the face with his tail before attempting to pull her out with him. She followed them into Jay’s house, plucking fur off her top and out of her mouth.
She took off Bruce’s lead and harness while Jay pretended to hunt for the takeaway menus but she suspected he used them more than he let on. They ordered pizza and Jay went to the utility. Bruce was there in an instant.
‘It’s his dinner-time too. I swear one day he’ll eat the bowl. Watch this,’ said Jay. He put a measured scoop of dry food from a bag on the worktop into a clean bowl and Bruce went up on his hind legs to try to snatch it. Jay held it above his head at the same time as he made a sort of yelping noise.
‘You OK?’ asked Nora.
‘No I’m not. Look at him. I can’t even put the bowl down.’
‘You’re getting him all excited,’ said Nora, watching Jay and Bruce dance with each other like week oneStrictly Come Dancingcontestants.
‘Bruce!’ said Nora with authority. The dog spun in her direction. ‘Sit.’
Bruce seemed torn between Nora and the bowl. ‘Give me the food.’ Nora took it from Jay, which meant she then had Bruce’s full attention. He tried to jump up but she turned her back on him. ‘Down. Sit.’
‘Sorry, he’s not big on commands,’ said Jay.
‘Only because nobody has taught him. Or he thinks he can get away with ignoring them.’ Nora tried turning around but Bruce kept jumping up. However, Nora didn’t give up easily. After five minutes Bruce seemed to be cottoning on and was now sitting and calming down. When at last she managed to put the bowl down without Bruce intercepting it, she told him, ‘Good boy.’ Bruce inhaled his meal in record time.
‘Wow. Just wow. How did you do that?’ asked Jay.
‘Easy. Don’t give in and don’t be intimidated by him.’
‘OK. I can do that,’ said Jay, pulling back his shoulders. All he needed was a cape and he would have had the look of a superhero. He had thrown himself into dog ownership and she loved that he was looking for ways to overcome their issues.
The doorbell sounded and Bruce lurched at where Jay was standing, making him yelp and dive out of the way. The superhero moment was short-lived.
‘Yeah, that may take some work but you’ll get there,’ said Nora, going to answer the door to the delivery man.
