‘Bertie, it’s for the best.’
‘No! I won’t go!’
‘I’m afraid that’s not your decision to make. Grandma and Grandpa are coming to collect us on Sunday. You can take some sweets into school and perhaps have a sleepover with your friends tomorrow evening, so you have a proper goodbye.’
‘No,’ said Bertie, a lone tear breaking out and trickling down his cheek. ‘I won’t go.’ He tried to walk past me, but I grabbed his wrist.
‘Get off me!’ he shouted. ‘I hate you!’ Bertie yanked his hand free and ran out of the room.
It took me a few seconds to collect my thoughts, then I raced out of the room in hot pursuit of Bertie. There was no one in the living room, no one in the dining room, but I found Maggie making a start on dinner in the kitchen.
‘Have you seen Bertie?’
‘No. I heard the back door slam, though, so maybe he went outside to play or feed the animals?’
‘Thanks.’
I slipped on my shoes and ran outside. There was no sign of Bertie by the pigpen, goat enclosure, or chicken coop. I ran across the lane to the field where the sheep grazed happily, but Bertie wasn’t among them.
After searching the outbuildings, I ran across the field towards the woods. I fought against the memory of the first time Seb had shown me around. It wouldn’t help to think like that. In the woods I called Bertie’s name, but no reply came other than the flapping wings of birds who I’d scared from the trees.
At the lake, the water lay undisturbed, the rowing boat bobbing gently against its mooring. I ran my hands through my hair. Perhaps I shouldn’t have chased after Bertie at all and left him to calm down.
Outside Pat’s cabin, I noticed the old bike Harry had loaned Bertie resting against the far wall. I knocked and Pat came to the door.
‘Is Bertie in there with you?’
Pat stepped outside his cabin and pulled the door closed. ‘He is Liv, but he’s very upset. It might be best if you leave him here with me for a while. As well as being upset, he’s also extremely angry. He doesn’t understand what’s going on.’
‘I tried to explain things to him.’
‘Hmm, well, I’m not sure he’s alone in not understanding. Why are you doing this, Liv?’
I wanted to tell Pat that it wasn’t my doing at all, but I kept quiet.
‘Why don’t you leave him here, and I’ll bring him back to the farmhouse at dinner time?’
‘Thank you.’
Pat returned to his cabin, and I leaned against the wood, steeling myself for my next house call. I walked the short distance to Seb’s cabin and paused outside his door.
‘Liv.’ Seb opened the door before I’d knocked. ‘What do you want?’
‘I wanted to come and apologise.’
‘For what? Lying to me, leaving me, or not even having the decency to tell me when we were alone?’
‘I didn’t lie.’
‘Really? So, when I told you I didn’t want to get involved with you unless you had moved on from your husband, you weren’t lying when you said you’d never go back to him?’
‘I wasn’t lying when I said it.’
‘Oh, right, that’s OK then.’
‘Seb, I really am sorry. If there was any other way…’
‘From where I’m standing, you’re not being forced back to your husband at gunpoint. It seems to me you’re going back of your own free will.’
