‘I’m fine. I came to see if Georgia fancied a chat, but apparently their house has the lurgy too. I’m not sure there’ll be a house in Thimblebury without it by tomorrow morning. Emiliatold me it might be best if I stayed away, but as we’ve already got it at our house, I don’t suppose it will be long before I go down with it anyway.’
‘Hopefully not.’
Zoe shrugged. ‘I’m resigned to my fate.’
Simon’s expression didn’t change, and yet Zoe had to wonder whether he’d detected the irony in her statement. Her fate, as they both knew, was far bigger than a flu bug. Whether she’d truly accepted it, though, was another matter – and even she didn’t really know the answer to that question.
‘If you’re not doing anything and you want some company,’ Stacey began, ‘you could always come over for a quick drink. I haven’t seen much of you lately, and it would be nice to catch up.’
Ordinarily, Zoe would have been tempted, but she suspected her current mood wouldn’t endear her to anyone. She didn’t know Stacey in the way she knew Ottilie and Georgia, though she hoped one day she would – she didn’t want to jeopardise that by giving the impression she was often miserable and difficult.
‘I should probably get back to the infirmary to see how they’re all doing,’ she said, giving the brightest smile she could muster.
‘If you change your mind, we’ll be in for the rest of the night after we’ve finished our walk. Just pop down.’
Zoe thanked them, and as she watched them continue on their route, she wondered if she ought to have taken Stacey up on her offer. She wouldn’t have been able to offload as she’d wanted to, but some company other than a tetchy Alex might have done her good. Even as she allowed that thought to wander through her mind, however, she realised that it was probably wise to go home sooner rather than later. She needed to clear the air if she could; leaving things to fester would only make matters worse.
15
The entrance door was wide open when Zoe arrived back at Hilltop, and panicked voices that Zoe didn’t recognise shattered the indigo silence of the hills. Her breath rolled into the air as she picked up pace towards the house, senses pricked to something out of the ordinary going on.
But before she could go in, Alex dashed out. Between him and one of his guests was the man who’d come with his young boys to borrow the foot pump. His face was grey, and he was clearly in some considerable pain as he was supported by Alex and the other man.
‘What…?’ Zoe began, but Alex didn’t even look at her. ‘What’s happened?’ she asked again.
‘Sorry,’ Alex panted, only now seeming to register her arrival. ‘Have to go.’
Zoe’s mouth worked to form more questions, but she wasn’t to get any answers.
They dashed to Alex’s car and helped the man in before getting in themselves and driving off so fast the tyres sent gravel in all directions. A shard of stone pinged onto the windscreen of Zoe’s car, and she winced at the sound of a sharp crack. Shedashed over, and sure enough it had chipped the glass, but she didn’t have it in her to complain. Instead, filing the incident away as something she’d have to deal with later, she ran into the house through the open door.
Billie was in the living room, wrapped in a blanket on the sofa, while Louisa, thankfully, was sleeping in a basket next to her. There might have been some commotion – and Zoe didn’t know how much – but at least it hadn’t bothered the littlest member of the family.
At Zoe’s entrance, Billie looked up.
‘Something’s happened on the camping field. I was in here with Louisa when they knocked. There was a load of shouting, and then Dad put his head in and said he had to go with them to the hospital. I asked if he needed to help, but he told me to stay where I am.’
‘You don’t know what the problem is?’
Billie shook her head. ‘Nobody said, but it sounded bad.’
‘They were helping someone to your dad’s car when I got here. I’ve never seen your dad look so stressed.’
‘I suppose he’ll phone when he gets there.’
‘Maybe,’ Zoe agreed, though she wasn’t convinced. ‘I wonder why your dad had to go. It’s not like there weren’t enough of them…and why did they come up here to get him instead of going straight to the hospital if things were serious?’
‘I doubt they’d know where the hospital was – they don’t come from around here, do they?’
‘So they don’t have Google Maps?’
Billie gave a shrug. ‘Maybe the signal wasn’t so good on the field. Sometimes it drops in and out, doesn’t it?’
Zoe wasn’t convinced by that either, but she said no more about it. As she couldn’t do anything in the immediate term, she took a seat across from Billie and looked at Louisa. ‘Is she any better?’
‘She’s got a runny nose, but she’s not so hot now. I gave her the Calpol, and then she went to sleep.’
‘That’s good. How about you?’
