“My dog, Stanley, ran off,” Grace said, hurrying to where the couple sat. “There was a loud noise inside the pub and it must have given him a fright and he bolted through the doors before I could grab him. He’s a little scruffy brown and white terrier. Have you seen him run past here?”
The couple looked at one another and shook their heads.
“Sorry, no. But we were reading our newspapers, so we might not have seen him,” said the man.
“But we’ll help you look for him, if you like?” said his companion.
“Thank you, that would be a big help,” Grace said. “We’ve looked all around the outside of the pub, which means he might have run off into the woodland.” She gestured towards the expanse of trees beyond the beer garden. “If he’s in there and we don’t catch him soon, he might just keep running and get even more lost than he already is.”
The man and woman were already on their feet.
“We’ll find him love,” the woman said kindly. “Charlie and I will search this bit of woodland to the east of the beer garden. You and your fella take the bit on the west.”
“Do you know how far the woodland goes?” Ryan asked, looking at the dense area they were about to enter.
“It’s a decent area, for sure,” the man said. “But let’s just make a start and see what we find. What did you say the dog’s name was?”
“Stanley,” Grace said, and then pulled out her phone. “Here, take my number in case you find him.”
They all did a quick swap of phone numbers and then set off. While the couple they’d just met strode off towards the eastern part of the woodland, Ryan followed Grace into the western section. The sound of all four of them calling out Stanley’s name echoed around the trees. As the voices of the other couple grew fainter as they headed off in the opposite direction, Ryan had to run to keep up with Grace.
“Stanley!” Grace called out, and Ryan heard the tearful panic in her voice. “Stanley! Where are you?”
There was no bark in response, just the noise of the birds in the trees.
“Stanley!” Ryan shouted, and then even louder, “Stanley!”
They hurried through the woodland in search of the little dog.
“We’ll find him, Grace,” Ryan said as they picked their way through trees and shrubs and hollows in the ground. “He must be here somewhere. He only ran off a few moments ago.”
“But what if he’s lost all over again?” Grace said, her words anguished. “He was a stray before. What if we can’t find him?”
“Wewillfind him,” Ryan said, relieved when his determined tone seemed to reassure Grace the way he hoped it would. “I promise you we’ll find him.”
He just hoped it was a promise he could keep.
