The Lost Notebook by Louise Douglas

Author:Louise Douglas [Douglas, Louise]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books

30

Carter was waiting on the grassy area beyond the sea house, in the same spot where the man who had gone past in the night had disappeared from view. Mila, who’d been pedalling as fast as she could on the pushbike, was glad to see that although he had parked his motorbike up on its stand, dismounted, and removed his helmet, he hadn’t come through the gate.

Mila went through into the garden, holding on to the handlebars, the pushbike bumping along obligingly beside her. Berthaud was lying on the path in a patch of sunlight. She flicked the end of her tail in the laziest possible greeting to Mila, but didn’t attempt to get up. As she passed the washing line, Mila grabbed her swimming costume and pulled it off. She crumpled it and shoved it behind the folding chairs in the porch. Then she opened the door with her key and called: ‘Ani! I’m home!’

There was no response, no sound at all from inside the house, and it had the empty feeling it only had when nobody was there. Ani’s trainers were missing from their usual spot by the front door. Her rucksack was gone too.

Merde. So, on top of everything else, Ani had gone out without letting Mila know where she was going, which meant that she was punishing Mila for deserting her that morning. Fair enough, Mila supposed, but this, on top of everything else, was another burden Mila didn’t want to have to carry. She was annoyed with Ceci, who had promised to make sure Ani was okay. She was annoyed with herself for having been talked into going to see Mrs Perry when she should have been looking after her niece. She felt a mixture of guilt and frustration; it was an uncomfortable cocktail.

Mila put her rucksack down on the seat of the rocking chair in the corner of the kitchen. Carter had followed her to the door.

‘Is it okay to come in?’

‘I’ll be with you in two minutes.’

He withdrew back to the garden.

Mila called Ani’s number but she didn’t pick up. Mila sent a message.

Sorry about this morning. Please call me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.