Puzzle in Poppleford Wood (Churchill and Pemberley Series Book 3) by Emily Organ

Author:Emily Organ [Organ, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

“Oh, Miss Pemberley, please do something about that dog! Call him back!”

Pemberley did as she was told but Oswald continued to ignore her. He climbed out onto the opposite riverbank and shook himself dry. The three of them watched as he burrowed into the earth and dropped the ball into the hole he had made.

“Do one of your whistles, Miss Pemberley.”

Churchill covered her ears as Pemberley did so, and Oswald jumped straight back into the river once he had finished burying the ball.

Churchill sighed. “It doesn’t look as though he intends to bring the ball back. What a naughty doggy. Where’s the closest bridge to cross the river?”

“About half a mile away.”

“So we need to walk a whole mile to retrieve the golf ball he’s just buried on the opposite side? Don’t you have a lead for that dog, Miss Pemberley?”

“No.”

Oswald climbed out of the river and shook water all over their legs again.

“Perhaps if you had purchased one this whole sorry event could have been avoided.”

“I didn’t know that it was likely to happen.”

Meanwhile, Oswald had scurried through the hedge again and was jumping up at Mr Colthrop, soiling his plus fours.

“It’s hard to be cross with a little chap like this, isn’t it?” chuckled Mr Colthrop. He bent down to pick the dog up and Oswald began to lick his face enthusiastically. “He’s quite a little treasure, isn’t he?”

“That’s one way to describe him,” Churchill said scornfully. “Mr Colthrop, we would be most grateful if you chose not to mention this incident to your wife.”

“Why ever not? She’d love to hear about this funny little fellow burying my golf ball in the riverbank.”

“I don’t think she would. I think she would take rather a dim view of Miss Pemberley’s questionable dog-owning skills.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t.”

“Yes she would. I believe she commented on someone else’s dog-owning skills recently and was quite scathing about the woman in question. Miss Pemberley would be extremely upset if the same were to be said about her.”

“Really?” Mr Colthrop put Oswald down again. “When did you speak to my wife?”

“We just happened to bump into her the other day, didn’t we, Miss Pemberley?”

Her assistant nodded.

“She spoke terribly harshly of this particular person – I forget who it was now – and her inability to control her dog.”

“That doesn’t sound like my wife.”

“Well, please don’t mention it to her, anyway. You know how quickly rumours spread in this village.”

“Oh, I certainly do. If you don’t want me to mention to my wife that our paths crossed today I won’t, Mrs Churchill.” He grinned again and gave a knowing wink.

“Thank you, Mr Colthrop. Now, please excuse us while we go and retrieve your ball.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ve got spares.”

“No, really we must. I insist.”

“I won’t hear of it. I shall retrieve the buried ball on my way home. I have plenty of time on my hands today. I’m a gentleman of leisure, you see.”

“That’s very kind of you, Mr Colthrop, and I do apologise for Oswald’s behaviour.

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