shall I do?’ asked Rhonda.
‘We need to search the village.’
‘I can round a few people up to do that.’
‘Great. If Leo’s here we have to find him fast because when Beth comes round he’s the first person she’s going to want to see.’
‘If he’s here?’ questioned Rhonda, her forehead creased into a deep frown worthy of someone far older.
Jack didn’t want to share what was going through his head and as Rhonda’s expression changed to horror it appeared he didn’t need to. Dark thoughts were dominating his mind. He guessed it was down to the carbon monoxide but he could still picture Beth lying on the sofa and the awful sensation that had accompanied it when he had feared he was too late to save her. Question was, was it too late to save Leo?
Jack splashed his face with water. He was tired and dirty. His body ached and his head still throbbed. He’d left Rhonda checking for Leo at the last few houses and gardens on the village green while he got himself a T-shirt. It appeared that the sight of him topless had rendered a couple of women speechless and was definitely distracting Rhonda. Doris was very pleased to see him and was nudging her food bowl round the kitchen hopefully. Jack went upstairs to get a clean top and Doris followed him, then peeled off to the spare bedroom where he could hear her making odd little grunting noises. He pulled the top over his head and took a peek at what Doris was up to. She was rolling on the sleeping bag with her legs in the air.
Jack smiled at her. ‘Come on, Doris. Does it smell of Leo?’ Doris got up and trotted past him and down the stairs. Jack looked from her to the sleeping bag – he had an idea. After a full two minutes of waving the sleeping bag under Doris’s nose, feeding her a treat and repeating ‘Leo’ countless times he felt they were ready to give their experiment a go. He clipped on her lead and they set off in search of Leo.
The police were now stepping up their interest and another patrol car had parked by the green. Leo had been missing for nearly an hour and nobody had seen him since he left the pub. Jack was mentally berating himself for not having waited a few more minutes. If he had would he have seen that Leo couldn’t get inside? Would he have found Beth sooner? Whatever way he thought about it he knew Leo would be safe if he hadn’t taken his eyes off him and the guilt made him feel sick.
A picture of Beth laughing flashed through his mind but was instantly replaced by a picture of her lying motionless on the sofa. His heart clenched when he thought of her in hospital. The thought of losing her scared him more than he thought possible. He pushed it out of his mind; he couldn’t be in two places at once so he needed to deal with each problem in turn.
He headed for the tearoom; if anyone had a handle on the latest news it was Rhonda and Maureen. He opened the door and the bell announced his presence. ‘Any news?’ he asked.
Rhonda shook her head while she loaded a tea tray with cups and saucers and Maureen plonked down a full teapot. ‘Nothing,’ said Rhonda, her eyes surveying his clean T-shirt. ‘There’s two groups and they’ve searched all round the green and now they’re spreading the net wider.’ Rhonda sounded like she was giving a report on Crimewatch.
‘One lot have gone towards Henbourne,’ said Maureen, her usual gruffness somehow softer.
‘The others are doing a wider house-to-house,’ chipped in Rhonda. ‘We’ll do tea for them all when they’re back.’
Doris was pulling to get inside, drawn by the smell of cake that was wafting out. ‘Great, thanks, ladies.’ He pulled Doris back and set off towards the cottage. He stopped by the willow tree and parted the fronds to peer inside, but there was no sign of Ernie. Come to think of it, Jack hadn’t seen Ernie all day. He told Doris to sit and because he had a treat in his hand she obeyed instantly.
‘Leo. Doris, find Leo.’ He gave her a treat, she inhaled it and wagged her tail. He stood up straight. ‘Find Leo,’ he repeated. Feeling like a prize idiot he checked no one was watching over his shoulder. Doris certainly didn’t look like a sniffer dog but he had to try. Doris stared at him hopefully but remained sitting and lifted a paw. ‘This is useless. Come on.’ They set off past the pub and down to the ford. Two groups of parents were sitting on the grass nearby where a few children were running about in the water and some others further up were feeding bread to the ducks.
‘Have you seen a young boy here today? Six years old, dark hair?’ he called. They all shook their heads. He marched on over the small footbridge and out of the village. He’d walk his usual jogging circuit as he didn’t have the energy or lungpower to run right now.
Beth balled up the cloth in her fists and pulled hard at the sheet she was lying on. Leo was on a conveyer belt being propelled away from her and towards Nick who stood on the other side of the canyon, his arms folded and his expression smug. She felt something up her nose and she tried to dislodge it but someone took her hand away from her face. Her eyes popped open and for a moment all she could see was white light that emphasized the pain in her head and made her blink hard. Her eyes darted about her alien surroundings and she saw nothing that was familiar to her. She was suddenly confused and still had the uncomfortable sensation of something up her nose, but her hand was being held down.
‘Can you hear me?’ said a soft voice to her left. Beth turned to look, trying to clear the fuzz that was currently occupying her head and stem the anxiety she felt rising inside.
‘I’m a nursing assistant, you’re in hospital,’ said the voice.
A frown burrowed across Beth’s forehead as she tried hard to focus on the rather young person in blue seated on her left. Confusion turned to panic. She tried again to reach her nose and was thwarted by the warm touch of the nurse’s hand.
‘It’s oxygen,’ she said. ‘It’s helping you. You’re going to be fine. Your friend will be back in a minute. I’ll go and tell Staff Nurse that you’re awake.’
Beth was trying hard to make sense of what was going on. Was she still dreaming? Her mind would have been a blank had it not been filled with something akin to swirling marshmallow. She felt sick and she wanted to sleep but she also wanted to know what the hell was going on. She closed her eyes until the sound of someone moving the chair next to her forced her curiosity and she opened an eye. She watched Petra’s bottom jiggle about as she moved her bag and coat off the seat.
‘Petra?’ said Beth, her voice barely a croak. She was still totally confused but pleased to see something she recognized even if it was Petra’s behind.
‘Dovraga!’ Petra held on tight to her paper cup and cursed in Croatian. ‘You’re awake! I was here for ages and I only left for the toilet and this,’ she said, waving the cup. ‘Oh, but this is very good that you wake up, even if I am not here.’ She gave Beth a kiss on the cheek before sitting down. ‘How do you feel?’
‘Rubbish,’ said Beth, her hand reaching up to touch the tubes that were uncomfortably violating her nostrils. She tried to swallow but her mouth and throat were too dry. ‘Leo?’ He was always the first thing on her mind, even when her mind was a blur of confusion.
‘He’s fine,’ said Petra sharply and she began fussing with Beth’s covers.
‘What’s going on? Why am
