Chapter 7
7
Charlotte was dying to follow this rather intimidating stranger who’d strode off to find Comet. Her heart, which had reached Usain Bolt levels of racing whilst she’d been caught in between the gate and the fence, had sped up even further when her eyes had met his across the sturdy steel padlock. It was just fear and worry about what scrapes Comet had managed to get into, she told herself firmly. After all, the dog could have stumbled upon anything if the guy who’d got her out of the fence was to be believed. Looking around her, now that she was inside the compound that made up the observatory, she realised he hadn’t been exaggerating. When he’d told her to stay put, much as she was desperate to follow him and find Comet, she knew she’d be risking tetanus at the very least. Evidence of campfires, rusty tin cans, ancient rubbish sacks that overflowed with such dubious contents as dirty disposable nappies, vegetable peelings and old cans of lager and Somerset’s speciality, cider, completed the grim, depressing picture. She’d been to see Banksy’s art installation and parody theme park ‘Dismaland’ a few years back where it had been installed on the sea front of Weston-Super-Mare: Observatory Field would have given the mysterious artist a run for his money.
Shifting impatiently on the spot, Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief when she finally saw Comet’s saviour coming back with a black, wriggling bundle in his arms. She blinked rapidly as she felt tears prickling her eyes, and although she wanted to dash over the remaining ground between them, she continued to heed his advice.
‘Here he is, at last,’ the man said as he and Comet reached her. ‘I think he’s all right, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to give him a bath and keep an eye on him for a day or two. Are you on holiday here? Do you have a regular vet where you live who could check him over, just in case?’
So many questions in such a short space of time made Charlotte’s head spin, although that could just be the relief at getting Comet back safely. She nodded, shook her head, and then realised she must look like a total idiot.
‘No, er, yes, and thank you,’ she stammered as the man gently returned Comet to the ground. She noticed the streaks of mud all over the guy’s dark green polo shirt. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she continued. ‘He looks like he got into a right state.’
‘He got his head trapped in a broken plastic bottle. These lowlifes who dump their rubbish here don’t give animals a second thought.’
The cosy notions about the observatory that Charlotte had been harbouring in her imagination had all but gone by this point. If this was what it was like on the outside, God only knew what it was going to be like inside! She resolved to buy a pair of steel toe-capped work boots to make this trip in future. She also wondered how on earth she was going to stop Comet from hurting himself if she brought him to work with her.
‘Well,’ she stammered. ‘Thank you for rescuing him.’
‘As I said, you shouldn’t be poking around in here. It’s private property; parts of it are derelict and a lot of it is dangerous. The only reason it’s still standing is because some boffins from the university are coming to remove anything of so-called historical significance from the records room before it gets demolished. It’s certainly no place for tourists or walkers.’
Charlotte’s hackles rose again at his dismissive tone. ‘I’m not a tourist,’ she replied shortly.
‘And not a serious walker, either,’ the man replied, ‘if those sandals are anything to go by. Which begs the question… why are you trespassing?’
At that moment, Comet emitted a distressed whimper. Immediately, Charlotte dropped to her knees to examine him. ‘What is it, boy?’ she said gently. ‘Did you run into something that hurt you?’ Ignoring the mud and the stench from whatever it was he’d been rolling about in, she smoothed back his ears, and saw that he had a cut inside one of them. ‘The plastic from the bottle must have nicked him. I’d better get him home and get the wound cleaned.’
‘And the rest of him,’ the guy replied. ‘And I’d better lock the gate back up, or God only knows who else will come along and decide to break in.’ He heaved a sigh. ‘Some people never learn.’
Charlotte stood back up and made for the gate again. She dithered for a second about telling him why she’d been near the observatory, but then figured the sooner she got away and looked at Comet’s ear, the better. Following him back to the gate, she stepped through and then, as he refastened the padlock, thanked him again.
‘I really do appreciate you finding Comet for me,’ she said. ‘And next time, I’ll know to be more careful.’
‘Don’t let there be a next time,’ he said shortly. ‘This is no place for a dog with zero recall and an owner with summer shoes. It’s dangerous in there. You don’t know what you’re dealing with.’
Charlotte wanted to bite back a retort, but she decided to make a swift getaway. He had the manner of some jobsworth council worker and, grateful as she was for his rescue of her dog, she didn’t want another lecture. ‘Well, I’ll be seeing you,’ she said brightly. ‘Come on, Comet, let’s get you home.’
As she strode back down the field towards the woodland path that would take her back to Nightshade Cottage, Charlotte wondered why she hadn’t just told him the reason she’d been there. After all, she was going to start work there tomorrow: and although she might technically have been trespassing since she’d been a day early, she was soon going to be spending plenty of time at Observatory Field. She supposed it had been a combination of his manner, which had been brusque and abrupt, unsurprising under the circumstances, and the fact that he really was rather attractive, with that curling chestnut hair and those long, long legs. And his eyes weren’t bad, either, even if most of the time he’d been scowling at her. Gemma always said she chose the grumpy types: perhaps she was just proving true to form.
Shaking her head, dismissing any thoughts of Comet’s rescuer, it wasn’t until she’d got back to Lorelai’s cottage that she realised she didn’t even know his name.