Chapter 24
It was a little unorthodox but to save taking an extra car to the Bluebell Cliff, Ray and Dorrie were also travelling to the venue in the Bentley, alongside the brides and Ben.
There would be plenty of people who could bring them back later on in the day.
They both exclaimed that it was the poshest car they’d ever been in as they climbed into the back seats.
Sarah was right about it being great weather in Dorset as well as Wiltshire.
If anything, it grew even lovelier as they got closer to the coast with fewer clouds and warmer air.
And when they pulled into the car park of the Bluebell Cliff Hotel, where a space had been coned off for them, the sun was bright and seagulls circled like white pearls against a beautiful powder-blue sky.
Ray climbed out of the car. ‘OK then, Dorrie and I will just go and check that everything is running on time. And then either myself or an usher will nip back to collect you.’
‘I’m coming too,’ Ben shouted as Dorrie got out into the sunshine. ‘I’m chief husher and I can’t wait to see Chocko with the rings.’
‘Ben, wait,’ Sarah called. ‘You’re supposed to be with us.’ But her pleas were unheard – or possibly ignored – as the door clunked shut behind him.
She rolled her eyes and Jade touched her arm. ‘He’s excited,’ Jade said. ‘He’ll be back as soon as he’s said hello to Chocko, I’m sure.’
‘That’s the bit I’ve been the most worried about,’ Sarah said. ‘Isn’t there a saying, never work with children and animals?’
‘Yes, but it’ll be fine because Dawn’s in charge. I’d trust her with my life.’
Sarah nodded and for a few seconds there was silence as they sat in the Bentley. The sun felt hot through the glass on Jade’s face and her stomach had started to churn a bit. Was it her imagination or was Ray taking an awfully long time?
She hoped everything was OK. Of course it was. She berated herself for her doubts as she saw Ray stroll back around the corner of the hotel towards the Bentley.
Except he was walking terribly slowly, she thought, unease rising sharply. And there was something about his demeanour. His shoulders were tense and he was stiff backed. He wasn’t smiling either. Something definitely wasn’t right.
Beside her, she felt Sarah tense too. ‘Oh my God. Something’s going on. What’s happened?’
Ray reached the car and Mark, the chauffeur, slid down the driver’s window.
‘Is everything OK, Ray?’ Jade leaned across from the back.
‘It’s fine. Just a small hitch.’ His face said otherwise as he spoke to Mark. ‘Could you possibly take these ladies round the block, sir? We need another few minutes.’
‘Right you are.’
‘No. We’re not going round the block,’ Jade interrupted, all of her senses on full alert. ‘Ray. Tell me what’s happened.’
‘Yep, tell us now,’ Sarah said, her voice suddenly shrill. ‘We’re grown-ups.’
As she spoke, Jade became aware that a small group of people had appeared near the entrance of the Bluebell Cliff and were milling about, but before either she or Sarah could react, Ben came hurtling around the corner and heading towards them.
He drew to a breathless halt beside Ray, and his face was a picture of misery.
‘It’s Chocko, Mum. She’s run off. We’ve got to go find her.’
‘She’s run off,’ Sarah echoed. ‘What do you mean she’s run off? Isn’t she in the kennels? Where’s Dawn? Isn’t she with her? Who’s got the rings?’
‘Buddy and Mickey had a fight in the kennels and Chocko got scared and she ran off and we’ve got to find her. I don’t know about the rings.’
‘He’s right. We have got to find her.’ Shock crystallised Jade’s thoughts and she was galvanised into action. ‘Come on. We’ll help.’
‘Jade, we can’t help. Not dressed like this.’ Sarah was the voice of reason for once, but Jade was running on adrenaline.
‘No, that’s true. We’ll need to get changed.’
‘Get changed into what?’ Sarah looked at Jade as if she’d just suggested they should jump off the cliff. ‘Jade, that’s crazy. She can’t have gone far. They’ll find her. We just need to wait.’
‘No, Mum.’ Ben’s face was crinkled in distress and he started to sob. ‘She doesn’t know where she is. And she’ll be scared and she won’t be able to find her way back. We have to all go. We have to all go now.’
‘I don’t believe this.’ The reality of the situation seemed finally to be sinking in as Sarah climbed out of the car into the sunshine, the red skirts of her dress swirling as she turned towards Ben, her face etched with worry.
‘Jade, we haven’t got our clothes in the car with us. How are we going to get changed?’
A stricken-looking Dawn arrived, panting beside the Bentley. ‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Chocko was spooked by the fight and I thought I had hold of her, but she got out of my grasp. She’s got a collar on and a lead.’
The day was unravelling before her eyes but Jade also felt her head go into a place of crystal-sharp clarity as the soaring adrenaline marshalled her thoughts.
She joined Sarah, thinking fast. ‘Which direction did she go in? Has anyone gone to look for her?’
‘Yes, half the wedding guests are out looking.’ Dawn was white faced. ‘She’s gone along the cliffs. It was literally fifteen minutes ago when I went to check on them.’
‘OK,’ Jade said. ‘We need to act fast. Cliffs are worrying.’
‘I know.’ Dawn bit her lip. ‘Ursula’s been on the phone to Dreadlock Dave. He’s on his way.’
‘That sounds great but I’m guessing it’ll take him some time to get here.’
‘Not too long. He’s in Dorset and as luck would have it, he’s just been out on another search about ten miles away.’
‘What’s Callum doing?’ Sarah asked. ‘And Finn?’
‘They’ve gone out too. And Angus and Hamish have taken the car a bit further along the coast. We thought that if everyone was tramping along the coast path it might make things worse. We didn’t want to scare her.’
Jade read the white space between her words. They didn’t want to scare her into running over the edge of the cliff. Oh my God, it didn’t bear thinking about. She forced that awful image out of her head.
‘Mum, we have to go too. We’re wasting time. We’re the ones who should be looking for her. She knows us.’ Ben had stopped sobbing but his eyes were wide and pleading.
‘OK, love.’ Sarah’s voice softened. ‘We’ll go. But we do all need to get changed. I can’t go walking anywhere in this get-up. Can someone please find our overnight bags? They’ll be here in the hotel.’
‘I’ll track down Zoe,’ Jade said, frantically marshalling her thoughts at this change in direction. ‘Ben’s right. It should be us looking for her. People she knows. That’s the best way.’
Half an hour later, Jade and Sarah had both changed out of the wedding dresses they’d put on with so much anticipation this morning and Jade was thanking her lucky stars that she and Sarah had both brought sensible going-away clothes. Well, they were fairly sensible.
Sarah had brought cream rompers, which apparently were all the rage for a playful post-wedding look, and she had brought a pale green jumpsuit.
They’d also both brought comfy sneakers, because they’d figured they’d have had enough of formal shoes after a long day in them and would need to slip into something relaxing.
Sneakers weren’t ideal for tramping around cliffs but they were definitely better than the wedding pumps they’d swapped them for.
‘I cannot believe we’re doing this,’ Sarah muttered as she and Jade and Ben, who’d been relieved to swap his formal suit for his jeans and tee-shirt, set off along the cliff path.
‘I’m sure it won’t take long to find her,’ Jade replied. ‘She can’t have got far.’
She wasn’t actually sure about that at all. Despite the numbers of people out looking, so far they hadn’t had a single sighting of a small brown lurcher wearing a collar and ring pouch and trailing a lead.
She had been carrying the rings, Dawn had said. That’s what she’d gone out to do. To put the rings in the pouch. To make sure they were there in plenty of time before the service began.
Not that anyone was worried about the rings, Jade thought. Not even Sarah had mentioned the rings again.
Everyone was far too worried about Chocko. The Bluebell Cliff’s sloping gardens ran down to the coast path, beyond which the Dorset cliffs fell steeply away towards the English Channel far below. It was a perilous place for a little dog to go missing.