Chapter 29
Back at the Bluebell Cliff Hotel, thanks to Hector and Charlotte, most of the guests were now up to speed about the tense drama unfolding on the Dorset coast path, and they’d been herded into the dining room by Clara and Zoe, and were now taking their seats.
Clara was praying that nothing else went wrong and they could at least feed most of the wedding party.
The stars of the show, which included the brides, the grooms, and the two best men, were conspicuous by their absence. But fortunately there were still a few people in their designated places at the top table.
Callum’s parents, Sarah’s adoptive parents, Bridie and Christoper and Ray and Dorrie had all sat down and a steady trickle of other guests had studied the table plan at the entrance of the restaurant, and were now heading towards their seats to do the same.
A posse of waiting staff were lined up against the wall nearest the entrance to the kitchen ready to serve.
Earlier they’d been chattering magpies in their black and white attire, but now they were quieter, Clara observed.
She knew they just wanted to get this done before Mr B stormed out of the hotel kitchen for good, because if that happened there was every chance they wouldn’t get paid at all for today, and they were already on overtime.
She cast an assessing eye over the tables, which were about three-quarters full.
It was enough to serve, thank goodness. This event had turned into one of the worst event disasters the Bluebell Cliff had ever experienced.
Not a single thing had gone to plan. It had been chaos from the second that little dog had gone missing.
Clara was a dog lover herself, she’d once had a three-legged dog called Foxy, but right now she was resolving to make sure that dogs were never involved in big events again.
In fact, maybe all animals should be banned.
She still had nightmares about a wedding when two kunekune pigs had escaped and had caused the wedding cake to get smashed into smithereens.
But at least the kunekune pigs that had caused chaos at that wedding had belonged to Mr B so he hadn’t kicked off so spectacularly about that.
Adding a furious Mr B into today’s chaos had definitely made it all worse.
She went across to the waiting staff. ‘OK, guys, we’re ready to go.
This is a little bit unorthodox, but we’re starting the wedding breakfast without the brides and grooms. It’s what they’ve asked for, so don’t worry.
They’ll be joining us as soon as they can.
But in the meantime the starters can be served. ’
‘OK, boss.’ The head waiter led his colleagues towards the kitchen with a determined expression.
Clara swallowed a smile. He probably thought there was safety in numbers, and he was probably right. Mr B may have calmed down enough to agree to stay and present his now substandard food – his words, not anyone else’s – but he was definitely not in the sweetest of tempers.
But at least they were proceeding. And Mr B’s precious food had looked fine to Clara. Surely there wasn’t much that could go wrong with the terrine starter – the choice was salmon or mushroom – it was chilled anyway.
She could see that the stuffed chicken fillets and medley of roast vegetables would be trickier. It would be very easy for them to deteriorate when they were reheated. Especially as Mr B considered reheating the ultimate sacrilege. The gravy would certainly have needed to be made again.
And the sticky toffee pudding might also be an issue. Mr B’s toffee sauce, which was, according to him, the best in England, if not the world, could not be simmered very long without losing its delicate flavour. Clara wondered how many pans of toffee sauce had already been thrown away.
Maybe none. Maybe he didn’t make it until the last minute. On the other hand, so much had to be made in advance when you were serving a party of forty plus people, which today’s head count was.
Clara spotted Zoe by the entrance to the restaurant, bringing in a few stragglers, and she headed across to see if there was any news on Chocko, or the timing of the bridal party’s arrival.
‘The last thing I heard was that they were waiting for the coastguard,’ Zoe told her. ‘Sarah’s promised to phone me as soon as they’re on their way.’
‘Great, thanks.’ How did Zoe always manage to look so smiley and professional?
‘Is everything else OK?’
‘I think so. Although… hang on a sec. There’s a lady on the top table who I think is trying to catch our attention. The lady in the mauve suit.’
‘I’ll go. You keep up the good work. I’ve told them to bring out the starters. I know we’d normally wait until everyone’s in, but it’s not a normal day, is it!’
‘You’ve always been a master of understatement,’ Zoe said, grinning.
Clara returned her smile and glided across to the top table. The lady in the mauve suit, who Clara was fairly sure was Sarah’s mother, looked worried. Oh dear.
‘Can I help you with something, madam?’
‘I’m not sure. I hope so. I don’t like to make a fuss, but I’m getting a bit worried about my grandson.’
‘Your grandson?’
‘Yes, his name’s Ben. He went off to the toilet and he hasn’t come back. It’s been nearly twenty minutes, and I’m a bit worried. He’s only eight.’
‘No problem, I’ll get someone to check.’
‘The thing is, we’ve already done that, dear, and there’s no sign of him. I was wondering, could he maybe have gone to a different restroom?’
‘Yes, that’s possible. Don’t worry. I’ll check them all.’ Clara hoped she sounded more reassuring than she felt. The last thing they needed was a missing child as well as a missing dog.
She spoke to Zoe, whose fleeting expression of horror made her heart sink. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s Ben, whose dog is missing. And if he’s somehow got wind of the fact she’s trapped on the cliff and there’s going to be a coastguard rescue, I’m pretty sure he’ll have hotfooted it there as fast as he can.’
‘Oh, dear lord.’ Clara fanned her face with her hand. ‘We need to send someone along the coast path to look. No, scrap that. I’ll go myself. It’s too important. I’ll check the loos on the way, just in case. Are you OK to stay here and make sure everyone’s happy?’
‘Of course I am.’
Ben had a fifteen-minute head start on Clara.
He’d given his grandparents the slip as soon as he’d discovered that Chocko had been found stuck on the cliff and was about to be rescued by a helicopter.
Why had no one told him? He needed to be there.
She was going to be scared stiff. She didn’t like strangers and she didn’t like loud noises.
Once when they’d been out walking in the park just round the corner from home Chocko had been chased by a big dog and she’d run straight to him and had stuck to his side, trembling for the rest of the walk.
She could be nervous of people she didn’t know, but she trusted him. Ben was sure that if she saw him and heard his voice he could soothe her.
He’d been equally sure that if he asked permission it would be turned down, so he didn’t bother. He’d just excused himself to go to the toilet, then raced out to reception, waited until there was no one around he knew, and slipped out of the front doors when no one was looking.
Working out which direction to go on the coast path had been the hardest bit.
Should he head left or right? In the end he’d just had to guess.
The person he’d overheard talking had said Chocko had been found not far away, less than a quarter of a mile.
That didn’t sound very far – he guessed only about five minutes if you were walking fast. Ben decided that to be sure, if he didn’t come across the search party in eight minutes or so then he’d just turn back and walk the other way. It was simple enough.
After about three minutes’ walking he began to wish he’d brought a coat. His wedding jacket was on the back of his chair in the restaurant. It was colder than it had been earlier. Windier too. He broke into a jog to keep warm.
Little John had set up the ropes using the tree as an anchor point.
‘I know we’re just doing this for the look of the thing,’ he announced to those in earshot, ‘but we do need it to look like we’ve been over and have then got back up again. Right? Otherwise they’re going to know we’ve called them out under false pretences as soon as they land.’
Everyone agreed that they did, so with that in mind, John had set up the ropes with the same amount of care as if someone really was going to use them, and Finn had been ‘roped up’ and given a crash course on abseiling.
Even though Finn knew on an intellectual level that he was not going to be required to step backwards into an abyss of space, emotionally he was convinced he was going over the edge and his body was reacting viscerally.
His heart thundered in his ears and his hands were sweating so much he doubted he could get a good grip of any rope.
Dreadlock Dave had walked away from the group a few minutes earlier, distancing himself and shaking his head.
Finn didn’t blame him for wanting no part of this.
He was strongly regretting it too. But he also totally got why Sarah was so hell bent on getting the help Chocko needed.
She knew as well as Finn did how much the little lurcher meant to Ben.
Ben was her son too, and Finn had no doubt she would have walked over the hot coals of hell for him.
For the first time he truly understood why Sarah had kept Ben’s existence a secret from him for the first five and a half years of his life.
She’d been terrified she would lose him.
She’d been terrified that if Finn knew he had a child created from a long-ago brief encounter at a party he would come storming into his life and might demand full custody.
Sarah had told him when they’d talked about it since that she simply had not dared to take the risk.
Finn was starting to understand why. If the helicopter didn’t come soon, if the coastguard didn’t help them, he knew he would be going over that cliff for Ben. There would simply be no other choice.
They had even adjusted a climbing harness that could be slipped over Chocko’s head and be strapped under her body and between her legs so they had a way of getting her up safely.
It was a crazy plan, typical of Sarah, but it was rooted in logic and planning and determination, also typical of Sarah, and Finn was beginning to think that it might just work.
The weather had got a little worse since they’d been mocking up their clifftop rescue mission. The wind was gusting and the air had cooled. Maybe they shouldn’t even wait for the coastguard. Maybe they weren’t coming at all. Maybe they should go now while it was less dangerous.
He glanced out to sea. It was choppier now.
Small white horses topped the navy-blue sea and there were fewer boats out than there’d been earlier.
Only the bright sails of the most intrepid windsurfers remained.
He thought he heard another yelp, a shout for rescue from Chocko trapped in her hollow.
He swallowed hard. They would need to make a decision soon.
He glanced at Sarah and he could see that for all her bravado she was getting worried too. He didn’t even dare look at Jade.
And then he heard something else. The deep bassy thrum of a helicopter’s blades, just a few seconds before he saw it heading along the coastline, heading their way, chugging along like a giant red and white hoverfly. Finn didn’t think a sound had ever been so sweet.