Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Grabbing my coat and my wellies, I ordered Grandpa to stay in the house. ‘I need to go find Humphrey. Please don’t do one of your disappearing acts.’
He nodded and gave me a thumbs up. ‘I have done enough adventuring today, Rachel.’
I pulled up my hood and stepped out into a blizzard. As I trudged down the driveway and struggled to see a few yards in front of me due to the snow, I panicked at the thought of poor little Humphrey being out in this. Maddie would kill me if she knew.
I made my way into the village, passing my car which was covered in snow outside Ben’s cottage. Seeing his van in the driveway made my heart flutter, which was annoying. My heart was clearly not aligned with my brain. It had taken me months to recover from Sam’s cheating confession and the way we ended. The last thing I needed was a Christmas romance with Ben which would take another six months to get over. I wasn’t sure my heart could withstand more pain. Especially from someone like Ben who had been close to Olivia and already had somehow taken control of my heart in a few hours. I had to keep Ben as a friend and work on suppressing my feelings.
‘Humphrey!’ I shouted as I got further along the lane and nearer the village. There were no sounds of barking.
I trudged through the little high street shouting for Humphrey. It was deserted. Everyone was at home in the warmth, probably wrapping presents and deciding not to venture outside.
Little lanes led off from the high street which filled me with panic. Humphrey could be down any of them. He could have been run over or injured. My stomach began a nauseating slow spin cycle. I was the worst dog sitter ever. In my head I could hear Mum telling me how disappointed everyone was with me.
After shouting his name repeatedly, I decided to turn back, clear the snow off my car and drive around. Even though my petrol light was on I could probably do a wider search than on foot. I walked past one little lane and took one final yell. ‘Humphrey!’ A distant bark made me look down the lane. The barking continued and it was getting louder. I jogged down the winding lane which was hemmed in with bushes on either side. As I came around the corner, Humphrey raced towards me, his red lead trailing behind him in the snow.
‘Humphrey,’ I cried, as a wave of emotion hit me. With open arms I ran to him and to my horror the little rascal turned and began to trot back the way he had come.
‘Get here now, Humphrey,’ I hissed, racing after him. The closer I got, the faster he ran. No matter how fast I went I couldn’t grab him or his lead.
‘This is not playtime, Humphrey,’ I said, cursing him, and my sister for not training him.
He ran into the garden of a little cottage and then scooted around the side. ‘Where the hell are you going, Humphrey?’ I yelled, staggering after him in the snow. I entered the cottage’s garden by climbing over the little wall and trudging through deep fresh snow. Once I got around the side of the house I heard a pet door flap. The cheeky dog had gone into someone’s house.
Wiping snow from the window at the top of the door, I peered in and spotted Humphrey looking up at me. He began to bark from inside the house. ‘This is someone’s home, Humphrey.’
It was then something moved in the background behind Humphrey. I gasped. It was the arm of someone who was lying on the floor. ‘Help me, please,’ the person called out.
‘Oh God,’ I gasped, rummaging in my pocket for my phone. I needed to call for help. Upon taking it out and switching it on, I saw that it only had 1% battery left. Before my eyes it died. ‘Damn it.’
The handle to the back door was no use as it was locked. I surveyed the downstairs windows in case one was open, but they were all closed.
Humphrey dived out of the pet flap and started barking again. I wanted to vent my frustration at him but that would waste time. ‘Help me, Humphrey. How do I get inside?’
He ran to the opposite side of the cottage where there was a small garage with a flat roof. I gazed up past the roof. There was an upstairs window open. If I could get on the roof I could get to the window. It was big enough to climb through. My first challenge would be to get up on the roof.
I surveyed the side of the garage and scanned the garden. In the corner was a shed. After racing over to it, I yanked open the door. Inside it was a large wooden crate holding tools. I emptied it and took the crate to the side of the garage. Standing on the crate I was able to haul myself onto the garage roof. I shuffled across praying it would take my weight.
Climbing in through the window was tricky. At one point, I did get stuck. After a lot of wriggling, pulling and telling myself I wasn’t a disappointment, I fell through the window and face-planted a bed. The snow had been blowing inside the window and had made the covers damp, but I was grateful to have got in.
I raced downstairs and into the kitchen to find Humphrey sitting by an old lady who was sprawled on the floor.
‘I was losing hope,’ she mumbled, trying to get up. ‘Your little dog kept going to get help and coming back to sit by me. I should have trusted him.’
‘It’s okay, I’m here now. Are you in pain?’
She moved her head slightly. ‘I can’t move my leg.’
‘Stay where you are. Let me call an ambulance. What’s the address?’
‘White Cottage, Boar Lane.’
I grabbed the handheld phone on the coffee table in the living room and dialled 999.
Once the operator had all the information and we’d established the lady was called Mrs Hall and she was eighty-one, they informed me an ambulance was on its way. They advised me to make sure Mrs Hall didn’t move. I said I would stay with her and make her as comfortable as I could.
I grabbed a woollen throw from the settee and placed it over Mrs Hall. Sitting beside her I held her hand in mine. ‘We’re going to get you sorted, Mrs Hall.’
‘You and your dog are angels,’ she croaked.
I chuckled. ‘Not sure about Humphrey.’ He was lying with his head on my lap gazing at Mrs Hall.
‘He appeared after I’d fallen this morning,’ she explained. ‘He shot through the pet flap and began barking at me.’
‘Really?’
‘It was like he knew I needed help.’
I stared at Humphrey. ‘Maybe you’re an angel, Humphrey.’
‘I had a horrible argument with my daughter last night,’ croaked Mrs Hall. ‘It was on my mind when I came down this morning.’
I covered her hand with my own.
‘We both said some terrible things.’ She let out a little sob and Humphrey whimpered.
‘We all say things we don’t mean in the heat of an argument.’ I thought about the conversation with my mother earlier.
Mrs Hall looked up at me. ‘Do you think she’ll forgive me?’
I stroked her hair. ‘Definitely.’
‘It’s Christmas and I don’t want to argue with her.’
‘It’s going to be okay, Mrs Hall.’ I thought about my argument with the family on WhatsApp.
‘Everything is so fraught at this time of year. I don’t know why Christmas does this to us all.’
‘You’re right. Everything is so stressful at Christmas.’
The phone began to ring at my side. ‘It could be the ambulance. Shall I answer it?’
Mrs Hall moved her head. ‘Yes please, dear.’
‘Hello.’
‘Who is this? Where’s my mother?’
‘Oh, your mum’s had an accident, my name is Rachel, and I am sat with her waiting for an ambulance.’
The female voice gasped. ‘Oh God, I’ll be over now.’
It wasn’t long before a lady pulled up in a black car and let herself in through the front door. I rose up from the floor so she could see her mother.
‘Mum – what’s happened?’ The woman crouched down beside her mother.
‘I fell over. I can’t feel my body on this side. Listen to me, this woman and her dog are angels. If it wasn’t for her dog, I don’t know what would have happened to me.’
The woman beamed at me. She was in her forties and once she’d removed her hood, I could see she had bushy blonde hair. ‘I can’t thank you enough.’
‘I told the lady how we argued last night,’ said Mrs Hall.
‘Mum, it’s over now,’ soothed the lady, ‘let’s concentrate on getting you better.’ She looked up at me. ‘I will stay with Mum. You can go.’
I grabbed Humphrey’s lead. ‘Nice to meet you, Mrs Hall. I did use the crate from your shed to climb onto the garage and get up to the bedroom window. I’m sorry about that.’
The woman smiled. ‘Don’t worry, thank you so much.’
Once Humphrey and I got outside, the snowfall had eased. Humphrey pulled on the lead which made me smile. ‘Oh, I see, you now want to rush home.’ A wave of happiness crashed over me. Humphrey wasn’t the little rascal we all thought him to be. He’d barked for help when Derek had his car accident, he’d stayed with Mrs Hall when she’d fallen, encouraged Dorothy to go to the Tea Dance and he’d found Rosie when she’d gone exploring.
I bent down and stroked his brown head. ‘You are my hero, Humphrey. Let’s go home.’