A Dad of His Own Read online

  Before any more names were thrown into the ring, the doorbell disturbed them. Simon got up, asking Freddie to hold on tight to the puppy while he answered it otherwise he might run out into the dark and get lost.

  Anna was not surprised to see Cathie appear carrying a plate of flaky biscuits. She was wearing make-up and her hair was newly washed, she wore jeans and a pretty shirt.

  ‘Hello,’ she smiled at them, slightly smugly, Anna thought. ‘I saw you arriving and thought you might like some of my cheese biscuits, I’ve been experimenting with them for a party I’m going to on New Year’s Eve.’

  ‘Lovely, thank you,’ Anna said, thinking that perhaps she and Simon were together after all and he’d asked her to bring over something to eat.

  ‘Have a glass of wine, Freddie is choosing a name for the puppy,’ Simon said, in a friendly way.

  ‘Do you live close by?’ Anna asked her.

  ‘Yes, the next-door but one cottage. They belong to the estate and as we work here we can live in them. We pay a small rent and our bills for gas and such.’

  She sat down on one of the chairs as if she was used to being here, and perhaps she was. Maybe she shared Simon’s bed, after all he was only a few steps away from her cottage, though it was none of her business, Anna told herself firmly. She and Freddie were not fixtures, as Cathie clearly was, and she’d obviously set her cap at Simon.

  Names for the puppy were bandied about, Cathie taking it very seriously. ‘Think how it sounds if you have to call it out to get him back,’ she said, ‘so why not something like Charlie, or Nelson?’

  ‘Or Rocky, or… p’haps Lucky?’ Freddie suggested.

  ‘Both of those are good,’ Simon said, seemingly ignoring Cathie’s choice.

  ‘Or Buster, we had a dog called Buster,’ Cathie went on.

  Freddie, his head on one side, studied the puppy now lying under the light from a nearby lamp. ‘He’s sort of rusty, isn’t he? Rusty?’ He looked at Simon, his face flushed. ‘That’s a good name isn’t it?’

  ‘A very good name, Rusty he shall be,’ Simon said with a smile.

  They had arrived just after six and now it was past seven and Anna wanted to get Freddie back to bed. She got up, ‘We’d better get on, don’t want you to go to bed too late,’ Anna said. ‘Thank you for the wine, Simon, and I’m glad Rusty has a name.’

  ‘Well, thank you for coming and giving him such a good one, Freddie.’ He got up too, smiling at him. Cathie stayed where she was, and Simon said, ‘Thank you for your delicious biscuits, but you’ll excuse me if I get back to work. The flood took up so much time and I’ve so much more to do.’

  Cathie got up reluctantly, ‘I could always bring you some supper later,’ she said.

  ‘That’s kind of you, but no thanks, I’ve lots to eat here.’ He put out his arm as if to corral them all out like sheep and Cathie hesitantly left and, for some ridiculous reason, Anna felt glad Cathie was not staying any longer.

  They went out into the dark and Freddie got into the car and was putting on his seat belt when he said, ‘My hat, I’ve left it inside.’ He struggled to get out again.

  ‘Oh, Freddie, I’d better get it, you need it in this cold.’

  She went back and rang the bell.

  ‘Sorry, Simon, Freddie’s left his hat here, we put it on that chair.’ She pointed to it just beyond the glass door.

  Simon leant down and picked it up from where it had fallen behind the chair. They were standing very close in the tiny hall and Simon said quietly, ‘I’m so glad you’re here in the castle, Anna, and…’

  For a second she thought he’d kiss her, which she would not have minded, and she almost lifted her face to him, when Cathie came back into the cottage, her voice from the open door behind them, cut through the moment like a knife.

  ‘Simon, just to say, I’ll be late to work tomorrow, I’ve a doctor’s appointment as I’ve hurt my wrist.’

  ‘OK, but I thought it was better,’ Simon said, and Anna took the hat from him and turned round to leave.

  ‘Still hurts sometimes,’ Cathie said, coming into the hall.

  ‘Thanks, Simon, see you,’ Anna said, quickly squeezing past Cathie and going back to the car.

  Just before they drove off, Anna’s mobile rang; it was Lucy, asking is she could come round to put her second layer of icing on the cake. ‘If it’s too late be sure to say, I meant to ask before, but the day’s just run away with me,’ she said, sounding frantic, and Anna had not the heart to refuse.

  ‘Will Benny come too?’ Freddie asked hopefully when the call ended.

  ‘I don’t think so as he’ll be in bed soon, as will you,’ Anna said, ‘but I’ll ask Lucy if he can come round tomorrow.’

  They got back to the castle and Anna ran Freddie his bath. He was all pink and clean in his pyjamas when Lucy appeared.

  ‘Oh, and before I forget, I do hope you and Freddie can come round on New Year’s Eve, we have a sort of drop-in party, just come when you want,’ Lucy said.

  ‘How kind, we’d love that, wouldn’t we Freddie,’ she said. She was usually still at her brother’s house to celebrate it and hadn’t let herself think about it this year. Not that she minded staying in with Freddie. ‘Can we bring anything?’

  ‘Only if you’ve got time. I never know how many people will turn up,’ Lucy said. ‘Oh, great flowerpot,’ she enthused seeing Freddie’s effort holding the plant they’d just bought. ‘I’d love one like that.’

  ‘I’ll make you one if you like,’ Freddie said, pink with delight at her praise.

  Allowing him a few more minutes’ play, Anna watched Lucy with admiration as she deftly iced the cake. ‘That’s it for now,’ Lucy put down her tools. ‘Can I come back in a couple of days to put the finishing touches?’

  ‘Of course, any time.’ Anna said, then wanting to know more about him she said carelessly; ‘We’ve just had a drink with Simon; Freddie has named his puppy, Rusty. Cathie, his girlfriend, came round.’

  ‘She’s not his girlfriend, though she longs to be,’ Lucy said, clearing up her things.

  ‘Oh… I just thought…’

  ‘He’s probably got someone, but it’s not her,’ Lucy said. ‘I haven’t seen him with anyone, but then he might prefer to keep his love life a secret. Everyone has an opinion on everyone else around here and it could be the death of a relationship before it hardly started. Far better to keep it under wraps.’

  ‘I suppose so,’ Anna said, feeling curiously light-hearted before reminding herself that just because he wasn’t with Cathie didn’t mean he wasn’t in a relationship with someone else.

  Twenty-One

  There seemed to be a lot going on in the quadrangle two days before New Year’s Eve. Both Land Rovers came up, though soon Simon drove away. Anna opened the door to see what was going on outside and saw Cathie and Luke tidying up the few shrubs that were dotted about the castle walls. Among the evergreens were some that were just bare sticks, their leaves gone until the spring

  Luke, who was just a couple of doors away, waved and came over, his secateurs still in his hand. ‘Do hope we didn’t disturb you, but we’ve got to spruce things up for the wedding, not that they will be really noticeable in the dark, though we’ve got lights coming too.’

  ‘Of course, it’s not long now is it?’ She smiled at him.

  Cathie was further away up a ladder grappling with a rather tall plant; she waved.

  Freddie appeared at the door. ‘Hello, Luke, what are you doing?’ Freddie greeted him delightedly, juggling a wriggling Ozzie in his arms.

  ‘Tidying up these shrubs. So how’s your guinea pig?’ He leant over and stroked his fur, ‘What’s his name?’

  ‘Ozzie, and the other day I chose a name for Simon’s puppy,’ he said proudly.

  ‘And what is that?’

  ‘Rusty, he sort of looks rusty… his fur,’ Freddie said.

  ‘Brilliant name,’ Luke exclaimed. ‘I hope he learns to come when he’s called, he’s qu
ite naughty at the moment.’

  ‘Is he?’ Freddie’s eyes shone with amusement. ‘What does he do?’

  ‘We mustn’t hold Luke up, they’ve a lot to do for the wedding, and Ozzie might get cold out here,’ Anna said.

  ‘What’s your job called?’ Freddie asked, pulling his jumper over Ozzie to keep him warm.

  ‘Well… I suppose my job description is general dogsbody. I do a bit of everything,’ Luke said cheerfully. ‘Well, must get on, tidy up before the special lights arrive tomorrow.’

  ‘Can Ozzie and I help you?’ Freddie asked eagerly.

  ‘I think Ozzie might cut his paws, but you, if it’s OK with your mum, can help pick up the bits and put them in a bag. Go and put your coat and hat on though.’ Luke glanced at Anna to see if it was all right.

  She said, ‘He’s got to finish his breakfast first, but if he’s not in your way, he can come out if he wants to.’

  ‘I’ve had enough breakfast,’ Freddie said, shoving Ozzie at Anna and turning to go in and get his coat.

  ‘We’ve lots more to do, Freddie, we’ve only just started, so finish breakfast, you need plenty of ballast in you for this job,’ Luke said.

  Anna gave Ozzie back to Freddie, telling him to put him back in his cage and then finish his breakfast. He ran into the shed with Ozzie and was back in a moment before grabbing his toast and cramming it into his mouth.

  When Freddie, well wrapped up against the cold, had gone outside to join Luke, Anna set to tidying up a bit. The living room was covered in Lego and she carefully moved a few buildings to the side of the room so at least when she arrived, Daisy could walk across the room. She moved Freddie’s teddy and books into her own room and made up the bed for Daisy in his.

  Daisy arrived just before lunch. ‘I set off early in the end, saw no point in hanging around alone at home. I’d hoped I’d be tucked up with Andrew until we went back to work, but his boyfriend turned up and that was that.’ She sighed.

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry, Daisy,’ Anna was used by now to the men Daisy seemed to go for, always letting her down one way or another.

  ‘I’m just not very good at picking men; they either have a wife and family, are gay or just not interested. But there it is, I did enjoy the hotel otherwise and would like to go back there in the summer as they have set out the gardens just as they were in times past.’ She went on to describe the work going on in the grounds, before moving on to the floods. ‘It was horrible driving through the village; it’s so dirty and spoilt. I can’t believe what’s happened, I’m so upset for everyone and they’ve had to move out of their cottages and shops for goodness knows how long. Is everything inside – all their clothes, furniture and everything – ruined?’

  ‘Not everywhere, but the actual village has been badly hit, people’s cottages and Lucy’s cake shop and the bookshop…’ Anna recalled the piles of sodden books being heaved into a skip outside and Julius’s miserable expression as he threw yet another pile of once beautiful books away. ‘Do you know any of the local people?’

  ‘I’m afraid to say that I haven’t been here for ages. I remember Mattie with her mad hats, Nell and Tessa in their office, and Luke and Cathie,’ Daisy said, dumping her bag on the floor, before following Anna into the kitchen and seeing the wedding cakes in the kitchen.

  ‘Are these yours? They are beautifully done.’

  ‘No, Lucy, who has the cake shop that’s now ruined by the flood, is making this for a wedding in early January at the castle; I suggested she did it here as she can’t do it in the shop and her house is full of guests.’

  ‘So that’s why there’s work going on outside, getting ready for the wedding,’ Daisy said. ‘Will you still be here then?’

  ‘Yes, it’s on the 5th.’

  Daisy sighed, ‘Well, I’ll never have a wedding. I really thought Andrew was the one. He’s so kind, as well as marvellous-looking, but there you are,’ she smiled bravely. ‘Better luck next time, if I can bear to go through another one.’

  ‘Don’t beat up yourself, Daise, none of us really know if a relationship will work. Gary and I loved each other very much, but he also loved being with his mates; he shouldn’t have gone on that stag do, he hardly knew the groom.’ She sighed. The pain of loss dug deep but he had left her Freddie and she said this to Daisy.

  ‘He’d have adored Freddie,’ Daisy said.

  Anna just smiled, Gary would love him now, but she wondered if he’d been ready then to give up his freedom for a tiny baby.

  Freddie charged back into the flat, ‘Daisy, we’ve had the best time. At Christmas, there was a huge lunch and I’ve made loads of friends and I got lots of Lego and a car that goes with a battery,’ Freddie hardly drew breath, ‘and thank you for your present, Daisy, just the engine I wanted for my train set.’

  ‘Glad you liked it,’ Daisy said.

  Anna started to get lunch ready, insisting he ate it before he went outside again. She boiled some water for some pasta and opened a jar of tomato sauce.

  ‘And how is Ozzie?’ Daisy asked.

  ‘I’ll get him for you to see,’ Freddie said, running through the flat to tear outside to the shed to fetch him.

  There was a cry and both women jumped up from the table to go to Freddie, but before they could reach him, he came running into the flat, screaming, ‘He’s gone, Ozzie’s gone.’

  Anna hurried into the shed and saw that the hutch door and the shed door were open and there was no sign of Ozzie.

  ‘He can’t be far,’ she fought to remain calm. ‘He must be hiding in the garden, looking for dandelion leaves, I expect. We’ll soon find him, it’s too cold to be outside for long.’

  Daisy joined them and they began to search the small garden. It was mostly bare now it was winter, so it was not difficult to see Ozzie was not there, though they searched under the evergreen shrubs and in a pile of leaves blown in a heap by the wind.

  They soon realised the wattle fence round the garden had quite a few guinea-pig-sized gaps that he could have got under and he could now be roaming anywhere in this vast estate. He could have fallen into the moat, which, though it didn’t have any water to speak of in it, being full of grass and weeds it would be difficult to find Ozzie, and a creature so small could easily have drowned in what water there was.

  Anna opened the front door and ran outside, ‘Sorry to bother you, but we need help’. Cathie, Luke and Julius and a couple more people were busy discussing something to do with the wedding preparations.

  ‘What’s happened?’ Luke turned to her.

  ‘It’s Ozzie. He’s escaped from his cage. We’ve searched the garden; he couldn’t have got into the house as all the outer doors were shut. I don’t know where he is.’

  Freddie appeared with Daisy, sobbing uncontrollably. ‘I put him in his cage, he got out . . . We must look for him.’ None of them dared ask how long he’d been missing. If he had escaped from his cage almost as soon as Freddie put him in it, he could have been gone almost two hours by now and even on his short legs he could have got quite far or – no one dared voice it – been hurt or killed.

  Julius took charge. ‘Right, everyone, please stop whatever you are doing and search for Ozzie, he could be anywhere. Describe him to me, Freddie.’ He squatted down beside him.

  ‘Sort of brown with black, shiny eyes,’ Freddie gulped through his tears.

  Julius organised a string of people, some to start on one side of the quadrangle, the rest to start on the other and to carefully search round each side until they met up together. Everyone set to moving along, slowly searching behind the shrubs and in nooks and crannies in the stonework and in boxes and tool bags, but there was no sign of him.

  He quietly asked Anna if she could bring him some of the straw from Ozzie’s cage and, too stunned to ask why, she did as he said.

  Anna struggled to comfort Freddie. She remembered now how keen he was to get out here and help with the work; he couldn’t have shut the cage or the shed door properly in his haste.
If Ozzie wasn’t found by nightfall, and by that she meant four o’clock when it was dark, he’d probably freeze to death or get eaten by a fox; the thought chilled her and she pushed it from her mind.

  The quadrangle around them was difficult enough to search, but outside was enormous. After the drawbridge there was a narrow tarmac road surrounded by banks of grass and trees. This went on to the road going down to the village. Either side of the castle there was more land, large grassy meadows with more trees and thick ivy and brambles swarming over their roots. Further on, there was the kitchen garden and the yard where the Christmas trees were sold.

  Anna hugged Freddie close, dreading having to tell him that Ozzie might never be found. Only she knew how he would worry and imagine all sorts of terrible fates that could befall him. He’d lost his father, and though she told him stories about him, explained about the accident, he never quite understood why he was not there for him.

  ‘Would he have liked me?’ he’d asked once, breaking her heart.

  Freddie made a habit of becoming attached to people and animals, and it was easy to understand why.

  She caught Luke’s eye and knew he understood everything she was feeling. He put his arm round her shoulders, ‘Don’t give up,’ he said, ‘he can’t have gone far.’

  Then, through the archway leading into the quadrangle from the drawbridge, came Felix, carrying something in his mouth.

  ‘He’s eating Ozzie,’ Freddie cried out and would have run screaming to rescue him, but Julius put his hand on his arm to stop him and said, ‘Stay quiet, I gave him his scent from his bedding, he’s found him for you.’ He took a few steps closer to Felix, who was coming straight to him. ‘Good boy, drop him,’ Julius said quietly, and Felix dropped Ozzie at his feet.

  Everyone came forward, Anna was afraid he’d been wounded and was dying, if not dead already. Ozzie shook himself before setting off on another adventure, but not before Julius grabbed him, gave him a quick once-over and then handed him back to Freddie.