Immediately, all conversation stopped. Jules jumped up from the sofa and hurried over to Dickon putting his arm round him.
‘Don’t worry, he can’t have gone far. Have you shut the kitchen door?’
‘No… no, I didn’t, there’s no one there.’ Dickon broke free and ran down the passage to do so, closely followed by Jules and Janey.
Everyone else followed them down the passage, Amelia glancing about as she went in case Luna was hiding somewhere there.
Giles came to a halt, putting his arm out to stop the others. ‘We’re being a bit foolish all descending on the poor creature like this. It will scare him, make him stay hidden, even cause him to hurt himself as he tries to get away. As long as he hasn’t gone out into the garden, I’m sure he hasn’t gone far.’
Everyone turned back, except for Amelia, who was already at the kitchen door, which Jules had now shut, leaving him and Dickon inside. Amelia joined them, opening the door just enough to slip in. She and Jules got down on their knees and taking opposite sides of the room, crawled round searching in all the nooks and crannies. Amelia peered into a cupboard whose door had been left slightly open. All the time Dicken stood in the middle of the floor fighting back tears. There was no sign of Luna.
The kitchen door suddenly opened, and Cynthia came in. ‘I was just passing the house, Jules, so I thought I’d bring the list of things we need for the practice, for you to confirm. I’ll order them first thing.’ She addressed his backside as he carefully searched through some trays that were stacked in a corner.
‘Shut the door, Luna’s escaped,’ Jules said.
‘Luna’s escaped, we can’t find him,’ Dickon’s voice was breaking.
‘Oh, he’s sure to turn up when it’s dinnertime,’ Cynthia said briskly, as if he was an adult who had forgotten the time. ‘Now, Jules, spare me a moment to go through this.’ She thrust out a laptop which Amelia could see had columns of words on it. She watched Jules for his reaction.
‘It will wait until the morning. We have to find Luna,’ he said, not even looking at her.
‘But you’re going to be late in, you said you’d drop into Fen Farm on the way, to see how that pig is.’ Cynthia stood firm in the middle of the room. ‘I’m sure your pet will turn up soon.’ She sounded impatient as if Luna’s disappearance was of no consequence.
Dickon struggled to be brave, watching his father, to see if he would do what Cynthia wanted, which would give Luna even more time to run even further away from them. Amelia tensed, determined herself to stay looking for Luna, if Jules was going to deal with Cynthia’s request.
Jules got up. ‘It can easily wait until I get in tomorrow, Cynthia. Finding Luna is vitally important as he needs to keep warm and this room and indeed most of the house is full of draughts and dangers for such a delicate animal,’ he said coldly. He got back down on the floor and continued his search.
Cynthia said moodily, ‘It will only take a moment and save lots of time in the morning. I called in here out of my way, to make your life easier. You have too much to do being the only vet here.’
Jules did not reply but went further into the cupboard. Amelia continued her search and Dickon sniffed, wiping his nose on his jersey. He looked lost and miserable, making her wish she could tell him everything would be all right and that Luna would turn up, though she knew that might not be true. He could have escaped from the kitchen and be somewhere else in this large house, or he might even have got into the garden.
They heard footsteps coming down the passage and Giles gingerly opened the door and peered round. ‘How’s it going?’ he said.
‘He’s still lost,’ Dickon said mournfully.
‘Do you think he’s still in the kitchen and not somewhere in the passage?’ Giles said, echoing Amelia’s thought. ‘Perhaps some of us should look there, and in his own room.’ He glanced at the door to the small room, now shut, off the kitchen.
‘He jumped out of my hands in the kitchen,’ Dickon said.
‘Though the door was left open so he may be somewhere else,’ Giles said, catching Jules’s eye.
Cynthia, obviously feeling left out, said, ‘Well, I’d say he’s lost, probably fallen down some crack into the foundations of the house. You can always get another one.’
‘I don’t want another one, I want Luna,’ Dickon sobbed.
‘You can’t replace pets as easily as that,’ Jules said, and from the look on his face, Amelia realised that Cynthia had finally gone too far and any hope she had to snare him was lost.
‘If he’s gone, he’s gone, Dickon,’ Cynthia said in a gentler voice. ‘It’s a difficult lesson to learn, but it’s life.’
‘Mum’s gone, perhaps he’s with Mum,’ Dickon said sadly.
His words brought tears to Amelia’s eyes, and she peered deeply into a cupboard beside her to hide her anguish.
‘Maybe,’ Cynthia said briskly. ‘Now I must go. See you in the morning, Jules, hope we have time to go through those figures.’ She left the room, and no one seemed sorry to see her go.
Dickon came over to Amelia. ‘Do you think we’ll find him before he gets too cold?’ He sounded fearful.
‘We’re doing our best,’ she said. ‘Now do you think he managed to get out of this room and is hiding in the passage or has even gone into another room. Did you see which direction he went in when he jumped out of your hands?’
Jules had asked the same question and Dickon had been certain that he was hiding somewhere in the kitchen.
Amelia was getting stiff, so she got up from the floor when there was a movement by her feet and Luna ran across the floor. Dicken saw him, screamed and chased him. Jules managed to scoop him up before he disappeared somewhere else. A great feeling of relief swept round the room. Jules gave him the once over and said he thought he’d come to no harm after his adventure.
‘That’s a bit of luck,’ Giles said, as Dickon held him close. ‘I’ll go and tell the others, they will be relieved.’ He left the room.
‘Let’s get him in his cage and leave him to be quiet for a while to get over his adventure,’ Jules said as he and Amelia went with Dickon into the room off the kitchen to put Luna back in his home.
‘Do you think you were sitting on him, Amelia?’ Dickon asked her. ‘I mean you stood up and there he was.’
‘No, I don’t think so, he didn’t look squashed. I’d say it was just a fluke that he appeared when Amelia stood up.’ Jules steered Dickon holding Luna towards his cage where they settled him back in. ‘Let’s leave him in peace, Dickon, to get over his adventure, and in future be very careful he doesn’t run away again.’
‘I will. I’ll go and tell everyone he’s been found.’ Dickon dashed out of the room, through the kitchen and down the passage to the living room, shouting all the way, ‘He’s found, he’s found, Luna’s been found.’
Amelia and Jules were left alone in the room with Luna. Jules said with a sigh of relief, ‘So, all’s well that ends well.’
‘Yes, thank goodness.’ She’d half turned to leave the room and go through the kitchen to follow Dickon back to the others.
To her dismay, she was overcome with an overwhelming longing for Jules to put his arms round her and hold her close. It had been a traumatic episode, made worse by Dickon’s fear of losing yet another important thing, even if it was just an animal, in his life. She must get a grip. It was not her pet that had gone walkabout. It was a relief that all was well, he had been found, and was safely back in his home.
Jules said quietly behind her, ‘So, Amelia, can I take it that there’s nothing… I mean romance wise, between you and David?’
She stopped in the doorway, then turned to face him. He was so close she could feel the warmth of him. She said, ‘I like him, but only as a friend.’ She sighed, and went on, ‘which he does not seem able to accept.’
There was a silence between them, enclosing them, and she felt bound to fill it. She said, ‘Since Esmond died, I haven’t felt close enough to anyone to let them take his place.’ She turned and went into the kitchen to go and join the others. Jules was close behind her.
‘I understand what you mean,’ he said, ‘people keep saying move on, but it is very difficult as, if you do, you can’t help feeling that you have left the person you have lost behind.’