There was a young lad behind the reception desk at the guest house. Lily had never seen him before, but he looked too much like his father to be anyone other than Archie Campbell Junior.
‘Can I help you?’ he called as Lily rushed in.
‘No, I’m fine thanks!’ she said, short of breath after the walk up the hill. ‘I’m a guest, I’m staying here.’
She took the stairs two at a time, relieved to have made it back so quickly. It was still only 9.15am and there was a swell of conversation coming from the dining room. The smell of bacon wafting upwards after her, did nothing to quell the nausea that was still rolling around in her stomach. She stopped to get her breath back at the top of the stairs and ran her hands through her hair again. Moira would be the first to notice the state she was in, although she obviously wouldn’t guess why. Lily decided she would say she’d been out for an early walk and had rushed back after getting lost or forgetting the time.
‘Mum?’ She rapped on the bedroom door, before pushing it open. The room was in darkness and smelt slightly stale. ‘Good morning!’ She walked across to the window and dragged the heavy curtains back on either side. ‘It’s beautiful out there today. Did you sleep well? How are you feeling…?’
She turned around to see the bed was empty, the duvet rumpled and pushed back.
‘Mum?’ Lily went over to the en suite, but the door was open, the room in darkness. Maybe Moira had already gone down to have breakfast? Her dark-red coat was still hanging on the back of the door, where Lily had put it yesterday afternoon, and the mobile phone that she hardly ever used was sitting on top of the chest of drawers. She obviously hadn’t gone far, so she must be downstairs in the dining room?
Lily went back out and down the stairs, holding on to the banister. The walk had helped clear her head and the world wasn’t spinning quite so badly, but she still wasn’t feeling at all well. She didn’t think she would ever be able to face alcohol again – just the thought of a glass of wine made bile rise in her throat.
Young Campbell watched her as she came down the stairs and Lily smiled at him as she went into the dining room, brushing her hands through her hair again. She must look a real sight. She scanned the room, but there were only a handful of tables occupied and Moira definitely wasn’t there.
‘Excuse me,’ she said to one of the waitresses. ‘Have you seen my mother this morning? I’m not sure what she’d be wearing. Her name’s Mrs Spencer and she’s in room 6?’
The waitress looked at her blankly. ‘Don’t think so.’
Panic was rising up in Lily’s throat. Where else could she be? She crossed the hallway and put her head around the door to the residents’ lounge, which was empty.
‘Is she quite short, with white hair?’ asked a voice behind her. It was Young Campbell.
‘Yes!’ Lily spun round, relief pulsing through her. ‘That sounds like her. Thank God! Have you seen her? Where is she?’
‘Oh, I have no idea,’ the boy said. ‘She went out for a walk a while ago.’
‘A walk?’
‘Yes, you know – that thing you do with your legs?’
Lily glared at him; like father, like son. ‘How long ago? Where did she go?’
He shrugged. ‘Not sure, maybe an hour ago? I was answering the phone. I just saw her walk through.’
‘How could you have let her go out on her own?’
The boy stared at her in surprise, then his expression changed as he took in her messy hair and the traces of make-up still clinging to her cheeks. Lily glared back, aware it must be obvious she’d spent the night elsewhere. The other thing that this young man didn’t need to say, but which was obvious to both of them, was that her elderly mother was her responsibility, and it wasn’t up to him to keep an eye on the guests. She turned and ran out of the front door and down through the badly marked-out parking area. She had just come from the direction of the lake, so Moira couldn’t have been walking that way. She stood on the pavement, staring at the houses further up the road, but there was no one in sight. Where the hell would she have gone? Lily felt really sick now. This was serious; she’d messed up badly. She began to run up the road, before stopping and turning back again. This was crazy – she didn’t know where to start. Maybe she should get in the van and drive around? Moira couldn’t have got very far. Although, of course, that depended on how long she’d been gone, and if the lad was right, and she’d left the guest house an hour ago, she could be a couple of miles away by now. But she could still cover more ground in the van.
Her phone began to ring and she reached into her pocket, hoping it might be an unknown mobile number; someone who had met a confused little old lady who shouldn’t be out walking on her own in a strange town. Although, as she pulled the phone out, she realised that wasn’t likely. Moira didn’t have her own phone with her, and even if she wasn’t confused and hundreds of miles from home, Moira would have struggled to remember Lily’s mobile number off the top of her head. If she wasn’t feeling well and was panicking at finding herself lost in a strange town, there was no way she’d be able give anyone the information they needed to call for help.
It was Gordon; she couldn’t speak to him now. She rejected the call and ran back towards the front door of the guest house. Thinking about it, she ought not to get behind the wheel of the van – she’d had so much to drink last night, she was probably still over the limit.
‘We need to get the police!’ she said to Young Campbell, who had now come out from behind the reception desk. ‘My mother has got early-onset dementia and she shouldn’t be out on her own, she gets confused and she’ll have no idea how to get back to this place again. We have to find her. Please help me!’
As she pressed 999 and waited for the call to connect, Lily closed her eyes. Her head was thumping and her mouth was so dry, it hurt to breathe. She listened to the phone ringing at the other end, willing someone to pick up quickly. Nausea was flooding over her in waves again and she could hardly think straight, but it was the guilt that felt overwhelming. What kind of a selfish daughter was she? How the hell could she have let this happen?