Page 78 of The Village of Lost and Found

Monday morning arrived and Lucy headed into the office with a spring in her step.

She had woken up early and had taken Keith out for a lovely long walk along the river. It was wonderful to be out so early when the air was warm but not yet stifling hot. There was nothing but the sound of the birds singing, if you didn’t count Keith bounding in and out of the water in a splash-filled joy.

Then, on the way back, she had stopped at the corner shop to pick up a few more bits and pieces, including more food and a couple of toys whilst it was decided what to do with Keith. It wouldn’t be fair on the dog to take him into central London with her when she returned home. After all, she might end up in a flat. And her parents certainly wouldn’t welcome a stray dog in their fancy home.

The trouble was, as she stood on the riverbank and took a deep breath of fresh air, she wasn’t entirely sure that going back to London was what she wanted either. Of course, her future still wasn’t clear even in Cranbridge. The newspaper had had a good start, but the outlook was far from rosy. So there was work to do and most of it was still tidying up the main office, although thankfully that was nearly complete.

She was just about to head into the office when she saw Henry crossing over the river towards her.

‘Hi,’ he said.

‘Hi,’ she replied.

They both glanced at Keith who had rushed over from the grass bank to lean against Lucy’s legs, looking warily at Henry, as if he was going to be taken back to the farm at any moment.

‘How’s dog?’ asked Henry.

‘He’s fine,’ Lucy told him. ‘And he’s called Keith now. He’s been staying with me. He seems much happier.’

‘Good,’ said Henry, holding out an envelope. ‘Look, I felt bad for how everything’s turned out. And you’ve ended up taking care of the dog and everything. So I felt I should make amends.’

‘How?’ asked Lucy.

‘That company that want to build the quarry sent a representative to the farm on Saturday,’ he said. ‘I almost agreed, but I knew how much you were against it so I’ll have to think of something else.’

‘Oh,’ said Lucy, taken aback. ‘Right. Well, thanks. It’s for the good of the village.’

‘Yeah,’ said Henry, blowing out a sigh. ‘Anyway, I thought you might find something in the paperwork to help you with the fight and all that.’

He held out the envelope, so Lucy took it from him.

‘I see,’ said Lucy. ‘Well, thanks.’

‘And thanks for, you know, taking care of the dog. See you,’ said Henry, hesitating before walking away.

Lucy watched him leave. Whatever might have been between them was over, she thought. But she found she didn’t feel as sad about that as she would have done a week ago. Besides, she had a new and adorable man in her life. She looked down and ruffled Keith’s floppy ear.

‘Come on then,’ she said. ‘Let’s get to work.’

Keith rushed through the open front door of the office ahead of Lucy, nearly bowling down Tom as he raced through.

‘Hey there,’ said Tom, as Keith leapt up at him. ‘Steady on there, big fella.’ He looked up at Lucy. ‘Good morning. Somebody’s definitely a morning person.’

‘Morning,’ she said, placing her handbag on a nearby desk. ‘And yes, he got me up before 7 a.m. today.’

Tom ruffled Keith’s head as he went back down onto all four paws and began to examine the room in case anything had changed since he had last been in there. After exhausting his search, he settled down in the middle of the floor and closed his eyes.

‘Hey, that’s not fair,’ said Lucy. ‘How come you get to nap during the day and I can’t?’

‘Well, it looks like you’re getting there with the tidying,’ said Tom, looking around the office.

‘That’s only half the job,’ she told him. ‘It’ll be your office next.’

He grimaced. ‘One step at a time, eh?’

They were soon joined by Molly and then Uncle Frank, Stanley and Grandma Tilly.

‘Good morning,’ said Lucy. ‘I thought you’d managed to complete all of your tidying last week.’