Page 55 of The Second Chance Supper Club

With family staying over, lots on, and still immersed in grief, before leaving the wake, Cath offered to help the lads by walking Shirley.

It was the least she could do at such a busy and emotional time for them, and she’d grown fond of the little terrier.

Dan happily took her up on her offer, asking if she’d call round the next day to take the Westie out for a stroll.

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, and the early-September countryside was looking glorious, a patchwork of pale gold and green.

Cath and the terrier were enjoying their wander in the open grassy fields that bordered the river.

There were no sheep grazing here just now, and they were away from any roads.

At times with the lads, she’d seen Shirley trotting about off lead, so thought it might be an ideal place to give her a little freedom to sniff about a bit, and perhaps do her business.

They had gotten used to each other by now, after all.

All started well, with Shirley keeping just a few paces away from Cath, happily mooching about, as they skirted the edge of the field.

That was until they came upon a small copse of trees, to one side of the field, which had a low wooden fence around it.

It was Shirley who spotted it first, dashing over, barking animatedly, and then with laser-like concentration she sat staring fixedly at one of the trees.

Cath was looking to see what the commotion was about when a grey squirrel zipped down the trunk to land teasingly just in front of the dog.

Then the creature whizzed off through the copse and away …

and so did Shirley, like a bolt of lightning.

‘Shirley, no! Wait! Leave it!’ Cath called frantically.

Oh shit. But Shirley very much had other ideas, and was already on the hunt.

Cath lost sight of the dashing duo within seconds.

As panic began to rise within her, the next thing she spotted racing out away from the copse wasn’t a squirrel, oh no, but a rabbit bolting across to the far end of the field, with …

oh yes, Shirley in hot pursuit. Cath tried her best – and failed miserably – to catch up.

Jeez, could that little dog run! The rabbit went off through the parallel wires of the field’s fence …

and so did Shirley. Bloody hell, Cath cursed herself, feeling panic rise within, she should never have let her off that lead.

But it was too late, the dog was on the loose, and Cath wasn’t quite sure where.

Heading for the spot where she last saw the dashing duo, she stood calling as loudly as she could, ‘Shirley, come on. Here. Good girl!’

This became a regular chorus, as she ploughed on over the next field, with still no sign of a white terrier’s furry back. Shit, and double shit.

What was she meant to do now? Keep going forward?

But she wasn’t sure quite which way. Retrace her steps?

Stay still? She stuck with the latter option for the next fifteen minutes, calling frantically, adding ‘biscuit’ and ‘dinner’ to her repertoire to try and entice the errant Shirley, but nothing was bringing the little dog back.

Cath started to feel sick. What if anything happened to her?

Could she be stuck down some rabbit hole?

Might she have dashed onto the nearby lane into traffic and be injured?

Tried to swim the river … and couldn’t? Her head was filled with tragic and awful scenarios.

She needed help, but she really didn’t want to alert Andreas and Dan to her reckless move in unleashing the dog, and then losing her …

not just yet. The last thing they needed right now was extra worry.

Nikki, Lily … and Will, they might help.

They could have a quick look around the village?

Perhaps even pop and subtly check if Shirley was in fact back on her own doorstep by now; it wouldn’t be out of the question.

Then she could stay here by the river, carry on calling and keep a watchful eye out for the canine absconder.

She puffed out a heavy sigh, as she fired over a short message to the three of them.

Help needed! Lost Shirley in the Tillside Park Farm fields near river. I’m still here looking. Can you check village area for me? And perhaps by the shop in case she’s bolted home. Thanks x

A call came through within seconds from Nikki, despite the fact that she’d only just finished serving out her Sunday roast for the family, bless her.

‘Hell-oo, I’m out in the street now.’ Nikki was stood there in her slippers. They all knew how much that little dog meant to the lads. ‘So, where are you now, and what’s happened exactly?’

Cath relayed the tale of the squirrel and subsequent rabbit chase, feeling the panic mounting the longer Shirley stayed missing.

‘Right, I’ll work my way down the street. I’ll get Lily on the case too, I’ll get her to do the start of that walk by the river, yeah?’

‘Yeah, we started on the path from the village by the bridge.’ ‘Okay, yep, no worries. And we’ll keep in touch.’

‘Okay, thank you. I’ll stay here, where I last saw her. She might come back this way. I’m near that little copse down by the river, Blakelaw way, about half a mile from the village. I’ll keep calling for her.’

‘Ah … Will … over here,’ Nikki shouted out, still on the phone.

Oh, he’d come out, too. There was some muffled offline discussion and then, ‘Right, Will’s off to the shop to have a hunt around there – I told him to be subtle. I figure the lads don’t know yet.’

‘No, I mean we’ll have to tell them soon, if she’s still lost … but let’s try and find her first. They’re having a stressful enough time of it, as it is. Shit, I’ve been so stupid.’

‘It could happen to anyone.’ Nikki tried to keep Cath’s spirits up.

‘Not if they didn’t let the dog off the lead,’ Cath cursed herself.

‘Ah … don’t worry, we’ll find her.’

‘Thanks.’ Cath finished the call and let out a heavy sigh.

Back to the task in hand, she scoured the landscape, trying hard to keep a cool head. But still no little white Westie. Oh no, she’d never forgive herself if anything bad happened to her.

A full thirty minutes had passed, which felt like three flipping hours in all honesty. Cath was frozen between leaving and looking elsewhere, feeling that the Westie might just appear back on the trail where she’d disappeared, having retraced her scent and her steps.

Just as Cath felt like sinking into an emotional heap, ready to have to drag herself back to the village empty-handed, she spotted a figure coming towards her over the field.

A male figure … God, she hoped they hadn’t had to call Dan out from the family afternoon, or something.

As he neared, from the dark hair, familiar trim profile, and the way he walked purposefully, she realised it was Will.

That was a better scenario, but still made her feel emotionally unsteady.

‘Any luck?’ she asked as he approached.

‘No, sorry … you?’

Her heart sank a little further. ‘No.’

‘Where did you last see her?’

‘Over there, heading into the next field and away. I didn’t know a Westie could run that bloody fast. I got to the fence there.’ She pointed to the far end of the field. ‘But there was nothing.’

‘Okay, I’ll go have another check further that way …’

‘And I’ll keep calling, and searching this way.’

After ten more minutes, they decided it was time to head back.

If they’d had no luck between them so far – and Lily and Nikki had confirmed no sightings in the village as yet – then they’d now need to involve Andreas and Dan.

Whilst reluctant to further spoil their difficult weekend, Cath understood that Shirley’s owners might have more idea of where she might be, and a better chance of getting her back.

Cath felt dreadful turning up at the family gathering. Dan was full of cheery ‘hellos’, but then when she and Will took him aside to explain, and with Andreas soon joining him, the atmosphere plummeted.

‘Oh no, not Shirley,’ Dan exclaimed.

‘What, what’s up now?’ Andreas was over.

‘She’s gone missing … off in the fields by the river. I’m so sorry.’ Cath was apologetic and honest.

‘But how?’

‘Cath let her off the lead,’ Dan explained.

‘Oh, for Christ’s sake, that’s all we need.’ Andreas turned to Cath, his tone sharp, eyes stone-cold. ‘How could you have been so bloody stupid? She’s a terrier, she goes hunting.’

The roomful of family guests were now looking at them.

Cath felt like shrinking.

‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, lads. I didn’t think.’ ‘Too bloody right.’ Andreas’s anger spilled over.

‘Well, let’s get a search party together …’ Dan started thinking practically.

‘We’ve already been looking …’ Will explained further. ‘It’s been over forty minutes now,’ he confessed on Cath’s mortified behalf.

Andreas and Dan paled.

A village search ensued for the wayward white Westie. Dan also thought to post a message on the shop’s Facebook page: ‘Missing dog, white West Highland Terrier, Shirley …’

Cath felt absolutely terrible. And after Andreas’s outburst, even Will was looking at her as though she’d got it all wrong again.

Lily and Nikki had arrived back from their hunting mission too, and were standing in the family-and-friends fallout zone, which had gathered outside the shop.

Swiftly, they all turned their energies back to the search, with the focus off Cath for now at least.

She felt at such a low point. The lads were rightfully annoyed with her, her supper club friends disappointed in her, the dog was still missing and at peril, and she was damned angry with herself at being such a crap dog walker …

and a stupid selfish teen … and, oh, there were such heavy layers of sadness within her at Maria’s recent passing.

An hour later, and re-grouped back outside the shop once more, still no Shirley.

Cath couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.

Will told her to go on home, and get herself a cup of tea, saying they’d still keep a core of the search party going.

Dan nodded in agreement that she should go, and Andreas still couldn’t find it in himself to speak with her.

They all thought they’d be better off without her, and she couldn’t blame them.