The Summer We Loved. Wendy Jones Lou

“I hope so,” she said and then, smiling weakly, she thanked the woman and left.

      Standing outside on the pavement, she rang Rachel. “He’s here,” she said.

      “You’ve found him?”

      “No. But he stayed in town last night. I found a B&B owner who thinks she recognises him from the photo.”

      “Well, good, at least we know we’re on the right track.”

      “Can you think of anywhere else I can try? I’ve done around town, hotels, pubs; James did clubs, er…”

      “Have you looked around the park? It’s just a thought, but he did hang around there a bit when he was a teenager.”

      “No, I’ll take a look, but if he’s not there, I really don’t know what to try next.”

      “Jamie will be home in an hour. If you haven’t found him by then, come back here and we’ll reconvene over tea.”

      “Right-oh.”

      Jenny put her phone back in her pocket and looked for the town plan on a billboard she had spotted close by, to find her way to the park. There were two, on opposite sides, but she had to make a choice, so she headed off in the direction of the largest one and kept her fingers crossed for a result, but on the bus back to Teak, Jenny’s hope was fading. The last bus from Upper Conworth was leaving at nine o’clock that night and it was already past four. Three hours was all the time she had left to find him before she would have to start making her way back home, defeated, having failed him.

      James and Rachel met her at the door as she walked up to the house, her stride slowing with her approach. She looked up at them, deflated. “I’m sorry,” she said and they hugged her. They brought her in to sit down and within minutes she had a hot cup of tea in her hand and a couple of Jammy Dodgers in her lap. Jenny looked at them and made a small smile.

      “I’m sorry; they’re all I had,” Rachel told her.

      “No, they’re great. I haven’t had a Jammy Dodger in years. I’d forgotten how nice they were.”

      At tea, they sat together, trying to come up with an idea of where Pete could be.

      “What about any other family?” Jenny asked, very aware that this might be a difficult subject.

      James answered. “Well we used to live around here when we were little, but Mum moved away not long after Dad left. She’s in Oxford now. She works at the university. She’s a lecturer in Classics.”

      Jenny could see the sun rising in James’s eyes as his pride in his mother shone through. She smiled. “She sounds like a clever woman.”

      “She is.”

      “And your dad?”

      His expression faded. “I wouldn’t know.”

      Silence weighed heavily on them as Jenny regretted her last words. She tried to think of something else to say. “Was there someone who would look out for him living near your old home? Somewhere else he would want to go?”

      “No. We generally kept ourselves to ourselves. There were friends, but they’re all grown up and gone now.”

      And then Rachel had an idea. “Didn’t you tell me there was a place you used to go to when you wanted to get away?” she asked quietly.

      “Yes, but… that was just a den, really. A hut in the woods where we hid when…”

      Rachel looked at him and then at Jenny.

      “You don’t think…?” he asked. “It probably fell down years ago.”

      “But it’s worth a try.”

      Twenty minutes later Jenny and James were in the car driving towards his old neighbourhood. Anticipation held their thoughts as they approached the house that had been the family home.

      He pulled up by the kerb and they got out. As Jenny watched, James just stood on the pavement, saying nothing, his eyes empty, like a door leading nowhere. She touched him on the arm. “I’ll go and ask if anyone’s seen him, shall I?”

      Jenny walked up the garden path to the front door and knocked. A minute later a woman appeared carrying a toddler covered in food. “Can I help you?” she asked.

      Jenny grinned and the woman noticed the state of her child.

      “I’m sorry. We were just finishing tea.”

      “I won’t keep you a second,” she said and pulled out a photo. “Could you tell me if you’ve seen this man around recently?” The woman looked concerned. “Don’t worry; he isn’t dangerous. We just need to find him.”

      The woman reached for the photo. “Yes. I have. Or at least I think I have. It looks like him, but he was in a bit of a state. Frightened me a little, if I’m honest, but I’m pretty sure it was him. He stopped by here earlier today. He said he used to live here.”

      “Yes, he did. Do you know where he is now?”

      The woman’s face fell. “I’m afraid not. But he walked off in that direction, if it’s any help.” The woman pointed off to one side.

      Jenny thanked her and returned to James, still standing on the pavement.

      “Well?”

      “He was here. Today. He went that way,” she said, pointing down the road.

      James nodded. “He’s there.”

      At this revelation, Jenny was expecting a sudden burst of energy, but instead they walked sedately down to a pathway and into another street. From there they walked out until they came across a gate. “We can’t go in there,” Jenny said as she noticed James beginning to climb over.

      “You can stay here if you want,” he said. “I need to find Pete.”

      Jenny didn’t need too many seconds to decide on her course of action and quickly hopped over the gate to catch up with James. The pace was picking up now and Jenny clambered over fallen trees and past deep fern gullies until they came upon an old tumbledown wooden shack.

      A few paces off, James stopped and stared. He seemed miles away. Jenny arrived beside him and cautiously moved ahead. James reached out and held her back. “No. I need to do this,” he said. His words were soft, but full of warning, and suddenly Jenny was afraid. What was she about to see? What could be so bad that she needed to prepare herself to see it? She held her breath as James approached the decaying cabin and carefully leant in.