looking at her mouth. Was this how it felt to be hypnotized? Barely able to think straight, Ellie murmured, ‘They sound great,’ and wondered if she’d said it right or if her lips had gone all rubbery and completely lost control of themselves. Was she making any sense or was it all coming out as blah-blah-blah? And still he was gazing at her in such a way that it was almost as if—
‘Woof ! Woof-woof !’
Chapter 49
Ellie leapt a foot in the air as the dog flap clattered and Elmo erupted into the kitchen. She heard Zack exhale with what could have been frustration. Or was that just more wishful thinking on her part? Mentally dragging herself back to the real world, she picked up a rag and gave the granite worktop a wipe down where she’d spilled the milk.
‘It’s not time to go out,’ Zack told Elmo, who was still barking and leaping around like a landed salmon. He shook his head at the dog, then gave in and said, ‘Oh, what the hell, come on then.’ He reached for the red lead, hanging on a hook by the back door. This was Elmo’s cue to stop fooling around and stand still, allowing Zack to clip it to his collar. As Zack bent down to do this, Elmo scuttled into reverse, did a speedy three-point turn, and hurtled back out through the dog flap.
‘What’s he playing at?’ Zack frowned and hung the lead back up.
Ellie went to the window. Elmo was dancing around in the garden, jumping up onto the wall then down again. The next moment, still yapping noisily, he launched himself back into the kitchen. Ellie picked up the phone and called Geraldine next door.
‘No reply.’ She looked over at Elmo, then at Zack. ‘Did she say she was going out?’
He shook his head. ‘No.’
‘Where’s the spare key?’
‘She asked to borrow it last week when her sister came to stay. Hasn’t given it back yet.’
‘Let’s see if she’s there.’ Ellie opened the kitchen door. The three of them jumped over the low wall. There was nothing to see through Geraldine’s kitchen window but Elmo was still yelping in a state of full-on agitation. Yelling Geraldine’s name provoked no response.
‘OK, I’ll give it a go.’ Ellie slid her arms out of her pink cotton cardigan, handed it to Zack and eyed the dog flap in Geraldine’s back door.
Think yourself thin, think yourself thin.
‘Can you get through?’ Zack was looking doubtful; it was a flap designed for a medium-sized dog.
‘Thanks for that vote of confidence.’ She took a swipe at him. ‘If I get stuck, it’s your fault for buying so many doughnuts. And no videoing this and putting it on YouTube. Right.’ She kicked off her shoes. ‘You’ll have to do the thing with the sensor.’
Was this wise? If she did get stuck, would the fire brigade have to be called and the entire door dismantled? Might she have to be crowbarred out? Ellie knelt down and waited for Zack to disconnect the sensor from Elmo’s collar. He held it right next to the flap, enabling her to push it open.
‘You’d better not be laughing at me.’ No longer able to see him, Ellie went through arms first and began wiggling her shoulders through the tight bit.
Above her, Zack said, ‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’
He was definitely laughing. She prayed her skirt hadn’t ridden up. OK, halfway through now. Hips and bottom next. It was going to be a tight squeeze. Bracing herself, Ellie said, ‘And if I can’t manage this, don’t go calling the fire brigade. Just leave me here until I’ve lost enough weight.’
But she eventually got through. Just. As she scrambled to her feet, it occurred to her that they may have overreacted. Geraldine had probably gone out to visit a friend. Either that or she was upstairs having a bath or an afternoon nap, and Elmo had been doing his Superdog-to-the-rescue impression for a laugh.
‘Geraldine?’ She raised her voice as Elmo dived in through the dog flap behind her. ‘Hello? Geraldine?’
And then she heard Geraldine, very faintly, calling out, ‘Ellie? Thank God. I’m up here.’
Ellie turned, unlocked and unbolted the kitchen door, and opened it to let Zack in. ‘She’s upstairs.’
They followed Elmo up to the top floor. Geraldine was lying in the doorway to the bedroom, a curled-up copy of World Medicine magazine to the right of her and her walking stick to the left.
‘The cavalry’s arrived.’ She managed a faint smile at the