living animals to “dry”? It’s as bad as leaving a poor dog in a car on a hot summer’s day with no window open.’
‘But you’re OK, Mum,’ Keeley asked for what felt like the millionth time.
‘I’m fine. And the lovely doctor said there’s not going to be any scarring.’
‘Scarring! Mum! How bad was it?’
‘Their teeth never stop growing apparently,’ Duncan chipped in.
‘Mum!’
‘Keeley, I’m fine. Honestly. There’s no need to worry about me. You just carry on having a lovely time with the smartly dressed new mother figure who has an excellent command of a second language,’ Lizzie said with a sniff.
‘Mum,’ Keeley said with a sigh.
‘I mean it. Have a lovely time but…’ Lizzie paused.
‘But what?’
‘Come back, won’t you?’
‘Of course I’ll come back… Mum, Dad, I’ve got to go now, Rach is about to disappear into a pile of dresses.’
There were shouts of ‘goodbye’ and one final ‘don’t forget me’ from Lizzie before Keeley ended the call. By the time she got over to the clothing stall, Rach had put her purchases on the ground around her feet and was scrabbling around, elbow deep in material and drawing the attention of the stall owner.
‘Rach,’ Keeley said. ‘What are you doing?’
‘There’s Gucci under here,’ Rach gasped. ‘And I don’t think it’s knock off. These ones are all a decent length, so if I get them I won’t have to borrow anything of yours to wear tonight.’ There was a growing pile of garments on the stall next to her she seemed to be half-guarding with her body.
‘Rach, slow down. You’re in danger of knocking off some of these beautiful vintage items on the floor.’ Keeley had caught the stallholder’s eye and said the words ‘beautiful’ and ‘vintage’ like she might have said ‘one and only much longed for baby’.
‘Did you hear what I said?’ Rach asked. ‘Gucci.’
‘I did hear but…’ Keeley stopped talking when something caught her eye. Was that… Bo-Bo? She shook her head and closed her eyes, then quickly opened them again. Looking over to stalls selling artwork and chandeliers she watched the dog spinning around, no lead on the end of a collar. But why would Bo-Bo be here? It was a bit of a Metro journey for Jeanne to take but, then again, she was a girl who seemed to be able to defy all the usual prerequisites for a person of her age. It could be any scruffy brown dog really though. Couldn’t it?
‘Fuck! There’s a handbag here I saw on eBay!’ Rach exclaimed, still rifling through the wares at a rate of knots.
The dog barked and then bumped into a hostess trolley filled with glassware. The glasses started to rock and reel and that’s when Keeley made a decision. Rach was going to have to deal with the anger of the stallholder on her own if those frocks ended up in an inch of snow on the ground. Whether the dog was Bo-Bo or not, she was going to have to do something!
Forty-Five
Animals were going to be the death of Ethan. Not a minute after his talk with Jeanne about ‘sharing space’, Bo-Bo had somehow slipped his leash and gone bounding off into the thick of the market. Before he took off, Ethan had ordered Jeanne to stay exactly where she was. He didn’t want to lose child and canine, but he suspected, as soon as his back was turned, Jeanne was going to be in pursuit too. Bo-Bo was fast and he had lost sight of him completely a couple of times. Until now. The dog was just up ahead, turning around in circles, until suddenly he banged against a trolley full of delicate-looking glasses.
‘Merde!’
Ethan sprinted forward, rushing to connect with dog or trolley. Instead what happened was he connected with a person. And before he knew it he was tumbling onto the ground.
‘Oh, gosh! Oh, monsieur, I am so, so sorry!’
The voice was familiar. Seeing stars in his peripheral Ethan looked up, wondering if he had banged his head. There was barking, smashing glass, something wet against his face… and he felt sure he could hear… Keeley?
‘Ethan!’
That was most definitely Keeley’s voice. And the wet sensation was still there. He then realised it was Bo-Bo’s rough tongue, licking at his face. ‘He… has no lead.’
‘I have the lead!’
That was Jeanne’s voice. So, she had not done what she was told and stayed where he could find her. But she was thankfully here and not missing. Ethan shook his head and attempted to stand.
‘Are