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The noise flooded her ears as crockery chinked, chairs scraped, and voices echoed. Her mum wasn’t there either. Should she check the toilets? No, that was ridiculous.
A waitress wiping a nearby table spotted her.
“Hi, Frances. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, fine, thank you,” she replied as calmly as possible. She was in two minds about asking if she’d seen her mum. Common sense won out; this was an emergency.
“Have you seen my mum anywhere?”
“No. I haven’t seen her in a long— ”
“Thanks,” Frances replied, cutting her off. She didn’t need to know any more than that.
Turning, she went back outside to the main path, her eyes scanning for any sign of her mum’s small frame. The light was almost gone now. It was a struggle to tell one person from another in the dim glow from the food trucks and fairy lights zigzagging above the path.
For this to happen just before they opened was beyond frustrating; there was so much to do. Tonight was going to be the first time she had needed to leave her mum alone in the evening since her memory issues had worsened. Now Frances wasn’t sure if she would be able to leave her at all — if she could even find her.
CHAPTER 5
“Mind if I sit?” Lucie said gently.
“No,” the elderly woman replied.
“I’m Lucie.”
“I’m Rose. Are you here for the shooting party? They’ll be back soon.”
Lucie glanced around. “No. I’m not.”
Rose rubbed her hands together. “It’s a cold summer.”
“It is,” Lucie confirmed. She wasn’t about to correct her; the woman appeared confused enough without adding to it.
“But then summers aren’t what they used to be.”
“No, they aren’t,” Lucie agreed. Looking around again, she wondered if Rose had become separated from her family as well as her coat. “Are you visiting the hall?”
“No. This is my home.”
“Oh. Okay,” Lucie replied, unsure if that was entirely true. “Can you show me? I’d love to see it. It’s a bit chilly to be sitting out here.”
Lucie stood in the hope it would get Rose to her feet too.
“Oh, yes. It’s a lovely little place. Although not quite the same as living there,” Rose said, nodding towards the hall as she got up.
“No, I don’t expect it is,” Lucie said, removing her coat. “Not everyone is so lucky. Here, slip this on.”
“Thank you. I don’t know where mine is,” she said, looking back at the bench.
Lucie wrapped her coat around Rose’s shoulders, freeing her silver bob from the collar before offering her arm.
“It’s this way,” Rose said, gripping it and leading Lucie onto the main path. She stopped suddenly, taking everything in. “Oh, is all this for the shooting party?”
“It’s for Christmas.”
“Christmas in summer? You are funny,” Rose laughed lightly, looking left and right. “My daughter should be around here somewhere.”
A sudden wave of terror struck Lucie — was she kidnapping someone’s mother?
