Killing Cassidy (28 page)

It was drizzling when our train pulled into the Sherebury station. We hadn't told anyone when we were coming back, so we found a taxi home. The driver's accent sounded strange. Our luggage filled up half the backseat, so I had to sit in front. I tried to get in on the right-hand side.

The garden looked bedraggled when we got to the house. Once inside, the first thing I did was turn up our new central heating.

The cats snubbed us. We had abandoned them for an eternity, and we were going to be punished. I set out some food for them; they tried to cover it up.

There was no food in the house for humans. I yawned desperately. “Alan, I'm too jet-lagged to shop, but I'm starved. We'll have to find lunch somewhere. One more restaurant meal.”

“Ah, home, sweet home.”

When I'm very tired, I get depressed. I plunked down on a kitchen chair and sniffled. “Home! I don't know where home is anymore. I don't seem to belong anywhere.”

Alan pulled me up into a bear hug. “So far as I am concerned, my darling, you belong anywhere I am. Blow your nose and wash your face, and then we'll go find a ploughman's lunch and some real beer!”