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felt that they both looked a lot better, even chatting away
about their trip to America.
    But two things
puzzled her. When she saw her parents coming down the stairs carrying the
duffel bag with Stamps in their wake, she could have sworn they were speaking
Portuguese. And why bother to take Stamps to America, when she had already
offered to take care of the dog while they were away?
    The next
surprise came when they set off for Heathrow after breakfast. When her father
packed the duffel bag and their suitcase into the boot of the car, she was
surprised to see three large bags already in the boot. Why bother with so much luggage when they were only going away for a fortnight?
    Tracey stood on
the pavement and waved goodbye, as her parents’ car trundled off down the road.
When the old Rover reached the end of the street it swung right, instead of left,
which took them in the opposite direction to Heathrow. Something was wrong.
Tracey dismissed the mistake, aware that they could correct their error long
before they reached the motorway.
    Once Chris and
Sue had joined the motorway, they followed the signs for Dover. The two of them
became more and more nervous as each minute passed, aware that there was now no
turning back. Only Stamps seemed to be enjoying the adventure as he stared out
of the back window wagging his tail.
    Once again, Mr. Appleyard and Mrs. Brewer went over their plan. When
they reached the docks, Sue would jump out of the car and join the queue of
foot passengers waiting to board, while Chris drove the Rover up the car ramp
and on to the ferry. They agreed not to meet again until the boat had docked in
Calais and Chris had driven on to the dockside.
    Sue stood at
the bottom of the gangway and waited nervously at the back of the queue as she
watched their Rover edge toward the entrance of the hold.
    Her heart raced
when she saw a customs officer double-check Chris’s passport, and invite him to
step out of the car and stand to one side. She had to stop herself from running
across so she could overhear their conversation–she couldn’t risk it now they
were no longer married.
    “Good morning,
Mr. Appleyard ,” said the customs officer, and then
added after looking in the back of the car, “were you hoping to take the dog
abroad with you?”
    “Oh yes,”
replied Chris. “We never travel anywhere without Stamps.”
    The customs
official studied Mr. Appleyard’s passport more
carefully. “But you don’t have the necessary documents to take a dog abroad
with you.”
    Chris felt
beads of sweat running down his forehead. Stamps’s papers were still attached to the passport of Mr. Haskins, which he had left in
the safe back at Cleethorpes .
    “Oh hell,” said
Chris. “I must have left them at home.”
    “Bad luck, sir. I hope you don’t have far to travel because
there isn’t another ferry until this time tomorrow.”
    Chris glanced
helplessly across at his wife, before climbing back into the car.
    He looked down
at Stamps, who was sleeping soundly on the back seat, oblivious to the problem
he was causing. Chris swung the car round and joined an overwrought Sue, who
was waiting impatiently to find out why he hadn’t been allowed to board. Once
Chris had explained the problem, all she said was, “We can’t risk returning to Cleethorpes .”
    “I agree,” said
Chris, “we’ll have to go back to Ashford, and hope we can find a vet that’s
open on a bank holiday.”
    “That wasn’t
part of our plan,” said Sue.
    “I know,” said
Chris, “but I’m not willing to leave Stamps behind.” Sue nodded in agreement.
    Chris swung the
Rover onto the main road, and began the journey back to Ashford. Mr. and Mrs.
Haskins arrived just in time to join their daughter for lunch.
    Tracey was
delighted that her parents were able to spend a couple more days with her, but
she still couldn’t understand why they weren’t willing to leave Stamps with
her; after all, it wasn’t as if they were going away