Sunshine and Spaniels by Cressida McLaughlin Page A

liking. It was a hot, beautiful summer and, while Cat knew Polly had exams to study for, and Joe was under pressure with work, neither of those things seemed to be good enough excuses to stay holed up inside. Studying could be done in the park or on the table in their courtyard, and surely illustrations were better created in real, beautiful sunlight? But for once Cat could sense that this was not the moment to push either of them, and so she spent her time at number twelve, working systematically through the boxes, sometimes just with Frankie and Olaf, sometimes with Emma and Lizzie’s upbeat, energizing help.
    In between these forays into the darkness, Cat was busy with Pooch Promenade, getting as much time out in the sunshine as she spent hidden away. And Elsie’s knee was almost fully healed, so while it meant losing her as a paying client, she often gained a walking friend.

    Today, she and Elsie were taking Disco and Chalky, and the Barkers’ two retrievers Alfie and Effie, on a long route up to the seafront. It was the first time Elsie had walked this far since her operation, and they were taking it slowly, enjoying the sea breeze whispering through the July afternoon’s heat. Cat was wearing a floaty, burnt-orange dress that flickered around her knees, and had found a pair of gold gladiator sandals comfy enough to wear when she was dog walking.
    Alfie and Effie were some of the strongest dogs Cat had met. They were gentle and friendly, but liked to make the most of being outside and use up their energy, and Cat was trying to slow them down, at least until they got into the park. Besides, she needed to look at something.
    There was a tiny vintage boutique in a row of shops facing the sea. Cat had always thought it was a strange location, next to the fish-and-chip shop and the seaside-staples store (selling castle-shaped buckets and jelly shoes) but it occasionally had nice pieces of weatherworn furniture and, as they had a tight budget to refurbish Frankie’s attic room, she was keeping her eye out.
    ‘What do you think of this?’ Cat asked, pointing to a cabinet in the boutique’s window. It was distressed wood, and painted a very pale yellow. Cat wouldn’t mind having it in her bedroom back in the House of Doom. No, doom was a bit strong. House of Woe? House of…Misery? That conjured up all kinds of horror-film thoughts, and things definitely weren’t that bad. Yet.
    ‘Cat?’ Elsie asked. ‘Are you even listening to me?’
    ‘Yes – of course.’ She hadn’t heard a word her friend had said.
    ‘It’s a lovely cabinet, but it’s a hundred pounds. I thought Frankie needed to get the best deals possible? Argos would have one for a third of the price.’

    ‘But Argos is so…unromantic.’
    ‘This is a room for a lodger, yes?’
    Cat nodded.
    ‘Then you need it to be simple and smart. Let them stamp their own personality on the place. But most of all, let Frankie decide.’
    ‘Are you coming, on Saturday?’
    ‘To your refurbishing party?’ Elsie leaned on the low wall at the edge of the beach, and Cat sat down, bringing the dogs to heel next to her. Disco stood on her hind legs, asking to be let up. She was almost as big as Chalky, and still bouncy, and not suited to flimsy dresses and bare knees, but Cat could never resist. She hauled her up and hugged her.
    ‘I think I’ll make an appearance,’ Elsie said, ‘though I might not be up for traipsing up and down those stairs all day. Who’s coming?’
    ‘Frankie and the girls, obviously, and Charles and Boris from the B and B want to cast their expert eye over it, which I hope means they’ll help make the room really appealing, and maybe Mark.’ Cat kept her voice light, but Elsie pounced on the name anyway.
    ‘And how is Smug Mark?’
    ‘He’s…fine. A bit absent if I’m honest, but he’s coming back from London at the weekend, according to his latest text, so I hope he can help for a bit.’
    ‘Absent?’ Elsie asked, frowning.