20
Food forgotten, half-touched plates of sandwiches scattered over the table, an oppressive silence settled the three of them as they sat around the table, their mood more sombre than it had been at any time since arriving in Shropshire. The fact that no telephone had been available only made matters worse.
Richard, still grappling to come to terms with his re-emerging memories of Penwright, could not contain his feelings any longer. “We need to get in touch with Mum. She’ll be crazy with panic, Dad. We have to try and do something, I don’t know what, but we can’t just sit here and let it all go on around us. If I hadn’t come here, if I’d just ignored that stupid letter none of this would have happened, none of us would be in this b****y awful mess!” He brought both his fists down on th
