As she headed to her room to put on another, waterproof, layer, she remembered one final chore she needed to do—clean the rabbit’s cage in Dylan’s room and put some fresh sawdust down.
She headed into the room, grabbing the bag of shavings from the bookcase.
“Come, little twitchy-nose, I need to clean your cage quick-quick,” she said, bending down.
She froze, staring in horror.
Benjamin Bunny’s lettuce leaves were untouched. He was lying very still at the back of his cage and when she reached in hesitantly to feel his gray fur, his body was cold and stiff.
Benjamin Bunny was dead.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Ryan!” Cassie shouted. “Come quickly.”
She couldn’t take her eyes off the shocking sight of the prone rabbit and she felt tears welling up.
Ryan’s footsteps thudded on the wooden floor and a moment later he was at Dylan’s door, his face filled with concern.
“What is it?”
“Benjamin Bunny. He’s dead, Ryan.”
She pointed to the cage, noticing her hands were shaking.
“Dead? Are you sure?”
Ryan hurried into the room.
He reached into the cage and gently took the rabbit out.
Its head lolled sideways in his grasp.
“Oh, no, this is terrible. He’s ice cold and you can see his limbs are starting to stiffen. Poor little thing.”
“What do you think could have happened to him?”
Cassie sniffed, rubbing her eyes hard.
“I don’t know. I’ve no idea about rabbits. Dylan’s only had him three weeks but I know he was an older pet; he got him from someone who was moving and didn’t want to take him with them. So it could be that his time was up.”
“A heart attack?” Cassie hazarded.
“Perhaps. He doesn’t look to have suffered,” Ryan said.
“Could it have been the cold snap?”
“No, Dylan researched his care. Rabbits are cold weather animals and prefer cooler temperatures. And I can see nothing changed in his diet, his water’s fresh. He must have just had a heart attack or a stroke or something. Dylan’s going to be gutted. He adored Benjamin.”
Cassie felt sobs rising inside her again and fought to control them. She didn’t want to break down and weep in front of Ryan.
“I’ll go out and bury him now in the back garden near the compost heap. And I’ll think of the best way to break it to Dylan.”
With the furry body held carefully in his hands, he walked out of the room.
Cassie took a deep, trembling breath.
“I’m sorry, little bunny,” she said, blinking hard.
She checked on Orange and Lemon, but the two fish looked healthy and well, swimming around their mini aquarium.
Then she sat on Dylan’s bed for a while with her head in her hands, unable to stop the tears from flowing when she thought about the loss of the small gray rabbit, and the devastation it would cause Dylan when he found out.
After a while she felt Ryan’s hands gently rubbing her shoulders.
“I’ve buried the little guy,” he said. “Come on. You need to take your mind off this so I say we go out, have a drink, toast bunny’s life, and cheer up. It won’t do Dylan any good if we’re in pieces about it.”
*
Two hours in the warmth and chatter of the local pub took Cassie’s mind off the shock and she was glad that they had a chance to talk it through.
“Losing a pet is such a wrench, no matter how it happens,” Ryan said.
“Have the children had other pets?” Cassie asked, feeling that this home would be made even friendlier by the presence of a cat or dog.
“I grew up with cats in our home, but after I was married, that wasn’t possible, due to allergy problems,” Ryan explained.
From the way he worded it, Cassie wasn’t sure whether one of the children was allergic, or if it had been his ex-wife.
“What about you?” he asked.
“When my mom was alive, we had a dog. He was a good companion and so much fun to have around. We used to walk him, feed him, train him. Or try to. He was quite old, and not very trainable.”
“Did your mom pass away when you were younger?” Ryan asked sympathetically.
“Yes. She died in an accident. After that, my sister and I were raised by my dad, together with—various girlfriends along the way. It wasn’t a happy home life. My dad was an angry person and he became worse after she died. My sister, Jacqui, ran away from home when I was twelve. She’d protected me for so long but it reached a stage where she just couldn’t anymore. After that it became even worse. I left home as soon as I could, too.”
“Oh, Cassie. You’ve had such a rough time. No wonder you’re so mature and wise. I told you I sensed that in you, and now I see why it’s there.”
Ryan’s voice was filled with sympathy as he leaned closer to her. She felt grateful for his compassion. Trusting him with these details felt like an important step—for her, and also for the two of them.
“Where is Jacqui now?”
“I don’t know,” Cassie said, confessing the awful truth that had filled so many of her thoughts and nightmares over the years.
“You don’t know?”
“She never contacted me again. For years I hoped she would. Every time the phone rang at home, I thought it might be her. Then I moved away, and my dad moved house, and every time there was another degree of separation, I would think of Jacqui and how it would be more and more difficult for her to find me again.”
“There’s social media,” Ryan said.
“My account’s super-private, and I don’t think she has an online presence at all. I’ve looked for her often but never seen a trace of her.”
“Where do you think she went?”
“I think she went to Europe, and I don’t know what happened to her after that. I thought for a while she was dead, but recently I’ve changed my mind. I think she’s alive, and I believe I will see her again one day.”
Cassie
