Someone Out There (35 page)

Authors: Catherine Hunt

He told her that ten-year-old Ahmed Hakimi had been detained with his father, at the airport in Istanbul.

‘Excellent result. I gather there was a dinner date dependent on it. I’ve told Mr Chehoudi it will have to be postponed.’

The snow was getting thicker and an icy wind blew her hair across her face. She got to her feet, began to retrace her steps back to the stables about two hundred yards away. This might take me a while, she thought.

She was almost there when Jeff Ingham appeared, hurrying towards her, hair flopping over his forehead.

‘You OK?’ he said, looking worried.

‘I walked a bit further today,’ she smiled at him. ‘It’s getting easier.’

‘I was wondering where you’d got to. I’m not really sure you’re safe to be let out on your own.’

He held open the stable door for her and together they went inside. She had spent a lot of the last three days here, but it still gave her a thrill to see him: Valentine. The great survivor.

He stood grazing from a haynet, and as she came in, he brought up his head and whinnied.

It was all down to Jeff Ingham. She had been lying in a hospital bed while he had spent hours with the horse, soothing him, persuading him to eat, trying to get him to accept the life of confinement he would have to put up with for some time yet. Jeff had done an astonishing job and it looked like Valentine just might make it.

She glanced at the vet, caught him staring at her and looked away, embarrassed.

‘Do you think Valentine is pleased to see me or pissed off at me because he’s stuck in this stable?’ she asked.

‘Difficult one. I guess a bit of both,’ he said, teasing her.

‘Yes,’ Laura said. They were g
rinning at each other like idiots. ‘I guess you’re right.’

Acknowledgements

For all their help and advice, my thanks to: the members of the family law group, Resolution, who supplied legal details; Robert James Sayer for sharing his knowledge of all things equestrian; Hilary Long, Elizabeth Madge and Rose Phillips for their feedback and constructive suggestions; and my husband, Robert, for his patience in reading and rereading the drafts.

Many thanks as well to Kate Stephenson and the team at HarperCollins for all their encouragement and support and last, but by no means least, to my agent and friend, Mary Greenham.

About the Author

Catherine Hunt is a journalist who has spent most of her career with BBC News where she edited the flagship TV news shows, in particular the Six O’ Clock News, and also edited live coverage of many major news events at home and abroad.

Before joining the BBC, she was a reporter for the Press Association and for the
Daily Mail
. She began her career working on regional newspapers, including the
Evening Argus
in Brighton.

Catherine currently runs a media consultancy business. She lives in Surrey.