As it turned out, his mother was alone but by choice now; the girl in his dream wasn’t, she wanted him to stay…? She was asking him to find her…help her.
Another flash; another realisation.
The girl reminded him of Serena; both when she’d looked at him so shamefacedly upon retelling Duke’s fate and when she had run in terror…like a fox gnawing at itself trying to be freed from a poacher’s trap.
Something else he’d said to Dora suddenly came back to haunt him…
‘Gone to pieces and nobody cared…someone’s got to care!’
The pain of those words hit him all over again as in his mind’s eye Serena slid desolately to the ground.
What about Serena? Did she have someone to care? Did her fiancé care?
The thought left him feeling bereft, as he had done since then…how could she have affected him like this, he didn’t really know her so why should it bother him so much?
Dora had seen him disappear. “Thank goodness.” She thought; he loft may be draughty but at least it was dry! She worried at her full lower lip with her teeth…if only he would tell her what was wrong maybe she would be able to help…
Steve sighed as he returned the necklace to its ‘safekeeping’ place; all this dream business, what a ridiculous carry on…though part of him hoped Serena would come back soon…maybe she could help him with this dream. He could’ve just as easily told Dora but for some reason it just didn’t feel…right.
“You’re going daft, Ross.” He told himself.