Missing in action...

I had quite a shock this afternoon when Sophie called me at work to ask if Mikey was with me...well, of course he wasn't, I said, and then she told me that he hadn't got on the bus after school...

I dashed out of work and went straight to the school, slowing down whenever I passed a knot of schoolboys in the village, in case he'd decided to walk to work. Sophie had tried his mobile but that had gone straight to voicemail - honestly! What's the use in having one?

When I got to school it was almost 4pm and there were no students about at all. I went to the office but he hadn't gone there to say he'd missed the bus, so where was he? I called Sophie again and had a rant at her, asking her why she hadn't noticed he wasn't on the bus so that put her in a filthy mood. Keith, meanwhile, was clearing up poo and sick from Monty-cat which wasn't going too well, either. He tried to calm me down by saying, very sensibly, that he'd probably gone home with a friend to call one of us to pick him up, so I drove home scanning the road for a little group of boys, but the road remained empty.

On the way, Keith called to tell me that he was safe and well with a friend in the next village -  he'd caught another bus and the friend's dad would be bringing him home. I really have to say that he'd done well by catching the other bus, but I did tell him that if it ever happened again he must go back to the school and contact me or Keith and we would pick him up. My only worry was that he'd tried to walk home but it is a fair distance!

So, panic over and I'm a bit proud of him, really. He'd used his own common sense to get out of the situation but I just wish he'd answered his phone!

Keith went to see Dave at home and I gave him a lift before going to deliver the post that I should have done on the way home. When I returned to pick Keith up, he said that Dave was a bit brighter but that it would be a while before normal service was resumed on Monday and Friday nights. I have to say I'm not disappointed!

We went over to The Hare in Loddington again for a drink and it was a lot busier than normal so we resorted to sitting in the lounge, rather than at the bar. There were several families taking advantage of the early bird meal offer so it was pleasant to sit and people watch while having a good chat!