Ella couldn’t wait to go out and about. She’d woken in a good mood and as far as she was concerned, today was going to be a good day. Ella had every intention of grabbing it with both hands, and hopefully she could begin to put the past behind her.

Thirty minutes later, after a quick shower, Ella found herself standing outside Dolores’ front door clutching the letter. It was hand-written with spider-like writing in an old-fashioned ink pen. Ella knocked but there was no answer. Dolores was probably still sitting outside, so she turned the handle and gave a little shout.

‘Dolores, it’s Ella!’ She stepped into the living room.

Dolores was sitting in her chair with her eyes closed and McCartney was curled up on her lap.

‘Dolores,’ Ella spoke softly. The last thing she wanted to do was frighten her. Maybe she should just leave the letter beside her for when she woke up. Padding lightly over the carpet, Ella was just about to place the letter on the arm of the chair when Dolores opened her eyes and screamed. McCartney didn’t move a muscle.

‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to make you jump!’ exclaimed Ella, sitting down on the couch. ‘It’s just me.’ Ella touched Dolores’ arm, then brought her hand up to her own chest to calm her beating heart.

‘We didn’t hear you, did we, McCartney? Must have dozed off for a second.’ Dolores patted McCartney’s head, who eventually opened his eyes and jumped down from the chair and straight on to Ella’s lap.

‘He’s adorable.’

‘Don’t be fooled, he’s a grumpy old man. I often joke about which one of us will go first. I’m hoping it’s him, even though it will break my heart. I just couldn’t leave him in this world alone.’ Dolores was staring at McCartney with such love that Ella immediately felt emotional and swallowed down a lump in her throat. ‘And what have you there?’ asked Dolores, noticing the letter in Ella’s hand.

‘It’s for you, a letter. The postman pushed it through the wrong letterbox.’ Ella handed over the letter.

The rapid beam that spread across Dolores’ face didn’t go unnoticed. She clutched the letter to her chest. ‘Thank you.’

Ella was intrigued. ‘Something important?’ she asked, noticing that Dolores’ eyes had brightened.

‘It certainly is.’ Dolores wasn’t giving any more away.

Ella noticed that she slipped the letter into her bag at the side of the chair before turning back to her.

‘Are you in a rush?’ asked Dolores.

‘Callie is just catching on up on some paperwork, so I have a little time before she shows me the sights.’