Chapter 8: Confusion (A True Story)

Clues, Tracks, and Cigarette Packets

So, how do you go and find this lady that took the photo of George when you don’t know where she lives?

Gary had tried to explain to me, and I had an inkling of where to start, so off we went in my car. Yes, I lived in the campo, yet why would I know where every track went to. It’s rather amazing as to how many tracks that there are. It’s also amazing as to how they all link up; I can tell you this now; in fact, I can tell you around 20 ways to actually get to my house via the track from the main road.

So, there we were in the campo, and while speaking to Gary on the phone, I had the feeling that we were heading in the right direction. We decided to park up and head by foot the rest of the way. I can’t explain this next part or why I knew that the tree we were standing next to was the tree that was in the photo that the lady had taken of George. I immediately said to Kate and Caroline, “If there is a cigarette packet on the grass, then we are close.” Holy moly, there was the cigarette packet on the grass, so I then took my phone and zoomed in on the photo of George, and yes, it was the same. At that moment, my knees started to buckle, I became so weak, and then the tears started to flow. “My baby was here; this is where the photo was taken.” I immediately phoned Claudia, “Claudia explain where this lady’s house is; we are at the top of a track.” She replied, “Christine, walk down the track; it is a little house at the bottom.”

The House at the Bottom of the Track

I didn’t run, yet it was kind of a brisk march; Caroline and Kate were following. My mind was racing at this point as I was actually going to meet the lady that had taken the photo; I had no idea what was going through Kate and Caroline’s minds at this point…. dread may be at the thought of what I might say, I am well known for being very blunt:)

Oh my goodness, there was one of the dogs in the photo barking away inside of the gates to the house.

As soon as we were at the house, I started shouting “Hello.” Well, we were in the campo, and all houses are gated, no doorbell… nothing, no one came out of the house, and then Kate and Caroline started shouting “Hello.”

What felt like an eternity (1 minute), we saw the front door open, well, not a fully opened door, but opened slightly, and a lady appeared, yet she appeared to be stopping an animal from escaping as she let herself out.

All 3 of us were at the gate, just still saying, “Hello.” The lady came to the gate, and at that moment, I knew I had to let Kate and Caroline take over, meaning take over the conversation, remember I was about to explode with questions.

Kate and Caroline were so polite, yet all I could think about was what animal you were trying to stop coming out of your front door. I actually believe if I wasn’t as tired and weak that I might have jumped the gate and basically raided her house, gulp, but yes, my mind was racing out of control at this point.

Meeting the Wrong Woman?

I think at that moment, I had an out-of-body experience listening to them speaking, they asked about George, and then I heard the words “Oh I didn’t take the photo, I am just looking after the house while my friend that lives here is out shopping.”

At this point, the tears started flowing again, bloody hell, who is the woman that took the photo, I can’t explain why I felt like this, yet the lady was the last person to see my George, I so desperately needed to speak with her. I had so many questions, yet no one to ask.

Conflicting Clues and a New Direction

This is where the confusion started as Gary had previously said that Bob and Patrick had spoken to the lady that had taken the photo of George and she had said that George had run off towards Villa Franco, yet this lady was telling us that she was here on Sunday afternoon and that George had actually come in through the gates and was playing with the lady’s dog that had taken the photo, she said how friendly that George was. She then went on to say how she watched George run up the track towards Alhaurín el Grande.

I knew at this point that Kate and Caroline were feeling a tad embarrassed as I asked this lady to say again, are you 100% sure that you saw this, she said: “Oh yes, I was here 100% I was watching him play with her dogs yesterday, he ran up the track.” “Don’t you mean Sunday and not yesterday?” I asked. I then went on to say, “But your friend that took the photo said that George 100% ran down the track towards Villa Franco.” I then turned around and pointed towards Villa Franco, and oh my goodness, the first thing that I spotted in the distance was my house. It was so clear it was my house. I was amazed at how close that we were just by land/fields that my heart sank. “Oh my god, look, Kate, look, Caroline, that’s my house,” I shouted. With that, we decided to walk to mine instead of going back to my car. On the way, we searched a few abandoned buildings, well they weren’t totally abandoned, yet at this point, we felt that it was justified to take a peek. I had regained my hope, and I was whistling away. By the time we had reached my house, because of all the twists and turns that we had taken, plus the odd moment of trespassing, I realized that I was now taking advantage of Kate and Caroline’s kindness.

Kindness, Guilt, and a New Plan

It was so difficult dealing with feeling the guilt of how kind everyone was being. Message after message was still coming through, Roxanne had been to all the local vets putting up posters of George, and Linda was out stapling posters to all trees in the campo. (I had only ever met Linda twice). Carol was still out and about now on her pushbike, and Gary was still trailing the campo.

As I said goodbye to Kate and Caroline, I knew that I obviously needed to go and get my car, and I had a plan. I still needed to speak to the lady that had taken the photo of George.

I needed a reason to stand at the gates again and shout “Hello.” So, my plan was this:

Dog Blanket, Cage, and a Plan in Motion

I walk back to the lady’s house across the fields, trespassing along the way, and when she comes out of her door, I asked if I can pop back with a dog cage, put George’s massive orange blanket inside, plus a water bowl. I mean, how could a dog lover disagree on this. So, this is what I did.

“Hello,” I bellowed, and out she came. I, for some reason, totally broke at this moment and found it so difficult to explain to who I was and what the hell I was doing here. Thankfully she waited for me to regain my posture, and she listened. She never opened her gates and spoke to me through the metal bars. She agreed to me popping back and leaving a cage with the large orange blanket and water bowl, and she kindly said that each morning she would check the cage and fill the water bowl for me.

The Cage, the Hedge, and the Hope

Now I was running up the track to my car, and I drove home as fast as I could to get the cage. I knew that George would be able to smell his massive orange blanket, yet I felt that I needed to put more things in the cage. Ok, so don’t turn your nose up at what I did next as seriously; there are worse things later in this book that you will read what I did.

My dirty pajamas bottoms that I haven’t washed in over a week, I will put those in the cage. So, car all loaded, I fed the dogs; seeing George’s little red bowl now was giving me different feelings as I now had hope again. My thoughts as I was feeding the dogs were how I was going to actually make a BBQ for George on his return full of sausages and burgers.

All house locked up, I drove back to the top of the lady’s track, I unloaded the car, bloody hell the cage was heavy, I looked like a total nutter carrying the massive orange blanket around my back. It was now dark as I put everything in place, it was all set up, and for some reason, I stood there staring at the cage; I even hid around the hedge for a while, just waiting. I then phoned Kerry and told her what I had done, I looked like a nutter, and I was acting like a possessed nutter, so I needed reassurance that I actually wasn’t going mad. “Mum, you’re not mad; it’s a good idea,” she said, perfect words, you see, I wasn’t actually sure if I was going mad at this point.

Good News, More Confusion, and Midnight Madness

As I sauntered up the track back to my car, I couldn’t help but to keep looking back. My phone had goodness knows how many messages to reply to, and I knew that I needed to get home.

As I drove through the gates, my phone started ringing it was Bob “You ok? I am so sorry, but the good news is that you found the lady that took the 2 photos, so we know George is alive, plus the chihuahua breeders saw him.”

“What? They breed chihuahuas? No one told me this, and they live a stone's throw from the lady’s house that took the photo. 2 photos, where is the other photo Bob as I have only seen one” I said.

Now my head was racing, it was so out of control, immediately I phoned my daughter. After an hour of out-of-control talking and then the guilt hitting in again that others, even your daughter, have a life to live and work to go to, I ended our conversation and thanked her. It was now after midnight, and as exhausted as I was, there was no way I could possibly sleep.

Digital Clues

I now had the lady’s name who took the photo of George, so off to the computer, I went. Facebook is rather amazing at gathering information; the lady that took the photo is friends on Facebook with the chihuahua breeders that live just around the corner from her.

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