His Second Chance

Chapter Seventeen

Chloe got back late in the afternoon, looking tired. Jack didn't stay long as he had to get back to his office. I was in the kitchen when Chloe came in. She sat down with me silently. After a while, she looked over at me and said," Did you catch my horse?"

"Yes, I caught your horse," I replied," I think he has a crush on Vesta."

"Really? How do you know?" she asked.

I paused for a moment, but it gave her an answer. She didn't say anything, so I asked," Was your day productive?"

"Yes, it was," she replied.

"That horse, did you see it?" I asked.

"Yes, it's not Spanish, it's not the right horse," she said.

"You're sure?"

"One hundred per cent. But, we did have a look around at the other horses. There was another one, but it was black."

"So?"

"The hair on the DNA test says the horse was bay," she said.

"They could have dyed him?"

"We couldn't be sure, so we took some hair from him."

"So that's it then, no more leads?" I asked.

"Well, they're trying to find out where the money came from, you know, the stuff that was put into Louie's account," she answered," They want to know what account it came out of."

"Surely that's the first thing they would have looked at?"

"Apparently not, but they're just getting round to it. Its encrypted, they've had people working on it for twelve hours and they've barely made any progress."

I sighed, sitting back in my chair. I was about to speak when Archie walked in.

"Oh, you're back then?" he said, sitting down next to his sister.

She nodded, as he shouted up the stairs for Elliot. We heard him coming down reluctantly, but he respected Archie, more than me at least.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I want to talk to you all, now that you're all here," Archie answered, taking a long pause.

"What's the matter?" Chloe asked.

"Its something I've been meaning to tell you all for a while," he said," I'm going away. For work. Someone has seen my work on social media and wants me to come and work for him."

"Why didn't you tell us before, what's the fuss?" Chloe asked.

"Well, the thing is, it's not here, or anywhere near here," he said slowly," Its in Canada."

"What?" I cried.

We all stared at him in confusion. There was silence for several moments, before I began bombarding him with questions.

"Why Canada?"

"What's wrong with England?"

"There are plenty of other people, plenty of other businesses that could employ you, why not go to one of them?"

"How could you leave us! Your family!"

"Amy, calm down, let him speak!" Chloe's voice seemed to echo through the house as I shut up and glared at Archie. I pulled a face back at me, before speaking.

"I want to expand my knowledge, and to maybe start my own company one day," he explained," There is a well known Canadian company that specialises in the kind of woodwork I'm interested in, and I thought it would be a good opportunity for me. I'd be gone for around a year, maybe a little longer. They pay very well, and are willing to provide me with a place to stay and a car. I'd come back and visit."