Finding Arthur

Shama Perera

Description

'Finding Arthur' is a heart-warming story set in Sri Lanka and based on real-life events. In the unfolding of this highly engaging story, the reader is taken on a tour of beautiful landscapes and shores, tantalising readers' tastebuds on the journey.Dilan, a seemingly happy young business owner, is living the bachelor life with his brother, Sujith, in the heart of Mount Lavinia. The two brothers have recently taken over a bar; it's an exciting time. Arthur, Dilan's mischievous golden Labrador and regular frequenter of the bar, goes missing. What initially seems like a simple case of lost dog soon reveals itself to be rather more sinister. Dilan rallies his estranged parents to help him find Arthur. But hidden family secrets risk jeopardising the search...

Informations

• Publié par: Distributed by eBookpartnership
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781839785429
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Finding Arthur
A novel
Shama Perera


Finding Arthur
Published by The Conrad Press Ltd. in the United Kingdom 2022
Tel: [phone]
www.theconradpress.com
[e-mail]
ISBN 978-1-915494-17-7
Copyright © Shama Perera, 2022
All rights reserved.
Typesetting and Cover Design by: Charlotte Mouncey, www.bookstyle.co.uk
The Conrad Press logo was designed by Maria Priestley.


For our dad Royce, we miss you. This story is for all of my family around the globe, especially those members who left us before their time.


Chapter 1
Have you seen Arthur?
S tanding on a stack of unstable-looking rocks, he gazes into the inviting foam mouth of the waterfall, three hundred feet below him.
The spray, still reaching the top of the falls, settles on his face. The man had climbed over public safety barriers and up a dangerous stretch of rock to get there. He remains still in a trance for the longest time before inching his toes closer to the edge, until they peep over the stone. All he would need to do now is tilt forward. He stands, silently contemplating the events of the last seventy-two hours that had led him to this point. Would anyone care? Was he just punishing them more by doing this? Just then his phone rang.
Startled, he slips.
‘The phone has just gone dead. It was ringing before but now it’s just dead. What should we do, do we still go? Will we be able to get Arthur back?’ asked Amma.
***
Two weeks earlier:
‘Argh, stupid bloody staircase!’ Dilan said as he tripped and fell down the last few steps landing awkwardly on his bottom. It was a typical morning in his life; Dilan had come downstairs from his apartment and knocked on Amma’s door. She was away on holiday for three weeks but Dilan had forgotten again this morning, as he had done the previous ten consecutive mornings. Dilan’s ritual of going in search of a morning forehead kiss from Amma was proving to be difficult to shake. He knocked his forehead with the palm of his hand and smiled as he remembered she was away.
As Dilan made his way to the entrance hall of their building rubbing his bottom, he noticed something unusual. Arthur had not come careering down the stairs after him this morning and Dilan hadn’t had to hold onto the banister in the usual way to stop himself from faceplanting onto the cream tiled floor beneath him. Huh? Dilan thought to himself, wondering if that was why he had stumbled.
‘Right, coffee, with a shot of whiskey!’ Dilan thought to himself. He clapped and rubbed his hands together with a smile and headed off to the bar. Dilan had a busy day ahead but picked up Arthur’s lead at the front door, hoping to take him for a run around Galle Face if he could get away for an hour. He also wondered if that beautiful Belgian girl would pop into the bar again today – maybe he could invite her along for a dog walk. Arthur was quite a magnet with the ladies. Dilan often wondered if it was his charm or Arthur’s rugged looks that got the most attention.
Chuckling to himself, Dilan started his daily ten-minute walk to the bar. He felt lonely without Arthur this morning. Whether it was walking to school as a boy or walking to work as an adult, they had spent every morning together for most of Arthur’s twelve-year-old life. The two were inseparable. Dilan remembered vividly the day Thatha brought him home as a puppy. He and Sujith were playing on their bikes on the driveway and Amma was reading on the veranda when this round mass of golden fur came flying up the from the front gate and whooshed past them both. It landed straight onto Amma’s lap, crumpling her newspaper and spilling her kantha all over her and the newly polished floor. Amma screamed and jumped up from her chair, almost toppling backwards before running onto the lawn and hiding behind the kesel gedi tree.
‘ Aiyo, look at my nightie,’ she said to herself, trying to wipe the kantha off the delicately hand-worked fabric. She dusted herself off and looked up to see what kind of vicious creature had disturbed her tranquillity, expecting to see a rabid street dog or something. Instead, Amma saw the most beautiful little face she had ever seen; it was almost human with its big brown eyes smiling up at her and a cute button nose and whiskers. It was a puppy; a ball of golden fur with tiny little legs. Although Amma was not a fan of dogs she couldn’t help but smile at the little creature. But Amma’s face soon sharpened as she looked around for Thatha.
‘Amaaaaaaaaaaaaal!’ Amma shrieked looking across the garden. Thatha mischievously popped his head up from behind the car where he’d been hiding. Amma tried not to laugh as she ran over to the car to chase Thatha with what was left of her soggy newspaper. Laughing and scolding, Amma pursued Thatha as they both snaked across the garden, with the puppy in pursuit.
‘ Aiyo Amal, why Amal, you know I’m scared of dogs. I told you no dogs.’ Amma stopped running and sat down on the steps of the veranda to catch her breath. Thatha stopped running and went to sit beside her, approaching her with his hands together in prayer position to make peace. They looked at each other and burst into belly laughter before the puppy jumped into Amma’s lap again. Sujith and Dilan joined them on the veranda, keen to play with the puppy. Amma laid out ground rules and made it quite clear that she was not going to do anything with the dog and that he was their responsibility. Thatha, Sujith and Dilan all agreed and hugged Amma tightly. They had a dog!
‘What are you going to call him?’ Thatha asked. Amma suggested the name Arthur, after a movie she had seen where Dudley Moore’s character bundled about on unsteady legs. And that was the day Arthur came into their lives. A memory of happier family days from when Amma and Thatha were still married. A little tug pulled at Dilan’s heart; it wasn’t very often he went down memory lane. His parents’ separation had come out of nowhere for the boys. They had really loved each other once.
Dilan remembered awakening one night as a young boy to the sound of raised voices. Sujith always managed to sleep through their fights but Dilan felt anxious whenever his parents argued, like something bad would happen. Arthur always came into the boys’ room during arguments and would climb onto Dilan’s bed. Dilan remembered hugging Arthur tightly under the covers and sobbing into his fur.
Other memories of Arthur from his childhood flooded his mind, like how Amma would avoid interacting with Arthur. Despite the rejection, Arthur would follow her everywhere. If she was cooking in the kitchen, he would sit under the kitchen table to be near her. If she was sweeping, he would jump up and try to lick the dust. He would sometimes even follow her into the bathroom. Sujith and Dilan would often hear the words ‘Arthuuuuuuuur’ being screamed by Amma throughout the house. Sometimes she used an upward tone like ‘Ar-thuuur’ – sounding more like a trumpet than a gentle musical lilt – when she was trying to find him. Sometimes it was said in a downward tone like ‘Aaaar-thur’, often used when he had toppled something over; and other times it was said in the simple melody of ‘Aaaarthuuuuur’ when he had left a little present in her shoe.
Amma went from avoiding him to secretly feeding him pastries at teatime. She would pet him lovingly, kissing his nose and looking into his eyes, when she thought no one was looking. Everyone remembered the day Amma finally openly admitted that she loved Arthur. It was his first visit to the vet for his injections. Amma cried during the entire visit and then insisted that he sleep with her that night so that she could make sure he was OK. She stayed up all night stroking him and reading him passages from her novel. Thatha’s relationship with Arthur, however, took a bit of a downturn. Especially after the time Thatha brought his new car home and Arthur climbed onto the bonnet and then peed on each of its shiny alloy wheels.
Arthur had been Dilan’s wingman over the years. He had a habit of inviting himself along to picnics in the park and befriending strangers, introducing Dilan and his friends to a number of lovely girls over the years. Yes, it had to be said, if not for Arthur, Sujith may never have ever kissed a girl. Dilan chuckled to himself before entering his office and popping Arthur’s lead onto the side table.
‘Right…. Coffee!’ He smiled to himself. It was going to be a good day.
***
It was 5.00 pm. Dilan had been rushed off his feet all day. He took a soft drink from behind the bar and sat down on one of the bar stools. Relaxing with his lemonade, he grabbed the remote control for the TV and put the cricket on, tutting at the score. Clocking the dog lead on the side table, he looked around realising that he hadn’t seen Arthur yet. He assumed Arthur was with Sujith in the office watching movies and pretending to work; Arthur loved watching Sujith play solitaire. A couple more hours passed by. Sujith emerged from the office with some papers in hand. Noticing Sujith was alone, Dilan asked, ‘Hey, have you seen Arthur?’
‘Not since last night,’ replied Sujith. ‘I saw him outside the apartment and chased him back inside. You know that bloody gate needs to be looked at; the latch has detached from the door frame and it’s opening straight onto the lane. I almost ripped my shirt on the broken latch.’ Sujith started walking toward the main bar area.
Huh? Dilan felt confused. Hadn’t Sujith walked in with Arthur this morning? When had he last seen Arthur? He had been otherwise ‘engaged’ with a lady friend last night and remembered chasing Arthur out of his bedroom. Was that the last time he had seen him?
‘Hey Suj, what time did you see Arthur last night?’
‘About 11.00 pm? Why?’
Just then one of Dilan’s bar staff walked past.
‘Hey machan , did