Sunglasses

Xavier, clearly a stickler for honouring a commitment, prepared breakfast and then disappeared upstairs while Kim and Joe tucked in.

‘I’m not hearing the vacuum,’ said Kim, licking the last of the buttery sauce from her fork. ‘I wonder what he's doing up there?’

‘He said he didn't know what a hoover was, so I'm pretty sure he won't try using ours without instructions. That seems to be how he works - he has to be shown a thing before he masters it. Perhaps he's cleaning his teeth?’

‘Could you give him a shout, while I put these things in the dishwasher and then I think we should go. It’s nearly eleven.’ Kim bustled about tidying up and heard her husband calling Xavier to come down and join them.

‘Everything all right?’ she asked as the two men appeared in the hall.

Joe nodded and went to find the raincoats. Kim opened the front door and they surveyed the downpour outside. 

‘What is all this water?’ Xavier wanted to know.

‘It often does this.’ Joe couldn’t help a grin. ‘It’s rain. Sometimes it falls from the clouds in a fine mist and sometimes it arrives as though someone is throwing buckets of the stuff down on us. Today’s a ‘cats and dogs’ day.’

Catching sight of the confusion writ large on Xavier’s face, he added ‘Not to worry, I’ll explain later. Come on.’

It was a quick run down the path, but even so, they were soaked by the time they’d climbed inside for two reasons: Joe had to shove the clutter from the back seats out of the way to make space, and then Xavier proved reluctant to enter the car. Kim wasted several minutes explaining to him it was not a huge mailing box, but rather a conveyance, and under their control.

‘ I get it, you didn’t like being in that box, but this isn’t the same thing at all, Kim explained. ‘I’m going to drive us in this car to the address where Emma was delivered. Hopefully we can persuade her owners to let her come with us.’

Xavier nodded, uncertainly, trying to assimilate yet more new stimuli. He was uncomfortable in the damp coat but as Kim and Joe had kept theirs on, he supposed he should, too. He thrust his hands into the pockets and was surprised to feel something hard under his fingers. Pulling it out, he stared at the black item.

‘What is this?’

‘What’s what?’ Joe squirmed round to peer over his shoulder and see what Xavier was holding up. ‘Oh those. Sunglasses. I’m glad you found them, I thought I’d lost them. Must have left them in that pocket from last summer.’

‘Sunglasses.’ Xavier was turning them in his hands, opening the sides out. ‘What is it for?’

’You wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from strong sunlight. Not that we get too much of that, to be honest, but it’s as well to be prepared.’ Joe chuckled. ‘And sunglasses are always referred to in the plural even though it’s one thing, so to speak. I don’t really know why.’

‘Enough of the vocabulary lesson Joe, could you check the route for me?’ Kim was driving as swiftly as she could, given visibility was poor. The wipers were barely keeping the windscreen clear of the torrential rain.