Missing Read online

  ‘Mum, mum,’ Rufus chanted, waving his fists and kicking out his feet.

  ‘You do realise your timing isn’t great, don’t you?’ Miles asked him.

  Rufus yawned, then gave a loud burp that made them both laugh.

  ‘My mother doesn’t go to Italy until next Monday,’ Vivienne said, putting a finger into Rufus’s hand. ‘I could ask her to have him for the weekend.’

  Miles didn’t even hesitate. ‘I’d rather he was with us,’ he said, ‘or you, if I end up staying in Kensington.’

  She smiled. As disruptive and demanding as Rufus could be, she understood perfectly Miles’s need to make up for lost time, as well as the overprotectiveness that was only to be expected, considering his past.

  ‘I guess I should go and make his lordship some breakfast,’ she said, starting a luxurious stretch then losing it to a laugh as Miles poked her in the ribs.

  ‘At last,’ he said. ‘I’ll have coffee and toast, no butter, just marmalade. Two slices should be enough.’

  Eyes twinkling, she said, ‘And what would his lordship’s son be requiring?’

  ‘What do you say, Rufus?’ he asked, swinging him up in the air. ‘Soldiers and a boiled egg? Yes? Good man. Then that’s what it shall be.’

  Reluctantly sliding out of bed she reached for her robe, sorry to be dressing when they’d come so close to making love, but happy just for this precious time together.

  After kissing them both she started down the stairs, wondering what the weather was doing, if it was hampering or helping work at the stables, where over the past couple of days everyone had swung into action to turn the barn into a studio-cum-saleroom. Luckily, the uninvited press was much less in evidence now, which made coming and going a great deal easier. The local lads who’d been called in to act as security were lending a hand with anything that needed doing, from driving, to building, to getting Theo and the firemen to sign photographs. The lads themselves were intending to sell these on the big day – and then on the Internet – to contribute to the cause.

  Sighing to herself, Vivienne put on the kettle and slotted two slices of bread into the toaster. She was thinking about Kelsey now and how, under any other circumstances, she’d probably have loved to be involved in the auction too, and Vivienne would have loved to invite her. However, with the way things stood Kelsey would almost certainly reject out of hand even the merest suggestion of coming anywhere near it, simply because of Vivienne’s part in it all. It was such a pity, but Vivienne had to concede that for the moment at least there was nothing to be done about it, particularly as Miles hadn’t yet told Kelsey about how much time he was spending with Rufus.

  Chapter Eighteen

  MORE LAUGHTER WAS ringing out around the stable yard than hammering, sawing and drilling as the vast wooden barn underwent its transformation. Camera platforms and catwalks were being crafted from locally donated plywood, a bank of split-screen TV monitors was already covering the back wall, and crudely knocked-together bench tables were starting to line up all along one side. These were for the two dozen phone lines that a small team of BT engineers was already installing, while the catwalks were for Theo and the firemen to strut their stuff.

  It was still too early for rehearsals of any kind to take place on set – they were being fitted in at the fire station, between shifts and emergency calls. However, it wasn’t stopping the construction crew from mincing about the barn like dancers, teasing the WI ladies who dropped in either to help, or deliver freshly baked cakes and pies, and generally whipping up the kind of saucy hilarity that TV crews were famous for.

  Stella was in her element, having set up a small canteen area where she served the food and flirted shamelessly with her customers. She was particularly outrageous when the camera was on her, which was often, as a daily update of the project’s progress was being screened each morning on Sky News. The TV package was always presented by Theo, whom Vivienne had made official spokesperson for the auction, and regularly featured interviews with Sharon, who was still waiting to hear when her transplant could happen (so the nation was experiencing her tension). The firemen, whose dance rehearsals were hilarious, also appeared regularly, together with reminders of how the audience could already start making their bids – or straight donations, if they preferred.

  ‘Please tell me,’ Pete demanded as Vivienne pulled up in the stable yard around eleven, ‘that I’m the one going to London for when Theo and the firemen do a calendar shoot in the buff?’

  Vivienne laughed, and grimaced an apology. ‘Sorry,’ she said, turning to lift Rufus from the car. ‘I have to meet with Al Kohler and a charity rep on Tuesday, so I have to be in London anyway – and you’re needed here.’

  With a flamboyant toss of his head Pete stuck out his arms to take Rufus, and wiggled off over the puddled courtyard with him, leaving Vivienne to follow on with her files and clipboard.

  By midday she was seated at a table she’d requisitioned as a desk, either dealing with phone calls, or running through an ever-changing procedure with Sky’s production manager. Rufus had been whisked off to the manège by Stella and Theo, who were also taking charge of Sharon’s children for the day, and as they trotted around on the Shetlands, even with all the noise in the barn Vivienne could hear the children’s shrieks of delight.

  As one particularly piercing yell travelled into the barn she paused for a moment to listen, and found her thoughts drifting to Miles and how happy she was that he was finally in Rufus’s life. From there it was a short step to wishing they were in private together somewhere right now, finishing what they’d hardly even started this morning.

  ‘Al Kohler wants to talk to you,’ Pete said, interrupting her reverie as he brought his mobile over.

  Taking it, Vivienne said, ‘Al, when are you coming down this way?’

  ‘Sooner than you think,’ he replied. ‘We’ve got an earlier transmission slot if you want it. It’s just come up and is yours if you can be ready.’

  Gulping with dread, and excitement, she said, ‘When is it?’

  ‘Saturday week at ten in the morning.’

  ‘Oh my God!’ she cried. ‘That really doesn’t give us much time, but how can I possibly turn it down?’

  ‘Thought it might work for you,’ he said drolly. ‘We’ll give it plenty of oomph between now and then. I hear you’ve got a calendar shoot next week, so we’ll be there for that, and I’m about to line up a director to work on the promos. With stuff coming in all the time, he won’t have a problem.’

  ‘Al, you’re an angel,’ she told him. ‘If we can pull this off the way we’re hoping, you’re going to be making a lot of difference to a lot of people’s lives.’

  ‘And I’m the only one with a halo?’ he teased.

  ‘But you look so much cuter in it.’

  Laughing, he said, ‘Got to go now. Call if there’s anything, and don’t forget our meeting on Tuesday.’

  As she rang off and handed Pete back his phone her own started to ring. Seeing it was Miles she clicked on right away.

  ‘I’ve just had a call from Kelsey’s headmistress,’ he told her, ‘wanting to know how Kelsey is, and if she’s going to return to school before half-term.’

  Vivienne’s heart sank to a horrible depth. ‘But Mrs Davies took her back,’ she protested.

  ‘Yes, but apparently Kelsey left again the day after I told her about Jacqueline’s call. The headmistress thought I’d come to pick her up.’

  ‘So where can she be? You’ve spoken to her since, so we have to assume she’s all right … Obviously you’ve tried calling her?’

  ‘Of course. I was diverted through to voicemail. The last time I actually spoke to her was first thing this morning.’

  ‘What about her friend, Martha? She has to know where she is.’

  ‘The headmistress is going to talk to her and get back to me.’

  ‘What can I do?’

  ‘For the moment nothing, apart from take care of our son. I’m going upstair
s to check Kelsey’s room, and if need be I’ll drive to the school. I’ll call as soon as I have some news.’

  After ringing off Vivienne walked over to the manège, where Rufus and Sharon’s children were still riding round in circles on the Shetlands, with Stella and Theo as guides.

  Seeing her coming, Theo handed the reins he was holding to Stella, and walked to the fence. ‘Is something the matter?’ he asked, responding to the worried look on Vivienne’s face.

  ‘Kelsey’s not at school, where she’s supposed to be,’ she told him, smiling faintly at Rufus’s unfailing exuberance.

  ‘Ah, not good,’ Theo responded. ‘Have you any idea where she might be?’

  She shook her head, and her eyes glazed as she stared out across the fields. ‘She’s been calling regularly, but from her mobile, so heaven only knows where she is.’

  Theo was starting to look troubled. ‘One of her friends must know,’ he said.

  ‘That’s what Miles is trying to find out. I’m sure she can’t be far.’

  Theo turned as Stella came to join them, with the children and Shetlands in tow.

  ‘Hello you,’ Vivienne said, catching Rufus as he hurled himself at her.

  ‘Mum,’ he cried gleefully. ‘Ross.’

  ‘Yes, it’s a horse,’ she agreed. ‘And you’re a very good rider.’

  ‘You’m looking a bit glum, you two,’ Stella told them. ‘Has somethin’ ’appened?’

  Vivienne handed Rufus to Theo and went to scoop Sharon’s children from their ponies, while Theo told Stella about Kelsey.

  When he’d finished Stella filled her cheeks with air and blew it out in an exasperated sigh. ‘Bloody kids, pardon my language,’ she said. ‘They’m more trouble than they’m worth half the time.’ She looked at Vivienne with a meaningful expression. ‘If you asks me, she’s either out there trying to find her mother, or just as likely, she’s doing it to get attention from her father.’

  ‘Which he gives her all the time,’ Vivienne assured her.

  ‘Ah, but it’s a bit different now this little rascal’s on the scene, innit?’ she said, chucking Rufus under the chin. ‘Her position as apple of Daddy’s eye is being threatened.’

  ‘That’s what worries me,’ Vivienne said.

  ‘Oh, she won’t be far,’ Stella said, squeezing her arm. ‘Believe me, they never are.’

  ‘Wherever she is,’ Vivienne muttered, ‘I could brain her for doing this to her father. Considering what’s happening with her mother, the last thing he needs is his daughter getting him caught up in some ludicrous game of hide-and-seek as well.’

  ‘Tha’s probably what it’s all about,’ Stella told her. ‘Kids that age don’t think about what they’m doing to their parents. And after all that poor girl’s been through, it’d be a miracle if she ever thought about anyone but herself. Bet I wouldn’t if I was her. What about you, Theo?’

  ‘I’m no expert,’ he responded, ‘but if she really has run away, I bet she’s feeling pretty lonely right now.’

  As Kelsey’s headmistress showed Miles into her study Martha Barnes got quickly to her feet, looking nervous, guilty and very much as though she’d like to bolt.

  ‘I’ll leave you to it, Mr Avery,’ the headmistress said, and lancing Martha with a look that made the girl shrink, she added, ‘If you need me I’ll be next door, in the office.’

  After thanking her and waiting until she’d gone, Miles gently told Martha to sit down, and took the other guest chair in front of the desk.

  Regarding her bowed head, he cut the preamble and said, ‘You told me on the phone that you don’t know where Kelsey is, but I think you do, Martha, so please, I need you to tell me.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she wailed, keeping her head down. ‘Honestly, I don’t.’

  ‘I’d like you to look at me and say that.’

  Her head stayed down as she shook it.

  ‘Martha, do you realise, if you don’t cooperate with me, I’ll have to contact the police?’

  She stiffened, but all she said was, ‘I swear she didn’t tell me where she was going.’

  ‘But you saw her, when she came back to school?’

  She nodded.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘Nothing, I mean like she came back, and then you rang to say her mum had been in touch with the police … I didn’t mean to upset her. It was like a really dumb thing to say, I know that now—’

  ‘What did you say?’ he broke in, his pulses starting to quicken.

  Her eyes stayed on her tightly bunched hands. ‘Only that I thought her mum was mean for not calling her …’ Her head came up. ‘I didn’t expect her to go off on one,’ she cried defensively. ‘She’s always saying how her mum never thinks about anyone but herself, or her brother that went, well, you know …’ She stopped again, apparently afraid she was stumbling onto forbidden ground.

  ‘What happened after she lost her temper?’ he prompted.

  She shrugged. ‘She said she thought I was her friend, but now she knew I wasn’t she was going to ask to be moved from our room. But that’s not true!’ she protested. ‘I am her friend. I really like her, and I always stick up for her when the others get on her case about you and being a daddy’s girl and all that.’

  Having had no idea Kelsey was being teased or taunted, Miles put it aside for the moment, saying, ‘What did she take with her?’

  ‘Not much, actually. A lot of her stuff is still here.’

  ‘Where did she go?’

  ‘I don’t know. She just went, and like, none of us know where she is now.’

  ‘Is she texting or calling you?’

  She nodded.

  ‘What does she say?’

  ‘Just that she’s sorry she shouted at me, and she hopes I’m still her friend.’

  ‘You must have asked her where she is.’

  She shook her head. ‘I mean, yes, I have, but she won’t tell me.’

  Not at all certain she was being truthful, he said, ‘Can you suggest somewhere she might be?’

  She shrugged. ‘Not really. I mean, I thought she’d gone home, to you, but then … Well, she’s all upset about, you know …’ Her eyes flicked to him anxiously.

  ‘Vivienne?’ he said for her.

  She nodded. ‘Like she’s always been … Well, you know, she thinks you don’t want her any more, and I can understand why that’s hard for her, because when she first came here, she used to tell everyone about how you know all these important people … She was dead proud of you. It was why everyone started calling you the ledge – that’s legend – and they called her daddy’s girl, because every time we were talking about boys all she used to talk about was you.’

  Feeling the painful conflict of Kelsey’s hero-worship and unhappiness, he said, ‘If you really don’t know where she is, will you help me to find her?’

  Her eyes started to dart about the floor. ‘Well, uh, I mean yes,’ she said, and her manner as well as her tone left him in little doubt that she already knew.

  ‘OK. If you speak to her before I do,’ he said carefully, ‘will you tell her how worried I am?’

  She nodded. ‘I think she knows that,’ she confessed. ‘I mean, she knew you would be.’

  Understanding that was exactly what Kelsey wanted, he said, ‘When did you last speak to her?’

  She hesitated. ‘Um, I think it was this morning.’

  ‘Before or after you and I spoke on the phone?’

  She took a breath. ‘Before, I think. Yes, it was before.’

  Certain she was lying, and that she’d already told Kelsey her absence was starting to cause a fuss, he said, ‘I’ll give you my mobile number. Please call me the minute you hear from her again, or have any idea where she is.’

  Taking the piece of paper he handed her, she read it and said, ‘Can I go now?’

  ‘Of course,’ and resisting the urge to shake the truth out of her, he went to open the door. ‘You’ve been very helpful,’ he told her as she passed
into the adjoining office. ‘Thank you. I hope you won’t mind telling the police everything you’ve told me.’

  She visibly paled. ‘Have you reported it to them already?’ she asked.

  ‘No, but I’ll have to. Kelsey’s only fourteen.’

  Her eyes flitted over to the headmistress, who was clearly listening, then putting her head down again she scuttled across the office and out into the corridor.

  ‘I’m sure she knows where Kelsey is,’ Miles told the head.

  Mrs Ferndale pursed her lips. ‘Girls of that age,’ she said tersely. ‘They think themselves exceedingly clever at times, when they’re anything but. I’ll talk to her again, and contact you as soon as I have anything to report.’

  ‘Kelsey, it’s me,’ Martha whispered into her mobile. ‘Your dad’s just been to the school. He’s really, really worried. You have to tell him where you are, or I’m going to be in big trouble.’

  ‘No, I’m not doing that,’ Kelsey protested. ‘And don’t you either.’

  ‘He says he’s going to contact the police. If he does, I’ll have to tell them …’

  ‘He won’t!’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘Because I’ll tell him not to.’

  ‘Like that’s going to stop him.’

  ‘It will—’

  ‘Oh my God, I have to go,’ Martha said quickly. ‘Someone’s coming. I’ll call you back as soon as I can.’

  Miles was speeding along the dual carriageway towards Exeter when his mobile started to ring. It didn’t surprise him to see it was Kelsey, though it had taken her a little longer to call than he’d expected.

  ‘I don’t know what kind of game you think you’re playing,’ he said sternly, ‘but I want you to come home right now.’

  ‘No way!’ she cried angrily. ‘If Mum can go off saying she doesn’t want to be found, then I can too. See how she likes it.’

  Stifling his exasperation, he said, ‘Kelsey, the only way she’s going to know is if I contact the police and it gets in the papers. Is that what you want?’