Chapter 41

CHAPTER

41

Before he tried anywhere else, Matt started running towards the one place in Wagtail Ridge Sally might have taken Vicki on this particular day. Not far from the school was the white wooden church with its small graveyard sheltered by trees. Sally had wanted Kim brought back to Newcastle for her funeral, but Kim had made it clear she wanted to rest here, in the place she had made her home, close to her husband and her daughter. As he ran, Matt clung to the tiny hope that he would find Vicki safe by her mother’s grave.

The graveyard was deserted. Just to make certain, he darted inside the white fence and to the carved headstone that bore Kim’s name. As he reached out to stroke the cold stone, tears pricked at the back of his eyes.

‘I’m sorry, Kim. So, so sorry. I failed in my promise to you. I haven’t kept our little girl safe. But I swear, if—’ he choked back the word, ‘—when she’s back with me, I will never let anything or anyone threaten her again. Not even Sally.’

He left the graveyard, breaking into a run as he approached the playground that even now he could see was empty. There were several cars parked outside the knitting shop when Matt dashed through the door, looking around, desperate to see Vicki innocently playing with her knitting, despite knowing in his heart that she wasn’t there. Just as she hadn’t been at the playground. Or at the house.

Rose looked up in surprise. She detached herself from the customer she was serving and came up to him, her brow furrowing with concern.

‘Matt. What’s wrong?’

‘Have you seen Vicki this afternoon?’

‘No, should I have? I wasn’t expecting her.’

‘She’s gone. I think—’

Rose put her hand on his arm and guided him away from the customers, who were starting to look their way. ‘Tell me everything.’

‘I had plans with Vicki this afternoon. I was taking her for her first horse-riding lesson. It was a surprise. When I went to the school to pick her up, she wasn’t there.’

‘And you’ve checked everywhere?’

‘I have. Sally has her. Kelly’s kids saw her at the school. And besides …’ He was almost choking on his terrible fear.

‘What?’

Something deep inside him broke and his anger and energy suddenly melted away. His shoulders sagged and he felt defeated. ‘Today is Kim’s birthday.’

For more than two years, every time he had spoken Kim’s name, a shaft of pain had cut him in two. The pain was there again, but it was different this time. The grief had been replaced by fear—fear for the daughter he and Kim loved more than anything in the world.

Rose put a hand on his arm. ‘Sally would never hurt her.’

He would have said the same once, but he was no longer sure. ‘Not deliberately. But I think she’s so lost in her grief that she’s unstable. I don’t know what she’s going to do. Especially today.’

‘Have you tried ringing her?’

Before he could answer, the shop door opened. Hope flared and Matt looked up. But it wasn’t Vicki—it was Bree. She joined them, but didn’t ask if there was any news. Matt guessed that his face told her everything she needed to know. He wanted to put his arms around her and bury himself in her to try to ease the crippling fear. He didn’t. Instead, he grabbed her hand, clinging to it to ground himself in the horror that surrounded him.

‘Have you tried ringing Sally?’ Bree asked.

‘No.’ Matt ran his fingers through his hair. ‘Margaret told me to have no contact with her at all. She wants to file a temporary restraining order against her.’

‘It’s too late for that. You should call her now. Tell her to bring Vicki back. Or try to find out where she is. It’s that or call the police.’

‘I don’t want to bring the police in.’ Matt was sure of that. ‘It’ll only make things worse.’

‘You may not have a choice. But try ringing her first.’

The conversation was interrupted by restless movements from the customers still milling around in the shop.

‘You two go into the cottage,’ Rose said. ‘I’ll sort things out here, then close up for the day.’

Matt allowed Bree to lead him to the rear of the shop and into the cottage kitchen.

‘Call Sally,’ Bree told him.

Matt did. He put the phone on speaker and the two of them stood there listening to it ring. And ring. And ring.

When the voicemail cut in, Matt ended the call without leaving a message. ‘I’m going to try Brian.’

Bree nodded.

This time there was an answer.

‘Matt?’ The voice was tense. Clearly Brian knew something was wrong.

‘Brian, where’s Sally?’

‘I don’t know. I came home from work early. We usually go to the church today, but Sally wasn’t here. Why are you asking? Is she up there?’

‘Vicki’s missing.’ Matt didn’t try to soften the blow. ‘I think Sally has taken her.’

The silence down the phone told Matt that Brian agreed.

‘We need to find them, Brian. Can you help me?’

‘Have you called the police?’

‘No, but I will if I have to. Brian, if you know anything, tell me.’

‘Please don’t call the police. You know Sally would never harm Vicki.’

‘I know she wouldn’t deliberately hurt her. But, Brian, you and I both know Sally’s not well. She needs help. And today, she may be … We have to find them, for her as well as for Vicki.’

A long period of silence followed. Matt looked at Bree. She was as tense as he was, the hope and fear in her face reflecting what he felt in his heart.

He was about to give up and call the police when Brian spoke.

‘Barrington Tops.’

‘The national park?’

‘Yes. We used to take Kim there for her birthday when she was small. Every year on a camping trip. We stayed at one of the campsites for two or three days. She may have gone there.’

‘It’s a big place. Where exactly in the park?’

‘It was a small campsite. We haven’t been there for years. It may not even exist any more.’

Matt’s heart was racing. He believed Brian was right. He had to. ‘Tell me how to get there.’

‘I can’t. It’s hard to find. I’ll go.’

‘I’m coming too. You meet me and show me how to get there.’

‘All right. Do you know East Gresford?’

‘I’ll find it.’

‘Meet me there. In the pub car park at the main intersection. It’s going to take us both over an hour to get there. Then we can go into the national park together. There are dozens of campsites. I can guide us to the right one.’

‘I’m leaving now.’ Matt ended the call.

‘Be careful,’ Bree urged him, her voice full of concern. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to call the police?’

He was very sure. Calling the police might make an already awful situation worse. ‘I don’t want Vicki to be frightened. And I don’t want her to see her grandmother arrested. That’s what will happen if we call the police. I think Brian’s right, and I want to believe that, between us, we can get Sally to see reason. Let me bring Vicki home. And then get some help.’

He took Bree’s hands in his. ‘I have no right to ask this, but will you come with me? If Sally is … Brian and I might both need to help her. Vicki will need—’

Bree shook her head. ‘You don’t even have to ask. Let’s go.’

They re-entered the shop. The last customers were leaving.

‘We think we know where they are,’ Matt said. ‘We’re going there now. It’s going to be at least three hours.’

‘I hope you find her,’ Rose said. ‘Go.’

Bree hesitated. ‘Nan, is Mike about?’

‘He’ll be here soon. What do you need?’

‘Can he go to the farm, please, and help out?’

‘Of course. Don’t worry.’

For a moment, Matt considered asking Bree what she needed Mike for, but thoughts of Vicki, alone in the national park with her grandmother, pushed everything else out of his mind. They got into the car and, ignoring the speed limit, he headed south.

***

They drove in silence. Bree wished she could think of the words to say to help Matt. She couldn’t tell him Vicki would be fine, because they didn’t know that. They didn’t even know if she really would be at the campsite, but it was the only option they had. Bree didn’t want to even contemplate what would happen if they got to the place and she wasn’t there. The only option then would be to call the police and that would tear Vicki’s small family apart, with little hope of ever recovering.

About thirty minutes into the trip, her phone buzzed. She checked her messages.

‘It’s nothing,’ she told Matt, but it was something. Mike had arrived at The Gums. His text was to say that he and Anna and Maggie were waiting. The first of the twins was still not born, but Sky was all right. Bree was gutted not to be there. Apart from the rarity of such a birth, if the crias survived, they represented a lot of money for her delicately balanced new business. But right now, being with Matt was more important than anything else. She glanced at the phone one last time, noticing the signal had suddenly dropped to nothing, then put it away.

When they arrived at the agreed meeting spot, Matt pulled up in the pub car park and they got out of the car. Brian wasn’t there. It was late afternoon, dark storm clouds were rolling across the sky and the temperature was falling.

‘Vicki didn’t take a jacket to school today,’ Matt said in a voice quivering with anxiety. ‘She’ll get cold.’ He started pacing, his eyes moving from the road to the entrance to the car park and to the mountains in the distance and back again. ‘And where is Brian? He said he’d be here.’ He reached into his pocket for his phone.

Bree put her hand on his arm. ‘Matt. He’ll be driving, so he won’t answer. You’re not helping yourself or Vicki this way. Vicki will need you to be calm when we find them. And we will find them.’

She put her arms around him, meaning to give him a quick supportive hug, but he clasped her to him so hard she could barely breathe.

‘Thank you for being here,’ he said. ‘I don’t think I could cope right now without you.’

She held him tightly for a few seconds, searching for the right words to say.

Before she found them, a car pulled up beside them and Brian got out.

Matt let Bree go. ‘Have you heard anything?’ he asked.

‘No. I did try calling Sally, but there’s no phone signal where I think they are. Are you ready to go? Is your petrol tank full? There’s none where we’re going.’

‘Let’s go. It’ll be dark soon. Vicki will be cold and scared.’

Matt walked back to his car and got in. Bree followed and before long, they were driving into the mountains, following Brian’s white hybrid.