Do No Harm by L. V. Hay

Author:L. V. Hay [L. V. Hay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781912374229
Publisher: Orenda Books
Published: 2018-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-seven

‘Child endangerment?’ Triss said, agog.

I shifted on the grass and rolled over onto my side to get a better view of my best friend. It was finally the start of the school holidays, the last week of July. Triss had turned up that morning with a picnic, demanding we go out with her. Being the head teacher, Sebastian still wasn’t able to tear himself away and had already left for school, but I was only too happy to oblige. We were now in Webb’s Folly, one of the most popular recreational areas for families on Epsom Common. My friend lay on an old blanket, her leggings rolled up, her red hair piled on top of her head.

She shook her head in dismay. ‘Oh, God. Kelly was right. This is all my fault!’

‘It is not,’ I countered. ‘You thought Denny had gone back to Kelly. Besides, Sebastian told Social Services that Denny was never on the common. If they could prove otherwise, they would have said. It’s not likely we will hear from them again; they were just ticking a box. No harm done.’

Triss narrowed her eyes. ‘There’s something else you’re not telling me…’ She knew me too well.

‘Look, we can’t prove it,’ I said, ‘but we think it was Maxwell. He’s been baiting us for weeks. Practically since the wedding reception.’

‘Where did Denny say he was when he went missing?’

I shrugged. ‘He said he was in the toilet.’

‘Little bugger. He was not!’ Triss leaned forwards, fervour in her eyes. ‘I checked in there, like, a billion times. Are we supposed to believe Denny was trotting around the school, just ahead or behind everyone who was looking for him?’

‘Exactly.’ I sighed. ‘Denny worships Maxwell, too. I can’t get him to admit it. I think he’s still angry with me for taking him to the bloody play therapist.’

There was a pause as we both contemplated this impasse. Triss grabbed a can of spray-on sunscreen from her bag; it was already time for her to reapply. She rubbed the green lotion into her pale calves. ‘This is all a bit weird though. Why would he steal his own kid, then bring him back in secret? What the hell is he playing at?’

I adjusted the rim of my hat. ‘Maxwell likes to play the long game. This is all adding up to something, somehow. I’m just not sure what yet.’

I could almost taste the coconut smell of the sunscreen. It was all over my hands. Denny had begrudgingly allowed me to put some on his face and neck before running off across the common with a little friend he’d spied from school. That boy’s mother sat to our left, her nose in her Kindle, underneath a parasol. Next to me, Denny’s clothes were neatly folded, his phone tucked into one of his trainers. I hadn’t wanted to bring it, but he’d insisted.

Nearby, I could see Denny and the other boy in their shorts, little stick legs. They poked at something in the long grass with a branch.

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