The Stolen Child by Sanjida Kay

Author:Sanjida Kay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atlantic Books

By midday we’ve checked the Valley of Death, with its treacherous cliffs and rocks, sharp as shark’s teeth, above which, one day, Harris’s sculpture will stand, and we’re slogging through the bog leading up to the Twelve Apostles. Someone emerges from the mist and comes towards me, her hands outstretched. She grasps mine. Her eyes fill with tears. It’s Mandy Kilvington’s mum. Mandy is in Evie’s class, but I can’t think what her mum’s name is. There’s a terrifying blank where the answer should be.

‘We are all so sorry. Evie was a precious child. We all loved her. Such a talented little artist.’

I can’t stand her tone of voice and I snatch my hands away.

‘Thank you for coming to look for her,’ I say through gritted teeth.

‘We couldn’t possibly stay away. Julie, Heather and I, we’re all here. Our daughters played with Evie all the time at school. We couldn’t imagine – if my Mandy – if one of our children —’

I can feel Ruby’s presence. She’s hovering just behind my shoulder. Now she leans forward and offers her hand.

‘I’m Ruby Patel, the family liaison officer. Thank you for coming to help, Mrs…?’

‘Mrs Kilvington,’ Mandy’s mum says. She wipes her tears away with a tissue. ‘The first twenty-four hours is crucial, isn’t it? That’s why everyone from Evie’s class has come to help. Because we simply have to find her—’

I’m going to be sick again.

‘Thank you,’ says Ruby. ‘It’s actually forty-eight hours. But, as you say, time is of the essence. Shall we get back to looking for Evie?’

Mrs Kilvington narrows her eyes at Ruby and sniffs. ‘If there’s anything you need, anything at all, please call,’ she says, seizing my wrist.

‘Thank you,’ I manage before turning away.

Ruby puts her arm around me and squeezes. ‘There’s always one, wants to turn everything into a drama all about them.’

‘She said “played”. Past tense.’

‘Evie is missing, that’s all we know,’ says Ruby gently.

I look into her large, almond shaped eyes with their thick lashes. I can’t read her, I can’t tell what she really thinks. Evie has been missing for almost twenty hours.

‘You could do with a break. We’ve got plenty of officers out here who are trained to do this job.’ I’m about to protest, when she says, ‘You can always rejoin the search party later. But you need to keep your strength up. I’ll go and get your husband, he can walk you back.’

I haven’t seen Ben since yesterday afternoon and I nod wordlessly. Ollie and I head towards the Cow and Calf rocks and then we drop straight down Hangingstone Road and along the bridleway to the back of our house. There’s a litany running through my mind, ‘Where is she? Where is she?’ over and over. I bite my lip to stop myself from saying it out loud. Ollie doesn’t hold my hand, or help me, as he normally would when I stumble on the uneven path, he’s so wrapped up in his own grief.

He doesn’t speak until we can see our house and then he says, ‘I’m going to kill Jack Mitchell.

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