The Search Party by Hannah Richell

Author:Hannah Richell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2024-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

Max

Sunday evening

“I didn’t want Kip out there alone and responsible for Phoebe any more than Dominic did. But not,” he adds with insistence, “because I had the same worries as Dom.” Max eyes DC Haines, sitting across the table from him in the farmhouse kitchen. He hopes she is getting a fair representation, an accurate account from everyone. “I trusted Kip. He might only be twelve, but I knew he could find his way home. I’d shown him the area, told him to stick to the footpaths and trails. Simply, I didn’t think it was fair for him to be alone and responsible for a six-year-old. That’s why it was important we found them.”

“So you, Mr. Davies, and Mr. Miller formed a search party?”

“Yes, of course. We left right away.”

Dominic had set the pace. He’d set off at a furious charge, only turning to wait for them at the first stile. “Did you hear that?” he’d asked.

Max shook his head. Jim shrugged.

“I thought I heard a cry.”

The three men stood at the stile and listened. They heard nothing but the gusting wind rising up off the bluff and racing across the fields, the distant thump of the ocean smashing into the headland. A crow, wheeling on the breeze, let out a high caw-caw-caw.

“Just a bird,” reassured Max. “No need to panic.”

He laid a hand on Dominic’s shoulder, but Dominic shrugged it off. “Let’s go.”

Dominic climbed up onto the stile. “Phoebe!” he called, cupping his hands to his mouth. Then louder, “Phoebe!” There was no answer. He jumped down on the other side and indicated with an impatient gesture that Max should lead. “Come on.”

There was no sign of the children in the first two fields, and at the stile into the third field they hesitated. “There are the cows,” said Max, pointing. “We should be all right if we keep to the hedge, but keep your wits about you.”

“I didn’t know… cows… would do that,” puffed Jim.

Dominic ignored him. There was a strange energy crackling between the two friends Max couldn’t quite place. He looked back to check if Jim was all right and saw the sweaty sheen on his forehead. “You okay?” He appeared to be struggling with the pace.

Jim nodded. “Seriously, though, I thought cows were docile things, just wandering round chewing grass all day long.”

“They can be protective of their calves. And bulls, of course, are different. Far more aggressive.”

Dominic spun to face him. “Don’t you think you should have warned us? I never would have let the kids go off on their own like that if I’d known about the bull.”

Max raised his hands. “I had no idea. I’ve walked this route for months now and I’ve never seen a bull before.”

“I don’t understand,” said Jim. “If it’s a public footpath, how can that be okay?”

“It’s complicated. There are all sorts of convoluted agricultural rules, but you’re right, the onus is on the farmer to protect the public. If he’s put a bull there without warning, well, it’s bang out of order.

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