Chapter 13
Harry, Josh and Leo returned breathlessly to the shop to find everybody – except for one person, of course – worrying about George.
Sophie sat well away from the others, busy on Leo’s laptop with her phone by her side.
She was frowning to herself as she tapped away at the keys and seemed to be finding all this fuss very boring.
Leo was painfully aware that Sophie had taken an instant dislike to George.
Earlier, he had heard Sophie telling Harry that the whole lot of them were mugs for getting in a state about a silly little boy.
Didn’t they realise that this was just an attention-seeking stunt from the brat?
Excluded from school at eight years old?
What was all that about? Leo had not been able to hear Harry’s reply, but soon afterwards he had felt an urgent need for a short walk, and since his return, he hadn’t spoken to Sophie at all but had gone downstairs to ‘check out the crèche’ again.
Leo dug out his painting gear and found his painting overalls where he’d left them, screwed up on the floor behind the sofa.
‘Bugger, bugger, bugger…’ he heard Sophie mutter as he began to get his brushes organised.
She had turned the laptop away from the rest of the people in the room and was so deeply absorbed that she didn’t appear to notice Nina wandering towards her, looking for distractions.
Both she and Jess had wanted to go out looking for George immediately, but they’d been told by the police to stay put in case George came to the flat and so that they were available to be given more information if he was seen.
A WPC was patrolling the area directly round their house so there was no point in staying at home.
‘Sorry, Sophie; did I make you jump? That photograph on the screensaver, is it near where you all live?’ said Nina, craning her neck to see the picture.
Sophie pulled a face. ‘It’s Tynemouth. Leo loves it but I prefer the city myself, actually.’
‘Why’s that? It looks beautiful there.’
‘Humph. There’s nothing but beach and a few bitty shops. Boooooooooring!’
Nina sat down next to Sophie, who inched further away. ‘Are you looking for something in particular?’ Nina asked. Sophie shrugged.
‘Not really, but it’s my dad’s birthday soon, so I thought I might get some ideas for his present on here.’
‘No luck?’
Sophie shook her head, flicking her hair back from her shoulders. ‘I’m going to keep trying, if you don’t mind. Haven’t you got something you should be doing? Wiping the worktops? Knitting a lovely jumper? Looking for your cutesy grandson, maybe?’ She gave a sarcastic little laugh.
Leo saw Nina take a deep breath. She left Sophie to her clicking again, and Leo found himself imagining what that shining curtain of hair would look like if someone was to pour a tin of gloss paint right over Sophie’s head.
Had she always been such a bitch? How would he keep her amused when they were living together, just the two of them?
He headed for George’s room to start painting.
It was the only thing he could think of to do that wasn’t disrespectful to the seriousness of the situation.
At least George would have somewhere of his own to come home to if…
he corrected himself hastily… when he was found.
As he left the living area, Leo glanced around the room to check that everyone else was reasonably OK.
He was beginning to feel like the papa around here, and the responsibility was getting to him a bit now.
Josh seemed happy enough. He was now lying on his stomach on the rug, flicking through the TV channels.
Jess had curled up with Alex in the corner of the biggest sofa, with George’s ancient comfort blanket clutched to her chest. Her grey, tear-stained face looked unutterably weary and much older than usual.
Alex was trying to persuade Jess to drink some herbal tea that he’d brought with him.
‘Come on, love, just a sip. It’s really soothing and calming. You need to keep up your fluids.’
‘No, Alex, I just can’t. I’ll be sick. I hate funny tea at the best of times; I like my PG Tips, with two sugars and full-cream milk.’ Alex looked at her with obvious admiration.
‘I don’t know how you stay so slim with all that junk you put into your body.
It takes me all my time to keep in shape.
’ Stan looked up from his book and rolled his eyes.
Leo guessed that Stan rather wanted to be sitting next to Jess himself.
He had brought his own ancient camp blanket from home, and had wrapped it around Jess’s shoulders, but she still couldn’t seem to get warm.
Stan said it was part of his emergency pack, and he never travelled without it.
The blanket was huge, soft and rather grubby, and Stan said it always made him feel better, whatever crisis he was going through.
So far it didn’t seem to be working its magic on Jess.
She wriggled more closely into its warmth, looking without much interest at the multi-coloured patches that were stitched all over it in random patterns.
‘Well, it’s going to be easy to keep slim if I can’t eat,’ said Jess.
‘What about a cracker, and a little piece of cheese? Or a nice poached egg? I always have poached eggs if I feel rough, my mum used to swear by them, on marmite toast,’ said Alex.
‘When George is found, I’ll eat,’ said Jess.
‘What about you, Nina?’
‘I can’t eat at the moment, Alex, honestly, I just keep thinking about Georgie. He must be hungry by now, and completely lost. Where can he have gone?’
The landline in the flat began to ring at exactly the same time as Jess’s mobile. Leo looked round, startled. ‘I’d forgotten there was still a landline connected here. Where the hell is it?’ he said, starting to rummage around. He found it under a heap of newspapers.
‘Quick, Mum, you take my phone, I’ll get Leo’s,’ said Jess, throwing her mobile to Nina, who went into the kitchen covering one ear.
There was a silence and everyone except Sophie leaned forward hopefully.
‘So, you’re saying you think someone’s seen him?’ shouted Jess into the phone. ‘What time was that? I need to get to Brighton quickly. You’ll send a car? Yes! I’ll be ready in two minutes. Great.’
The others waited impatiently for Jess to enlighten them but she had already run through to the bathroom and could be heard using the facilities noisily. Seconds later, she returned and did a circuit of the room, searching for her bag, which Alex held up.
‘Jess, I know you’re preoccupied, pet, but we all need to know what’s going on. Are you off to Brighton? Has someone definitely seen George?’
‘Yes, they’ve been questioning people around the station area and an old lady remembers seeing a blond spiky-haired boy with a skateboard walking down the hill, she said he looked very cross.
That sounds like my George all right!’ Jess took a deep breath, and tried to tidy her hair, which had started to come out of its usual plait.
In desperation, she undid it properly and shook it free of its binding.
A cascade of blonde waves fell to her waist; every male in the room looked on in admiration and Stan gasped and sat down suddenly on the sofa.
‘Beautiful… just beautiful… like Lady Godiva, or even Lady Gaga, or Jerry Hall on those old Roxy Music album covers that Dad’s got,’ murmured Alex, ecstatically. ‘Have you ever thought of modelling, Jess?’ The others glared at him scornfully as Nina came back from the kitchen.
‘Mab and Den have just caught the train to Brighton,’ she announced. The sound of a car horn in the street stopped everyone in their tracks. Jess looked out of the window.
‘They’re here – I need to go. Look, thanks for everything, all of you. I’ll find him soon, I know I will.’
‘You can’t go on your own, Jess. I’ll come with you,’ said Nina, starting to get up. Stan put his hand on her shoulder.
‘No, I’m going with Jess. You’ve all got a million and one things to do. I’m not working, remember? I’ll go. We’ll soon have him home.’
Jess looked hunted. ‘There’s no need for that, Stan, honestly. I’m OK.’
‘Look, we haven’t got time to argue. I’m going with you, and that’s final.’
Jess paused, shrugged, and then nodded. The two of them clattered down the stairs, and Alex, Josh and Nina followed with the idea of waving them off. Sophie was writing something in a small notebook, and didn’t look up.