The Hornbeam Tree (57 page)

‘Even as we speak.’

‘How long will it take them to get there?’

‘They’re being flown in from an RAF base in Suffolk. The French counter-terrorism people have been contacted to pick them up on the ground – I’d say we’re looking at three hours max.’

‘Good. Call Daniel Allbringer and give him the news. I’ll be at my office within the hour.’

Chapter Twenty-Four

‘
I’VE JUST HAD
a text from Elliot,’ Laurie said, as Michelle came to join her at the school gates. ‘He’s on his way back to London.’

Michelle’s face was pale. ‘But Tom’s staying put?’ she said.

‘I presume so. We’ll know more once Elliot gets here. How’s it going in there?’

‘Still no joy,’ Michelle responded, turning to look at the hundreds of students teeming around the school yard. ‘I’d forgotten how monosyllabic kids can be at that age. It’s like they’re brain-dead, half of them.’ Spotting Rusty Phillips lurking next to the iron grid fence about twenty yards away, she said, ‘Ah, he’s arrived. Apparently he’s been at the orthodontist this morning, getting his braces tightened.’

‘Well that should make him talk,’ Laurie responded dryly, ‘and he certainly seems to have something on his mind, the way he keeps looking over here. What do you say we help him along and go over there?’

But before either of them could move the boy suddenly lunged at a group of girls nearby and gave one of them such an almighty shove that it knocked her to the ground. Within seconds a major brawl had broken out with him at the centre, being kicked and thumped and berated so savagely that it took Michelle, Laurie and two teachers to pull the crowd off.

‘Fucking raping bastard,’ one of the girls spat, as she dusted herself down and started to walk away. Her progress was suddenly hastened as a teacher grabbed her ear and frogmarched her, howling, into the school building.

‘You’re mental. You ought to be locked up,’ another girl snarled, as Rusty began picking himself up.

‘Fucking look at you, you retard!’ someone else hissed.

He was indeed a sorry sight, with blood trickling from his nose, his glasses skewed across his face and his shirt hanging out front and back. He glanced at Michelle, then ducked his head and started walking away.

‘Rusty,’ she called after him.

He flinched, but didn’t stop.

‘Rusty,’ she repeated more firmly. ‘I’d like a word with you.’

He spun round. ‘I didn’t rape her,’ he cried. ‘They’re all making things up just because her top was found by my house, but I didn’t do anything.’

Michelle moved quickly towards him. ‘No-one’s saying you did, or none of us,’ she assured him. ‘It’s just girls – they can be pretty stupid sometimes, and say things they shouldn’t.’

‘They don’t know what they’re talking about,’ he growled, glaring angrily at the crowd that was still trailing away, ‘and the next person who says I cut her up in pieces is really going to get it.’

‘Oh yeah?’ a stroppy young blonde girl challenged. ‘Like you and whose army?’

‘Just you come here and say that!’

‘All right, that’s enough,’ Michelle barked, as the girl began closing in on him. ‘Just go away please, and you, Rusty, come with me.’

The girl wasn’t easily put off, so Laurie stepped swiftly in front of her, while Michelle marched Rusty over to the gates.

‘You know who I am, don’t you?’ Michelle said.

He nodded.

‘You were on your way to tell me something just now.’

He looked away.

‘Rusty, Molly’s mother is in a dreadful state. She’s very ill, so if you know where Molly is …’

‘I said she had to go home,’ he blurted defensively, ‘but she says everyone hates her, because she’s evil and nasty, so she doesn’t have a home to go to.’

‘Oh my God,’ Michelle murmured, glancing at Laurie as she joined them. ‘Where is she, Rusty?’ she urged. ‘Where was she when she said that to you?’

His head went down.

‘Rusty!’ she cried. ‘You have to tell me.’

‘She says you hate her,’ he shouted.

‘Oh Rusty, that isn’t true. She’s my niece. I love her very much, and I want to help her. Now please tell me where she is.’

He seemed to be withdrawing again, and flinched as she held onto him to prevent any attempt to take off. ‘She said she’d kill me if I told anyone where she was,’ he wailed.

‘Rusty …’

‘Come with me,’ Laurie interrupted, firmly taking his arm. ‘You can show us the way.’

‘But I’ve got to be back in class,’ he protested, trying to drag himself free, but Michelle was holding his other arm, helping to propel him towards the car.

‘We’ll make your excuses,’ Laurie assured him. ‘Or shall we call the police and let them know that you’re withholding information? That’s a serious offence and could land you in a lot of trouble.’

‘I told Molly that,’ he cried, ‘but she wouldn’t listen. Anyway, I don’t care. I just wanted to help her, because she was all unhappy and afraid … And now her face is all bashed up, and I don’t know how it got like that, because no-one’s seen her except me.’

After stuffing him in the passenger seat, Laurie whisked round to the driver’s side while Michelle leapt in the back.

‘What do you mean her face is bashed up?’ Michelle demanded, as they pulled away.

He kept his head down. ‘I didn’t do it,’ he mumbled. ‘I swear I didn’t.’

‘Which way?’ Laurie barked as they reached the end of the road.

‘Right, and up past the ambulance station.’

‘Where is she?’ Michelle asked. ‘Where exactly are we going?’

‘To my house. She was in our neighbour’s house before, but she didn’t like it there, so she’s in our caravan now.’

‘Is she all right?’ Michelle demanded. ‘What’s this about her face?’

‘I told you, I don’t know,’ he protested. ‘It was just like it yesterday. She won’t tell me how she got it, but I didn’t do it. I swear on my mum’s life, I never touched her, and it won’t be my fault if something’s happened to her now, because I was coming to tell you, before that stupid cow Kylie …’

‘What were you going to tell me?’ Michelle interrupted.

He hesitated a moment, seeming to think he’d said too much, but then he blundered on. ‘She went on this suicide web site to find out how to kill herself,’ he confessed. ‘She wanted me to do it too, but I don’t want to die. Anyway, I don’t think she’ll do it …’

Michelle’s head was spinning as Laurie’s foot went down. ‘When did you last see her?’ Michelle snapped.

‘This morning, after breakfast, while my mum popped down to the butcher.’

‘Oh my God, oh my God,’ Michelle murmured.

‘Where now?’ Laurie barked, as they hared past the ambulance station.

‘Go left after the pub, and then second right,’ he answered.

The tyres squealed as Laurie took the corner sharply, straightened up and sped on to the second turning.

‘I can’t believe this is happening,’ Michelle
muttered
. ‘Please God, we can’t be too late. We just can’t.’

Molly was slumped on the floor of the little caravan that filled up Rusty’s driveway, tucked into the U of the two sofa bunks with the flowery blue and yellow curtains drawn. Her eyes were staring blankly at the shiny nylon carpet, her hands lay loosely on the floor, not quite touching the scissors and razor abandoned beside her. She’d cut her wrist a bit, but it had hurt and she hated the blood, and anyway, Mrs Phillips was really proud of her caravan so it would be really mean to mess it up. It might have been different if Rusty would have done it with her, but he wouldn’t. She didn’t know why he was so keen to go on living, when he was such a muppet. Anyone would think he’d be glad to get away from how horrible everyone was to him, with his stupid hair and braces and all those blobby freckles that splodged around his face like great big ginger pancakes. He’d twitched a bit and told her she was mean and cruel when she’d said all that to him last night, and then he’d really gone off on one, trying to make her go home, saying she was just being childish and selfish hiding away like she was a criminal or something. He was so stupid, he didn’t realize she had nowhere to go, which had made her cry and straight away he’d said he was sorry. She was sorry too, because she didn’t mean to be horrible to him, she was just like that, because she was evil and nasty and didn’t deserve any friends anyway.

Her eyes strayed back to the razor and scissors. Maybe she ought to have another go, because her
mind
kept filling up with thoughts of her mum, and it was all horrible and she just couldn’t stand it. She hadn’t cried all morning, which was good, but she’d got really, really scared when she’d realized that even if she did go back now, the police would probably say her mum wasn’t doing a good enough job looking after her, so they’d have to take her into care. If she hadn’t been so mean and horrible to Michelle, then Michelle might try to stop them, but she wouldn’t do it now. She’d just want to get rid of her, and who could blame her? She was ugly and evil and nasty and didn’t deserve anyone to love her, even God thought that, because he was going to take her mum away.

Her fingers closed around the scissors. She sat staring at them, but wasn’t really seeing them. She wasn’t seeing anything any more, she was just feeling more and more miserable and wishing she could go home to her mum. She heard a car pulling up in the street, but didn’t even care if it was the police. They could take her and stuff her in a home somewhere for all she cared. Everyone could laugh at her then, and be mean and nasty, the way Cecily and Allison had, and talk about how dumb she was for believing all their lies. They’d all be seriously horrible to her, and she wouldn’t blame them, because why would anyone ever want to be nice to her, when she’d been so cruel to her mum and Michelle and Rusty and all the people who were kind to her?

She heard the caravan door open, but didn’t look up. Someone came in and said her name really softly. She didn’t mean to, but this really loud sob came out, and then another and another and then
Michelle
was kneeling in front of her and pulling her into her arms.

Molly couldn’t catch her breath. Her body was convulsing with sobs, her arms were clinging tight to Michelle, her face buried in her neck. She gasped and shuddered, choked and held on even tighter.

‘It’s all right,’ Michelle whispered, tears falling on to her own cheeks, ‘everything’s all right. You’re going to be fine.’

Molly tried to speak, but her voice came out all weird and in short, stammering sobs. ‘I-I don’t want-want her to die,’ she choked. ‘Please, Michelle, don’t let her die.’

‘Oh my love, my love,’ Michelle wept. ‘If there was anything I could do to stop it, I swear I would.’

Molly’s sobs grew harder, and she moved in even closer, as though to absorb herself inside Michelle.

‘We’ll get through it,’ Michelle told her gently. ‘We’ll get through it together. You and me.’

‘It’s not-not, going to hap-happen yet, is it?’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘Please don’t let it happen, Michelle.
Please
. Tell her I’m sorry …’

‘Sssh, ssh,’ Michelle murmured, kissing her hair. ‘You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.’

‘I didn’t mean to hit her …’

‘I know, and so does she.’

Molly continued to cry, letting all her grief and sadness pour out on to Michelle’s shoulder. Finally she pulled back to look at Michelle, her face still quivering, her chest heaving as she said, ‘I’m – I’m really sorry for what I said about you.’

Michelle smiled through her tears. ‘Even if I
knew
what it was, I’d still forgive you,’ she said, stroking Molly’s face and fearing that she knew what the bruising was about. ‘Look at you,’ she whispered, ‘you’re so beautiful and silly and we love you so much.’ She ran her fingers through Molly’s hair, then pressed a kiss to her forehead. ‘I think we should give Mum a call, don’t you? She’ll want to know that you’re all right.’

Molly nodded.

As Michelle put the number into her mobile, she shifted position slightly, to sit more comfortably, while still holding Molly in one arm. When she got through she half-expected Judy to answer, but it was Katie’s voice that came tentatively down the line.

‘Hello,’ Michelle responded. ‘I’ve …’

‘Oh thank God, Michelle listen, I’m …’

‘Katie,’ Michelle said firmly, ‘I’ve got someone here who’d like to talk to you,’ and she passed the phone to Molly.

‘Mum?’ Molly said, brokenly.

‘Oh my God,’ Katie cried. ‘Molly. Oh thank God, thank God. Where are you? Are you all right?’

‘Yes, I’m fine. I’m with Michelle.’

‘I’ve been so worried,’ Katie said, starting to break down. ‘Oh Molly … I’m sorry for what I said, the way I said it …’

‘No, Mum, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.’ She gulped and sobbed. ‘Mum – Mum, I want to come home.’

‘Oh Molly, please come home. I’ve missed you so much, yes, please come home.’

Michelle took the phone. ‘We’re not far away,’ she told Katie. ‘And she’s fine. All in one piece.
Missing
her mum, as you can tell, so we won’t be long.’

Katie was standing at the gate as Laurie’s car came down the lane, and almost before they came to a stop Molly was leaping out to get to her mother. Katie was already there, waiting to catch her.

‘Oh Molly,’ she sobbed, wrapping her in her arms. ‘My baby. Thank God you’re all right. Let me look at you,’ and clasping Molly’s tear-ravaged face between her hands she gazed searchingly down at her, wondering what all the bruising was, but not mentioning it now. ‘I love you so much,’ she said, her lips barely able to form the words, they were trembling so.

‘I love you too,’ Molly said, starting to cry again. ‘And I’m really sorry … I just don’t want you to … Please Mum, don’t. Please, please don’t …’

‘Ssh,’ Katie soothed, drawing her back into her arms. ‘We’ll talk about that later, let’s just get you inside now, give you some food and a bath and you can tell me where you’ve been, what on earth you’ve been up to. They found your shoe and red top, you know …’

‘I threw the top away,’ Molly said, leaning against her as they started inside. ‘I knew you didn’t like it, so I didn’t want it any more.’