The Child’s Secret. Amanda Brooke
she told herself. Don’t give up – not yet.
Her head pounded as she tried to find a more palatable answer. What if Jasmine had walked past their neighbour’s house on purpose and had run away? Then why had her umbrella been shoved into a nearby hedge? Natalie and Keira had found it when they had given up waiting for Jasmine and had called at the house to pick her up.
The door creaked open, pulling Laura away from dark thoughts that were too terrifying to contemplate. Her hand went to her throat and she pulled at her polo neck dress to give her more room to breathe. ‘Any news, Michael?’ she asked the family liaison officer as he poked his head into the living room.
The answer was apparent from the sympathetic look on his face. ‘Sorry. I just thought you’d like to know that DCI Harper is with Mr McIntyre who says he hasn’t seen Jasmine this morning.’
‘He’s lying,’ Finn said with snarl. ‘Give me five minutes with the bastard and I’ll get the truth out of him.’
Laura could taste the tears she was holding back, but it was the bile rising in her throat that made her gag. It was the last shred of hope she had been clinging onto, and, unlike her husband, she firmly believed that if Jasmine had been with Sam, she couldn’t be in safer hands. But if Jasmine wasn’t there, then where was she? If she had run away, where else would an eight-year-old child go? And if she hadn’t run away … As a sob tore from Laura’s lungs, she felt intense pain like a red-hot poker stabbing into her ribcage, making her gasp.
‘Are you all right, Laura?’ Michael asked.
Holding a hand to her left side for support, she took a few juddering breaths before speaking. ‘Sorry, just a twinge. I’ll be fine in a minute.’
Oblivious to his wife’s distress, Finn’s rant continued unabated. ‘I told Harper how Sam must have known what he was doing from the start,’ he said to Michael. ‘Anna – Jasmine’s teacher – told me how he actually tracked me down after meeting our Jazz. Who helps a complete stranger get a job unless there’s an ulterior motive? I should have seen it coming. If anything I blame myself,’ he said, shaking his head.
Laura was staring at the rug again. So do I, she thought and almost said it out loud.
‘Looking back, it’s so bloody obvious,’ Finn continued. ‘All that nonsense he told Jasmine about the Wishing Tree. Has Harper asked him about that? It was a sick and twisted trap to lure little girls. He’ll know where she is and if he’s so much as touched a hair on her head—’
‘If Sam says he hasn’t seen her then I believe him,’ Laura said, unable to hold her tongue a second longer.
‘Yeah, but you’re just as gullible as our Jazz when it comes to the wonderful Sam McIntyre. You were even more infatuated, and don’t go denying it. Well, I hope you’re pleased with yourself, Laura,’ Finn snapped back before the two resumed their vigil in silence.
Thursday 9 July 2015
Laura crouched down as the little girl with the bright green wig and orange face ran into her arms. The flaking paint on her daughter’s face would leave a dusting of colour on her dress, but Laura couldn’t have stopped Jasmine hugging the life out of her even if she had wanted to.
‘You were amazing,’ Laura whispered in her ear. ‘I’m so proud of you.’
‘I was so nervous I was nearly sick! Seriously!’
‘Well, you weren’t. Well done, Jasmine.’
They both became aware that all eyes were on them and Jasmine would have continued clinging to her mum like a limpet if her dad hadn’t spoken up.
‘About time. Can we get going now?’
Laura gave Finn what she hoped was a meaningful look. It had taken all her powers of persuasion to convince him to come in the first place and she didn’t want him to get this moment wrong. Finn didn’t usually take much interest in Jasmine’s schooling but she had told him that the school play could be an important step forward for their daughter. Jasmine had been too quiet of late, making Laura painfully aware that when Finn had lost his job it had been the whole family who had been affected. Even with the temporary job there was still a good measure of insecurity in their lives and Jasmine needed to know that, despite that uncertainty, she had two parents who loved and cared for her.
When his wife’s piercing blue eyes pricked his conscience, Finn quickly added, ‘And well done from me too, Jazz.’
‘Did you work out which one was me, Dad?’
‘Of course I did, honey. You were the star of the show.’
Jasmine did her best to look sceptical but her eyes sparkled.
‘You did really well, Jasmine,’ Anna added. ‘And you should be very proud of yourself today.’ She then looked to Finn as if to say, can we go now?
Finn didn’t hesitate. ‘Me and your mum are going out for a meal now,’ he said to his daughter, ‘and you can stay over with Keira tonight as a special reward.’
Jasmine looked crestfallen and turned to her mum in the vain hope that she would overrule him. That look pulled at Laura’s heart and she wanted to tell Finn that perhaps they should put off the meal for another time. Finn hadn’t even mentioned going out and she had already eaten with Jasmine earlier. But she couldn’t risk Finn deciding to go out without her because, given half a chance, he would turn it into an all-night session and forget the small matter of getting up for work in the morning. Reluctantly, Laura cupped a hand around her daughter’s face. ‘Natalie will take you to school in the morning as usual, but I’ll see if I can leave work early and pick you up,’ she said softly. ‘We can have a special tea to celebrate, I promise.’
Tears stung Jasmine’s eyes and she wouldn’t look at her mum, choosing instead to glance towards the man who had been watching her and her mum intently without saying a word.
‘You remember Mr McIntyre, don’t you?’ Anna said. ‘He took us around Calderstones a few months ago.’
‘Is the tree all right?’ she asked.
Sam cleared his throat. ‘Stronger than ever.’
‘Don’t tell me you’re the park ranger who spun Jasmine that yarn about a tree with magical powers?’ Finn said with a laugh.
‘It’s the Wishing Tree,’ Jasmine corrected.
‘Is that so?’ her father asked. ‘I bet it didn’t grant your secret wish, did it?’
Jasmine gave a small shrug but said nothing.
‘You should know better than to fill your head with that kind of nonsense. It’s time to grow up, Jasmine,’ Finn said and then, realizing he had an audience, added gently, ‘You’re a big girl now.’
Jasmine’s lip trembled but when her dad winked at her she managed a smile and Laura knew she couldn’t put off the inevitable. ‘Go on,’ she said. ‘Natalie’s waiting for you.’
After a final hug goodbye, Jasmine scraped her heels along the floor towards Natalie. To Laura’s relief, she immediately started up an animated conversation with Keira, her disappointment apparently forgotten, and the two friends paid no further heed to their respective parents. When Natalie turned and waved at Laura to go it was all the encouragement that Finn needed.
While her husband was deep in conversation with Anna as they headed towards the car park, Laura trailed behind with Sam. Her daughter wasn’t the only one who could suffer from stage fright and, as they walked, Laura struggled to think of something to say to break the awkward silence. She knew very little about this man who wouldn’t realize how much he had turned her family around and she wanted to