Diana was searching with two hasher friends, Wee Willy and Randy, who, although experienced hashers, didn’t know the area as well as she did. Just as they were leaving, Clare joined them. Diana waited until they were a little behind the other two before voicing her surprise.
“I thought you were staying with Debbie?”
Picking her way over a low stone wall, Clare took her time in replying. “I was, and then I thought better of it. Debbie’s fast asleep from her sedative. William’s staying with her, and your friend, Geraldine, is on hand in case anything’s needed. If the children are still near here, I hope to have better luck with them.”
“Don’t you want to walk with Adam?” Diana was curious. Adam wasn’t known for his patience, and he had been rather terse with Clare the night before.
“I think you know the answer to that. Adam is still pooh-poohing my impressions. All I know is that I can’t shake a very real sensation of water from me. It’s as if it’s…all around me, choking, cold, so cold, roaring and seething and rolling. It feels so tangible.” She shivered.
“I can’t imagine.”
“It’s not as if these sensations are all visions or words…nothing definite like that, but there are colours and feelings.”
Diana thought she did understand something of what Clare meant, and she nodded while running her stick along the length of the lower part of the wall where the snow was thickest. If a tiny body had fallen there, it would have been hard to locate it. Clare glanced over to the other two in their party before continuing.
“The children are alive…and I know the person who has them doesn’t really know them.”
Diana had to make an effort to stop herself glancing around. The day suddenly felt decidedly abnormal, and the weak sunlight falling over them seemed to thicken and pulsate.
“You’ve communicated with them?” she asked in a whisper.
Clare seemed vague despite her smile. It was not an unkind smile, but neither was it the kind of smile much used between friends or equals. Diana thought she saw exasperation and almost pity in it, too. “Well, I didn’t exactly sit down and have a chat with them, Di,” she replied. “But they were there, or rather the little boy was. I felt him. And I’m sure that if he’d known who it was who held them, he’d have let me know. But there was something else…the water…it was almost as if another person was involved.”
“Two abductors?” Diana whispered in an incredulous whisper. “But even if he didn’t know them before, he must be able to tell you more now.”
“Maybe not two abductors, I didn’t say that exactly …perhaps it’s someone else who interfered,” she said dismissively. “Anyway, I didn’t mean he could have given me a name, though that’s not impossible. All I meant was, I felt him here, and he, poor little mite, felt puzzled. He was uncertain, not like he would have been if he knew who it was and why. I think that’s what I mean. He’s also extremely cold, and again I sense water plays a part in this.”
“I see. If what you say is true, I wonder who it is. And why water? Maybe we should be searching near the river?” Diana finished sweeping the area with her stick and moved further on towards the far left of the field they were searching. “Clare, I don’t know much about Romanies, but is it unusual to be a true medium? Aren’t tarot cards and crystal balls more the usual area?”
Clare swished her stick in anger. “That’s how gorgios have always portrayed us. But in truth, very few chovihanis actually use a crystal ball more than as a simple prop. Or even as something bright to induce hypnosis.”
“Chovihanis. That’s a sort of witch, isn’t it?”
Clare smiled. “You know more about our people than you admit. I thought so. I did wonder last summer when we were together in Cheltenham.”
“Ah! You mean when Isabelle and Caroline were murdered. You did say a few things back then which I thought odd at the time, almost as if you had inside knowledge. You seemed to know about Sebastian and Caroline, despite no one ever having told you. I never took it further, though, because things suddenly got rather heated, and everything moved at a rapid pace.” Diana felt unsettled. As much as she wanted to believe Clare and her powers, so far nothing really positive had been gleaned from her time spent with Debbie.
“Mmm, they certainly did for you. Anyway, chovihanis often do odd things. Look, we’ve finished this field. Where are we supposed to look next? I wasn’t there for Adam’s briefing.”
“We’ve been working on a grid pattern, which is supposed to be very effective when searching over a large area. Each team has been assigned to a particular area to search. Then each team spreads out over that area—as now. We search one way then do a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn slightly to our right and come back and repeat it as we sweep the field. Then we do this at right angles to how we first started. That way the whole area is carefully searched. I think we’re supposed to carry on keeping to the left and search further afield. Other groups are off to our right, in front and behind the house area. It is slow going but thorough, and we wanted to get as much done as possible before others arrive to get in the way. I was surprised not to have found Cyprus Mail and The Times on our doorstep this morning.”
“I remember now. Adam explained it to me, but understandably, my mind was elsewhere. Changing the subject, who lives there?” Clare asked pointing to the nearest hill. On the summit, the sun had just reached the house, bleaching any colour from its honey-coloured stone.
“That one? It belongs to a Cypriot. Costas lives down in Limassol and rents it out. It’s been occupied for some years now by the same person. Philip Bolton. I don’t know much about him, as he keeps himself to himself, but he’s always polite on the rare occasions I bump into him in town or Agios Mamas. Anyway, he’s a keen birder, and I’ve often seen him out and about in the fields and woods. But we’re not going in that direction, we’re going further down the lane.”
Clare gazed at the house for a long moment before turning back to Diana. “Are you sure we’re not to go and search in that direction?”
“Positive. Why?”
“I just wondered. I…oh, it’s nothing. Okay, lead the way. We’d better catch up with the others”
Diana studied her friend. “Are you all right? We’re not supposed to stray from the area Adam allotted to us. Don’t worry. Another group will be covering the hill over there this morning. Actually, this way takes us to Roger’s place. If he doesn’t put in an appearance before we get there, we’ll call in and check he’s all right. He was diagnosed with cancer last year, poor chap, and the chemotherapy really knocked him for six. I hope yesterday’s trauma didn’t set him back. He was first on the scene after William arrived home, and he looked quite shocked when I saw him.”
Clare cast one more look back at the lone house and then followed Diana. “Roger…he persuaded Adam to come out here?”
“That’s right, I know. Why do you mention it?”
“I was just wondering if he could be involved in any other way in all this.”
“In any other way? Roger? Don’t be daft, he’s an old man. You’ve seen how he is.”
“I know, but I have—”
Diana stopped on the track. Her boots were covered with thick snow, and despite being fit, she was finding it difficult to move in some of the deeper falls of snow. She was distressed over the missing children, worried because Clare intimated another person might be involved, and now she was on the point of accusing Roger of something underhand. Apart from getting hot from all the extra layers she had piled on that morning and having to take extra deep breaths, everything was far from peachy. In fact, she couldn’t remember a shittier day. “Don’t tell me…you have a feeling,” she snapped.
Clare took a step back in surprise. “I’m sorry. I thought you understood. You obviously don’t. I misinterpreted what you said earlier.”
Diana bit back a sigh and shook her head. “No, it’s me who should apologise. Forget what I just said, I truly didn’t mean it. I’m just hot a
nd bothered and feeling really miserable over the kids. Let’s just do the job and hope someone, anyone, finds something positive.”
After two hours, they decided it was time for a five-minute rest with a cup of coffee and a pasty. The two hashers accompanying them, Wee Willy and Randy, joined the girls as they brushed the snow from a low wall and sat down. Diana pulled out her mobile and tried to make a call. Wee Willy unearthed a hip flask from his inside pocket and offered the snifter around.
“No thanks. Too early for me,” Diana said, between sipping her coffee and replacing her phone in her pocket. “I wonder how the others are getting on.”
“Sounds like the police are on the move. Look, on the top road, there are a couple of patrol cars. The new shift must have come on duty. We’d better get a move on. The superintendent will be expecting us to have begun on our next area. He said he wanted us to cover as much as we could before the Cypriots showed up. I got the impression Adam isn’t exactly over-impressed with the local force,” said Randy, pointing towards the main road.
Diana and Clare exchanged looks. “Something like that. He sets very high standards and expects everyone around him to follow. He can be maddeningly right, too,” Clare said with a half smile.
“Well, if he or anyone else had anything for us to go on, they’d have phoned. Come on, let’s move. But before we start the new area, I’d like to call in on Roger. I’ve just tried to phone him, and there’s no answer from his mobile. Not even a ring.”
“Right-oh. You lead the way.”
*****
Roger’s house looked shut up and forlorn in the shadow from the neighbouring hill. Diana looked down at the drive leading off the road and up to the garden. Everything was hidden under a thick blanket of snow. No tracks could be seen anywhere, even to his chicken coop. The hen house was still locked up, and she presumed the chickens were still inside. She paused and looked at the others.
“You look puzzled,” Randy said. “Is anything wrong?”
“I’m not sure. When Roger left us at the Frost house, it was quite late last night. He said he was coming home for a short while. I presumed he came back for his medication. Now I know the snow only stopped a few hours ago, but even so, I would have thought there would be some indication of his footprints. You know, some indentation, but the snow lying round Roger’s house and garden looks deep and fresh. It’s as smooth as the icing on a Christmas cake.”
They all looked towards the area Diana indicated, while Randy poked his stick into a patch near him. “You’re right. The snow is quite firm and crunchy underneath a lighter covering of about three inches. The snow froze sometime in the early part of the night and then later on the temperature must have risen. This stuff on top is lighter and fluffy.”
“There should be footsteps in the firm snow with an infill of stuff on the top,” joined in Clare.
Diana had a funny feeling about it all. She just knew that Roger had never returned home that night. “Come on, let’s check and see,” she said, hurrying towards the front door.
The doorbell rang throughout the house while the four waited. Randy tried the door and found it locked, likewise the one at the rear. They all peered into the windows but saw nothing of Roger. “Strange. He’s not here, and it looks like he hasn’t been back. He’s left a couple of lamps on in the sitting room, so he must have meant to come home in the dark. I wonder where he is.”
“I remember when I drove past here last night on my way to William and Debbie that his lamps in the sitting room were on, and you’re right they still are. I’ve got an uncomfortable feeling about this. I wonder why he left his car at the Frosts.”
Clare touched her on the arm. “I think we ought to ring Adam and say we think he’s missing.”
“Definitely. I’ll do it now.”
Clare leaned towards Diana. “I said he was connected in some way to the children.”
Diana’s eyes opened wide at her statement. “But in what way? As a friend or foe? He’s one of the few people who regularly visit William and Debbie. He thinks the world of the children,” she hissed in anger and shook her head. “I can’t believe he’d do anything to hurt either of them.”
Clare looked away and stared at the distant mountains. “All the same...there is something…I did say someone else was involved.”
“Yes, but we thought it might be someone who knew Debbie six years ago. We toyed with the idea of it being her old flame, that book shop manager. What was his name…James?”
“Yes, that’s right, we did. What if James did follow her here and has been watching her all this time? What if he’s kidnapped the kids?”
“But there’s no one called James around here that I know of.”
“What about in the village? How many of the people who live there don’t you know? How many visitors come and go all year round? Any one of them could be James.”
“We get dozens of visitors, and there are always more during Christmas and New Year. But what if James changed his name?”
“Yes, and is using a new one as a cover. You’d better phone Adam and tell him your suspicions.”
Chapter 28
A helicopter flying towards the search parties made them all pause and look up at the sky. They had been out since first light and after five hours had found no trace of the missing children. The helicopter had only just arrived. Television and news-reporter vehicles had appeared on the highway and hampered the teams’ efforts, while the local police inspector made sure he gave the media his opinion on how he and his men were doing.
Inspector Andreas was taken aback at first over the efforts from the ex-pats. But he was quite genial about their help as he addressed the cameras, adding that they had received all instructions from him. His long-suffering sergeant, Yiannis, looked on with cold smouldering contempt at his fool of a boss.
All the search parties Adam organised were keeping in touch by mobile telephone. From time to time, different parties overlapped areas and exchanged news, but so far nothing valuable or heart lifting had turned up. A lot of the walkers began to despair, Clare and Diana among them. When Diana told Adam about Roger being missing, he said he would relay her message to the others. It seemed the hunt for the children was now extended to a manhunt.
“By the way, power has been restored to the area, so that’s good news,” he said, just before he rang off after his last message.
They prepared to carry on just as Diana’s phone rang. She pulled the mobile from her pocket and listened with mounting disappointment to Adam’s call.
“What’s happened?” the others asked her.
“I’m not sure if it’s good or bad news. Apparently they’ve found a child’s shoe on the river bank. They’ve rung William, and he said it sounds exactly like one of Hannah’s. Some of the parties have had their areas switched to search along the river, but we’re to continue up here. When we’ve finished, we can then go back along the valley.”
Everyone looked concerned at the news. The question no one wanted to ask was whether Charlie and Hannah had fallen in the river overnight during the storm. Neither child would have survived the freezing torrent as it raced along towards the Kouris dam.
*****
One other thing in their favour was the weather. The sun had gradually burned off the clouds, and the snow was finally melting. Diana and her party had finished off another area and had been asked to search the hill and ravine about a mile from Philip Bolton’s house.
“How long did you say your birdwatcher has lived here? What’s his name, by the way?” Clare asked.
“I’m not sure. He comes and goes. It’s probably about four or five years or even slightly longer. And he’s called Philip. Philip Bolton. I know what you’re thinking. Could he be James?” Diana said, shaking her head. “I really don’t think so. I got the impression that James was young and energetic. Didn’t Debbie say he ran a scout troop as well as having a young family? Philip Bolton is quite fat and at least sixty. He didn’t give me any reason
to think he’s a family man or active, apart from his birding. ”
The group had split up. Diana and Clare were sweeping along one edge of the hill, and the two men were further down the deep gulley. The snow had melted in places, and it was slushy and slippery underfoot. Wee Willy and Randy had suggested the women stay higher up on the easier terrain while they searched further down. “No need for us all to get wet and muddy,” Randy said with a small smile while openly admiring Clare.
Thankfully, the two women accepted their gallant offer. The snow was still deep in places, and they were getting tired. With sunset around half past four that day, they had at most another three hours in which to search. Clare wasn’t used to tramping around the steep hills of Cyprus, and Diana wasn’t sure she’d manage it. “Shall we have another breather?” Diana asked, after listening to her friend’s raspy breath. “I know I could do with a drink.”
Clare swept a layer of snow from a rock and placed her ample bottom down on it with a sigh of pleasure. “I thought you’d never suggest it. I’m not as fit as I once was. The only exercise I get these days is climbing into and out of my car when I drive up to London…and the occasional day spent in the garden, but there again, the gardener does most of the heavy work.”
Diana remembered the previous summer. She and Steve had spent time in the Cotswolds during a couple of disturbing weeks when two women had been murdered. Diana repressed a shudder. The Cotswolds had proved to be very unlucky for Diana.
After a brief rest, the two women shrugged their rucksacks onto their backs and began the laborious trudge around the hill. It wasn’t long before the helicopter passed them. They paused to watch its passage as it roared along the valley bottom.
“Adam told me they’re incompetent. To search properly, they’re supposed to hover and go very slowly, not zoom along as if they’re on a jolly. Why couldn’t they have got the RAF to come and help? They’d show them.” Diana said indignantly. “Look at them! They hardly took any time to cover that valley. How on earth do they expect to find two small children? They couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery! And now they’ve finished! Look at that, they’re leaving. Can you believe it? What a load of ineffective tossers!”
CHILDHUNT: A Mystery & Suspense Thriller in the Bestselling Diana Rivers Series (The Diana Rivers Mysteries Book 5) Page 17