Missing Abby

by Lee Weatherly

  ‘But—’

  ‘Emma, come on. Enough, OK?’

  I started to slam out of the room. Dad's voice stopped me. ‘And take your things to the kitchen, if you've finished.’

  I grabbed up my plate and my empty coffee cup, and resisted the urge to throw them both at him, splattering his pristine chinos and polo shirt. Stalking to the kitchen, I rinsed off the plate and cup and shoved them onto the draining board.

  Voices drifted in from the front room, and my hands slowed as I strained to listen. I'm sure it's the right thing … really difficult for everyone … just give her time …

  ‘Emma?’ Nat had followed me into the kitchen.

  ‘Shh!’ But Dad had put the TV on, and now all I could hear was a sport's commentator enthusing away about a perfect pitch. I sighed, and looked down at Nat. ‘What?’

  She leaned against the counter, the top of her curly head barely reaching over it. ‘Can we play today? You said we'd finish before, and we never did. I want to know what happens to Esmerelda.’

  I stared at her. ‘Yeah … that's a good idea,’ I said slowly. ‘I want to know, too. We'll play right after Dad leaves, OK?’

  Nat gave a little hop, bouncing on her toes. ‘Why not now?’

  ‘Because it's a secret,’ I whispered, glancing towards the front room.

  Dad left about an hour later, clutching the briefcase that seemed to be welded to his hand sometimes. The moment he was gone, Nat and I went out into the garden to sit under the birch tree. Pippin padded after us and stretched out on the grass, rolling on his back in the sunshine.

  ‘We were consulting with the mages of Ganet,’ prompted Nat, eyes shining.

  ‘Right.’ I looked up at the softly rustling leaves for a second, thinking. ‘Well … the mages are very old and wise, and they tell us what we need to know. Esmerelda and Jasmine have joined forces, and they've fled to – to the castle of Colldara.’

  ‘Where's that?’ Nat's expression was grave, searching.

  ‘Far away, but the mages have a magic mirror we can walk through that will take us there. But we have to hurry, Nat! Esmerelda and Jasmine have stolen something called the Holy Eye – that's this beautiful necklace, with a stone like the eye of a tiger. It has great powers, and we can't let them use it, or they'll destroy the world.’

  As well as I could from memory, I plunged into the story Abby had written. And Nat and I entered Esmerelda's dungeon, two apprentice mages who were in way over their heads. My voice lowered as I described the dungeon's twists and turns, its passageways.

  ‘Are you there?’ I whispered. ‘Do you see it?’

  Nat's hair bounced on her shoulders as she nodded. Leaf-shaped shadows from the tree fell across her face.

  My hands were tight fists. ‘Right, now – I want you to think a minute, OK? If we were going to chase Esmerelda through these dungeons for real – I mean, act the game out for real … where would we go to do it?’

  Nat's eyes flew open, and she scowled at me. ‘That's not part of the game!’

  I crouched on my knees beside her. ‘It is, Nat. Honestly. Come on, where do you think we'd go?’

  ‘A big basement somewhere,’ she said dismissively. ‘Now come on, she's getting away!’ I slumped back onto my heels, disappointment swelling through me. Stupid! Had I actually thought this would work?

  The back door slid open, and Jenny stuck her head out. ‘I'm making brownies,’ she called up to us. ‘Fancy helping?’

  ‘We're busy playing!’ called back Nat. I winced. God, that was all Jenny needed to hear! She'd probably be on the phone to my counsellor any second now.

  But Jenny just laughed, and pulled out a blue ceramic bowl from behind her back. ‘Are you sure? I've got a bowl here with your name on it – lots of ooey, gooey chocolate.’

  So much for Esmerelda. Bouncing up with a squeal, Nat sprinted for the door. I sighed and started to stand up – just in time to see her stumble over a tree root and go flying. A second later she lay howling on the grass.

  Jenny dropped the bowl with a clatter, and we both ran for her. She was clutching her arm, sobbing, and I saw that she had smashed it against one of the rocks that bordered the flowerbed. It was already ballooning up, the skin tight and angry.

  ‘Mummy, I hurt it, I hurt it!’

  ‘You sure did,’ murmured Jenny, white-faced. She put her arm around Nat and carefully helped her up. ‘Right, let's get you to the hospital … we need to get that X-rayed. Emma, you'll be OK here?’

  I nodded, and stooped down to peer into Nat's face. ‘Listen, Natty, don't cry – if you've broken it, they'll give you a really trendy cast, and I'll sign it when you get back, OK?’

  Nat nodded, trying to look brave but failing. Jenny slowly ushered her through the house and into the car, and a few seconds later I heard them drive off.

  I drifted back into the house and cleaned up the chocolate that had splattered on the carpet, rubbing at the stains with a damp cloth. A big basement … I sighed and dropped the cloth into the bowl. Thanks, Nat, that's just hugely helpful.

  I went to dump the bowl in the kitchen, and as I was washing my hands, the memory hit me full-blast. I stared out the window with the water still running over my hands.

  ‘Oh, my god …’ I whispered.

  It was at the Family Fun Fayre. The last one we went to before we started secondary school at Balden, and everything went so wrong.

  We had been playing the Esmerelda game, poking around the empty office buildings. And afterwards, we had run down an embankment to the outside fence of the plant, and started following it around, heading back to the Fun Fayre. It had been a scorching day, and I remember Abby heaving out a sigh, blowing a strand of black hair off her face. ‘The heat is a device of Esmerelda's, no doubt.’

  The fence curved around the plant, and suddenly there was a large garden shed in front of us, built against the side of the slope.

  ‘Hey, what's this?’ Abby went up to the door. The sign on it said RESTRICTED ACCESS, but the knob turned when Abby put her hand on it. She creaked open the door and peered inside. ‘Emma, come see!’

  I glanced around, but there was no one to catch us nosing about. The fence was set back a little ways from the road, with a small wood shielding us on the other side.

  So I moved through the long grass to join Abby at the shed, looking over her shoulder, and felt coolness brush against my skin. A cement floor, and stairs that led downwards, disappearing into a tight, close darkness.

  ‘What do you think?’ Abby had whispered, her brown eyes gleaming. ‘Shall we risk it for a biscuit?’

  My heart pummelled as I turned off the water. We had only gone down there for a few seconds, just long enough to make out concrete corridors lined with dozens of pipes. We didn't have a torch, so we couldn't explore it properly. And anyway, I think we were both too scared.

  But maybe Abby had taken a torch and checked it out for herself at the next Family Fun Fayre.

  Maybe she had even found a way to get into the plant.

  I clutched the edge of the sink, head wheeling. Sheila! I had to talk to Sheila! I dashed to my room, scooping up my mobile and dialling her number.

  It rang about ten times, and then kicked into her voice-mail. ‘Sheila, it's Emma! Ring me as soon as you get this, please – it's really, really important!’ Then I rang Directory Enquiries and got her home number, and stood tapping my fist against my bureau as it rang.

  No answer.

  Maybe they weren't even home. Maybe she hadn't even taken her mobile with her, wherever she was! My message could be sitting in her room for hours, waiting. And I didn't have hours. If Abby were down there—

  I burrowed frantically in my bag for PC Lavine's card. I had this moment of panic where I thought I had lost it, and then found it tucked into my wallet.

  Her mobile clicked into voice-mail instantly. ‘Hello, this is Police Constable Elizabeth Lavine. Please leave a message, and I'll ring you back as soon as possible. If this is urge
nt, please ring Hampshire Police Department on …’

  ‘Um, hi,’ I said when I heard the beep of the voice-mail. ‘This is Emma Townsend. I need you to ring me, please – it's really important, I think I might know where Abby went.’

  My voice sounded strangled. Just for good measure, I rang the number for the Hampshire Police, too. A woman's voice answered.

  ‘Hello – um – may I speak to PC Lavine, please?’

  ‘What is this regarding?’ She sounded brusque, like I was her zillionth call of the day.

  ‘Just – I need to talk to her. Is she there, please?’

  ‘I'm sorry, I need to know what this is regarding.’

  ‘Please, can I just—’

  ‘PC Lavine isn't in today,’ broke in the bored voice. ‘Can I direct your call somewhere else?’

  I hung up without thinking and stood there shaking, pressing my hands against my head. What was I going to do? Abby could be down there right now! She could have fallen and hurt herself—'

  Ski! I fumbled with the mobile's keyboard, punching in his name from my address book. It rang three times. Five.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Ski, it's Emma!’ I blurted. ‘You've got to help me, I think I know where she might be—’

  ‘What?’ Ski's voice cracked, suddenly sounding deeper. ‘Emma, what is it?’

  I told him everything, and when I finished, there was a long pause.

  ‘Well? What do you think?’

  ‘Um … I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't be in a hurry to call the police out on another wild goose chase, if I were you.’

  ‘I'm not!’

  ‘Could you tell your parents?’

  ‘No! My stepmother's at the hospital, and my dad's at some conference, I don't even know where – Ski, what if she's down there? She's been gone – she's been gone just two weeks, so she could still be alive, couldn't she?’

  He sounded miserable. ‘Emma, I don't know. I mean, yeah, it sounds possible, but …’ he trailed off. ‘Couldn't you wait until PC Lavine gets back?’

  ‘I don't know! I left her a message, but she's not even in today – what if she doesn't get it until Monday?’

  ‘Or talk to someone else there—’

  ‘Who? The one who thinks she was doing drugs, or the ones who caught us trespassing?’

  ‘Yeah, but Emma, come on, they'd still go check it out—’

  ‘But they might not do it fast enough!’ I shrieked at him. ‘They might think it's just us being stupid again! Ski, Abby could be down there! She could be hurt! We have to go there now, we have to go see—’

  Ski's voice turned higher again. ‘Go there? How will you get in? There's a fence, right?’

  ‘I don't know! If there's not a way in, then it's not where she went, is it?’

  He didn't say anything.

  ‘So – are you coming, or not?’ I gripped my phone so hard I thought I might break it.

  ‘Emma – oh, shit. Look, I'm really sorry, but I can't, OK? My mum – god, I'm already in so much trouble—’

  ‘I'm in trouble too!’ I snapped at him. ‘Do you think you're the only one? My dad's going to kill me! But I have to do this for Abby; I don't have a choice—’

  Tears choked my chest. Suddenly I was sick of talking to him, sick of hearing his bleating excuses. I hung up on him, and then ran downstairs to the kitchen, rooting about in the utility drawer. Grabbing the torch, I turned it on briefly to check that it had batteries, and then shoved it in my back pocket.

  Snatching my house keys from my jacket pocket in the hallway, I stopped to scribble a quick note:

  Jenny,

  I'm really sorry, but I had to go check on something very important. I'll be back later this afternoon. I'll be OK, I promise. Please, PLEASE don't tell Dad!!

  Emma x

  I left the note on the fridge, under Jenny's magnet that said LIFE'S TOO SHORT TO ENJOY BAD WINE. A thought struck me, and I dashed upstairs to grab the dragon, shoving it deep into my pocket for luck. Stupidly, it made me feel braver. Now I wasn't completely alone.

  I ran out the back door, locking it behind me.

  I wrestled my bike out of the garden shed, struggling to extract it from the lawn mower. It wobbled a bit when I got on, but a moment later I was out of the alleyway and onto the main road, cycling towards Clarkson Chemical Plant.

  The plant was on an industrial estate about a mile from where we used to live. I stopped in front of the main fence, propping my weight on one leg. The grounds spread before me like a green carpet, with the gleaming main building reflecting clouds and sky. There were hardly any cars in the parking lot.

  I kicked off and started heading around the left-hand side of the building, where I remembered the shed being. Slowly, the view behind the fence gave way to industrial chimneys and barrack-like buildings.

  I came to the patch of woods and stopped, peering through the thick foilage. I couldn't see anything, so I pulled my bike off the road, leaning it against a tree, and walked towards the fence. The undergrowth grabbed at my legs with every step.

  Before I got there, I could see the shed, just a few metres further down on the other side. Right. Now, how could she have got in?

  The answer was right in front of me.

  I took a step backwards, scanning the top of the fence as far as I could in both directions. There weren't any security cameras that I could see. Not that that meant anything; maybe they were just out of sight, watching my every move.

  Hesitantly, I touched the chain link fence, half expecting an electric shock, or for an alarm to go off. But nothing happened, and after a moment, I took a deep breath and started to climb.

  The worst bit was as I swung myself over and started climbing down the other side. I was positive that sirens were going to start wailing, and that men with dogs would erupt from over the hill, barking and shouting at me.

  But nothing happened. Dropping awkwardly to the ground, I walked over to the shed.

  The door swung open when I turned the handle, and I stepped inside to the same dark coolness I remembered from before. In the middle of the floor, the stairs plunged downwards, waiting. I wiped my hands on my jeans, trying to get the nerve up to go down them.

  Suddenly I froze. I heard someone stumble, and swear. The crunching sound of footsteps was coming from the woods.

  My heart felt like a bird that might die of fright. I yanked the torch out of my back pocket. A completely pitiful weapon, but it was all I had. I pressed against the wooden wall, clutching the torch and praying that whoever it was wouldn't see me.

  The crunching noise stopped. Silence.

  ‘Emma?’ hissed a voice.

  Ski!

  I burst out of the shed. He stood on the other side of the fence, wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt with a wolf on it. His shoulders relaxed when he saw me. ‘Hi.’

  ‘Hi.’ I walked slowly over, and we stood facing each other with chain link between us, like Visitor's Day at the prison. ‘You said you weren't coming.’

  ‘Yeah, well …’ He sighed, shoving his hair back. ‘I wasn't going to, but I couldn't let you do it alone. Pretty stupid, huh?’

  I thought it was pretty wonderful, actually. I glanced past him into the woods, and saw my bike, along with another one, propped against a tree. ‘Is that your bike?’

  ‘Yeah … I saw your bike from the road. I brought them both into the woods so no one else would notice them.’ He glanced up at the fence. ‘Right, um – how do I get in? Just climb?’

  I nodded. ‘Yeah … I don't think there are any security cameras around.’

  Ski smiled slightly. ‘Well, that's good. Always useful when there aren't any security cameras.’

  He jumped onto the fence; it shook and rattled as he climbed up it. He paused for a second at the top, adjusting his hands around the naked edges of the chain link, and then threw his leg over and backed down the other side.

  He dropped to the ground with about a metre to go. I cleared my throat and po
inted to the shed. ‘That's it.’

  Ski shoved his hands in his pockets as we walked over to it, but sort of jumped forward to hold the door open for me as we went in. I turned my torch on, and shone it down the stairs. Ski crouched on his heels, staring downwards. A tangle of pipes at about head-level burst into view, and a passageway.

  ‘How far does it go?’ he asked.

  ‘I don't know … if it goes all under the plant, it could go for miles, practically. And there's more than one passage; Abby and I saw that much when we went down.’

  ‘Just like the scenario,’ murmured Ski. Neither of us said anything for a moment, and then Ski cleared his throat. ‘I brought it, by the way … Abby's game. If she meant for it to be played here, then maybe we can follow it, like a map.’

  Prickles burst over me. Following Abby's game without her here, and not knowing what we'd find … I swallowed, and nodded.

  Ski pulled a torch from the waistband of his jeans, and gave me a weak grin. ‘Right – let's get this over with.’

  We climbed to the bottom of the stairs, the light from our torches kicking with every step. The darkness swallowed us.

  ‘Wow,’ whispered Ski, shining the torch around him. ‘What a great place to play live action.’

  A concrete tunnel ran in front of us, for as far as our torches could make out. Two more branched off from it, one on each side. Pipes of all different sizes ran everywhere – above our heads, along the sides of the walls. A faint droning noise hummed through the air.

  Reaching into his back pocket, Ski pulled out some folded-up pieces of paper and shone his torch on them. ‘Right, um … the first thing that happens in Abby's game is that we hear the maniacal laughter, and footsteps running off to the left.’

  I went first, clutching my torch. It was much, much darker once you got away from the bottom of the stairs. There was no light at all – just our torches, which seemed laughably feeble.

  I struggled to keep my hand steady as we moved forward, terrified that I might suddenly see a face or something, looming towards us out of the darkness.

  ‘Don't forget to check for traps,’ whispered Ski.

  ‘What?’