Rosie skipped over to Lucy and Tom, holding Katrina’s hand.
‘Mummy, can I go and play with Katrina in the arcades….just for twenty minutes, then I promise I will come to bed….please please please.’ Rosie pleaded.
‘Oh I don’t know darling, you’ve had such a long day, and your dad and I are pooped and want to go back and relax.’
‘Oh come on please, it is our holiday.’ Rosie said, giving them her best sad face.
‘Well ok…me and your dad will stay outside…..Sam you go to watch over them.’
‘Do I have to?.. I want to go home and play on my x-box.’ Sam groaned.
‘Just for twenty minutes and then we will go…go on and look after your sister…we’ll be just outside here.’ Lucy instructed.
Sam watched as Rosie and Katrina played the two pence slot machine, both willing the bundle of coins towering over the edge of the shelf to fall. Rosie seemed in awe of Katrina as she stared intently at her with joy. Sam noticed she seemed a bit older in attitude to Rosie, in the way she confidently mapped out what they were going to do next. Although Rosie was outgoing, it was in a cheeky innocent way, whereas Katrina seemed to have a strong independent demeanour. Sam couldn’t see her parents around again and thought how strange it was that she always seemed to be on her own.
‘Katrina, where is your mum and dad?’ he asked.
‘They are just at the bar; they will be over soon.’ Katrina replied casually.
Sam looked at his watch and was desperate to get back and play his x-box…‘Come on girls, we’ve got to go now, mum and dad will get annoyed.’
‘Five more minutes, please Sam.’ Rosie cried.
‘Yes Sam, I’m sure your mum won’t mind….why don’t you go and check if that would be ok..I’m sure you can persuade them.’ Katrina chimed in, holding firmly onto Rosie’s hand.
‘Ok don’t move, I’ll be one minute.’
Sam ran back to Lucy and Tom, who had actually started chatting to another couple, and seemed quite content sitting there with their drinks.
‘Mum, dad…Rosie wants to stay a bit longer, is that ok?…only another five minutes.’
‘Yes, that’s fine, we’re quite happy sitting here now.’ Tom agreed.
‘Ok, I’ll let her know, but then I want to go as I’m getting bored now.’
As Sam walked back into the arcade, he noticed Rosie and Katrina weren’t at the slot machine anymore. He glanced to the right and left of it, and couldn’t see them.
‘Where have they gone now?’ Sam moaned.
He walked around the arcade but again couldn’t see them. He started to call Rosie’s name but she didn’t appear. He headed through the exit to the outside fairground but he couldn’t see them anywhere. Sam’s initial annoyance, was now turning to fear. I’m sure it will be fine, he told himself, they must be somewhere around here. He was too scared to go back and tell his parents that he had lost them, but he knew he had too. He ran back through the arcade, knocking into the shoulders of passers by.
‘Oi!..slow down, you are going to hurt someone!’ shouted one of them.
Sam ignored their pleas as all he could focus on was getting back to his parents.
‘M..m.mum’ Sam strained to get his words out.
‘What is it Sam?’ Lucy questioned, putting her drink down. Her flushed pink face was now changing to a shade of ashen worry.
‘It’s R..Rosie..I can’t see her. She’s gone….I’ve hunted everywhere in the arcade and she and Katrina have disappeared!’ blurted out a now tearful Sam.
‘Calm down, calm down Sam, what do you mean she has gone…gone where?’ Lucy demanded, trying to remain calm herself.
‘I left her for one minute when I came to ask you if she could stay longer, and when I went back they were gone.’ Sam, sobbed, grabbing his mum’s hand. ‘It’s all my fault… I shouldn’t have left her.’
‘Don’t be silly, it’s not your fault, I’m sure they are around…they have probably gone off to buy some sweets or something. She will be going straight to bed when I do find her though…she knows not to go off like that.’ Lucy declared sternly.
‘Right Sam, take us to where you last saw her and let’s all stick together.’ Tom instructed, trying to take control of the situation.
Sam showed them the slot machine and all around the arcade. Both Lucy and Tom went up to various people in the arcade to ask them if they had seen two little girls aged seven and nine playing around there but they all shook their heads. At that point the panic set in for Lucy. Tom tried to remain calm for all of them and tried to comfort Sam, who by now was looking very pale and sick. Lucy picked up the pace asking various people around the caravan park if they had seen the girls, but they all said no.
‘I’m going to the Main Office to put an announcement out…she must be somewhere.’ Lucy said. ‘You both wait here just in case she wanders back and I will meet you back here shortly…I’ll ring you if it takes longer than I think.’
Lucy raced up the stairs to the Main Office and rang the bell furiously at the front desk.
‘Yes yes yes, I’m coming, how can I help you?’ the lady at reception asked.
‘My daugh….daugh…daughter, has gone missing.’ As Lucy said the words out loud, the tears started to stream down her face, as the realisation as to what was happening set in.
‘Ok calm down lovey, I’m sure it will be ok, she has probably got caught up playing somewhere…we’ll find her don’t you worry…..so what’s her name and description?’ the plumpish brunette receptionist requested.
‘Her name is Rosie. She is seven, average height, blond shoulder length hair with a few curls. She is wearing a denim skirt, a long sleeve pink t-shirt with a sequin star on it, white ankle socks and some pink pump shoes.’ Lucy sobbed.
The receptionist took a deep breath and switched on the tannoy.
‘Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a lost child within the caravan park. It is little girl called Rosie. She is seven, average height, blond shoulder length hair with a few curls. She is wearing a denim skirt, a long sleeve pink t-shirt with a sequin heart on it, white ankle socks and pink pump shoes. Please could you all hunt around your area now, and keep a look out this evening. This is urgent so any sightings, please come to the Main Office immediately.’
As the receptionist repeated Lucy’s words back, she started to feel like she was in a bad dream. She couldn’t believe she was giving a description of her little girl. Her rational mind was saying it was all going to be ok and they’d all be back in bed by 10pm, but her irrational…and Lucy hoped not realistic mind….was going into overdrive thinking ‘What if she is still missing tomorrow?’
How could they have been having such a fun time only an hour ago, and now be facing an evening filled with such trauma. Lucy prayed that she would be found. She rung Tom to ask if he had heard the announcement and he confirmed he had, and everyone was starting to hunt around, but there were no sightings as of yet. Lucy said she’d wait at the Main Office for an hour to see if anyone brought Rosie back, and in the meantime Tom and Sam would continue to look around the park.
An hour passed and still nothing. It was now 9.15pm and past Rosie’s bedtime. Lucy kept shaking her head going over how this could have happened. The receptionist, by which time Lucy had become to know as Brenda, was very comforting and motherly, but still no campers had rung through.
‘Don’t worry dear, we will find her, but as she is only seven I think we do need to call the police now…the sooner the better, as they can do text alerts now which work best if they are within the first couple of hours.’ she consoled her.
Lucy was relieved Brenda was taking charge, as she could no longer think straight. She just wanted someone to help find her daughter. ‘Ok yes great, thank you so much.’
Brenda spoke to the police and also called her security team to search all of the caravans. She knew the police would cover this too but she thought it was better to make a start.
‘Tom, we have had
no response to the announcement, so Brenda, the lady at the reception, has called the police. She is also having security check all of the caravans.’ Lucy despaired, calling Tom to update him.
‘Ok great….at least they are being proactive…shall we come over to the office then to talk to the police with you?’ Tom suggested, trying to remain level headed.
‘Yes you’d better…….they will want a photo of her….we have lots on our phone though don’t we so I’m sure we can e-mail them to the police station to print off.’
The police arrived by 9.30pm….a policeman and a policewoman. They discreetly asked Brenda if there was a private room they could talk to Lucy and Tom in, so she showed them through to the back office.
‘So I understand your daughter has gone missing.’ DI Jenkins, a portly moustached man, questioned with authority. ‘I know you must all be in a very distressed state at the moment but we need to thoroughly get all of the facts on where your daughter was last seen.’
‘Yes, we understand, thank you for coming so quickly.’ Tom replied gratefully.
‘Firstly we need a detailed description and a photo, as the sooner we can get a text alert out the better.’ DI Jenkins advised.
Lucy slowly gave the description she had given Brenda, and Tom found a photo on his phone that was taken at Blackgang Chine that day. DI Hooper, a younger attractive policewoman in her early forties, carefully noted down the description in her note book. Her auburn fringe poked out from under her hat as she looked on with sympathy and concern.
‘Now I need you to give me all the details you can remember from this evening, and when she was last seen.’ DI Jenkins requested.
Lucy and Tom carefully recalled the events of the last few hours and even after hearing them out loud, nothing untoward was standing out. Lucy could feel her mind racing in desperation to think of something she could have missed.
‘So have you not managed to find Rosie’s young friend, Katrina, as it appears she would have been the last person to see Rosie?’ DI Jenkins inquired.
‘No not yet, we have been frantically looking around, and hadn’t thought to find her on her own.’ Lucy replied.
‘Don’t worry. DI Hooper …I need you to locate the caravan this young Katrina was staying in and that will be our first port of call.’ DI Jenkins ordered, issuing his first instruction.
‘Yes sir.’ DI Hooper affirmed, turning to find Brenda.
After five minutes, DI Hooper returned looking confused.
‘What is it Hooper?’ DI Jenkins asked.
‘I have been speaking to Brenda at the Main Desk, and she does not have a record of a child named Katrina. She said they always take all of the children’s names when taking the bookings, but she does not have a Katrina on the system.’
‘She must have.’ Lucy interjected. ‘She has been staying here …Rosie was watching the puppet show with her tonight.’
‘Did you see what her parents looked like?’ DI Jenkins queried.
‘Well no, but she said they were in the bar.’ Lucy answered, feeling slightly foolish that she hadn’t gone to find them.
‘Right, we’d better start a door to door search of the caravans…we will split into pairs to speed it up. Lucy you come with me. Tom, you and Sam go with DI Hooper.’ DI Jenkins instructed.
They spent the next couple of hours trawling through each caravan, but to no avail. There were no sightings of Katrina, and no other parents concerned that their daughter had also gone missing. The case was now starting to look more serious than DI Jenkins had initially thought. From his thirty years’ experience, if a missing child was not found within the first couple of hours, it wasn’t always good news, but he never alerted the parents to this. His main concern now was to get a search party out immediately while she still might be in the area.
‘So what now?’ Tom shrugged, trying his hardest to console Lucy, who was by now sobbing uncontrollably.
‘We need to get a search party out. The problem is, it is late at night but this can sometimes work to our advantage as a young girl would not normally be out late at night on her own, so she will stand out. I will get as many officers that I can out on to the streets looking, and see if the guests can help look…a lot of them were interested in helping when we knocked door to door.’ DI Jenkins advised.
Brenda tannoyed each individual caravan to rally troops to help look for Rosie, and to Lucy and Tom’s appreciative delight, a barrage of people amassed around the Main Entrance. They all looked extremely concerned as it could have easily been their child missing. After a quick briefing from DI Jenkins, everyone headed off in different directions, after each receiving a photo and description of Rosie. The searching went on into the early hours, but after the initial comfort of seeing so many people out looking for Rosie, Lucy could feel herself sinking lower and lower into despair as one by one they came back with no sightings. She could feel each and everyone of their sympathies, but she could also see the relief in their eyes that it wasn’t their child, so even though Lucy was extremely thankful they were helping, she couldn’t help feeling envious of them. Tom was trying to comfort Sam as he could see he was feeling dreadful about the whole situation.
‘If only I hadn’t wanted to rush back and play with my x-box. I wouldn’t have left her to come and find you.’ he claimed mournfully.
‘Sam there are lots of things we wish could be different…if your mum and I hadn’t agreed for you to sit and watch the puppet show, we would have been tucked up in bed by now…….you never know what is around the corner, and we could never have imagined this was going to happen.’ Tom insisted, putting an arm around his shoulder.
By 4am, Lucy was sitting dejectedly in reception, tapping her foot on the ground repeatedly mumbling to herself…‘Why us, why Rosie?..this can’t be happening.’ Tom pulled Sam closer into him and they both stared at the floor in despair. DI Jenkins was on the phone requesting feedback from the text alerts. There had been a few responses, which his ground officers were following up, but nothing concrete.
‘We need to do an urgent news report so it will be out in time for the breakfast tv.’ DI Jenkins announced.
He rang through to the police station and they arranged for the national and local tv crews to come down to the caravan park. Lucy felt like she was in a dream…this could not be happening to their family. They were just a normal family enjoying their hard earned week’s holiday. As she thought back to her itinerary, it was, ironically, House of Horrors day , which couldn’t have been more apt. She so desperately wanted to be waking up like all of the other days, and to be feeling excited for another day trip. Why oh why was this happening?
‘Mum and dad!’ Lucy gasped.
‘What?’ Tom asked, looking up alarmed.
‘We’ve got to let our parents know before it hits the tv this morning.’
‘Oh crikey yes!….they are going to be devastated. I am not sure their hearts will take it, but we have to tell them before they hear it from someone else.’
Both Lucy and Tom rang their parents, which again made the scenario even more real. They were distraught, as expected, but were trying to stay positive. DI Jenkins instructed for all of them to go and wait back at the caravan and DI Hooper was to remain with them throughout the day to update them on any developments.
At 7am they turned on the breakfast news to see them flash across to Bernie’s caravan park in the Isle of Wight. Lucy couldn’t believe it was all happening so quickly, but she was so grateful it was. It felt like she was watching a story about someone else’s little girl, and although she wouldn’t wish this upon anyone else, she wished this story wasn’t about her daughter. Lucy’s thoughts wandered back to Katrina. She couldn’t understand why Brenda didn’t have any records of her…there must be a mistake, she thought, until something came to her.
‘Wait a minute!’ Lucy exclaimed, suddenly starting to rifle through her bag.
‘What are you doing?’ Tom asked, confused at seeing the contents of her bag
spilling out onto the floor.
‘I just remembered we took some pictures of the girls playing at Black Gang Chine, you took a picture of Katrina remember?….. at least then we can ask if anyone has seen her around the caravan site.’
For the first time in hours, Lucy felt a slight reprieve from her anxiety, and she felt this revelation would solve everything.
‘That would be great if you have.’ DI Hooper responded encouragingly, walking over to Lucy.
Lucy flicked through the pictures. ‘Yes found one!’…here she is.’
Lucy showed DI Hooper the picture of Rosie and Katrina playing outside the fairy castle. It was a side on view, so not the best, but would no doubt be of help. Excitedly, Lucy rushed over to the Main Office to print off some copies to hand around, but her excitement was slightly dampened when Brenda said she didn’t recall seeing anyone like Katrina checking in, but she could have been on holiday that day.
Pushing ahead, Lucy gathered up the copies and rushed back to the caravan. DI Hooper called up some back up officers to go door to door with the new pictures and e-mailed over the picture to DI Jenkins to put forward in the next news bulletin. Lucy, Tom and Sam waited patiently over the next few hours for any information to come back from the news reports, but there was nothing.
‘What are we going to do Tom?’ Lucy pleaded, looking longingly into his eyes for some sort of reassurance.
‘It will be ok darling, I’m sure she is fine somewhere.’ Tom replied, trying to remain positive, but deep down he knew things were not fine and the longer it went on, the worse it looked.
Chapter 9
Lucy and Tom sat at the breakfast table looking at the latest newspaper story on Rosie. It had been one month since she had gone missing. Although there had been a few leads from the text alerts and news bulletins, nothing had come of them. They had stayed for a further two weeks at the caravan park, as they couldn’t think about leaving the island without Rosie, but DI Jenkins had strongly advised them to return home as they had done everything they could do in the Isle of Wight. The Met Police and The National Crime Agency had taken over the case, as it was now high priority, so all contact would be through them from now on.
The Truth Healer: A Riveting Spiritual Psychic Thriller Page 8