by D. S. Butler
By the time I reached the top of the hill, I was hot and sweaty, and my calves were burning. Zach travelled up the hill like a whippet. He was certainly fitter than me. He turned left when he reached a quaint white cottage. He didn’t go in through the front door, but instead, walked around the side of the house. I stood at the edge of the lane beside a lilac tree, wondering what to do. I could hardly follow him around the side of the house. I was starting to feel incredibly stupid.
I thought about turning around, going back to the car and enjoying the air conditioning. Looking up, I saw grey clouds gathering, and I was sure a storm couldn’t be far away.
My T-shirt was sticking to my skin, and I tugged at it uncomfortably. Despite the coke I’d had with Jason Owens, I was thirsty again.
After coming all this way, I didn’t want to turn around and go back to the car. I could always say I was here to give Zach another opportunity to open up. It wasn’t unreasonable. But I did draw the line at following him around the side of the house. Instead, I walked up to the white, wooden front door. There was no doorbell so I used the old-fashioned brass knocker.
I was starting to think nobody was home when the door finally opened, and a tall old lady with a heavily lined face smiled at me. She was leaning heavily on a walker.
“Hello, dear, can I help you?”
“I was looking for Zach.”
“Oh, my grandson! He’s in the garden now. He’s been helping me all summer. Such a lovely boy. I really can’t get about as well as I used to. He’s such a help to me.”
“Is it all right if I have a quick word with him? My name is Abbie. I spoke to him earlier today but there was something I forgot to say.”
“Of course, dear. Just go around the side of the house and that will lead you into the garden. You’ll find him there hard at work.”
I thanked her and skirted around the flowerbed, following the narrow concrete path to the garden. It was a long garden, thin and narrow, and I could see why the old woman needed help to maintain it. I stayed close to the house and scanned the garden for Zach. I’d expected to see him busying himself over some plants, but I spotted him at the end of the garden beside an old wooden shed.
He still had the Tesco bag looped over one hand as he opened the door.
I walked towards him. I wasn’t trying to be quiet, but the grass muffled my steps. A wasp flew straight at my face, and I batted it out of the way. Still Zach hadn’t heard my approach. He’d entered the shed now, and I could hear him moving around inside.
There was a small, dirty window on one side of the shed that had been propped open. It was lined with cobwebs, and I couldn’t see inside. Before I reached the door, Zach stepped out, looking furious.
“What are you doing here?”
I smiled, trying to defuse his anger. I hadn’t meant to creep up on him but could understand it looked that way.
“Your grandmother told me it was okay to come and talk to you.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”
“Just to talk. I don’t think you were entirely honest with me earlier, and I thought you might appreciate another opportunity to talk.”
He made a scoffing sound and sneered at me. “Well, I don’t appreciate it. So you can leave.”
He had started to sweat. A lot. It was incredibly warm today but surely it wasn’t that hot. A bead of sweat dropped off the tip of his nose. He hadn’t had a chance to do enough gardening to build up a sweat like that. And he’d marched up the hill effortlessly, leaving me panting for breath as I followed him. His gaze flickered quickly to the shed and back to me again, and then he stepped to the side so he stood in front of the entrance.
He was blocking my view of the shed. Why?
“There’s no need to be like that, Zach. We are both upset about Sienna. I want to help.”
He shook his head rapidly from side to side. “You can’t.”
I put my hands on my hips and peered over his shoulder. “Why are you trying to stop me looking into the shed?”
His body went rigid. “I’m not.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I’m not stupid.” I pointed to the carrier bag in his hand. “What’s in the bag?”
“None of your business.”
“Let me look inside the shed. If there is nothing there, I’ll leave you in peace.” I was absolutely convinced he was hiding something from me. Part of me hoped Sienna would be sheltering in there. That was a long shot, though. Perhaps he was just storing food and blankets for her to use. Either way, I wasn’t going to leave without looking inside.
“No! You have to leave now. You’re trespassing.” Zack’s voice was full of strangled panic.
A soft voice behind him said, “It’s okay, Zach.”
Then Sienna stepped through the doorway.
Chapter Sixteen
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Relief coursed through my body, quickly followed by frustration. Had Sienna been hiding there all this time? Did she not care about the people who’d been frantically looking for her?
Not to mention the stupidity of being inside a shed like that in this weather. Her cheeks were flushed, and her skin was coated in a light sheen of sweat.
“Abbie must have followed me!” Zach growled the words with anger. Spittle gathered in the corner of his mouth, and his eyes blazed as he glared furiously at me.
“It’s not your fault,” Sienna said.
She didn’t smile or react emotionally in any way. Her voice was a dull monotone.
“Are you okay?” I asked her, scanning her up and down, looking for injuries. “You’re not hurt, are you? You know everyone has been looking for you.”
Her copper-coloured, wavy hair fell in tangles about her face. Her skin was pale, and her blue T-shirt and jeans were grubby.
She didn’t answer my questions, but she didn’t look injured in any way. She looked like she’d been sleeping rough.
“Is that where you’ve been staying?” I stepped past her and looked into the shed. There was a screwed up sleeping bag, empty crisp wrappers and fizzy cans of drink on the floor.
She nodded.
“We’ll have to let your grandmother and aunt know you’re safe, and then I’ll tell the police to call off the search.”
“I don’t want to talk to them.” Sienna sounded defiant and angry.
“Who? Your family or the police?”
“The police.”
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Zach said, putting an arm around Sienna’s shoulders.
I wasn’t about to contradict him. But she most certainly would have to talk to the police. She’d been a missing person since her mother’s murder. The police would want to find out anything she knew about the day her mother died. I’d seen enough Crimewatch episodes to know that even small details could provide the police with big clues.
Still, I wasn’t about to push the matter now.
“I just don’t feel ready to talk to them,” she said.
She looked terrified. I reached out and put a hand gently on her shoulder. She flinched. I wanted to envelop her in a hug and tell her that everything would be all right.
But when my gaze met hers, I thought I saw anger in her eyes. Was she angry at me? What could I have done to upset her?
“They want to help, Sienna. They want to find out who did this to your mum.”
She shook her head and looked down at her dusty converse trainers. “You don’t understand.”
“Then tell me what you’re afraid of.”
She said nothing but bit down on her lower lip and continued to stare at the floor.
“I know this is the worst thing you’ve ever been through, and I can’t imagine how bad you must feel at the moment. I want her back too,” I said.
Sienna’s face crumpled, and her shoulders lifted as she started to cry. She let me pull her in for a hug, but she didn’t hug me back or cling on to me. Her body felt rigid.
I didn’t have a tissue
to give her, but when her sobbing stopped, I brushed the hair back from her face and then put a hand on her cheek and said, “I’m going to call your Aunt Janet and your grandmother now, if that’s okay? They are going to be so relieved to know that you’re safe.”
Sienna sniffed and then bobbed her head. I took that as agreement.
I pulled out my mobile, and despite the patchy signal, I managed to give Janet the good news. She was full of questions, and I didn’t have any answers, but I promised to bring Sienna straight to her flat. Janet said she would call Marilyn and then inform the police.
I gave Sienna a sideways glance as I spoke on the phone. She was on edge, and I was scared she might bolt at any moment. But I couldn’t allow police resources to be wasted looking for her.
“Are you coming with us, Zach?” I asked after I hung up and put my mobile in my pocket.
He pushed his long, layered fringe back from his face and nodded.
“Then you’d better let your grandmother know. You can catch us up as we walk down the hill.”
As Zach strode off towards the house, Sienna retrieved her duffel bag from behind the door of the shed.
“Ready?” I smiled at her.
She swallowed hard and didn’t reply but she followed me towards the cottage. We followed the path around the side of the cottage and crossed the front garden to the lane. I wondered how much Zach had told his grandmother about Sienna. I’d bet the old woman had no idea she’d had a teenage runaway camping out in her shed.
I wanted to ask Sienna so many questions about the day Nicole went missing, and I wanted to know why she ran off. But as we walked down the hill, she put her headphones on, leaving me to listen to the tinny music that escaped her earbuds.
I felt a flash of irritation. Was she sorry for making everybody worry about her? It seemed especially cruel to allow her grandmother to fear the worst after what had happened to Nicole. But a tragic event could affect people strangely. Sienna was still so young and probably hadn’t considered how her actions would affect other people.
I should have been thankful for the earphones. They saved me having a very awkward conversation about Steve. How should I tell Sienna her stepfather had been taken to the police station?
She had to find out at some point, but it certainly wasn’t a conversation I was looking forward to.
The wind started to pick up as we walked down the hill. Sienna didn’t turn her head to look at me but folded her arms across her chest and walked quickly down the hill. I could have reached out and removed her earphones and begged her to talk to me, but I wasn’t sure how to comfort her. She must be hurting desperately.
It was probably the cowards way out, but I thought I’d let Janet and Marilyn tell her about Steve.
Rain started to fall in big, fat drops. At first, they made dark spots on our T-shirts and jeans, but within a minute, our clothes and hair were saturated. Thunder rumbled ominously, and by the time Zach caught up to us, my skin was slick with rainwater.
He put up a hand to shelter his face, which wasn’t very effective. The driving rain hit my skin like needles.
We walked quickly, only pausing to climb on the grass verge when a Range Rover passed us on the lane. It sloshed through the puddles, sending up a sheet of water that drenched the bottom of my trousers. Not that it mattered. They were already soaked through.
At the bottom of the lane, we walked quickly, heading towards the village. As we got closer to the school, I suggested sheltering at Jason Owens’s cottage until the rain let up.
Sienna looked up at me sharply, and Zach said, “No. Let’s just keep going to the car.”
His hair was plastered against his scalp, and rain dripped off the strands of his hair and trickled down his face and neck.
When we finally reached the Memorial Hall and got to my car, the rain was starting to ease off. I gave Sienna the dry cardigan from the boot. It was the only dry item of clothing I had on me.
“You okay, Zach?” I asked.
He was shivering. “I’m fine.”
“I can drop you at home if you’d like before I take Sienna to Janet’s flat.”
Zach frowned. “I thought I was coming with you.”
I got behind the wheel and shook my head. “That’s not a good idea. Sienna’s family will want to speak to her alone.”
“But I really think I should be there,” Zach protested, sliding into the back seat as Sienna got into the passenger seat beside me.
“It’s okay, Zach. I’ll see you later,” Sienna said, looking straight ahead.
Zach flopped back into the seat in a sulk, but I ignored him. This wasn’t about what Zach wanted or needed.
I dropped him off at his parents’ house on Barkham Road on the way to Wokingham.
There was no parking at Janet’s flat, so I parked in the pay-as-you-go car park just off Rose Street. I paid for a ticket at the one machine that wasn’t out of order, thankful that the rain had finally stopped and the sun had come out. The grey clouds still remained, but a vivid rainbow shone in the sky above us.
I hoped that was a good sign.
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you ready?” I asked Sienna after I’d paid for the parking ticket and put it on the dashboard.
She climbed out of the car slowly. She was definitely reluctant, but I didn’t know why. We walked side-by-side across the car park and out onto Rose Street before turning left and heading for the main High Street.
Just before we reached the entrance to Janet’s flat, I put my hand on Sienna’s arm. “If there’s something worrying you, you can tell me, you know that, don’t you?”
She looked at me with glassy eyes, her face blank. After we stood there in silence for another moment or two, I became resigned to the fact she wasn’t going to confide in me.
We walked on, and I pressed the buzzer at the entrance door beside the bookshop. Janet must have been waiting by the intercom. She buzzed us in straight away.
I let Sienna walk in front of me. I’d expected her to show some enthusiasm at seeing her aunt, but her footfalls were slow and heavy as she climbed the steps.
Janet obviously couldn’t wait. She met us at the halfway point on the stairs.
“Sienna!” Janet was glowing with happiness. I don’t think I’d ever seen her so joyful. It was certainly a contrast to the prickly side she showed me.
She wrapped her arms around Sienna, but the girl didn’t reciprocate or return the affection.
After a moment, Janet put her arm around Sienna’s shoulders and led her upstairs. I followed, feeling a bit like a third wheel. I didn’t want to get in the way, but I was desperate for some answers.
Inside the flat, Janet fussed over Sienna and glared at me as though I were personally responsible for the thunderstorm.
“She’s soaked through!” she said accusingly.
“I know,” I said. “So am I.”
Janet went to get some towels. She brought fresh clothes for Sienna to change into, a long, lemon-coloured T-shirt and white leggings. “You’ll feel better after a nice hot shower.”
She turned to me, and I thought she was going to offer me a nice pink fluffy towel to wrap around my shoulders, but instead, she used it to cover the armchair. “So you don’t get the furniture wet,” she said pointedly.
She turned back to Sienna. “Grandma will be here soon, sweetheart. Then you can get straight in the shower. I’ve spoken to Lizzie—she’s the family liaison officer. She’ll be here shortly, too. But I’m sure she won’t mind waiting to talk to you until after you’ve had a shower and changed your clothes.”
Sienna blinked tearfully. “But I don’t want to talk to the police. They can’t make me.”
Janet looked taken aback, and for the first time in history, I think she was lost for words. She looked at me but all I could do was shrug.
The intercom sounded, and Janet hurried to unlock the door for her mother.
Marilyn was overjoyed to see Sienna. Tears ran freely dow
n her plump cheeks as she hugged her granddaughter.
They sat down on the sofa, and Marilyn wouldn’t let go of Sienna’s hands. “You put us through hell, young lady,” she said hoarsely. “We were ever so worried. You must promise never to do that again.”
To give them a little privacy, I left my towel-covered armchair and went into the kitchen area. “Should I make some tea?”
Janet looked like she was about to snap at me, but Marilyn got in first and said, “That would be lovely, Abbie.”
While Marilyn was fussing over Sienna, Janet walked over to me and leaned on the kitchen counter. “Where did you find her?”
“I told you. Zach Ryan’s grandmother’s place. She was hiding out in the garden shed.”
“But why?” Janet asked, her face screwing up in confusion.
I shrugged. “I have no idea. She wasn’t in a very talkative mood.”
I put the mugs of tea on the table, and Sienna headed off to take a shower.
“She’s only a child,” Marilyn said and took a sip of her tea. “Surely she doesn’t have to talk to the police straight away.”
“The thing is, she might know something that could help the police find out who killed Nicole,” Janet said. “So I don’t blame the police for wanting to talk to her as soon as possible.”
“What could she possibly know? She is a child,” Marilyn insisted. She looked over her shoulder, making sure Sienna really had got in the shower and wasn’t eavesdropping. “Has anyone mentioned Steve?”
I shook my head. “No, I wasn’t really sure what to tell her. Has he been charged?”
“I don’t know,” Marilyn said. “Lizzie promised to keep us updated, but I’ve not heard anything. If she’s coming here now to talk to Sienna maybe she’ll give us all an update.”
“Do you think he did it?” I blurted out.
Janet and Marilyn both looked horrified at my blunt question.
“I really don’t know what to think,” Marilyn said eventually. “The police found out there was a gun cabinet in the house and that Steve owned a shotgun, so they’re running some tests on the gun.”