“Jaysus… Dec, I—” I turned, surprised when my mate was no longer behind me. I caught sight of him muscling his way through the crowds ahead. “Declan!” I shouted, but he either couldn’t hear me or didn’t want to.
“Everythin’ alright, now?” Fiadh asked quietly.
“I dunno, like,” I muttered, brows drawn. “Ronan and Darragh back at the caravan?”
Fiadh nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. “I was just on me way back from seein’ Florence when it all kicked off.”
My mouth was like sandpaper, but it brought me a modicum of relief to know Ronan was safe. “Who is it? Do we know?”
“A young girl from what I’d been hearin’, like.”
Fiadh had barely finished her sentence before I was pushing my way through folks, heading back towards Declan’s caravan but before I could get that far, I spotted him a way ahead. He was ashen and sweaty, eyes dark with worry. Declan wasfrightened,and that hit me like a tonne of bricks. Shite. Tess.
“Y’alright, lad?” My voice shook as I spoke.
“Nah. Where’s Tess? I can’t find her. She’s not back at my place and I—” Declan’s voice caught in his throat, and he ran a hand through my hair.
Something inside seemed to click into place, a calm focus washing over me. I always had been good in a crisis. I guessed it came hand in hand with a traumatic childhood – you got good at coping with fear.
“Feckin’ hell,” I muttered, mind running a million miles an hour. “A’right, has she got her wee trackin’ turned on? On her phone?”
Declan snatched his device from his pocket, tapping on the screen with shaking hands. He narrowed his eyes with confusion, looking up and gazing across the camp.
“Says she’s in the woods, like,” he said, voice low.
My heart sank, and yet I refused to acknowledge it. Digging deep and holding onto the vain hope that things may not be as bad as they seemed. This could all be some sort of misunderstanding.
“Maybe she’s hidin’ out, waitin’ f’ya?” I replied, grabbing Declan’s arm. “C’mon!”
We both legged it, following Declan’s phone as it led us to Tess. It was so dark, we could barely see where we were going, but Declan forged ahead like a man possessed, only slowing as we drew close to Tess’s pin.
“Tess?!” Declan roared, voice bouncing around the woodland.
I cupped my hands around my mouth before shouting. “Tess? It’s us – John-Francis and Declan. Where are ya?”
No answer came. I watched Declan, his face illuminated by his phone screen as he studied it.
“I don’t understand. Says she’s right here, like.”
“Lemme call her.” I dug my phone out of my pocket, and ignoring a few unanswered texts from Ronan, I navigated to Tess’s number. He’d understand once I explained, I knew he would. I raised my phone to my ear, holding my breath as it began to ring. A dull vibration drew Declan’s attention, and he scanned the forest floor, quickly locating the bright screen amongst the leaf litter.
I hung up, leaving Declan staring at the phone in his hand, dumbfounded. There was a tense moment of silence, and I cleared my throat.
“Shite. Musta dropped from her pocket or somethin’,” I said, voice quiet.
With the roar of the river at our backs, we remained stock still. Declan’s anguish was rolling off him in waves, and I waited patiently beside him as he wrestled with what to do next.
He’d been silent one moment, then yelling into the night the next. I was on pins, my whole body buzzing with adrenaline.
“We’ll find her, lad,” I murmured. “Y’go t’ Tess’s house. Maybe she’s gone there? I’ll head back t’ the camp and keep searchin’. I’ll ask about, see if anyone’s seen her and I’ll give ya a bell if I turn anythin’ up, aye?”
Declan didn’t respond, his eyes darting around the woodland, crazed like a wild animal. He was spiralling and I needed to get a handle on this before he did something he’d regret. I grasped his arm, forcing Declan to turn to look at me.
I stared at him. “We’ll find her, Dec.”
Though I saw a flicker of hesitation in his eyes, Declan relaxed a modicum.
“A’right,” he sighed. “I’ll head t’ Tess’s. Y’be ringin’ me if ya hear anythin’, now?”
