All this she would talk through in her head as she took off through the countryside that surrounded the village. Having time off in the day was a luxury Nancy was still getting used to. She’d never had time to do this sort of stuff before; she’d been working all hours. Somewhat self-consciously, she’d invested in a pair of proper walking shoes and an ordnance survey map. Then had tried to fathom out the orange topography lines, the blue streams, the dotted green markings that indicated the next footpath that she accessed over yet another stile.
Her walks had got longer as she’d gained confidence and experience. Today she would go seven miles without once seeing a car or a shop or barely a soul. She would bump into the occasional rambler, and they would wish each other a cheery good day, then would pass and after a few minutes, when she looked back across the hill trail, they would have vanished. Ahead of her she saw a dirty, dark cloud. It was dumping rain on the land, the grey sheet of hazy water visible. It looked as if the wind was blowing the cloud in the opposite direction. Or at least she thought so.
She was about three miles into her walk when her phone beeped. She retrieved it from her small backpack and saw she had three missed calls and a voicemail. All from the school.
Service could be patchy out in the hills. She stood exactly where she had been when the message had come through, telling herself not to panic. Dialling into her mailbox, she heard Esther, the woman from the office, asking her to call the school as soon as she could. She didn’t give any other details. Nancy swore.
Fingers fumbling now, she quickly dialled the school’s number. A drop of rain fell onto her face.
‘Hello, it’s Nancy Miller, Lara’s mum,’ she babbled as soon as she got through. ‘I had a message to call as soon as possible. Is everything all right?’
‘Ah, Mrs Miller. I’m afraid not. Lara asked to go to the toilet during lessons this morning and didn’t return to the classroom.’
‘What?’ Nancy couldn’t quite process what Esther was saying. ‘Where is she?’
Esther cleared her throat. ‘I’m afraid we don’t know. We were wondering if she had come home to you?’
‘I’m not there, not at home.’ As she spoke, Nancy had instinctively started to walk back the way she’d come. She had to head home to find her child.
‘Sorry? You’re breaking up,’ said Esther.
Shit. If she moved, she lost service. ‘I said I’m not at home.’ She looked back along the footpath. She was at least forty-five minutes from her house, maybe thirty if she ran. Too long, a nagging voice said in her head. ‘But I’m going back now. I’ll hurry.’
‘OK, well, let’s not panic. We’ve called the police and they’re taking a drive around. Is there anywhere else you think she could have gone?’
‘No. No...we don’t really know anyone around here yet.’ The rain was coming down heavier now.
‘We will find her, Mrs Miller, rest assured. I’ll call you again in another twent—’
She didn’t hear the rest. Esther’s voice fractured then disappeared.
Nancy broke into a run.
FORTY-NINE
Thursday 10 December
Nancy ran all the way home without stopping. She staggered back into her driveway, bedraggled and out of breath. She unlocked the front door, even knowing as she did that Lara couldn’t be inside the house – she didn’t have a key.
Standing dripping wet mud on the hall floor, she called out Lara’s name but the house was silent. She ran out into the garden, searching by the chickens, the wooded area and near the pool, but Lara wasn’t there either.
Her phone was ringing again. The school.
‘Have you found her?’ she barked.
‘Not yet.’ It was Mr Whitman this time. ‘I know this is an incredibly worrying time for you, but we will find her. I wanted to let you know we’ve checked the CCTV and Lara is on camera leaving the side gate of the school at nine forty-five this morning.’
Nancy’s heart skipped a beat. She looked at her watch. That was over an hour ago.
‘How the hell did she get out? Surely these things are locked?’
‘She used the code.’
‘What?’
‘Yes, the door code. I have no idea how she knew it. For obvious reasons, this kind of information is kept strictly confidential amongst the staff.’
She wasn’t sure if she heard right but was there something about his tone that had an accusatory edge? Or was she imagining it? Nancy shook her head. She couldn’t deal with that now. ‘What about the police?’
