“I love you.” His words this time were a whisper, just enough so that she could hear.
“I’m so glad you do.” Her hands held onto him tightly. “Because I love you so much too.”
They sat on the blankets watching the festival around them. Alex had fallen asleep not long after their hand-fasting ceremony, both his dogs lying next to him. Sorrell and Zack had wandered about the stalls, Sorrell buying pretty much one of every homemade chutney she could find with the excuse that it was for the hotel.
There were kids playing on the funfair and around the trees on the common, teenagers secretly trying to drink alcohol and the odd joint being passed around. One day their baby would be old enough to come to this festival; they’d be part of the Severton community and he understood just what that meant to him.
“Still want to move to the city?” He looked down at Keren whose head was on his lap as she dozed in the sunshine.
“Hmmmm,” she was clearly too tired for a conversation.
He ran a hand through her hair. “I’m hoping that’s a no, baby.”
She giggled sleepily. “I think we’re staying here, aren’t we? Maybe our baby will live in the city one day.”
“Maybe,” he said. Her eyes fluttered open to look at his. He saw that her expression was one of pure bliss. “I can’t wait to hold Beanie.”
“You know I will cry when you do. You are not allowed to tease me about that.”
He laughed and tangled his fingers in her hair. “I’ll probably be crying myself, so that’ll be three of us.”
“I’m scared about labour.” Her face changed, the sunshine in it clouding over.
“Me too. But we’ll be in the hospital. Hopefully.” He had nightmares about something going wrong, or them being snowed in Severton and not able to get to the hospital. He’d gone as far as suggesting they hired a nurse around the time she was due, just in case, but she’d laughed at him.”
“Scott, this baby will be coming out. I think we should not worry and just enjoy sleep. And sex.”
“True.” He ran his hand down her body, aware that no one was paying them much attention.
She made a noise that sounded like a purr and he debated going home now, missing the bonfires and fireworks and the rest of the bands, and listening to her cry his name instead.
“Baby. Do you want to take a break and go home? Freshen up…”
He stopped his sentence. The air had changed, becoming charged with something urgent, something fearful.
“Scott. Alex…” Fast, heavy footsteps accompanied the words.
Scott turned round, his attention pulled from Keren to Jonny, who was standing there, a look or sheer horror on his face, his body rigid.
“It’s Sadie Grace. She’s missing. I can’t find her.”
22
“We’re looking for a five-year-old girl with medium brown hair tied back in a plat. She’s wearing blue denim shorts and a yellow t-shirt with ‘I love summer’ written on it in brown. She has red trainers and her dad thinks she’ll have no socks on.” Sadie Grace hated wearing socks, another piece of evidence that she’d been spending too much time with Rayah, as Rayah didn’t wear socks unless she had boots on.
Rayah was standing next to Scott, her expression grim, complexion pale. Everyone in Severton’s search and rescue team was watching Alex as he started to organise the search, one that would now stretch wider than the common, as Sadie hadn’t been found.
“Do we think she’d have gone off with a stranger?” Lee Barnes, Jake’s farmhand, asked.
Alex shook his head. “She’s got good stranger danger awareness. However, she’s five. We’re going to split up as per arranged. Jonny’s just gone to get an item of her clothing, then Hansel and Gretel can earn their supper.” He bent down to pat the German Shepherds’ heads.
There was more talk, quiet words making plans, co-ordinating. Rayah was silent, listening, looking at Jonny who was running towards them, his tall, wide frame appearing smaller than normal.
“Here,” he said, handing Alex a few items of Sadie Grace’s clothing.
Alex took them, saying nothing and then bent down to the dogs, doing whatever it was that he did.
Members of the public were looking, still hunting. Severton’s residents had gone back to their houses to check sheds and even inside their homes for Sadie Grace, who was known to be a scamp of a child and would cause as much mayhem as Rayah had done. But she was a good girl; she wouldn’t have disappeared for this length of time, especially as she craved company.
