BETHANY

1

When asked about it afterwards, the second thing Carly Carter recalled about the day was the wind. A strong, warm wind that made her laundry flutter on the long lines behind the house, creating a fascinating game of lights and shadows on the grass and flowerbeds.

The first thing she remembered was Max's upset expression and Quinn's big, fat tears, as they sat at the table in her kitchen. She recalled Will's scared face, while he was questioned incessantly by the police. So ardent was Will's questioning, that his own Aunt had grabbed his arm and shaken him lightly when he couldn't remember where, exactly, in the garden he had seen her last. Then the little boy began crying in earnest. She could recall Mark, as he took Will away and tried to calm him down. Max and Darcy, as they comforted Quinn.

And she remembered police.

Police everywhere. Searching, questioning, taking measurements and finding nothing at all. Police asking her things, over and over again, until they brought up her own tears, even though she had not stopped crying since that morning.

Because she was completely gone. As if she had vanished into thin air.

That morning, Carly Carter smoothed the bed linen on the line and sighed. The grounds behind he house were quiet. So much quieter, now that the elder children had finally started boarding school the week before; Carly almost didn't like it. She was not used to it. She needed noise and the sound of laughter and cries and little voices that called her and asked her to take care of a grazed knee or to give them a glass of milk.

She wiped some sweat from her brow and picked up one of her nightgowns from the pile in the basket, waving it in the wind to flat it gently before pegging it next to the linen. She narrowed her eyes in concentration and tried to focus on remembering whether or not either Will or Bethany liked fish. She had bought soles of fish at the market the day before and Mathew had told her he had a craving for her garlic cream sauce. She was happy when she managed to recall that it was Chloe who had thrown a tantrum when she was five; a fish bone had gotten stuck in her tooth for three hours and she swore never to eat fish again, from that very day, to her death.

She bent over to pick up a pair of Mathew's underwear and started into letting them fall when she saw a little shadow appearing and disappearing behind the fluttering laundry. She smiled and picked up the underwear once again, waving it out like a flag.

"Hello Will," she said sweetly, "having fun playing?"

Her grandson didn't reply, but she could see his little legs and bare feet twitching in nervousness amongst the tall grass.

"You're so silent dear," she said gently, pegging the underwear on the line. She moved the bed linen out of the way to look at him. His blue eyes- Mark's blue eyes- were as big as saucers as he looked at her. His freckled little hands were grasping his dirty t-shirt and his shorts were fluttering in the wind.

"Where's Bethany darling?" She asked as she found a sock on the ground and let the linen fall back into place to pick it up.

He hesitated a little, his toes curling in the ground. "She's gone," he finally said, his voice tiny.

Carly tossed some locks of hair behind her shoulders. "She's gone?" She asked half-amusedly. "Are you playing hide and seek again? Is she hiding?" She moved the linen again and looked at him, beaming.

Will shook his head, his eyes still wide.

She cocked her head and felt her smile faltering, before disappearing completely from her face. Suddenly, she felt as if there was something wrong. Something out of place. Something not quite right, in the way Will was behaving.

"Will," she said a bit breathlessly, as she walked past the linen and came to kneel near him, "where's Bethany?"

"He took her away," he replied, his voice a whisper.

Carly felt her heartbeat echoing in every cell of her body, her fingers tingling with fear. She grabbed his little arm in her plump hand and looked at him, as tears started to swell up in the boy's eyes. "Who took her away Will?" She asked urgently, her voice just a throaty murmur.

He was crying when he whispered, "The man with the mask."

Head Police Officers Daughter Kidnapped!

Bethany Marie Wilson, aged five, disappeared yesterday morning from her grandparents' backyard. The little girl was playing unsupervised with her cousin, also aged five, while their Grandfather was in the near town, running some errands and their Grandmother was hanging out the laundry. The girl's cousin was the only witness to the crime and according to him, Bethany was taken away by a 'tall, big man wearing a mask', before she was knocked into unconsciousness. The boy was in shock and when questioned, could not give enough information for the police to start following a lead. He is currently in the hospital for psychological support, after having witnessed his cousin's disappearance. Police are convinced this is not a bravado, but the most plausible theory is that of a revenge kidnapping. Currently, investigations are underway, focusing amongst police officer Max Oliver Wilson's list of potential enemies. The little girl answers to the names Bethany or Beth. She has long, black hair, green eyes and white skin with a birthmark on her shoulder, that resembles a heart. She is three-feet-four and rather small. If anybody has any information about her, they are asked to call the police without delay.

Still No Sign of the Head Police Officer's Youngest Daughter

A month has passed since the disappearance of the youngest daughter of Head Police Officer Max Oliver Wilson and there is still no sign of the little girl. Thousands of phone calls have been made in the past thirty days, along with letters to Mr and Mrs Wilson, both with support for the couple and with reports of sightings of the little girl all over the United Kingdom. Any lead followed by the police up to this point, though, has resulted in a dead end. Police are still prone to believing that the most plausible theory, is that of a personal vendetta towards the Head Police Officer. However, investigations about a newly formed group of terrorist sympathisers are underway as well.

As always, we ask to direct your calls, with any information you might have, to the police department.

Possible Lead on the Wilson Disappearance is Another Dead End

The body of the little girl, that was found two days ago, is not that of one Bethany Marie Wilson, as it had been first believed by the authorities. The macabre discovery was made by a junior police officer on a side street of the market place. The body of the child, torn apart by what were very probably the claws of a large animal, had taken two days to be recognised. She was a new student at the Highleaf Academy, who had gotten lost in the market place, unsupervised on her first expedition to buy her school supplies. Miss Wilson would have started her first year at Highleaf this fall, as well. For a picture of how she would look currently, please look inside today's issue.

The European Trail

After three months following a trail around Europe, the police squad, captained by police officer Felix Daniel Stevens, had to return to England empty-handed. The operation, which had started when a traffic of girls aged ten to fifteen years old had been discovered throughout France, Spain and England, has not brought the finding of Head Police Officer Wilson's daughter, nor any other English young girl. Details on the operation can be found inside, on page 18. Bethany Marie Wilson would have turned thirteen two weeks ago.

Anniversary of a Tragedy

Today marks the anniversary of Head Police Officer Max Oliver Wilson's youngest daughter's disappearance. Despite having been ten years since that fateful day, the Head Police Officer and his squad- especially Deputy Head Officer Markus Eric Carter, Uncle to the little girl- have never stopped looking for her. Leads that might have brought Bethany Wilson- today aged fifteen- home, have become sparser throughout the years, though, and insiders have said that we are to expect a memorial service to be held soon, in memory of the little girl.

The newspaper is close to the Head Police Officer and his family, as they cope with their loss.