Finding Maisie

Finding Maisie: Chapter 4

Finding Maisie

Chapter 4

My mother.

That's whose phone call woke me up bright and early in the morning, disturbing me from my thoughts and nightmares of Maisie.

Within the six days that Callum and I had been taking refuge at Joshua's, contact from the abductor had been non-existent; I had been granted no clues, no notes, not anything from the deadly cloaked man. Although the break from the treasure hunt felt a little relieving, the mystery as to why this break was occurring set off an uneasy feeling within me. Was there something I had missed, a clue I had overlooked? Any thoughts from the day at the warehouse had been clouded from the bang on my head, disorienting the memory that I had. From what I remembered of the day, I had no recollection of a clue being given but a certainty that I carried was that this break in the treasure hunt was down to me. There was no logical explanation that would justify the abductor taking a gap in the contact. I had missed something vital, I was sure of it. There had to be something to lead me further in the treasure hunt that I hadn't figured out yet. My ignorance to the forgotten clue irritated me. I craved to search for my best friend again and this break was only hindering that.

I fiddled with the ring that had remained on my finger which, as usual, brought sadness to my heart. Despite the lack of treasure hunt, the date had also gotten me on edge; today was the anniversary of Maisie's disappearance. Ten years ago today my best friend was abducted and I was left alone. For ten years Maisie had been in misery, imprisoned by the man who stole her childhood. For ten years the failure of every one who loved her lingered in the air as we had not recovered her and now, even after being given a chance to, I was prohibited by something as measly as a clue. The ring brought me the determination I needed, though; the determination to fight for the no longer little girl and work past any problem that prevented me from doing that. The ring was a reminder of the best friend I had lost and the best friend I would fight to find. This day was always the one day in the year that I found the hardest, topping Maisie's birthday by only just. I was at a loss to find the words to accurately describe how much I yearned to see her again, to laugh about everything and nothing and to have not a care in the world. Today was a reminder of all the memories I had made with her in those eight short years, but at least this year I knew I had a chance to be able to make more memories with my best friend.

After having to work the night shift only a few hours ago I had planned to sleep the morning away, but that changed with my mum's phone call. I slumped to my bedside table and answered my phone.

'Hello.'

'Poppy! I haven't spoken to you in ages!' My mother cooed.

I swallowed the temptation to roll my eyes at my mum's greeting. Over my childhood, she had grown to become very protective and, although she tried to allow me to have my space now, the evidence in her eyes that she worried about me was clear. I didn't blame her though. That was what Maisie's disappearance did to her - made her protection over me grow. I was sure that if I had been a mother myself my reaction would be the same.

I sighed, 'No, mum, not ages. Only about two weeks.'

'Yes, well for me that's ages! I wouldn't want to ever stop talking to you, Poppy.'

'Don't worry, mum, you won't. Can I please go back to bed now? I'll call you back later,' I moaned.

'Alright Poppy but I mean it. Call me back later because I do want to talk to you. You're my only child and, to be truthful, the most important thing to me in the world.'

I sat up on my bed, more awake and alert now than before. Most important thing... or in other words, prized possession. My mum considered me to be her prized possession. In the abductors letter that I read it had written "But I will make sure you never know what happens with your prized possessions". I had assumed prized possession was aimed at an object not a person. But the more I thought about it the more it made sense. If Maisie was the prized possession then it was true; we didn't know what had happened to her, just like the letter said. That was the only explanation for it. It was Maisie. And now I knew it, it was so obvious. I hit myself for not realising that Hope was what was taken, it had been staring me in the face.