Missing
EVEN IF HE had forgotten his watch, Jake always knew when it was time to leave because the soft whispers that he imagined were leading him through the trees became hisses that leapt out at him when he least expected it.
Arianna, Jake and Bruce made their way back to Jake’s base. Dusk had cast its veil, dulling their path like the questions whirring around inside their heads dulled their voices. Jake couldn’t even remember saying goodbye when he passed beneath the fallen tree. His soggy feet ached, but it didn’t slow him down.
It felt like it took forever to reach the house, but in fact he got there in record time. He and Bruce raced through the metal gate and up the steps to the door. He reached as high as he could so that he could give the knocker a good hard shove and the heavy piece of metal slammed against the door with a loud clunk, causing the door to open ever so slightly. Had he forgotten to close it when he left?
He gave it a shove and it swung half open, the hinges groaning in protest. Part of him expected Grandpa to leap out from behind the door as he so often did, but he didn’t, not this time – this time there was nothing.
Jake placed his single boot onto the floor and called out into the grand empty hall. ‘Grandpa!’ There was silence. He stepped inside. ‘Grandpa!’ he yelled again, louder this time. Still, there was silence. Bruce wandered in past Jake and trotted across the hall in the direction of the kitchen, his claws clicking on the floor, but within seconds he was back and staring up at Jake as if to say, ‘What now?’
The sweet yet sharp scent of Grandma’s perfume wafted under Jake’s nose. He looked up, imagining her standing in the hallway trying to creep up on him and make him jump, like she did the last time he had seen her. Instead, six pink Gladioli stood in a vase on top of the round pedestal table in the middle of the hall. They curved out at the top, mirroring the three table legs that swept down to the floor.
A tingling spread over Jake’s body and he felt a little breathless. His heart leapt when a crack came from the lounge beside him. He quickly realised it was the fire, but it had still made him jump. He reached out for the door handle. The tingling was making his legs wobble and he swallowed involuntarily. He turned the handle and shoved the door hard open. The room was dark except for the flickering orange glow coming from the last remaining embers burning on the fire. The tray was still lying on the floor next to Grandpa’s empty chair. There was no sign of Grandpa anywhere.
Bruce stood beside Jake and looked into the room. If Grandpa was home, Bruce would have found him by now. It didn’t make any sense. Where could he have gone? There was a loud dong in the hallway behind Jake as the hammer of the big old grandfather clock struck six. Jake jumped out of his skin. Not wanting to stay for a minute longer, he forced his feet into his trainers and ran out of the door. He jumped off the porch, across the garden, through the gate and across the field as fast as his legs would take him, Bruce bounding on ahead.
He was halfway across the field before he realised he had left the door wide open, but he wasn’t going back now. A pang of guilt filled his stomach and he fought it away. Maybe Grandpa had left the door open, he reasoned. Yes, perhaps he had just been behind the house fetching logs, but he knew that couldn’t have been the case. Bruce would have let him know if he had been anywhere close and, besides, he had plenty of wood stacked up inside. He pushed it out of his mind.
Mum was taking down the washing. He accelerated across the field towards her. The minute he sped up, his heart started to race, as though someone was chasing him and any moment might grab him.
Bruce got there first. He burst through the gate and up to Mum, bouncing around her feet.
‘Hello, Bruce,’ she said, leaning down and rubbing his cheeks between her hands. Jake followed shortly behind.
‘Sorry I’m late, Mum,’ he said, throwing his arms around her and knocking her a little off balance.
‘That’s okay, darling,’ she said smiling. ‘Did you have a nice time?’
‘Yes, thank you,’ he replied, wondering if he should mention to her that he hadn’t been able to find Grandpa. ‘No, he’d probably just been somewhere upstairs and hadn’t heard him.’
A delicious waft of hot cottage pie drifted from the kitchen and Jake’s stomach gurgled with hunger. A nice big helping of cottage pie and a hot bath was just what he needed. Bruce had noticed it too and was following the smell into the house, nose twitching in the air.
***
That evening, whilst all the other children of Millstream were fast asleep, Jake lay in his bed very much awake. The wind was howling and the rain drummed against the glass of his window. His curtains swayed gently in the whispers of wind that snuck in around the panes. He stared at the lifelike shadows that danced on the ceiling above his bed as question after question raced through his mind. Who was the cloaked intruder? Had he seen Jake and Arianna? What happened to him in the river? What was the hole that they had discovered? And what had caused the wave of water that had nearly taken Jake crashing down with it? But worst of all, the question that was really niggling at him: Where was Grandpa?
Suddenly a flash of light filled the room. He waited for the loud crack that usually followed, but there was nothing. The light disappeared and it was dark once more.
He listened to his parents creeping upstairs to bed. The hall light that had been shining underneath Jake’s door disappeared and their bedroom door clicked shut. He rolled over and closed his eyes and, whether he meant to or not, within seconds he was fast asleep.
