Girl, Missing

  ‘Where are you taking us?’ I groaned, still clutching my stomach.

  ‘Shut up.’ Sonia strode round the bed to the porthole and opened it. ‘There. Now you’ve got some air.’

  From the rush and slap of the water outside, I could tell we were cruising fast – but in what direction?

  ‘My tummy hurts too,’ Madison said from the bed. She curled over. ‘It really does.’

  ‘For Chrissakes!’ Sonia opened the door and yelled down the corridor towards the saloon. ‘Hurry up Frank, these kids are driving me mad.’

  I looked at Madison. It was hard to tell if she was faking. She was holding her tummy and rocking backwards and forward on the bed.

  I wanted to go to her, but I didn’t dare either take the phone with me, or leave it behind in the sink.

  Sonia moved away from the door, back to Madison.

  ‘Stop it,’ she yelled.

  Madison curled her knees up to her stomach and wailed more loudly. She went on and on, piercing the air with her screams.

  ‘SHUT UP!’ Sonia’s face was purple with fury.

  Standing with my back to the sink, I scooped the phone up in my hand and held it against my side. Whoever found it – if anyone did – would need a picture of Sonia. As she said, no one except me and Jam – and now Madi – knew what she looked like.

  My heart was pumping so hard I thought I might explode. I twisted the phone round, praying that I was holding it at a good angle.

  Madison was definitely crying for real now. Sonia had hauled her up and was holding her by the shoulders and shaking her violently. A stream of swearwords exploded from her mouth.

  ‘Stop it,’ she shrieked.

  Hoping I had enough footage, I slipped the phone back into the sink again and took a step towards the bed.

  Madison’s crying reached hysterical level. Then something seemed to snap inside Sonia. Her face hardened and set. She raised her hand.

  Everything slowed down – like it was happening in slow motion.

  I remember noticing Sonia was wearing thin, latex gloves. I could see the long red points of her fingernails through the tips. She drew back her hand, then drove it forward, hard, against Madison’s cheek.

  Madison flew across the bed. Her head smashed against the raised edge of the bedside shelf. She flopped down, her eyes shut.

  Silence.

  36

  Crash

  For a second which lasted a lifetime, I stared at Madison’s limp body. Then time speeded up again. I rushed over to the bed. I brushed the hair off her face. ‘Madi? Madi?’

  Her eyelids flickered, but didn’t open.

  I could feel Sonia behind me, breathing heavily.

  I turned, my hands outstretched, fingers curled over like claws, filled with a rage that came from the pit of my being.

  Howling, I hurled myself at her. She caught my wrists and pushed me away, but I kept coming, screaming myself hoarse.

  ‘You coward. You bully. You evil, evil cow!’

  Sonia was forcing me backwards. She was far stronger than me. But at that moment I was madder than a lioness.

  ‘She never hurt anyone. She’s got nothing to do with this.’

  Sonia finally pushed me away from her. I stumbled back against the closet and glared at her, panting.

  Sonia adjusted her top and smoothed her hair.

  ‘Your sister’s fine,’ she said. ‘Look.’

  There was a moan from the bed. Madison opened her eyes.

  I rushed over to her and stroked her face. It was a ghostly grey-white. ‘Just lie still, sweetheart,’ I said. ‘It’s going to be all right.’

  I turned to Sonia, who was watching Madison closely.

  ‘Fine? Like my parents are fine?’ I said. ‘Going to prison for something they didn’t do?’

  Sonia shrugged and examined her nails under the latex gloves. ‘Not my fault. Not my problem. I barely even spoke to your parents. I can’t help it if Tarsen’s a liar.’

  The door burst open and Frank strode in. He took one look at Madison struggling to sit up on the bed and turned on Sonia.

  ‘What the hell’s going on?’ he shouted. He glared at Sonia. ‘Did you hit the kid?’

  ‘It was an accident.’ Sonia reddened slightly. ‘Anyway, I’m paying you to be here. I don’t owe you any explanations.’

  ‘Jesus.’ Frank rolled his eyes. ‘You practically kill me for going to knock some sense into teen princess, and you can’t even control yourself around the rugrat.’

  ‘Don’t have a cow. It’ll just look like she banged her head in the crash. No one’ll realise.’

  ‘What crash?’ I said.

  Frank ignored me. ‘I need you outside for this last bit,’ he said to Sonia. ‘You’ll have to lock them in here until we’re done.’

  He went out. Sonia followed without looking back.

  I heard the lock click in the door. The phone. I raced over to the sink. Thank goodness Sonia and Frank had been too busy yelling at each other to spot it.

  I quickly ran to the porthole which Sonia had opened. Through it I could see the deck railings and open sea. But even holding the mobile up to the opening I could get no signal. Where the hell were we?

  There was a coil of rope wedged up beside the porthole. I shoved the phone behind it. It would be safer there than on me. I could pull it out later.

  I ran over to Madison and hugged her. ‘You OK, babe?’ I peered into her big brown eyes.

  Madison gave a slight nod, then winced. ‘My head hurts.’

  She looked all right, but her eyes were a little glazed and her face still deathly white. Carefully, with trembling fingers I felt for where her head had banged against the shelf. She whimpered slightly as I touched something warm and sticky. I withdrew my hand. The fingertips were stained red.

  Wiping the blood quickly on my jeans I smiled at her.

  ‘You’ll be fine,’ I said.

  ‘Did I do good pretending?’ she said.

  I blinked. ‘You mean the tummy ache?’

  Her mouth crinkled into a little smile.

  I hugged her again. ‘Good enough to win the best actress Oscar. Youngest winner ever.’

  Bump. With a sudden jerk, the boat jolted us both forward, to the end of the bed. A screeching, scraping noise erupted from the bow. In the split-second that followed I wrapped my arms more tightly around Madison.

  With a crash, the boat rammed against something hard and we were both flung onto the floor.

  37

  Trapped

  I landed on my back, Madison on top of me. For a few seconds I lay there, winded. The boat was still juddering, though the engine had died.

  Madison clung to me, whimpering. ‘What is it, Lauren? What’s happening?’

  ‘I think we crashed.’ The floor under my back was cold and hard. I gently eased Madison off me and scrambled to my feet. The boat was listing jerkily from one side to the other. I spread my feet apart, trying to keep my balance.

  Footsteps padded along the corridor towards us. The door clicked unlocked and swung open. Frank was there.

  ‘Don’t want anyone to find you deliberately locked in,’ he snarled. He turned and hurried back up the corridor, pulling a wetsuit jacket on over his T-shirt.

  I dragged Madison after him, down the corridor to the saloon. The boat rocked and bucked. I leaned against the walls for balance, cursing my spiky boot heels.

  Frank was climbing up, out of the saloon door.

  No sign of Sonia. Then I heard her out on deck. ‘Give me her cell,’ she shouted. ‘We gotta leave it here. Don’t want anyone tracing it.’

  ‘I haven’t got it,’ Frank grunted.

  Sonia swore at him. ‘You were supposed to take it off her soon as she came on board.’

  The boat bucked violently. I slipped to the ground, putting my hand out to save myself. The floor felt damp. Oh God. Water was seeping in, up through the floorboards.

  ‘Lauren.’ Madison was trying to haul me back onto m
y feet.

  As I stood up, Frank reappeared on the steps.

  ‘Where is it?’ he yelled. ‘Your cellphone?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ It took all my concentration not to look back at the bedroom we’d just left. ‘I dropped it on the marina, getting onto the boat. It fell in the water.’

  Frank strode over. He shoved his hands in my pockets, then patted roughly down my arms and legs. He did the same to Madison. ‘It’s not on them,’ he yelled up to Sonia.

  The boat was moving less violently now. I looked down. Water was swirling at my feet. The toes of my boots were already stained dark brown.

  ‘Leave it,’ Sonia snapped. ‘Let’s go.’

  Frank walked back to the steps that led up to the saloon door. Madison huddled closer to me.

  ‘You can’t leave us in here,’ I shouted.

  Frank said nothing as he climbed up on deck. The door shut, plunging the saloon into a shadowy gloom.

  I could hear them outside, dragging something heavy across the deck. The water was up to the ankles of my boots now. I pulled Madison after me, wading towards the steps.

  Something landed with a dull thud against the saloon door.

  They’ve wedged something against the door. They want us to drown in here. They want it to look like an accident.

  Panic rose in my throat. I hurled myself up the steps. The door wouldn’t budge.

  ‘Help,’ I shrieked. ‘Let us out.’

  I hammered against the wood.

  It was hopeless.

  I looked back down at Madison. She was reaching up to one of the saloon windows, pulling back the curtain.

  Through the tiny window I could see the boat was dangerously low in the water – close to an expanse of flat rock. A black and yellow pole topped with two black cones stood on the middle of the rock. In the far distance I could just make out a stretch of sandy beach.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Madison’s small, scared voice stabbed at me like a knife.

  ‘It’s going to be OK,’ I said. ‘They’ve just run us aground on some rocks.’

  The boat’s going to sink. We’re going to drown.

  Heart pounding, I looked round the saloon. There were plenty of windows, but they were all too small for us to climb through.

  The boat gave a sickening lurch backwards. I gripped the grab-rail by the steps to stop myself falling off.

  Madison slid into the water.

  ‘Madi?’ I yelled.

  She stood up, dripping wet, her face crumpled with fear and misery.

  I reached out my hand. ‘Come on, Madi,’ I urged. ‘Maybe if we both push we can shift whatever’s blocking the door.’

  The floor of the saloon was slanting towards the stern now. Madison waded towards me. The boat rolled back again, sinking even further into the water.

  How long did we have before we sunk completely?

  38

  The rock

  I pushed again at the saloon door. It was totally jammed.

  Madison was at the bottom of the steps, looking up at me. Her teeth were chattering. ‘Daddy’s g-gonna be m-mad about the boat,’ she said. ‘Lauren, my h-head really h-hurts.’

  ‘I know, babe.’ I thumped against the wood. ‘Help,’ I yelled, knowing it was hopeless. ‘Help.’

  I stopped. No response. Only the splash of the waves, the creak of the boat and my own, urgent breathing.

  I thumped again.

  Please. Please.

  And then I heard it – an answering thump from outside of the saloon door. ‘Lauren?’

  My heart leaped. I hammered on the wood. ‘Jam? Is that you? Jam?’

  ‘Listen,’ he yelled. ‘They’ve wedged this boat hook between the door and the step here. I’m gonna pull it out.’

  The scraping sound of metal against wood filtered through the door. I looked down at Madi. ‘It’s OK,’ I said, tears of relief filling my eyes. ‘Jam’s here. He’s going to get us out.’

  I turned back to the door and pressed my palm against the wood. ‘You came back.’

  ‘Course I did,’ Jam panted. ‘I’ve been hiding down the back of the boat since Evanport.’

  ‘Where’s Sonia and that man?’

  ‘All wetsuited up, swimming to shore,’ Jam said, grimly. ‘There.’

  I heard the boat hook thud onto the deck. The saloon door opened. I caught a quick glimpse of Jam’s face, then the boat gave a dreadful creak and jerked violently backwards again.

  I was thrown off the steps and plunged into the icy water. For a moment everything was total confusion. Whooshing bubbles all around me. I whirled head over heels in the water. Sinking, I opened my eyes. The ignition panel was at my feet. I clawed at the water with my hands. Harder. Harder. Then my head broke through the water. Gulping in air, I looked around. Under the water, beside me, were the dining table and benches. The cupboard doors around them were all open. The water was littered with plates and cups that had been inside.

  ‘Lauren.’

  I looked up. Jam’s head and shoulders were hanging down through the saloon door, now just a metre or so above the water.

  He reached out his hand. ‘Come on.’

  I looked around. ‘Madison. Where’s Madison?’ My voice rose in panic. I dived under the freezing water again. My clothes clung to me, making it harder to drag myself through the water.

  I looked round. And then I saw her. Just a few metres away. Floating under the water, her long hair drifting out behind her.

  My heart skipped about ten beats. Madi, hold on.

  I pulled my aching arms through the water. It seemed to take for ever to reach her. Then I was there, hauling her up, up out of the water.

  I was right under the open door, Madison a dead weight in my arms. Jam was leaning down towards me, his upper chest and arms completely through the opening.

  ‘You’ll have to push her up,’ he said.

  I shoved her out of the icy water, feeling Jam take some of her weight in his arms.

  ‘Push her higher,’ he gasped. ‘I can’t take her weight and keep my balance.’

  I summoned strength from somewhere and with a mighty heave, thrust Madison’s limp and sodden body towards him. Then she was gone. I trod water, making as little movement as possible. I realised that I could no longer feel my legs.

  ‘Lauren. Lauren.’ Jam was yelling my name.

  I looked up. He wasn’t far above me now. His hands were even able to reach the water. But it was too cold. What was he saying?

  ‘Grab my hand, Lauren. Grab my hand.’

  I looked, stupidly, along my arms. My hands were drifting listlessly in the water. It was an effort to move them. Even the small movement I was making with my legs took too much effort. It would be easier just to stop. Just to let the water pull me down.

  ‘Lauren.’ Jam’s shout echoed round the watery room. ‘Take my hand. Take it. Now.’

  With a huge effort I reached out and let his hand grip my wrist.

  ‘Now grab the door and pull yourself up,’ he yelled.

  I tried to make my arm lift up, but there was no strength left. The opening was only half a metre above my head, but it might as well have been half a mile.

  ‘I’m not leaving you,’ Jam yelled. ‘D’you want me to die here? D’you want Madison to die?’

  No. No. NO.

  I reached up and somehow grabbed the saloon door. I gritted my teeth and told my muscles to pull me up. Jam’s hands were under my arms, pulling me too. I hooked one arm onto the outside of the door. Then the other. I could feel Jam’s hands, scrabbling over my back, pulling me upward.

  And then I was there, clambering out into the cockpit, then onto the saloon roof, just a metre or so above the crashing waves.

  The cold air hit me like a slap, but it was better than being in the water. I knelt, hunched over my knees, shivering.

  ‘Get up,’ Jam shouted. He was standing, barefoot, beside me, with one of Madison’s arms slung round his shoulders. She hung from him, moaning lig
htly, all limp and floppy.

  I struggled to my feet, trying to keep my balance against the rocking of the boat. It was sinking faster now. We didn’t have more than a minute or so before we would be sucked completely under.

  I took Madison’s other arm and pulled it across my own shoulders. Jam pointed to the flat rock I’d seen out of the saloon window. ‘We have to swim to that,’ he gasped.

  I nodded. The rock didn’t look too far away, but the water around it was choppy. And I knew how cold it would be.

  Together, we plunged into the water. Instantly my legs and arms grew stiff. Lugging Madison’s weight between us made it even harder to drag our way through the waves that crashed round our faces. I could feel Jam pulling ahead, his arms and legs fresher and stronger. I struggled to keep up with him, the effort at least keeping some feeling in my limbs.

  For some reason, once we were in the water the flat rock looked further away. Gripping Madison’s hand I pushed myself forward. One stroke at a time. One more. One more.

  My arms and legs were going numb again. Water splashed in my face. My legs knocked against lethal underwater jags, like the one that had torn the hole in the hull of the Josephine May.

  Then, just as I thought I couldn’t move any further, we were there. Jam scrambled onto the rock, half-dragging, half-pushing Madison as he did so. I hauled myself after him.

  Jam’s face was contorted with pain. I looked down. Blood was seeping through his trousers just above the ankle, running onto his bare foot.

  ‘Cut myself,’ he panted. ‘One of the rocks.’ He limped over to a pair of trainers which were lying on their sides in the middle of the flat rock.

  How had they got here?

  ‘They’re mine.’ Jam bent over and pulled a sock out of one of the trainers. He clamped the sock to his bloody leg and reached further inside.

  My mouth fell open as he drew out my phone. I had forgotten all about it.

  His face was blue with cold as he held it out to me. ‘I saw you hide it. I’d have got to it earlier if I wasn’t scared they’d see me.’

  Shivering, I looked down. There was a signal. A faint one. My hand shook as I punched nine-one-one into the handset.

  Jam was still talking. ‘I wanted to call for help, but the boat was going down too fast. I threw it over here inside my trainer so it didn’t get wet.’