“I think we should call the police and I’m going to go up there. I can’t sit around waiting for things to happen when I might be able to do something to help.” Hamish brushed his hand over Alex’s hair as he spoke. “You can come with me if you want. I think a couple of days doing something proactive would be a good thing for you, Alex.”
“Hamish, I really don’t think that’s a wise decision. What about school?” Lucy gripped the necklace and ran the locket around on the chain.
“I agree with him, my darling. I’ve half a mind to go with them. This has gone on long enough.” Frederick took her hand, patting it. “I know you don’t agree, but if it means we can help find Billie, then we must let them go.”
* * *
Before he left the following morning, Hamish had Frederick call Billie’s boss at the paper.
“Hi, Sam, it’s Frederick here. Listen, I wondered what you could tell us about Billie’s movements before she left for Singleton, who she was going to contact and meet up with?” Hamish watched his friend on the telephone wishing he could overhear the other side of the conversation.
“Right, well I understand of course, but it’s not usual for Billie to … really? You’ve spoken to her last employer and he agrees?” Frederick’s lips thinned and he glanced at Hamish with an annoyed frown. “I don’t for one minute believe that, no matter what he says. Billie has been fine since she’s been with us. Even you were impressed with her first story and the interviews she’s done. They’ve been well received from what I understand.”
Frederick listened a moment longer and nodded his head. “So who else was she supposed to catch up with for the story? We’re going to go looking ourselves.” He reached for a pen and made notes, thanked Billie’s boss before he hung up the phone. “Well, that didn’t go as well as I thought it would. Seems Sam is convinced she’s gone off chops and done a runner. Considering her history, he refuses to consider any other possibility. The Historical Society have called him, livid about the appointment she missed. They’ve contacted another paper and offered them the story instead.” He slapped the notepad against his leg. “As you can imagine, that didn’t go down well with Sam. He hinted that Billie would no longer have a job if she came back.”
“I don’t believe it. She wouldn’t do that to Alex.” He stopped talking when the back door slammed and Alex hurried up the stairs.
“I’m ready.” He had a duffle bag slung over his shoulder and held the dog lead in the other hand. His pup stood beside him. Last night when he’d sat with Hamish out the back talking over their plans for today and the visit to Singleton, he said he’d decided to call her Maggie. It suited her. Maggie ran around the room sniffing and greeting everyone she could find before calming down enough to flop on the floor on her belly.
“Right, let’s make a move. I don’t think we’ll be home until tomorrow night, Frederick. If I find anything out, I’ll call otherwise we’ll see you then.”
Frederick placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “If you don’t find her today, I don’t want you getting disheartened, alright? We’ll find her sooner or later, I promise you. I don’t believe for one minute that she’s done anything wrong. I’m going to enlist the help of whatever contacts I can and see if the police here can’t shimmy up the local guys to dig a bit deeper.”
“I wish Gran would come with us. She knows something. I bet whatever it is would make it easier.” Alex shrugged his shoulders. “But I understand why she won’t. It’d probably bring back far too many bad memories for her, like she said. I do wish we knew what it was though.”
“You’re wise beyond your years, young man. Tell you what, if you don’t find your mother this week, I’ll make sure she takes a trip next weekend with me.”
Alex considered his words. “That’d be great ’cause I really don’t think she’ll be there. Not this time anyway.”
“Let’s not be too defeatist. Come on, time to hit the road.” Hamish guided the boy and his dog from the room, down the stairs and out the front door where his old car sat parked, his overnight bag in the boot. Hamish opened the passenger door and Maggie jumped in, settled herself down on the floor well before Alex slid in and reached for the seatbelt. Hamish slammed the door shut and moved around to the driver’s side.
He shared a glance over the roof at Frederick, who stood on the steps “I’ll try to call tonight, Frederick. Hopefully we’ll have news.”
Alex regarded his grandfather as they pulled out into the traffic. “Failure isn’t an option. I know I said I don’t think Mom will be there, but it’s gonna hurt if she isn’t.”
They travelled down into the next road and Hamish indicated the glove box. “The map is in there if you want to be the one to give me directions. It’s been ages since I’ve been up in that part of the country.” The city eventually faded away to more open country as they headed north to Newcastle. They opted to stop for lunch and to stretch their legs before turning off to go inland to Singleton. Maggie ran around the park opposite the bakery where they’d brought meat pies, sniffing at trees and yapping at passing cars.
“She’s growing so fast. I wish you’d seen them when they were born, such tiny little bundles of fluff.
