Forbidden

‘What’s happened?’

I can hear laughter and jeering in the background, fading as he leaves his after-school revision class. We both keep our phones on at all times. He knows I’d only call during school hours in an emergency.

I blurt out the events of the last five minutes. ‘I’m on my way to their school now.’ A juggernaut brays its horn at me as I streak across the main road.

‘Meet you there,’ he says.

* * *

When I arrive at St Luke’s, I find the gates closed. I start to shove and kick at them until the caretaker takes pity on me and comes over to unlock them. ‘Easy,’ he says. ‘What’s all the panic?’

Ignoring him, I run to the school doors and pound on them. I am buzzed through and lurch along the fluorescent-lit corridor which, stripped of the chaos of children, seems eerie and surreal. I spot Lochan at the far end, talking to the school secretary. He must have run all the way too. Thank God, thank God. Lochan will know what to do.

He hasn’t noticed my arrival and so I slow to a dignified walk, straighten my clothes, take deep breaths and try to calm myself down. I’ve learned the hard way, through the various dealings I’ve had with figures of authority, that if you start getting upset or angry, they treat you like a child and demand to speak to your parents. Lochan has worked hard on the art of appearing calm and articulate in these circumstances, but I’m all too aware what a terrible struggle it is for him. As I approach, I notice that his hands are shaking uncontrollably by his sides.

‘Miss P-Pierce was the only person to see them leave?’ he is asking. I can tell he’s having to force himself to meet the secretary’s gaze.

‘That’s right,’ says the horrible platinum blonde I’ve always despised. ‘And Miss Pierce would of never—’

‘But surely – surely there’s another number she can be reached on?’ His voice is clear and firm. No one but I could detect the subtle tremor.

‘I told you – I tried. Her mobile’s switched off. But like I said, I left a message on her home line—’

‘Please could you just keep trying her phone?’

The secretary mutters something and disappears back inside her office. I touch Lochan’s hand. He jumps as if he has been shot, and beneath the calm exterior I see that he is crumbling too.

‘She keeps talking about a childminder,’ he says to me raggedly, backing out into the corridor and grabbing my hand. ‘Did Mum ever say anything to you about paying someone to fetch them?’

‘No!’

‘Where is she now?’

‘Lying on the couch with a fla

Lochan is breathing hard. I can see the rapid rise and fall of his chest beneath his school shirt. His bag and blazer are nowhere to be seen and he has removed his tie. It takes me a moment to realize he is trying to disguise the fact that he is still just a schoolboy.

‘I’m sure it’s some kind of misunderstanding,’ he says, desperate optimism creeping into his voice. ‘Another parent must have come in late and picked them up. It’s all right. We’re going to get this sorted out, Maya. OK?’ He squeezes my hands and gives me a tense smile.

I nod, forcing myself to breathe. ‘OK.’

‘I’d better go back and speak to the—’

‘D’you want me to?’ I ask quietly.

The heat immediately springs to his cheeks. ‘Of course not! I can – I can sort this—’

‘I know,’ I back-pedal quickly. ‘I know you can.’

He leaves my side to cross the office threshold and takes an audible breath. ‘Still – still no luck?’

‘Nope. She could of got stuck in traffic, I s’pose. She could be anywhere, really.’

I hear Lochan exhale in exasperation. ‘Look, I’m sure the teacher wouldn’t have wilfully let them go with a stranger. B-but you’ve got to understand that, right now, these children are missing. So I think it would be best if you called the headmaster or the deputy or – or someone who can help. We’re going to have to notify the police, and they’re probably going to want to speak to the people who run this school.’

In the corridor, out of sight of Platinum Blonde, I sag against the wall and press the back of my hand against my mouth. Police means the authorities. The authorities means Social Services. Lochan really must think that Tiffin and Willa have been kidnapped if he is willing to risk getting them involved.

I am begi

The headmaster, a stout, greying man, arrives at the same time as Miss Pierce – Willa’s teacher. It transpires that she waited for over half an hour with both children before a lady, Sandra someone, showed up, apparently under instructions to fetch them.

‘But surely you must have got a last name?’ Lochan is saying for the second time.

‘Naturally we have a record of each child’s parent or guardian or childminder. But the only contact information we were ever given for Tiffin and Willa was the mother’s name and a home number,’ Miss Pierce, a pinched, pink-cheeked young woman, is saying. ‘And despite all our attempts, we couldn’t get through. So when this lady arrived saying she was a family friend and had been asked to pick up the children, we had no reason to disbelieve her.’

I see Lochan’s hands clench into fists behind his back. ‘Surely checking who the children go home with is part of your job!’ He’s begi

‘I would have thought it part of the parent’s job to pick up their children on time,’ Miss Pierce retorts, piqued, and suddenly I want to take her head and smash it against Platinum Blonde’s and scream, Don’t you realize that while you stand there acting all self-righteous and arguing over who is to blame, a paedophile might be speeding off with my little brother and sister?

‘Where are the parents in all this?’ the headmaster interrupts. ‘Why have we only got the siblings here?’

I feel the breath catch in my throat.

‘Our mother is ill right now,’ Lochan says, and even as he comes out with this well-practised line I can tell that he is struggling to keep his voice calm.

‘Too ill to come down the road and find out what has happened to her children?’ Miss Pierce asks.

There is a silence. Lochan is staring at the teacher, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly. Don’t react, I beg him silently, pressing my knuckles against my lips.

‘Well, look, I think we should alert the authorities,’ the headmaster is now saying. ‘I’m sure it’s a false alarm, but obviously we need to be on the safe side.’

Lochan is backing away now, tugging at his hair in a characteristic gesture of extreme distress. ‘OK. Yes, of course. But can you just give us a minute?’

He moves away from the office door and rushes over. ‘Maya, they want to call the police—’ His voice is shaking and his face glistens with sweat. ‘They’ll come to the house. Mum – she’ll have to be involved . . . Was she sober?’

‘I don’t know. She’s definitely hung over!’

‘Maybe – maybe I should stay here and wait for the police while you go home and try and get her together. Hide any bottles and open all the windows.’ He is gripping the tops of my arms so hard they hurt. ‘Do whatever you can to get rid of the smell. Tell her to cry or – or something, so that she appears hysterical instead of—’

‘Lochan, I’ve got it, I can do it. Go ahead and call the police. I’ll make sure they never know—’

‘They’ll take the kids away and separate us—’ His voice is fragmenting.

‘No they won’t. Lochie, call the police – this is more important!’