Maybe Rachel had moved it into Poppy’s bedroom.
Something felt wrong, though, and a pulse began beating inmy head.
I walked quickly round the front of house and looked in theliving room window, and my heart lurched.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
The only sign that people had been living there was a singlepine bookcase on one wall that Rachel had never liked and an umbrella plant ina pot, standing on the carpet in the corner. The rest of the furniture had disappeared.
A cold hand gripped my guts as the realisation crept throughme.
Rachel and Poppy had gone.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Finding Rachel’s house deserted sent me into such apanic, I could hardly think straight.
I phoned Rachel’s mobile but was sent straight to voicemail.Calling Poppy’s phone produced the same result, but as I paced the floor athome, I kept trying them, refusing to believe they could have disappearedwithout so much as a phone call to me, telling me what was happening.
Had Darren persuaded Rachel to leave with him? Or worse, hadheforcedthem to go? Surely neither Rachel nor Poppy would have gone willinglywithout telling me, and fear clutched at my heart, thinking of them –especially Poppy. She would have wanted to see me before they left. But forsome reason, she hadn’t been able to.
I tried to tell myself that maybe they’d gone to stay withRachel’s parents in Glasgow. But why would they empty the house first? In amatter of days? That smacked of desperation. But who was the desperate one?Rachel, wanting to escape Darren’s clutches by fleeing before he returned from histrip? Or was it Darren? Had he come back earlier than intended and wormed hisway back into Rachel’s affections with meek apologies and flowers and promises,as he’d done so often in the past? Had he deliberately removed them from myreach, knowing I posed a threat to his relationship with Rachel?
The not knowing was excruciating. And for that first week, Iwent around in a daze, distracted at work, my mind going round and round incircles with the same questions.
Where had they gone? Was Darren still manipulating Rachelinto doing what he wanted? How was Poppy coping?
A leaden weight was dragging me down and by the weekend, Iwas shattered. I crawled into bed the instant I got home from work on theFriday night and fell into a deep, nightmare-filled sleep, in which I wassearching desperately and unsuccessfully for a key to get into Rachel’s house.
I woke late on the Saturday, feeling exhausted, but with arenewed determination to get to the bottom of what had happened.
Should I call the police and report them missing?
But as I emerged from the shower, planning to do just that,I noticed the message on my phone. I’d texted Rachel and Poppy so many timesbut never had a reply. Maybe this was it?
I dived for my phone. The message was from a number notrecognised but when I clicked on it and scrolled down, I saw Rachel’s name atthe bottom.
Darren came back on Thursday and I’ve forgiven him, butonly because he promised he’s definitely going to get the counselling he needs– first session booked already. He’s been transferred to the Aberdeen office sowe’ve moved up there with him. It was all very sudden and I’m sorry I couldn’t seeyou before we left. But I knew you’d try and stop Poppy and me going, and Ihonestly think this move will be good for us as a family. We’re living in a placethat Darren says has a first class school for Poppy, and we’re moving into agorgeous new house. We’ll rent out my old place. And once we’ve settled in uphere, I’ll be in touch and you can come and visit. Take care. Poppy sends her AuntieEnzie lots of love xxx
I read the message with a sad, hollow feeling inside.
Discarding the phone, I sank down on the bed. Far fromgiving me the answers I desperately needed, Rachel’s text had only increased myfrustration and made me realise how utterly powerless I was.
Darren had made sure I wouldn’t find them. He saw me as athreat and I had a feeling he would do whatever he could to stop Rachel fromgetting in touch with me ‘once they’d settled in’.
I was forced to admit defeat. Darren had won.
There was nothing I could do to help Poppy and Rachel now.
*****
With Rachel and Poppy gone, the frozen days of early Januaryfelt like a reflection of my state of mind as I slid down into an increasinglydark and desperate place.
I hated myself.
I’d failed to keep Rachel and Poppy from the clutches of anabuser, and I felt an enormous burden of guilt over the events that hadresulted in the death of that poor woman. In trying desperately to help Racheland Poppy, I’d only made things far worse by attempting to transport them tosafety.
Rosemary, Darren’s mother, had been round to the house twicein the past week, hammering on the door and shouting through the letterbox whenI didn’t answer, demanding to know where they’d gone. I couldn’t face her,although I did feel sorry for her. I knew how much she doted on her son and howattached she’d become to Poppy. I considered Darren to be the lowest of thelow, but it still shocked me that he hadn’t bothered to tell his own motherwhere they’d gone. It actually heaped more fear on me, because I realised thelengths to which Darren was prepared to go, to keep their location a secretfrom me.
