Having unpacked the shopping she started making a curry for their dinner that evening. It occurred to her how much she would love to invite Margery and Johnny over to join them, but she knew as soon as the thought entered her mind that it could never happen. Things with Noah had been as good as they possibly could be these past couple of weeks, and she didn’t want to rock the boat. She was pleased that things were back on track between them. Maybe he had learned his lesson at long last and his violent outburst had shocked even him. Perhaps it really had been the jolt he needed to finally put a stop to the downward spiralling slope of his emotions. It certainly felt like things were much better, she only hoped it would continue to be.
16
‘HELENA BEALE?’
‘That’s me.’
‘Would you like to follow me?’
Helena picked up her handbag and followed the doctor into a small grey room. Her palms were sweating and her heart was beating a little too fast. She always got nervous when she had a screening test. And this was even more nerve-racking than most. The results of her latest smear had come back as abnormal and she had been called in for a colposcopy to work out whether there were any cancerous cells in her cervix. She knew it was for the best, that you couldn’t be too careful, but thoughts of her family history did nothing to calm her nerves.
‘Right, if you could remove your trousers and your underwear and climb onto the chair, I’ll give you a knock in a couple of minutes?’
The doctor clearly recognised her nerves, smiling warmly as she left the room, leaving Helena to change in private. She placed the towel that had been left behind over her lower half and sat on the chair with its padded leg supports.
During the procedure, which was uncomfortable but bearable, Helena focused on her breathing as she stared at the printouts of optical illusions that someone had stuck to the ceiling above her head.
Half an hour later, she was back in the car and on her way home from the hospital. Her appointment had been delayed, making her home later than anticipated. Raffy was a week into the summer holidays, so there was no afterschool club option to use. Luckily,Noah had offered to come home early to take over with Raffy. She wondered if he would have made a start on their dinner in her absence. She had a few weeks wait for her colposcopy results, but she tried her best to put them to the back of her mind. They might be fine, in which case there was no need for her to expend wasted energy worrying about it.
As she turned into the drive she saw Johnny’s new van parked outside Hazel Cottage and imagined Johnny and Margery sharing a bottle of wine over dinner. It made her happy to know Margery wasn’t alone, though she could already imagine how much Margery would miss Johnny’s presence in the house when he eventually found a place of his own.
She switched off the engine and got out of the car. There was a gentle breeze running through the air, ruffling the leaves of the trees out on the lane. She could hear the faint thrum of someone mowing their lawn in the distance.
She came into the kitchen, looking for Noah. There was no sign of him, they must be upstairs already. She slung her handbag onto the island and rubbed her forehead. She had developed a headache, probably from the nervous anticipation that had been building up at the thought of the colposcopy. She was relieved it was over, that was for sure.
Helena climbed the stairs. As she turned onto the landing she immediately noticed Raffy’s bedroom door was wide open. From the lightness within she could tell that the curtains weren’t drawn. What on earth? She wondered if he had gone to sleep in their room for some reason. She popped her head around the door to check but all the doors were open, all the rooms filled with summer evening light. There was no sign of either of them.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
Something was wrong. It was too quiet.
As she turned back and scanned the room she could see a few of Raffy’s things were missing.
Her heart rate quickened.
Within the seconds it took her to cross the landing and reachtheir bedroom, possible explanations flashed through her mind: had there been an accident? Had Noah taken him to hospital? She pulled her phone out of her pocket and unlocked it – there were no notifications.
As she entered the room there was no Raffy tucked up in bed, no Noah to be seen.
‘Noah? Raf?’
She repeated her cry as she searched the house, the volume escalating. Her cries reverberated in the silence around her.
Her heart leapt into her throat as increasingly worse scenarios raged through her mind. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and rang Noah. It went straight to voicemail. She rang again. The same thing happened.
She raced back up the stairs, checking she hadn’t missed anything.
Her eyes scanned Raffy’s room. Where was Buzz? And Woody? They weren’t in their usual position on his pillow. She pulled open his chest of drawers. Quite a few of his clothes were missing. And in the wardrobe too. Had they been burgled?
She ran into her room. Noah’s drawers were the same, half full. Too many bare hangers in the wardrobe.
Helena’s head span in confusion. Where were they? Why had Noah taken so much stuff with him? Was this some kind of weird surprise?
She went back down the stairs, calling Noah’s phone again. There was still no answer. Perhaps there would be a note, telling her to meet them somewhere? Why he would have organised something like that she had no idea, but she couldn’t think of any other explanation. Maybe he was still trying to make things up to her?
With mounting anxiety she searched the house. There was no note to be seen.
Suddenly her eyes settled on the one place she hadn’t looked. A drawer in the side of a small table in their bedroom. It was where they kept the passports. With trembling hands she opened the drawer, her body tense with fear.
