‘If it gets to one o’clock and we still haven’t found him,’ Hannah said, ‘we’ll .?.?. Well. I don’t knowwhatwe’ll do. Let’s crack on and hope it doesn’t come to that.’
She was grim-faced but still beautiful; so constructive in the face of potential disaster, so determined to save the day for their brothers. How had he ever imagined he could live without her? Jude pulled her into a hug, wanting to soothe her for a moment before they started running around. She leaned in, taking comfort from it, like she needed it and didn’t have the energy to hide the fact.
‘I’ll take Ed’s phone as well as mine, just in case,’ she said after a beat of silence. ‘Turn your ringer on, and make sure it’s loud enough to hear.’
‘Got it,’ Jude said. He had no problem whatsoever with doing exactly as he was told.
They went their separate ways, and half an hour later Jude was sweaty, dishevelled and had looked in five different places for Ed. He hadn’t been in any of them.
Hannah called for an update, and he gave her the bad news. ‘Same here,’ she said. ‘I’ve asked around, too, and nobody’s seen him. This is awful. I don’t know where else we can look.’
‘Where are you?’ Jude asked. She sounded tearful again.
‘Kids’ playground,’ Hannah said miserably.
‘I went by it a couple of minutes ago,’ Jude said. ‘I’ll double back and find you.’
Face to face again, and both slumped on a children’s swing set, they looked at one other in ill-disguised dismay. ‘Let’s think,’ Jude said. ‘What does Ed love? What calms him down? What does he do when he’s stressed or unhappy?’
‘I dunno,’ Hannah answered. ‘He eats. Watchesunbelievablybad TV. Drinks too much beer with his rugby mates. Goes to the gym, plays sport .?.?.’
She looked up and caught Jude’s eye just as they came to the same realisation. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started typing, as did Hannah.
‘We need to look for a rugby club,’ she said.
‘Or a sports park,’ Jude added.
‘Or even a school field .?.?.’
‘How about this?’ Jude said, holding up his phone so she could see the words ‘Redbridge Rugby Football Club’ on the screen, with an address around five minutes’ walk away.
‘That’s it,’ Hannah said, ‘it has to be.’ She jumped up, threw herself at him for a brief, tight hug and then pulled him to his feet. ‘Come on,’ she said, ‘let’s go.’
They ran almost all the way there, and Jude marvelled that not once, not even for a second, did she let go of his hand.
29
It took just seconds for Hannah’s relief to be swallowed by rage at how badly Ed had scared her.
He wasright thereon the empty rugby pitch, repeatedly kicking a ball as if it had personally wronged him and scoring faux drop goals from distances that – under different circumstances – would definitely have impressed her.
‘Edward James Matthews!’ she bellowed. ‘Get your sorry arse up here RIGHT NOW!’
Ed flinched, turned and cringed as she stared at him.
‘I said NOW,’ Hannah shouted.
‘Easy, Hannah,’ Jude said. ‘I thought we were here to talk him down from the ledge – not push him over it.’
She threw him a resentful look that meant,I have every right to be angry, and simultaneously,Screw you for having a point.
‘You might have to do the talking then,’ she said. ‘I’m almost too irate to function, now I know he’s OK.’
Ed, sensing it would be unwise to test Hannah’s patience further, had started walking towards them. When he reached them at their position in the first row of the old wooden stand, he hung his head. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘When I first left the room, I just .?.?. wanted to run a bit. Try and sweat off some frustration, some stress. And then I found myself here, totally by chance, and the team’s playing away today, and .?.?. it felt good. The rugby pitch is, like, a safe place for me, you know?’
‘I love you, Ed, but that’s horseshit,’ Hannah said. ‘You’ve had more rugby injuries than most people have had chip butties. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that time Louie Brooks broke your elbow. Your arm was in a sling for six weeks.’
‘That’s not the kind of safe I meant,’ Ed argued sullenly.
