Page 68 of Return to the Waratah Inn

Reeda moved to lift Carly away from Marc. She set the little girl down on the floor. “No hair pulling, please. What the problem?”

“He won’t share the Legos with me. I wanna play too.”

“Maybe we can all play together. I’m going to grab a shower, and then I’ll join you. Okay?”

“I don’t wanna play with her. She cheats.”

“Cheats? What do you mean? Aren’t you just building things?”

“He wants to see who can build a car the fastest,” Carly explained. “And I won, but he’s mad about it.”

“You didn’t win. You cheated.” Marc’s eyes narrowed.

Reeda glanced around the room. “Where’s your sister?”

Carly sat on the edge of her bed. Marc pushed his Lego car around on the hardwood floor, making a zooming sound.

Reeda tried again. “Where’s Simone?”

Marc glanced at her. “She’s gone.”

Carly swung her legs back and forth and began to hum a tune.

“Gone? What do you mean? Where did she go?”

Marc scratched his chin. “I don’t know. She went out the door and said we should stay here.”

Reeda’s heart fell. “When did she leave?”

All she got from Marc was a shrug. Carly continued to hum.

This couldn’t be happening. Simone had lied to her and left the younger kids to fend for themselves again. Reeda strode for the door. “Come on—get in the car, please. We’re going to find her.”

They drove around Kingscliff, then Tweed Heads and Jack Evans Boat Harbour for an hour with Reeda scanning every group of kids and teens she saw. Where would Simone go? She didn’t know the area yet. They hadn’t been here long enough to make friendships besides at school. Where would a lone twelve-year-old girl go? She knew the bus system well enough to make it to Tweed Heads, and since her friends lived there, it was the most likely place to check. Surely she wouldn’t walk far in this heat though?

In the back seat, Carly complained about needing to pee, and Marc said he was hungry. Reeda told them to hold on a little longer, but it wasn’t long before Carly said she couldn’t hold it another minute, and Reeda feared for her leather seats. So, she pulled over into the parking lot beside Jack Evans Boat Harbour and climbed out. There were public toilets nearby, and a fish-and-chip shop as well. She took the children to the toilet, then after they washed their hands, they stood in line to order some hot chips with tomato sauce and sat at a nearby picnic table to eat. Reeda was grateful the table was in the shade. A few ducks waddled closer, looking for stray chips to eat. Carly threw them one, and soon there was a flock of seagulls cawing overhead.

Reeda frowned. “Let’s not feed them any more chips. We’ll be inundated with birds before you know it.”

Marc giggled at that and threw another chip, which a seagull swooped from the air. Reeda glowered at him. “Marc, no more chips.”

He nodded and continued eating. Reeda ate a chip absently as she scanned the faces of people walking by. Her heart was in her throat, and panic surged deep down. Where was Simone? Would she find her way back to the house? What would Duncan say? Not to mention the foster care agent. She shouldn’t have left them alone. But how could she know Simone would do this?

Just then, Carly called out, “Simone!” She leapt down from the table to run at full speed towards the water. Reeda grabbed Marc’s hand and barrelled after her, shouting for Carly to stop. The little girl ran into a group of teens by the water’s edge and threw her arms around Simone’s waist. Reeda slowed her pace to a walk to catch her breath and think about what she’d say. Relief washed over her, quickly followed by anger.

She stopped short of the group and stood with Marc’s hand in her own. Her entire body trembled as she ran through the list of possible things to say in her head. Finally, she decided on a quiet approach.

“Simone, come here, please,” she said firmly.

Simone rolled her eyes and said something to the group of teens surrounding her. There were empty beer bottles scattered about them. Several of the teens were smoking, including Simone, a half-done cigarette dangled from her lips. She pulled it free, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it with a Converse sneaker. Then she said something more to the group, pulled Carly off her waist, and sauntered towards Reeda.

“What?” Simone’s eyes sparked with rebellion, almost like she dared Reeda to speak.

Reeda’s nostrils flared. “Get in the car, and we’ll talk about it on the way home.”

The three children followed Reeda. Simone threw herself into the passenger seat and immediately put her Converse up on the dashboard, dripping wet sand all over Reeda’s car.

“Feet down!” Reeda said.