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Jenna goes into the bathroom and the twins wait outside. It’s not very clear, but I’m sure Ash laughs. Jenna pushes out again and they follow her down the corridor, off-screen.
‘One second,’ says Argus, who clicks something, and then we’re looking at the drive. Jenna strides up the screen, past the fountain, and Ash and Ava follow her out onto the lane.
The twins followed her? My throat aches.
Argus flicks to another screen, showing the view around the gates. Jenna’s headphones are back on and she keeps going as Ava reaches an arm around her shoulder and then they’re gone.
23
NOW
‘Then what?’ I squeeze my fists tight.
‘We don’t have cameras down the lane,’ says Argus.
Why not?
‘And Ash and Ava, they didn’t say anything about this?’ says Mr Whitlow.
‘No! No.’ I smooth my hair out of my face. Why didn’t they tell me? I feel like I’ve been punched. They were probably trying to protect Jenna. Kids don’t like parents knowing about their squabbles.
‘Okay. So, could you talk to the twins and find out what that argument was about?’
I’m unable to speak.
‘Have you spoken to the rest of your family yet?’
I shake my head, still trying to gather myself. I look down and notice my nail polish is chipped. ‘My father hasn’t been picking up but he’ll be home now. I spoke to Rose Godfrey’s mother, Lydia. She told me Rose was at home, but I… She wasn’t.’
‘Are you certain?’
‘I was sitting outside their house.’
Mr Whitlow’s eyebrows rise. ‘Did you tell Mrs Godfrey?’
I sigh. ‘I did, but she didn’t seem concerned.’
‘I see. I’d take this as a positive, though. It seems likely the girls are together.’
I nod, though I’m not sure. After that fight? I swallow. They never fall out. Maybe Rose really was hiding from me at her house.
‘Has someone spoken to Rose’s bus driver?’
‘I did,’ says Mr Whitlow. ‘Rose took the bus back to Polzeath but Jenna wasn’t with her. He said he’d remember if she had been. I think she gets that bus quite a lot?’
I sigh. ‘So, probably not together.’ My nose stings. I see Jenna at five years old, climbing too high on the rocks at Piskie, her skinny arms reaching up.
‘Look, my father, I think it’s unlikely he’ll know where Jenna is. I’ve tried to get hold of Rose but I can’t. I think… I think I should call the police.’
Mr Whitlow frowns. ‘I’m afraid it’s starting to look like that. But I would say you should speak to your family first.’
‘Right.’ I close my eyes and try to stop my legs from buckling. I have to sit and Argus’s desk chair almost escapes me. I rub my forehead. ‘I can be home in ten minutes.’
‘Good.’
‘Nothing else came through from your message?’
He waggles his head. ‘Some children did report the argument between Rose and Jenna – I was going to tell you when Argus called me about the CCTV,’ he says. ‘But none of them knew what it was about. And I spoke to Colin – Mr Derby, Jenna’s English teacher – again. He noticed Jenna’s haircut and said Jenna seemed more confident in class this morning – she offered to read and he said that she put on some of the accents? She’s usually quiet.’
