eye contact with Evi and failed. She was struggling to stand up.
‘Tom can’t be gone,’ said Evi. ‘We’ve been here all this time, the doors were locked. Have you checked the bathroom?’
Alice looked as if she had no idea what a bathroom was. She was in shock. The stress of holding it together for the past twenty-four hours had proved too much and Tom’s unexpected trip to the loo had sent her over the edge.
‘Tom!’ Evi called out. ‘Tom!’ she called again, a little louder, when there was no response. Anxiety growing, Evi struggled to her feet. Her stick was at the bottom of the stairs and the pain in her leg was beyond anything she normally had to cope with.
Alice was moving again, running down the stairs. She pulled open the front door. ‘Phone Gareth, please,’ she begged, turning back to Evi. ‘Tell him to get back here. I’m going to look outside.’
The front door blew wide open as Alice disappeared, and flakes of snow flurried into the hall, melting instantly on the slate tiles. Phone Gareth? Evi hadn’t phoned the police yet. She hadn’t even found the phone. Holding on to the wall, she made for the nearest room. It was Millie’s. The toddler slept on, oblivious to the drama unfolding around her. Evi turned. Tom would be in the house, he had to be.
‘Tom!’ she called, then decided she wasn’t going to try that again. It was just too unnerving to call for a child and hear nothing in response.
‘Tom!’ That was Alice, yelling outside.
Tom could not have gone outside, the doors had been locked.
She turned and made her way to Joe’s room in case Tom was sleeping in his brother’s bed for comfort. She pushed open the door and stood, panting, in the doorway. The room was empty.
Shutting her mind to the pain, Evi walked to Tom’s room and flicked on the light switch. ‘Tom!’ she heard from outside. Alice was behind the house now, calling in the garden.
Evi crossed the room and then clung to the window ledge to get her breath back. She could just about make out Alice, tearing about the garden. Right, she had to look in the bathroom and in Gareth and Alice’s room. Damn Alice, if she hadn’t lost her head, she would have been able to search the upper floor in seconds. It would take Evi precious minutes, when she needed to be talking to the police.
‘Tom,’ she called out, realizing she was crying. ‘Tom, please. It really isn’t funny.’
Tom didn’t answer her, and she carried on along the landing.
Tom was running, terrified he’d lose sight of Ebba and be left alone in the clawing, creeping darkness. He had no idea how big an underground chamber he was racing through, he couldn’t see the walls – not that he was looking; his eyes were fixed on the girl ahead of him.
Every time Tom was tempted to turn back, he made himself think of his brother. Joe, who he sometimes thought had been sent to earth to make his life miserable, who had been a complete pain from the day he was born, who was always getting his own way and who he fantasized about killing at least once a week. Joe, who he really didn’t think he could live the rest of his life without.
A wall loomed in front of them and Ebba shot through an archway. Tom went too, before he had chance to ask himself whether this was a good idea or not. None of this was a good idea, it was probably the worst idea he’d ever had in his life, but the strange creature ahead of him had his brother’s shoe.
She was balancing on an upturned crate and reaching for something in the ceiling. Then Tom saw light shining through. A minute later he and Ebba were both in the church. There was no sign of the police constable, the door to the vestry was firmly closed. Then Ebba was on her feet again and running up the aisle towards the back of the church.
Tom wasn’t in the house. Alice had been right and Evi had wasted precious time. She hadn’t even seen a phone. Nor had she heard anything of Alice for several minutes now. She had to get back downstairs and call the police. They could be here in minutes. She would use her mobile – it was just outside, in her car.
As she approached the front door, it slammed shut, startling her.