make them a two car family. She had bought their other car several years earlier, but Martin insisted on using it most of the time, so Lucy was left feeling stranded. And not just feeling, she thought, really stranded more than once. Those business meetings of Martin’s give me the pip, the way they have to come first. But not anymore.
She let herself into the house and shouted “Hi! Anyone here?” A distant mumble came from the kitchen.
“Guess what I’ve got?” said Lucy as she went into the room, where Aisling was sitting at the table doing homework, still in her school uniform. Susan the baby-sitter was sitting at the other end of the table, her head down, working on problems from past exam papers. She never reacted to much.
“Where’s Robbie?” asked Aisling, looking up. She was eating a chocolate biscuit and showering crumbs down her school jumper. Fuzz was under the table, fielding the crumbs and hoping for larger accidents.
“If he didn’t come home from Marge’s, I suppose he’s still there. I came straight home,” said Lucy, “Did you check, Susan?” Susan shrugged.
“No. Ash got here as usual just after I arrived. Robbie didn’t come. I suppose he must be still there.”
“I thought he was with you, like always,” Aisling looked up at Lucy and frowned. “Didn’t you collect him?”
“No, I told him to come home with Marge today, stay there till you’d be home and then ring here for Susan to fetch him. He’s probably still playing with Jamie.” She went to the phone and talked to Marge’s sitter. Her heart began to pound.
“You mean he didn’t come home with Marge? You haven’t seen him at all?” Lucy sat down heavily and looked at Aisling’s wide eyes staring back at her. “Oh God, no. Oh please. Where is he?” She picked up the phone book and searched frantically for numbers.
Twenty minutes later, she had found the school closed and unanswering, Marge in a meeting and unable to come to the phone, Robbie’s best friend Greg safely at home and unable to say where Robbie was; his other friend, also at home, was able to tell her that he had seen Robbie waiting outside the school.
“Maybe he walked home. I don’t think he’s got lost, Mrs Fitzgerald, it’s not far enough.”
“No, thank you Marcus, I’m sure he’s not lost. But he’s not allowed to walk home. Did he say anything to you about who was collecting him?” Lucy’s mind whirled through the possibilities. Gradually she became a complete blank, as each phone call achieved nothing and she numbly realised that each hope was vain.
“If we’d a car we could go and search,” said Aisling.
“We have, come on! Please stay here, Susan, in case Robbie comes back,” and Lucy was out the door, Aisling right behind her, full of excitement when she saw the car, - “you bought it just the right day, Mum!”
“If I hadn’t bought it, I’d have been at the school to walk home with Robbie and he wouldn’t have gone off like this,” Lucy cursed herself inwardly. Why had she gone off like that to surprise everyone? It would have been better to tell them, maybe even bring them to fetch it. She was being punished for trying to have fun, trying to make life easier. Oh please, help me find Robbie. Quickly.
“It’s all right, he’s safe. Don’t get in a fuss.”
Lucy reversed carefully out of the drive and considered which way to go first. Up to the school and retrace his steps. No, that didn’t seem right. How did you start a search, when Robbie probably wouldn’t be on the street, but safe inside some as yet unknown friend’s house - I’ll kill the woman who didn’t make him ring home - and if he is hurt somewhere I won’t see him. Lucy’s shoulders started to shake and she put her head down onto her hands where they gripped her new steering wheel.
“Don’t cry, he’ll be home soon,” said Trynor. “Come on, listen. Make yourself feel better, go for a drive, the car is great.”
“Aisling, Robbie is OK, but your Mum isn’t. Be a distraction. Be annoying,” Lekna gave Aisling a poke in the chest.
“Ow! Mum, this seat belt is too tight, it’s cutting into me. Are we going anywhere or just sitting here, ’cos I don’t want to be cut in two for no reason.”
“We’ll go around a bit and see what we see,” said Lucy. “The seatbelt is fine, just ease it out