this had been the scene of a crime, even though the previous one had never been reported. There couldn’t be a link, though. It was all so long ago, and such an unhappy time.
Poor Abbie. Whatever she had suffered on Friday night, she didn’t deserve it. She was only a child, and Ellie’s heart ached for her and her family.
When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet.
‘I probably shouldn’t tell you this, Leo, but when Abbie was brought into the hospital, her feet and legs were in a shocking state. She was covered in a horrendous nettle rash from her toes to her knees, and her feet were bleeding and bruised. The police don’t seem to have made that public, so please don’t say anything. She can’t feel it now, of course. But it must have hurt like hell at the time. Poor kid.’
It was hard to think how that could have happened, but Ellie would bet on the fact that the police had searched every inch of these woods yesterday.
‘How do they think she got here?’ Leo asked. ‘Has anybody said anything?’
‘None of it makes sense - to me at least. She was a good kid, by all accounts. Not the type to be out in the middle of the night, and definitely not a child whose parents wouldn’t know where she was. But however she got here, some bastard left her to die, and by the look of her legs, that wasn’t the only torture she’d gone through that night.’
The two women were subdued when they got back in the car
‘Would you mind very much if we went via the hospital? I’d like to call in and see how Abbie’s getting on. I won’t be long, but I can’t let you come in because it’s only close relatives at a time like this.’
‘Of course it’s okay. It must be hard to tear yourself away when it’s a patient like Abbie.’
Ellie smiled sadly, and put the car into drive. They didn’t speak again until they reached the hospital.
* * *
Swiping her key card to get through security, Ellie made her way towards the nurses’ station. They were a small tight knit group on this ward, and nobody had to ask why she was there. She looked towards Abbie’s bed and could see that the doctor was there, talking to her mum. Ellie stayed where she was and waited.
Finally he excused himself and headed towards Ellie. Sam Bradshaw was probably her favourite doctor and like the nurses, he felt no need to query her presence. He got straight to the point.
‘Before you ask, Ellie, there’s nothing to report, I’m sorry to say. No change with Abbie. Do you want to go and talk to her mum for a while? I’m sure she’ll be pleased to see you.’
Ellie couldn’t hide her disappointment at the lack of improvement, but adjusted her expression as she made her way towards the bed where Abbie’s mum, Kath, was sitting. She seemed slightly more composed today but didn’t look as if she’d slept for a week.
‘Hi, Kath. I thought I’d pop in and see how you all are,’ Ellie said. Giving Kath’s shoulder a quick squeeze, she sat down on the other visitor’s chair.
‘I expect the doctor’s told you she’s just the same,’ Kath muttered. ‘Her legs look less sore, though. That awful rash has gone down a bit. What happened to her, Ellie? What happened to my little Abbie?’
The look on Kath’s face said it all. She was barely holding it together, and who could blame her? Imagine if it was Ruby lying there. It didn’t bear thinking about.
‘I wish I could help with that, I really do. Have the police said anything?’
Kath shook her head sadly.
‘She was out with friends. She was so chuffed, you know. I can’t begin to tell you how excited she was. Abbie’s always had difficulty making friends. Oh, don’t get me wrong; she’s a lovely lass. But she finds it hard to get close to people, and we’ve probably sheltered her a bit. I don’t know. It seemed like the right thing at the time. But last night all the girls from her class were going out together for a burger, then to the pictures, and then back to Emily’s house for a sleepover. About twelve of them, I think.’
Ellie’s eyes opened wide at the idea of that many fourteen year old girls in one house for the night.
‘I did check it all out, though,’ Kath said, as if