Page 87 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

CHAPTERFIFTY-NINE

Meadow woke while it was still dark. She opened her eyes and immediately realised Star wasn’t there. She sat up and put a hand out to where her daughter had been. The sheets were cold.

She got out of bed and wandered to the toilet to check if Star was in there but there was no sign of her and the treehouse was unnaturally quiet.

‘Star!’ Meadow called out, her heart starting to race. There was no answer.

Heath was already up out of bed, hearing the alarm in her voice.

‘Shit, did she go to her room?’ he said, running up the stairs to the second floor.

Meadow knew from the silence she wasn’t there. She raced down the stairs, out the door and across the rope bridge, bursting into her own treehouse. ‘Star!’

There was no answer but Meadow checked all the rooms just to be sure but there was no sign of her. She grabbed her shoes, her phone, her walkie-talkie and a hoodie she threw on over her pyjamas, then grabbed Star’s spare inhaler and flew back across the bridge.

She shook her head at Heath’s hopeful face. ‘Fuck, Heath, where the hell is she?’

‘She got up to go to the toilet maybe half hour or so ago, I thought she would come back when she was done but I must have fallen back to sleep again so I didn’t notice. Jesus Christ, why would she leave? Where would she go?’

Heath snatched up his phone and called River, explaining the problem, and Meadow quickly phoned Bear.

He answered on the second ring. ‘Hey, you OK?’

‘Star’s gone missing. She’s not at Heath’s or mine.’

‘Bloody hell. I’ll check the east side down towards the river. That’s where we camped, maybe she headed down there. I’ll take my walkie-talkie and let you know if I find anything.’

‘I’ll head up to the reception and the restaurant,’ Meadow said.

‘I’ll take the area where the new treehouses are. River is going to take the north side and Indigo is going to the west,’ Heath said.

Meadow nodded and ran out the house.

CHAPTERSIXTY

Bear tore through the trees, his torch beam flying over every surface, shouting out Star’s name. Though maybe he needed to go slower, if she called out he wouldn’t hear her with the speed he was going through the woods. He stopped for a second, his torch scanning the trees, the ground, the bushes.

‘Star!’

There was no answer so he carried on running. She had to be in the woods somewhere.

Suddenly he heard a dog bark. He stopped still, his breath heavy, his chest panting. Could it be Snuggles?

‘Star!’

The dog barked again. With nothing else to go on, Bear ran off in the direction of the bark.

‘Star!’

‘Bear!’ Star called out.

He nearly sank to the ground in relief. She was here and she was alive, he could cope with anything else.

He burst through the trees into a small clearing and stopped when he saw Snuggles lying on the ground next to Star, as she propped herself up against the dog.

He grabbed his walkie-talkie. ‘I’ve got her, she’s OK, I’ll bring her back to Wisteria Cottage.’

Meadow’s voice came over the airwaves immediately. ‘Oh my god, is she OK? Where are you, I’ll come down. Does she need her inhaler?’

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