Page 155 of Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt
‘Goodness me. You’ve a genius in the ranks! And how is... um... forgive me, Rupert... Owenmus?’
‘Not to worry old sport, I can hardly remember myself. Oenomaus. Poor bugger. I tried to tell Laurence he’d suffer with that name, but Vivienne was set on it apparently. Although I’m proud to say he hasn’t let it hold him back. He’s captain of the prep school rugby team.’
After all these years, Rupert’s chipper British demeanour could still lift my spirits. Nonetheless, I had not made the trip without trepidation. He had invited me to London to ‘share some important news’, which I assumed was related to Kreeg. Although he was now retired, Rupert still maintained connections within British intelligence. He would kindly liaise with Georg if anything significant cropped up... but had insisted that I made the trip for this matter.
Rupert locked the door to the bookshop and turned theclosedsign around to face outwards. ‘How are the family? I imagine those little girls give you quite the runaround!’
‘Oh, they do. They’re three and six now, would you believe! Marina and I have taken to calling them “the terrible twosome”!’
He handed me the cup of tea he had prepared in the flat upstairs. ‘Is that right? You know, I really admire you. What are you now, sixty?’
‘Sixty-two,’ I confirmed.
‘Gosh. Sixty-two and the adoptive father of two girls. I don’t know how you have the energy, old boy!’
‘I know it’s a cliché, but I really mean it when I say they’ve given me a new lease of life. I feel as young now as I ever did.’
‘That’s wonderful to hear, Atlas, it really is.’ He gestured to a pair of plush chesterfield chairs nearer the back of the shop. ‘Come and take a seat.’ I followed him over, past thePoetryandPhilosophyshelves.
‘It’s the oddest thing,’ I remarked, ‘but it stillsmellsthe same in here.’
‘That’s books for you, Atlas. Dependable and unchanging. I find it bizarre to think that there might well be some volumes you and Elle put on the shelves thirty years ago which haven’t sold.’ We sank ourselves into the wing-backed chairs.
‘Is that why I’m here, Rupert?’ I asked nervously. ‘Have you discovered something about Elle?’ After all these years, my greatest fear is to be told that her location has been found, and she is no longer living.
Rupert shook his head. ‘Sorry, old sport. Still nothing on that front.’ He sighed. ‘I’m terribly ashamed that I haven’t been able to come up with the goods there.’ He took a sip of his tea. ‘Wherever she is, she is well and truly hidden.’
I nodded solemnly. ‘I know. Please don’t blame yourself, Rupert, Georg’s had PIs and intelligence firms across the globe search for her. No one has ever found anything.’
He furrowed his brow. ‘It’s awfully unusual. Normally when a person disappears, there’ssomethingthat gets left behind which helps us to find them. But it’s as if your Elle has vanished into thin air. I admire you, Atlas. You’ve been searching for her for what, thirty years now? And you have never given up.’
‘I could never forgive myself if I did,’ I said quietly.
‘I know. As for that thorn in your side from years gone by, Kreeg Eszu...’ He shrugged. ‘The man still seems to be holed up in that enormous compound of his.’
‘Yes.’ I stared at the door that led to the flat, which Elle and I had cowered behind three decades ago. ‘I can only assume that when his wife died he lost the will to live himself. He just... gave up the hunt.’
Rupert narrowed his eyes as he contemplated the possibility. ‘I think that’s a fair bet. How old would the son be now?’
It took me a moment to calculate. ‘I think he’s roughly the same age as Maia. Perhaps six or seven?’
‘Poor little chap. Rough to lose a mother. And to have that psychopath as a father... I can’t imagine what it’s like for the boy.’
I hadn’t really given it due consideration. ‘I suppose you’re right, Rupert, yes. I do not envy Kreeg Junior.’
‘No, indeed not.’ He set down his cup and saucer. ‘Now, on to the matter at hand, if it’s all right with you?’
‘Yes, please proceed. I’m intrigued.’
‘Righto,’ Rupert said, putting the tips of his fingers together. ‘Where to begin... Do you recall the Vaughan-Forbes split in the forties? When Louise’s father Archie died, and Teddy inherited High Weald?’
‘Pretty clearly, yes.’
‘Good, that’s helpful. Are you aware that Teddy went on to marry an Irish woman name Dixie? And together they had Michael?’
‘Vaguely.’ In all honesty, Teddy Vaughan’s lineage had hardly been on my list of priorities.
‘Not to worry, the details aren’t important. Going a little further back, do you have any memory of a woman named Tessie Smith from your time at High Weald?’
