Page 63 of Clara's Secret Garden
I shake my head. Lois is always making excuses for Irene.I’ve never been able to understand why she remains so protective of her mum, inspite of her less-than-perfect up-bringing, and despite the fact that Irenealways seems far more interested in herself than in Lois or Bertie...
‘I just called Luke’s mum. I found her number up there.’ Shepoints at the pinboard on the wall where I keep important numbers to call in emergenciessuch as this. After he fell off the ladder in Irene’s care, I don’t take anychances...
‘And?’
She shrugs. ‘Jen hasn’t seen him.’
‘Right. I’m going out to look for him. Coming?’
I hurry to the front door, almost tripping over a box oftoys in my haste. Shaun, stepping inside at that moment, catches and steadiesme.
‘Woah! Is he here?’
‘No.’ I stare at him in a panic. ‘I need to get out thereand find him.’
‘Come on, then. In my car. I’ll drive and you can look.’ Shauntakes over, steering me out to the car and opening the passenger door, and I slipinside gratefully. He leans down to me, his hand on the roof of the car. ‘We’llfind him, Clara. We will. He can’t have gone far. It’s going to be okay.’
I nod, his certainty and support making me feel almosttearful with emotion.
Lois gets in the back and we drive around the housingestate, calling at all his friend’s houses, but no one’s seen him.
‘The park?’ suggests Shaun. ‘Could he have gone there?’
‘But that’s in the village.’ I gaze at him in horror. ‘Hisbike’s out of action. He surely wouldn’t have walked all the way there, wouldhe?’
‘Let’s go and look.’ He turns the car around and we zoomoff.
‘His bike is fixed, actually,’ says Lois.
‘Is it?’ I turn in my seat. ‘How do you know?’
‘The guy from the shop phoned after you’d gone and said wecould collect it any time.’
Shaun looks at Lois in the rear-view mirror. ‘And did youtell Bertie that?’
‘Um, yes. He wanted me to get straight in the car and goalong to collect it. But I said he’d have to wait until tomorrow because theshop would probably be closed.’
Shaun and I exchange a look.
He nods. ‘The bike shop!’
*****
‘This issolike Bertie,’ I fume. ‘I’m going tokill him when I get hold of him.’
‘We still don’t know if that’s where he’s gone,’ says Lois,sounding weary in the back.
My insides shift uneasily, as I comb each side of the roadlooking for any trace of my little brother. Lois is right.
But what if he’s not at the bike shop?
I give my head a little shake. I’m not going to think aboutthat. I’ve got Shaun here with me and I know instinctively that he’s someone Ican trust. He makes me feel safe. If Shaun thinks Bertie’s gone to the bikeshop, then I’m certain that’s where we’ll find him...
We park in the high street, and Lois goes off to the park whileShaun and I head straight into the shop.
Gary, who I know and like from past visits, isn’t there. Butthere’s a teenage girl sitting on a stool behind the counter, chewing gum andengrossed in her phone. She barely looks up when we enter.
Shaun walks straight over. ‘We’re looking for a six-year-oldboy. Clara’s brother. We think he might have come in to collect his bike?’
