THE RIVER 

By Tessa Harvey


    Joe had quietly moved nearer, sensing the importance of this calm oasis in the sudden noisy night. Blue crept close to her brother. They listened for an answer, holding hands. Once more close siblings. But Amy was disturbed, trying to understand what the man dressed in dark clothes had meant. As soon as she had seen him, a memory came to her of her father arguing with him. She had been much younger, had thought the men were friends, but there had been harsh words. Amy had looked up and seen angry faces, the dark-clothed man now scary and her father sad.
    People quarelled. Suddenly the girl decided she would go after that man and find out what he had meant. No-one would listen, she thought, slipping her hand from her brother's and moving back into the trees.
    But the trained police officers now at the scene were alert and took action.
    The policewoman, Mary Davies, turned to Joshua and questioned him as to why Amy had gone and where. She had seen the indistinct grey figure as he slipped through the trees. Josiah, visibly weeping, cried he thought it was the man who had run into his motorbike.
    Detective Inspector Jones had been talking into his mobile phone, and had already tasked the young constable to follow the girl on foot, for he knew the area well.
    Road blocks were being set up and a watch kept on the nursing facility that held Charlie.
    Jones asked the sergeant to take Elizabeth back to the house. The doctor followed. Elizabeth knew she could offer no clues to her niece's errant behavior. Self doubt, fear and hopelessness threatened to overwhelm her. Her carefully planned life for this small family had fallen apart.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 THE RIVER By Tessa Harvey     Joe drifted, praying no snags or broken branches would obstruct his passage. It was like floating in ice cubes, even though it was only summer's end. His life did not flash before him, only disbelief that he had been pursued so relentlessly for some worthless, shiny bauble.      Fine, so the world was not all sweetness and light, but to deliberately drive into his bike seemed to him extreme. Earlier he had been going to Brian's place in town, down a narrow back street and snatched the necklace from the flowing gutter, just before it caught on a drain.     Brian had laughed so hard, dark hair flopping over his forehead. "Whatcha got?" he crowed, "summat for your girl?" Joe had flushed, then laughed also. "No, it's for Blue." Brian had said "well it's pretty, pretty worthless." Then seeing his friend's look, patted him awkwardly on the shoulder and declared "wee Blue would be made up delighted...
Read more
Image
 THE RIVER By Tessa Harvey     Deliberately the car hit the back of the motorbike. It veered left into a ditch. Joe was flung high over the road and straggly bushes into the river. He disappeared.     Blue scrambled hard down her tree. The temperature had dropped with the onslaught of rain. Icy spicules stung her cut cheek, but she hardly noticed. Slipping on moss and lichen, the girl almost fell from the tree and ran for help.     She burst through the screen door of the darkened house.     Despite her fear and haste, she held the screen door softly so as not to bang, a habit firmly instiled over the last two years.     Elizabeth caught her niece, holding her tight. She had been waiting . "Joe went in the river," she sobbed. "A car hit his bike on purpose. It was a car...." The woman bit her lip. "Right, this is what we do...."
Read more
Image
THE RIVER  By Tessa Harvey     The following day, later in the morning, the original sergeant was accompanied by the officer of the previous night, Detective Inspector David Jones. Young Josiah had explained to his boss why he had to have the morning away from work. Derek had gruffly answered "You guilty, boy, you go. If not, we happy you here," the elderly Latvian man, Vilis, paused. "You very gifted boy, work hard, not be crazy silly on that roaring bike, maybe live to be almost a credit to me. Okay?"      Overwhelmed, Joe stuttered a mumbled answer. Pleased by the guarded praise, he knew he had to grow up now and be responsible.     A beautiful Eurasian lady stepped out of the police car. She was tall, very well-dressed, wearing also an air of elegance.     She regarded Elizabeth, waiting on the doorstep. Imperceptibly, Elizabeth straightened, seeking warmth in the intelligent dark eyes. The two smiled at each other. Both women led th...
Read more