Perfect Summer

by Karen King

  Roxy’s was way, way better than I ever imagined. There were two massive dance floors, one of them elevated, called The Rise, where only the celebs were allowed to dance. A golden staircase led up each side and two bouncers guarded the top. If they didn’t think you were important enough, you didn’t get past them. Some hopefuls tried their luck and were sent back down quick sharp. Of course, we were allowed through.

  The place was teeming with faces I’d only ever seen on the E-screen before, and I had to stop myself from staring at them. I’d have loved to take photos but all squilb and nanophone signals were automatically blocked as soon as we entered so no one could take photos, phone, email, or text. The celebs liked their privacy and didn’t want pictures of their antics spread all over the glossies. We couldn’t resist slipping one of the black and gold coasters in our bags as a souvenir though, to show the other girls at school.

  Summer introduced me to lots of people. She chatted to them all as if she’d known them all her life, which she probably had, and I couldn’t help envying her confidence. And her life. It was so glamorous and exciting. So different from mine.

  Then Krescendo came on stage.

  “I can’t believe it. We’re actually watching our totally favourite band playing live!” I shouted above the music.

  Tamara took us both up to meet Krescendo once they’d finished playing. I was so blown away I could hardly get my words out, and even Summer seemed tongue-tied. The boys were brilliant. They chatted to us for a while and signed the coasters for us. It was the most amazing night of my life.

  We got home so late that as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out for the count. I probably would have slept all the next day if my squilb hadn’t buzzed. I frowned and looked at the dial. It was Mum, probably wanting to know how last night had gone. I ignored it and pulled the duvet over my head. I’d phone her back later.

  The squilb buzzed again. Mum wasn’t about to give up. I yawned, sat up and pressed the answer button. “Can I phone you back in a bit, Mum,” I mumbled.

  “Oh, Morgan. Thank goodness I got hold of you.” Her words tumbled out and something about the tone of her voice made me sit up. “It’s Josh!”

  “Josh!” I remembered the Ministry visit the day before and was instantly alert. “What is it, Mum? Have the Ministry been back?”

  “He’s gone missing, Morgan. One minute he was...he was,” She broke down a bit then managed to pull herself together. “He was playing in the garden and then he was gone.” she finished, her voice trembling. I pictured her red-eyed, shaking, worried sick about Josh.

  “When was this?” I asked. “How long…”

  “He’s been missing since ten. Dad’s out looking for him.”

  I glanced at my squilb. That was almost two hours earlier. “I’m coming home.”

  Summer sat up and rubbed her eyes. “What’s up?”

  “Josh is missing Mum said he disappeared from the back garden at about ten o’clock.” I tried not to panic. Josh had never wandered off before. “I’ve got to go home.”

  Summer looked worried. “I’ll take you.”

  We quickly showered, pulled on some clothes then set off in Summer’s eco-bug. “I’m sure he’ll be okay. Kids wander off all the time.” Summer zoomed through the streets. “Kyle disappeared once for hours and we found him fast asleep under Leo’s desk.”

  I didn’t bother reminding her that our house was so small no one could hide anywhere for long.

  Whenever a crime was committed, the law enforcement always appeared in their droves and a missing child was considered a high priority crime so I wasn’t surprised to see four LEF cars parked outside our house.

  Mum met us at the door, her face ashen. “Oh Morgan!” She hugged me tight as if she’d been scared that I’d gone missing too. “I’m so worried about Josh. We’ve searched everywhere. Dad’s still out looking. So are most of the neighbours and the LEF.”

  “What happened?” I asked her.

  “I should have kept a closer eye on him,” Mum stammered, her voice breaking. “I left him playing in the activity area and was so busy working that I didn’t notice the time. When I came out to check on him the gate was open and he’d gone.”

  Mum worked as a Virtual Assistant, a sort of web secretary, for different firms.

  “Did you forget to lock it?” I asked. We always kept the garden gate locked so Josh wouldn’t wander out into the road.

  Mum shook her head. “I definitely bolted it. I always do. He must have learned to unlock it.”

  Josh often played in the garden but had never been able to unlock the bolt that secured the gate before. And the gate was too high for him to climb over. Could someone have opened it? I shook the thought from mind. Why would anyone want to take Josh?

  “I’ll go and look for him too,” I said.

  “I’ll come with you,” Summer offered.

  “Thank you, girls. The LEF said it was best if I stay here in case Josh comes back. He’ll be scared if he finds no one home.” Mum’s voice quivered and I could see she struggled to hold herself together.

  “We’ll find him, Mum. I bet he was bored and went to have a look around and now can’t find his way back.” I tried to reassure her. And myself.

  We caught up with a LEF officer who told us that Dad and the other officers were scouring our block, and asked us to help him search the next one. We knocked on the doors of every house in the block and the block beyond, showing everyone Josh’s picture, asking if they’d seen him. Then we searched the back of the houses. We looked everywhere, constantly calling his name. In the sheds, behind and inside the refuse containers and water butts, anywhere a little boy might hide.

  But Josh was nowhere to be found.

  It was starting to get dark, so Dad insisted that Summer and I went home.

  “Promise you’ll message me as soon as you have any news,” Summer said as she got into her eco-bug.

  “I will.”

  I waved her off then went into the house. I found Mum sat on the sofa, rocking back and forth, hugging Bobo. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she sobbed.

  When she saw me she took in a big gasp of air as though trying to calm herself. “He was only wearing tee shirt and shorts.” She gulped in another gasp of air. “He’ll be freezing.”

  If he isn’t already dead. As soon as the words flashed across my mind I angrily pushed them back out. Josh would be okay. He had to be.

  Dad and the LEF still searched, refusing to give up whilst there was any light left. When Dad finally returned, drained and exhausted, we looked at him, questioningly. He shook his head, strode over to the table, pulled out a chair and collapsed into it, burying his head in his hands. I watched him helplessly, knowing that he hadn’t found Josh, that my little brother was still out there somewhere.

  Alone. In the dark.

  “Neil?” Mum’s voice faltered.

  Dad lifted his head, his eyes heavy as he avoided Mum’s gaze. “I’m sorry, Sally. We’ve looked everywhere but there’s no sign of him.”

  Two LEF officers came in, an efficient looking middle-aged woman with short fair hair who had an air of authority about her. The other one, a young, dark-skinned man, was fidgeting about with his moustache as if he wasn’t sure what to do. I guessed he hadn’t been an officer long.

  “We’ve had to call off the search for now, Mrs Taylor,” the woman said. “We’ll continue again as soon as it gets light. Try not to worry. Young children of Josh’s age sometimes wander off. He’s probably sneaked into an outbuilding somewhere, and fallen asleep. He’ll wake up in the morning and try to find his way home then someone will spot him and bring him back to us.”

  It’s what we all wanted to believe.

  ****

  It was the longest night of my life. The officers tried to persuade us to go to bed but we couldn’t. We were far too worried about Josh, wondering what he was doing, where he was, whether he was hurt. So they said they would stay with us. We all spent the night in t
he lounge, talking, waiting, and praying that Josh would soon be found alive and well. Mum huddled in the armchair by the phone, she said she wanted to be ready to grab it as soon as it rang: Dad perched on the chair by the window, constantly looking out into the street while I lay on the sofa, a snuggle-wrap around me, wracked with guilt.

  I wished I could have rewound time and spent yesterday playing with Josh instead of going out with Summer so that I could have stopped him from wandering off. I wished that I’d never resented him or thought of him as a nuisance. I wished my little brother would come back.

  Having a brother with Down’s wasn’t easy. People often stared or turned away when they saw Josh, and I was teased about him at school. Luckily, Summer always stuck up for me. We’d been friends since nursery but when Josh was born I was worried that I’d lose her friendship, and for a while it seemed like I might have.

  She couldn’t believe it when I told her Mum and Dad were bringing Josh home (I reckon if her parents had a child with disabilities they’d pack it off to a RLC quick and never tell anyone about it), and I didn’t hear from her for weeks. Then she came around one day with a huge teddy for Josh and some chocolates for me, and that was it. She’d grown to love Josh too, although she often told me she didn’t know how I coped with having a RAD brother. And sometimes, yes, I’m ashamed to say that I resented the time we all had to spend looking after him, and the unwelcome attention we got when we were out with him.

  I got up and looked out of the window, staring into the darkness, willing Josh to be safe. “I love you, Josh,” I whispered. “Come back home safe and I’ll play with you whenever you want.”

  Eventually I drifted into a light doze, but I don’t think Mum and Dad did. Every time I opened my eyes they were both still awake, staring into the distance, as if lost in their own thoughts.

  The female officer stayed with us, sitting on a chair by the door. She must have been on the night shift. A couple of times, though, I glanced over and saw her lying with her head back and eyes closed, as if she was dozing.

  As soon as it was light, a few more LEF officers arrived and the woman officer left. A young officer sat down beside me, the tangy scent of his cologne wafting over, making me uncomfortably aware that I’d slept in my clothes all night. I edged away from him, scared that I had BO, embarrassed at how dirty and crumpled I must look.

  The officer made Mum go over what happened again--when she last saw Josh, what he was wearing.

  “A short-sleeved blue and white tee shirt, blue shorts and blue and white trainers,” she told him.

  “Are you sure the gate was locked when Josh went out to play in the garden?” the officer pressed.

  “Of course. I always make sure it’s locked.”

  Mum’s eyes were full of tears, she kept blinking them back and gulping. I wanted to give her a hug and tell her it wasn’t her fault that she hadn’t noticed Josh open the gate. That we all thought he was safe to play in our secure, fenced garden. Poor Mum, she must be feeling so guilty.

  The officer asked a few more questions, then we all quickly freshened up and Mum and Dad went off to join the search for Josh. It was my turn to wait at home in case Josh returned, and to deal with any neighbours who dropped by. Only one did, Mrs. Hamley from over the road. She’d always stopped to talk to Josh whenever she saw him. She was upset that he was missing. She gave me a hug and made me promise to let her know if there was anything she could do.

  Summer arrived about ten with a big casserole dish and a fruit flan cooked by their housekeeper.

  “My folks are sorry they can’t join in the search today but they have to work,” she apologised. “They said they hope you find Josh soon and if there’s anything they can do to help, just ask. Tamara’s phoned school and told them what’s happened. Mr Jarvis was really sympathetic; he said you’re not to go back until you feel ready and that I can have a couple of days off to be with you.”

  “Thanks.” I took the food off her and put it in the cooler. We both sat in silence for a while, I didn’t know what to say and guessed Summer didn’t either. All I could think of was Josh. Where was he? Was he frightened? Hurt? It all felt like a bad dream.

  I switched on the E-screen, hoping to see a report of Josh’s disappearance on the news--something to reassure me that everything was being done to find him. The screen flickered to life and a white dove flew across it, warbling. “Be perfectly lovely, be perfectly happy!” A picture of Josh rocking his head from side-to-side as he sang along with the song flashed into my mind and tears welled up in my eyes.

  “Do you want me to turn it off?” Summer asked gently.

  I shook my head, wondering if Josh was watching it somewhere. I had to believe he was still alive and that we’d find him. I didn’t dare consider the possibility that something had happened to him.

  The news came on then. I watched it intently. Tucked right at the end, with all the local stuff, was a report about Josh’s disappearance. It lasted about thirty seconds.

  ****

  When Mum returned for lunch, Summer and I joined the hunt for Josh. It was a bright, sunny day and lots of people were out and about. As we walked through the park, I saw two women chatting, hardly paying any attention to the toddlers running around them. I wanted to yell at them to keep the children close, warn them what had happened to Josh.

  Then I had an idea. “We can hi-wave a message about Josh. Then anyone with an open hi-wave connection on their squilbs or nanophones will get it.” Using the hi-wave was a quick, free way to send a message to lots of people at the same time.

  “Brilliant!” Summer agreed. “We’ll take my eco and hit the precinct, the Holozone, the streets, anywhere people gather.”

  I had some photos of Josh on my squilb, so I chose a real cute one of him smiling, his chestnut curls framing his face. At the top was the heading, ‘Have you seen this child?’ Underneath the photo was a bit of information about Josh, the date he went missing and our home phone number. I showed it to Summer.

  “That’ll get people’s attention. I’ll send it over to you so we both have it on our squilbs, that way we can spread it around faster.”

  I selected hi-wave and a second later, a bleep from Summer’s squilb announced she’d received it. Now we were ready to spread the word. We went to the shopping precinct first. “I’ll stay outside to hi-wave, you go inside,” I told Summer. “That way we’ll reach more people.” She nodded and hurried over to the automatic doors. I stood by the entrance, selected the photo message and sent it to all hi-wave users. There were a lot of people around and I saw a few of them glance at their nanos. I hoped they were reading my message and would pass it on.

  After the precinct we went to the Holozone, which was packed as usual. Some of the kids knew Josh was my brother and came over as soon as they saw me.

  “Morgan, it’s awful about your little brother. I hope you find him soon.” Karla, a girl I’d spoke to a couple of times, said. She placed her arm on my shoulder. “It must be really tough for you and your folks.”

  I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

  “We’ll pass your photo message on,” her boyfriend, Hal, promised. “We’ll make sure the word gets out there so everyone can look for him.”

  “Thanks.” I finally managed to say, my voice trembling a little. Their concern really touched me.

  We drove around the streets, hi-waving the photo message as we went. I tried to think where Josh would go, the sort of places that would appeal to him. Then I thought of the river. What if he’d wandered there and fallen in?

  “Let’s head for the river, you know how Josh loves the ducks.” I suggested. But when we reached the river we found LEF divers already searching it. They must have had the same idea. As Summer and I stood and watched, I prayed that Josh’s lifeless little body wasn’t dragged up out of the water. Thankfully it wasn’t.

  When we all returned home later that night with still no sign of Josh, Mum finally put into words what I’d been thinking a
ll day but not dared to say.

  “Josh hasn’t wandered off.” She looked at us with red-rimmed eyes. “He’s been taken. Someone’s kidnapped him.”

  She was right. Someone had deliberately taken Josh. They must have seen him playing in the garden, leaned over, opened the gate and taken him away. Josh was so loving and trusting, it would be easy for them. All they had to do was smile and hold out their hand. He’d have happily gone with them, not realising the danger he was in. Josh loved everyone.

  I almost choked on the lump in my throat as I thought of how scared he would be. He must be wondering what was happening, waiting for us to come and get him and take him home. I hoped that he wasn’t hurt, that whoever had him was treating him well.

  “Why?” I almost choked on the words. “Why would anyone take Josh?”

  Crime was pretty low in that area, and I hadn’t heard of a child kidnapping for years. It was something that usually happened in the inner cities, not the quiet suburbs. And our garden wasn’t visible from the street so no one could have seen Josh playing as they walked by. It was like someone knew he would be there and planned to take him. Why? What were they doing to him? I couldn’t bear to think of my little brother being hurt.

  “I don’t know, love. We’ll keep searching for him.” The female officer had returned, along with the younger one. “And we’ve put out a news bulletin.”

  “They’ll find him,” Summer said, squeezing my hand. “Whoever took him probably didn’t get a good look at him. Once they see...” Her voice trailed off as if she suddenly realized what she was saying.

  I rounded on her, furious. “Once they see what? That he’s got Down’s? Then they won’t want to keep him and will dump him somewhere!”

  Summer went bright red. “I didn’t mean it like that”

  “What if he’s been taken by a sicko?” I retorted. “What if they’ve taken him because he’s got Down’s? Because they know no one will bother to look too hard for him. That everyone will think we’re better off without him.”