Perfect Summer

by Karen King

  I didn’t dare voice the thought that lurked at the back of my mind: That the kidnapped children might already be dead.

  Chapter Six

  Summer and I headed into town first thing in the morning. Jamie was waiting for us at the speedrail. He was taller than I expected, and edgier. He was wearing jeans, a black tee shirt and carrying a black holdhall. He looked solemn. You could see the anguish buried deep in his eyes. Maybe no one else noticed it but I did. I lived with the same pain.

  “I’ve got everything in the bag,” he said briskly. “Let’s get going.”

  “Nice manners,” Summer said. I could tell that she didn’t like Jamie. He was different from the well-dressed hunks she went out with. Yes, he was a bit scruffy and his manner was off-hand, but so what? We weren’t on an outing. It was serious stuff.

  I shrugged. “Let’s just do as he says. He’s the brains behind this.”

  We followed Jamie through the crowded streets to the office blocks. He stopped in front of a tall grey and black building. “The white screen will show up well on this one.” He unzipped the bag. He took out what looked like a thin roll of paper.

  “That’s a PLS?” I asked.

  “Yep.”

  Jamie took a small silver thing out of his pocket and inserted it into the bottom of the screen. “This connects it to my M-pad. Now hold the roll against the wall while I fix on the suction-blocks.”

  Summer pursed her lips at his abrupt manner but said nothing. We both held the roll against the wall while Jamie took some small rubber blocks out of his pocket and used them to fix it in place. Then he pressed a button on the side of the screen and it dropped down, like a blind. “There, that’ll hold it. You can let go now.”

  So we did. The white screen held firm, glowing softly against the black wall.

  “Okay, step back,” Jamie ordered, taking his M-pad out of his pocket and pointing it at the screen. It immediately came to life. Big red letters almost jumped out at us.

  Stop!

  A few people looked over then glanced away, I guessed they thought it was just another holo-ad.

  Don’t walk by. Someone’s life depends on you!

  At the sound of Jamie’s voice, a few people stopped and looked over at the screen.

  These young children are missing!

  Pictures of Josh and Holly flashed onto the screen.

  A crowd gathered, watching the screen as if, waiting for what happened next. I heard a couple of mutters. “They’re RADS. What’s going on?”

  These are just two of over thirty children that have gone missing this year. Have you seen them? If you know anything please telephone these numbers.

  Two contact numbers rolled across the screen while clips of Josh and Holly playing, laughing, being cuddled--just two little kids loved by their families--played in the background. It was clever. Real clever.

  Summer nodded. “He’s good.” I could tell by the tone of her voice that she hated admitting it.

  “Good? He’s brilliant!” I exclaimed.

  The crowd got bigger and lots of people muttered about the advert which Jamie played over and over again. Then I saw two LEF officers pushing their way through the crowd. Jamie spotted them too. He thrust the bag at me. “Take this and get out of here quick. Put the other PLS up in the retail centre.”

  I didn’t have time to think. I turned and ran, clutching the bag, Summer hot on my heels. I felt a bit bad leaving Jamie, but I was sure that he was perfectly capable of dealing with the LEF. And we had the other PLS to put up.

  When we reached the centre, the shops were just starting to open but it was still fairly quiet. I looked around for the best place to put the screen.

  “How about there?” Summer said, pointing to the wall next to a huge designer store.

  It looked like a good place to me so we both hurried over. The assistants inside were busy getting the store ready so weren’t looking our way. Summer held the rolled-up screen against the wall whilst I stuck some suction-pads on it. Then dropped the screen as Jamie had done, securing it on the pads. I searched in the bag for the silver connection. For a moment I panicked that Jamie only had one of them, but I should have known he was better prepared than that. I found two more in the zip pocket – one obviously a spare. Squatting down, I put the connection in the bottom of the screen, then stood back and waited for a few people to come by. I didn’t have to wait long. Two women walked up, I pressed the connect button on my M-pad and the screen sprang to life.

  As soon as the vid started playing, the women stopped to watch. A few more people joined them and soon a large crowd gathered around. People started talking to me and Summer, asking us about Josh and Holly and the other missing children as the vid played over and over again. Then a shop assistant came outside to see what was going on.

  “I’m not sure you’re allowed to do this, love,” she said. “It’s terrible about these little children, and I admire what you’re doing, but you’re causing an obstruction and the surveillance cameras are recording it. The LEF will probably be along in a minute.”

  I’d forgotten the SV cameras in every retail centre sent a message to the local LEF every time there was trouble or something unusual happening. And a crowd gathering like that was just the sort of thing that would cause an alert.

  “Let’s take down the screen and get out of here before the LEF arrive and confiscate it,” I said to Summer.

  It was too late. Two uniformed officers were already walking towards us.

  “What’s going on here?” asked one of them. “We’ve had a report that you’re causing an obstruction.”

  I think we might have been in big trouble if the crowd hadn’t gathered around the officers, asking if it was true that so many children were missing. That distracted them long enough for us to press the button to roll the screen up, pull it off the tabs, shove it in the bag and make a quick exit. I couldn’t get the suction tabs off the wall though so had to leave them there.

  “What shall we do now?” asked Summer. “I think if we put that screen up again we might get arrested.”

  “I’ll squilb Jamie and find out what’s happened to him.” I worried that he was already locked up in a cell for defacing public property or some other trumped-up charge so was relieved to see a message from him. The police had let him go but had confiscated the PLS. He suggested we meet up at fountain in the trader’s square to discuss what to do next. I relayed the message to Summer, and we set off.

  Jamie was sitting on the steps leading to the fountain. He rose as soon as he saw us. “I’ve thought of just the place for the PLS,” he said. “The Tower.”

  “You must be mad,” Summer said. “We can’t put it there.”

  The Tower was the huge E-network office in the middle of the city. A tall, round black building with hundreds of glass windows, it was visible for miles around. Jamie had a dangerous glint in his eye, as if he was determined to do this no matter what. I was beginning to realize that he wasn’t the quiet geek we’d first thought and that he had a strong rebel streak in him.

  “It’s just perfect,” he said. “That way it’s bound to get on the news. Our vid will be broadcasted to E-centres all over the country.”

  He was right. If the network staff saw the vid and captured it on camera, it would be like taking out our own E-ad. “It’s a fantastic idea,” I agreed.

  “I’m not sure…“ Summer hesitated.

  We both turned to look at her and she flushed. “It could get us in big trouble,” she pointed out. “We’ve already been warned by the LEF and if it gets onto the E-screens we could have the Ministry down on us.”

  Jamie’s mouth compressed into a tight line, as if irritated, but I felt sorry for her. We were asking a lot of Summer. Her folks would go mad if she got into any sort of bother. And it wasn’t her brother or sister who had gone missing?

  “Look, maybe you’d better keep out of this,” I said. “Me and Jamie will do it.”

  “Wouldn’t want you to ge
t into any trouble,” Jamie added, folding his arms.

  Summer squared her shoulders back, and looked Jamie straight in the face. “I’m not pulling out,” she said, her tone firm. “We need to do something to find these kids. I’m just warning you to be careful.”

  Jamie didn’t look convinced, but he nodded. “Sure. Let’s go for it, then.”

  By the time we got to the Tower, the city centre was teeming with shoppers and commuters.

  “Whereabouts shall we put it?” I asked Jamie, looking at the tall building.

  He was looking around, as if carefully sizing everything up.

  “I reckon that wall over there is the perfect spot,” he said. “The people working in the Tower will be able to see it there and will come out to see what’s going on.

  Jamie wanted to put the PLS up fairly high, but we couldn’t find anything to stand on. So he stuck it at eye-level. As the huge white screen flickered to life, I felt a surge of elation. We’re going to find you, Josh, I thought. Just hang on in there. We’ll find you.

  People came to the windows to look at the screen as we replayed and replayed the vid. Then a woman in a dark suit, followed by a cameraman, came out of the building and hurried over to us.

  “Oh gosh. We’re going to be on the news and I look such a mess.”

  Jamie threw Summer a withering look, and she flushed, obviously regretting her words. I must have looked a mess too. I’d pulled on my oldest jeans, trainers and a white tee shirt when I’d left the house that morning, but I didn’t care. Josh and Holly’s disappearances were going to be on the news.

  “Hi, kids. I’m Anastasia Brice from FNT news. What’s going on here?”

  “My sister and Morgan’s brother have both been kidnapped,” Jamie walked over to her. “We’re trying to find them.”

  Anastasia listened as we told them all about Holly and Josh disappearing, and all the other missing children. She asked lots of questions, then turned to the camera.

  “So what’s the story, folks? Why aren’t these disappearances being investigated? We can’t just turn a blind eye to all these little children going missing. Maybe the LEF might like to tell us if they have any leads or what line of investigation they’re following. Anastasia Brice, FNT news.”

  The camera stopped rolling, and she turned to us. “Let’s see what answers the LEF come up with.” She took a card from her pocket and handed it to me. “Here’s my number. Call me if you need me.” Then she looked over at the PLS screen still rolling out our vid. “Better get that down and clear off out of here now.”

  “Thanks.” I shoved the card into my pocket.

  “I hope you find your brother and sister,” she said as she turned to walk back to the Tower. “And remember, call me if you get any leads.”

  “She’s nice,” I said to Jamie.

  He shrugged as he took down the PLS screen and unrolled it. “She’s a journalist. She’s after a story.”

  “We’ve got trouble,” Summer announced, looking over her shoulder.

  Jamie and I both followed her gaze and saw two LEF cars speeding towards us. They screeched to a halt and four officers spilled out.

  “Don’t move!” one of them shouted. “You’re all under arrest.”

  The colour drained from Summer’s face, but Jamie didn’t flinch. “What seems to be the trouble, officer?” he asked politely.

  “Trouble is what you three are in, lad,” the officer snapped. “Defacing public property, causing a breach of the peace…shall I continue?”

  Then Anastasia came running over again, followed by the cameraman. She must have been watching out for the LEF to arrive.

  “Officer, can you let us know what you’re doing to find these missing children?” She held out a mike.

  “I can assure you that all the disappearances are being investigated,” the officer replied curtly.

  “And what leads do you have?” asked Anastasia.

  The officers looked quite uncomfortable as they tried to answer her questions.

  “Quick. Let’s get the screen down and out of here before they decide to confiscate it,” Jamie whispered.

  We worked fast. Jamie managed to get the suction pads off the wall, and we hurried off, leaving the LEF still answering Anastasia’s questions.

  “Message me later!” Jamie waved when we reached the speedrail. He was going a different way than us so had to catch another railcar.

  “Will do!” I called back, jubilant. Now that we’d finally gotten a news story out about Josh, Holly, and the other missing kids, the Ministry wouldn’t be able to keep it quiet any longer. They’d have to hold a full investigation.

  Chapter Seven

  Dad came home later that evening. I was shocked at how old he looked. His face was gaunt and dark shadows circled his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept all week. He probably hadn’t.

  He put his bag down on the floor then fidgeted, his eyes darting from Mum to me and back to Mum. “Sorry I lost it a bit the night before I left,” he said softly. “Am I forgiven?”

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to let him off so easily. It had been pretty scary when he lost his temper and so selfish of him to storm out like that, leaving Mum and me to cope without him.

  Mum got up and gave him a hug. “It’s a bad time for all us,” she said. “We need to stick together, not argue.”

  Dad nodded. I looked away while they had a quick kiss.

  “How about you, Morgan?” Dad asked. “Do you forgive me?”

  I hesitated.

  He held out his arms. “Please.”

  I relented, smiled and walked towards him. “Only if you promise not to do it again.”

  “I promise,” he said, enveloping me in a big hug. He smelled a bit sweaty, but it was a comforting Dad sort of smell. I was so glad to have him back home again. Mum was right. We needed to stick together. It was bad enough losing Josh without us all fighting each other.

  We sat up late talking. Mum and I filled Dad in on what had been happening while he was away and how many other children had gone missing, and he told us all about the places he went, spreading the word about Josh’s disappearance as much as he could. “I don’t know if it was a waste of time,” he sighed wearily. “Day after day I toured the streets looking for Josh, but I’m no nearer to finding him. Maybe I’d have been better off staying here, supporting you two instead of going away.”

  Mum reached over and took his hand. “You did what you felt you had to do. I don’t think there’s any rights or wrongs in how to deal with this. It’s so massive.” She bit her lip and I saw the tears swell in her eyes. “We’ve just got to focus on finding Josh and get through each day the best we can.”

  They both looked so sad. I was pleased I had some news to cheer them up. “Well, we’ve got more chance of finding him now,” I said, telling them all about our PLS-ads and the network reporter. Dad turned on the E-screen right way, flicked to the news channel and there was our PLS ad and interview with Anastasia.

  Mum cried when she saw it, and Dad gave me a big hug. “Well done,” he said, gruffly as if he was holding back his tears. “I’m proud of you.”

  ****

  The next morning, Summer messaged me to say that her parents had seen the news report too and although they’d been annoyed she’d missed school they understood her reasons and hadn’t grounded her. She had still been allowed to go to the launch party that night, which she said had been fabulous. As I read the message, it felt surreal. Summer’s life was carrying on just as before, whereas mine had been blasted apart and might never be put back together again. I shook the thought from my head, determined not to even consider the possibility of not finding Josh. We got it on the E-news so someone was bound to come forward with information soon.

  Dad went to the supermarket for supplies and when he came back he insisted on doing us all a proper breakfast--bacon, sausage, eggs, the lot. Of course he made the usual mess in the kitchen and overcooked the bacon, but it felt good to have him back. As we sat
at the table eating, I wished I could go back to that carefree girl of a week ago when all I’d had to worry about was whether Summer and I would get into Roxy’s. Now I was frantic because my little brother had been missing for almost a week and we were no nearer to finding him.

  We’d just finished our breakfast when the doorbell rang. Mum sprang up. “I’ll get it.”

  Please let it be good news, I thought, crossing my fingers as Mum went out into the hall to answer the door. Please let Josh be safe.

  “Good morning, Mrs Taylor. We’re from the Ministry. Are your husband and daughter in? It’s imperative that we talk to you all together.” The voice was polite and official sounding.

  “Yes, they are. Come in. We’ve just finished eating so you’ll have to excuse us.” Mum sounded nervous. “Neil! Morgan!” she called to us but Dad and I were already rushing out into the hall, to find out what’s going on.

  Two men dressed in crisp dark suits stepped inside. One was bald and taller than the other, he seemed to be the spokesman. He kicked the door shut behind him, and looked solemnly at us.

  “Good morning, Mr Taylor. Morgan.” He glanced first at Dad, then at me. “Sorry to disturb you on a weekend, but we need to discuss something urgent with you. We won’t keep you long.”

  “What is it?” Dad demanded. “Have you found Josh?”

  The man shook his head. “No, and I’m afraid unless you all curtail your activities our chances of finding him are slim.”

  “Very slim indeed,” the smaller man repeated.

  “What do you mean, ‘curtail our activities’?” Mum challenged.

  “All this publicity is doing your son and the other missing children no good at all,” the man said. “We don’t want to panic the kidnappers. We need to keep the case low-key.”

  “But you’ve kept all the other disappearances ‘low-key’ and none of the other children have been found,” Mum reminded him. “There must have been people around when some of these children were kidnapped. We need to alert the public to what’s happening and jog people’s memories.”