Holly's Christmas Gift

by Alex Brown

  ‘Until what?’ Jude asked, squinting into the sun as she turned to look directly at Sylvia.

  ‘Err … until it all stopped, is what I meant,’ Sylvia added vaguely.

  ‘He stopped making music, do you mean?’

  ‘Yes, well he had to, didn’t he? Couldn’t carry on after all that—’

  ‘All what?’

  ‘You mean you don’t know?’ Sylvia stopped walking to turn her head to face Jude.

  ‘No. I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Oh gosh, well, the papers had a field day with it all. It’s why he came here in the end, to get away from all the paps camping outside day and night. They just wouldn’t leave him alone.’

  ‘But why?’

  ‘The drugs, dear!’ Sylvia told her in a hushed voice.

  ‘Myles was on drugs?’ Jude asked, her eyes widening, and her heart dropping.

  ‘NO. Oh no, that isn’t what I meant,’ Sylvia said, as they reached the back of the house. ‘He never touched them. It was his fiancée … she kept it well hidden from him, but then she overdosed in the end and left him heartbroken. I’m surprised he hasn’t told you … Not that it’s a secret or anything. And I wouldn’t be talking about this either, of course, if it was. Sorry, I just assumed that you already knew.’

  ‘Nope. Not a word,’ Jude said, suddenly feeling overcome with sorrow for Myles. What a tragic thing to happen. Yet he seems so upbeat and happy, like he hasn’t a care in the world.

  ‘Really? And with you two so close. You’re the first woman I’ve seen him even remotely happy to talk to. He was in quite the doldrums until you turned up. You make him smile, my dear, and laugh. And that is a very good thing indeed. It’s about time Myles had some fun and happiness in his life.’

  ‘And he makes me smile and laugh,’ Jude nodded, even if she had found him infuriating at the start. But they had settled into a kind of groove now where he definitely did make her laugh and smile on a daily basis.

  ‘I’m pleased to hear it. And I am sorry that we got off on the wrong foot … Myles was so adamant that people be kept away from him. And you can’t blame him after everything that happened. The newspapers hounded him for a scoop, anything to try to get some scintillating bit of detail about Genevieve.’

  ‘Genevieve Chevalier?’ Jude vaguely remembered reading something about her dating a British rock star in a glossy magazine a few years back. There was some kind of super-injunction in place to protect her privacy.

  ‘Yes that’s right. The supermodel. And the press just wouldn’t let it go. Do you know that I caught a female reporter one time trying to wangle her way into his house in London? She pretended to be a cleaner sent from the agency. And was rifling through Genevieve’s dressing room, taking pictures of her shoes of all things, when I caught her. Why anyone would want pictures of a person’s shoes is beyond me.’

  ‘That’s awful,’ Jude said, stamping the grass off her sandals onto the mat by the back door.

  ‘Yes, it was. But he’s much happier now. Thanks to you!’ Sylvia tilted her head to one side.

  ‘What did I do?’ Jude asked, intrigued.

  ‘You’ve given him a purpose, my dear. All of this … letting him get involved in the refurbishment,’ Sylvia waved the clipboard around the hallway. ‘It’s something to focus on. And please do give him a chance—’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Jude creased her forehead.

  ‘I think you know what I mean! He isn’t the crass man that he makes out to be. You see that, don’t you?’ And with that, she pushed her clipboard under her arm and marched off towards the kitchen, leaving Jude to think about everything that had been said.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Saturday evening, and after pulling up in the van outside Dolly’s cottage, Tony and Jude – with Lulu under her arm – got out and went to push open the gate in the white picket fence. The homely scent of cinnamon from Dolly’s baking permeating the dusky evening air all around them.

  ‘What are you coming in for?’ Tony looked back to his mate Barry as he went to open the driver’s door. ‘I thought we agreed that I would go in and persuade Sam to come out for a pint in the Duck & Puddle pub – that I would tell him you were waiting in the van because the engine is playing up and we can’t switch it off in case it doesn’t start again. That’s what we came up with!’

  ‘But it’s boring waiting out here!’ Barry piped up, plucking a rollie from behind his ear.

  ‘So we’ll tell Sam that he needs to get a move on … that’s the whole point of you being in the van! So we can get Sam out quickly.’

  ‘That’s right, Barry,’ Jude said. ‘Chrissie is at choir practice and I’ve already said that I’ll see her in the pub later when it’s finished. After I’ve had tea and a chat with Holly. It was the only way to get her and Sam together … I tried to get her to cancel the choir practice and come to Dolly’s house instead, but she was having none of it – says it’s the only thing keeping her sane right now. “Head time”. That’s what she calls it. And with Holly still refusing to even talk to her, Chrissie thought it best to give her some space … and not be seen to be crowding her.’

  ‘And we don’t want to miss Chrissie in the pub!’ Tony pitched in. ‘As soon as she realises Jude isn’t there, she might leave. I’ve squared it with Cher for the pair of them – Chrissie and Sam – to be locked in the little function room out the back.’

  ‘How are you going to do that then?’ Barry flicked his lighter, attempting to get it to ignite.

  ‘I dunno. But we’ll work that out when we get there. Go on, get back in the van, you big wimp. We need to get a move on.’

  ‘But I need the loo,’ Barry replied, pulling an agonised face.

  ‘BARRY!’ Tony and Jude exclaimed in unison, stopping to stare at him.

  ‘For crying out loud. There’s always one,’ Tony added, shaking his head in mock despair.

  But before any of them could deliberate further on how to stop their not-very-well-thought-out plan from falling apart completely, Dolly pulled open her front door and chivvied them all inside.

  ‘Now, how about I make you two gentlemen a nice cup of tea before you head back out,’ Dolly offered, looking at Barry’s gleeful face.

  ‘Oh, that would be lovely,’ Barry jumped in, ignoring Tony’s elbow nudge in his back. ‘Mind if I borrow your bathroom please, Dolly?’

  ‘Of course, be my guest, love. There’s a cloakroom through here,’ and she showed Barry where to go, then turned to Jude and Tony. ‘Come in to the kitchen and get yourself comfy.’ She gestured to the patchwork armchair beside the Aga.

  ‘Thanks Dolly, but we’ll not intrude, we need to get to the pub … if you know what I mean.’ Tony indicated with his head into the sitting room where he presumed Sam was. He had already run the plan by Dolly yesterday when he had called in to see her.

  ‘Oh yes, silly me, I wasn’t thinking. Just a minute,’ she chuckled, tapping the side of her nose conspiratorially. Dolly had told Tony that she thought it was a great idea to try to get her grandson and his wife back on good terms. She hated seeing her family upset and broken apart. ‘Go on in. And why don’t you go on upstairs, dear?’ she said to Jude. ‘I can take your cute dog into the kitchen for a cuddle, if you like. Might cheer her up as she doesn’t look too happy.’

  ‘Ahh, thanks. But please don’t be taken in by her sad face … she’s quite the diva really,’ Jude laughed, unfastening the cute little neckerchief that Sybs from the haberdashery shop had kindly made for Lulu.

  ‘Holly is in her bedroom, she’ll be really pleased to see you … she doesn’t know you’re coming for the special tea – I didn’t want to spoil the surprise for her,’ Dolly smiled warmly, taking Lulu in her arms. ‘It’s the first on the left at the top of the stairs.’

  ‘Great. See you in a bit,’ Jude smiled, placing a hand on the banister.

  *

  Earlier, in the village square, having leapt off the bus back from Market Bri
ar with Katie, Holly had stopped and stared. Gavin, the choir man, was going into the village hall and he had his arm around Mum’s shoulders. Holly really wanted to scream at him to leave her mum alone. It was all his fault. Dad might think he was to blame, but before Gavin had become Mum’s boyfriend, she had been nowhere near as bad. She was still bossy back then, but not like she had been since before Dad came home. Gavin can’t be very nice to her. And aren’t you supposed to be blissfully happy when you first start going out with someone? Well, Mum doesn’t seem loved up like that. Maybe she really wants to dump Gavin but doesn’t want to hurt his feelings, Holly wondered, thinking about Josh at school. They had dated for eight days, but then she’d got fed up with him always borrowing her phone because his had run out of credit. She had tried to text him at least three times to tell him he was dumped. Katie had to tell him in the end, and she said he was well upset. She thought he was going to cry, his feelings were that hurt. Maybe she should offer to dump Gavin on Mum’s behalf. She could text him from Mum’s mobile, no problem. Or maybe it was all just wishful thinking? If it wasn’t for Gavin, then everything would be so much better. Mum and Dad had been getting on … until the bust-up in the pizza place. And the Get Mum and Dad Back Together in Time for My Birthday plan would have a much better chance of working if Gavin wasn’t hanging around all the time trying to ruin it. And stop the wish from coming true.

  ‘Are you OK, Holls?’ Katie asked, linking her arm through hers.

  ‘Did you see that?’ Holly said, lifting her free hand to point in the direction of the village hall.

  ‘Yes. Where are they going?’

  ‘To choir practice. That’s Gavin.’

  ‘Is he your mum’s new boyfriend?’

  ‘I guess so.’ Holly shrugged.

  ‘So, he’s like your new stepdad then.’

  ‘No he isn’t!’ Holly felt her face burn. Her heart was running fast inside her chest. She actually felt a bit of sick in her mouth. She pulled a bottle of water from her satchel and had a big swig.

  ‘He will be if he marries your mum!’

  ‘Stop it! He can’t marry my mum, she’s already married to my dad.’

  ‘Holls, don’t get upset,’ Katie stopped walking and looked at her.

  ‘What else can I can do then?’

  ‘Get even!’ Katie said, looking her right in the eye. ‘That’s what my mum says. “Don’t get upset. Get even!”’

  ‘But how?’ Holly said, scanning her best friend’s face, searching for the answer to her prayers. No matter what Dad had promised about fixing it all before her birthday … all the time Gavin was there taking Mum away from him, it would never be fixed.

  ‘Is that his?’ Katie asked, pointing to the beige car parked opposite the village hall.

  ‘Yes, why?’

  ‘Come on, you’ll see.’ And Katie grabbed her hand and ran towards the car. Moments later, Katie had pulled something off the tyre. ‘Quick, do the other one too,’ she said to Holly. And so she did.

  *

  Jude was back downstairs now and standing in the hallway, where Sam was gathering up his phone and wallet off the hall table ready to leave for the pub.

  ‘Holly’s not there,’ she said.

  ‘Maybe she’s in the bathroom, have a look in there, Jude,’ Sam indicated with his head as he pulled on a jacket.

  ‘Barry’s still in there, taking ages he is.’ Tony let out a disgruntled sigh.

  ‘Try the upstairs one, she’s bound to be inspecting her teeth or spraying that lavender colour she likes onto her hair or counting her eyelashes or some such thing,’ Sam smiled, constantly baffled by how long his teenage daughter’s personal grooming seemed to take these days. Jude ran upstairs and knocked on the door.

  ‘Holly? Surpriiiiiiise,’ she said brightly, but there was no answer.

  ‘Gran, do you know where Holly is?’ Sam called through into the kitchen as Jude returned shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders.

  ‘Upstairs in her bedroom, love. Why?’ Dolly came into the hallway, wiping her hands on a flowery-patterned pinny.

  ‘Jude says she isn’t there. And she’s not in the bathroom either,’ Sam said.

  ‘Well, she must be here somewhere. Maybe she’s in my room … I did say that she could have a spritz of my perfume. She’s at that age …’ Dolly smiled fondly, looking to Tony and Jude. ‘I’ll go and have a look.’

  ‘No, it’s OK, Gran. Save your legs – I’ll go,’ Sam said, already taking the stairs two at a time as he tried to ignore the dart of unease in the pit of his stomach, which was immediately confirmed when he pushed open the bedroom door and saw his daughter wasn’t there. ‘She’s not in here,’ Sam yelled down to the others as he raced back down the stairs. He pulled his phone from his pocket. ‘Right. We need to find her. I’ll call Chrissie and see if she’s gone there. To The Forstal Farmhouse.’

  ‘Chrissie is at choir practice, Sam,’ Jude told him.

  ‘And Holly wouldn’t just go out without saying anything,’ Dolly added, cheerfully.

  ‘Then where else could she be?’ Sam started tapping the screen of his mobile, conscious of the panic rising in his voice.

  ‘What’s going on?’ It was Barry back from the cloakroom with a bewildered look on his face.

  ‘Holly isn’t here,’ Jude quickly told him.

  ‘No answer!’ Sam waved his phone in the air as Chrissie’s voice came on the line reading out the voice message. ‘I’m going to look for her.’ He went to pull the front door open.

  ‘Hold on, son. No need to panic,’ Tony stepped in, placing a hand on Sam’s arm. ‘She’s probably hiding somewhere, all ready to jump out and surprise us … do you remember when you used to do that, Jude?’

  ‘Yes, when I was about six years old. Dad, Holly is thirteen, she doesn’t do that kind of thing.’ Jude shook her head. ‘I think Sam’s right, we need to look for her. Come on, let’s all search the house. Barry, you go around the garden.’

  ‘Right-o.’ And Barry darted straight out through the front door.

  ‘I’ll do upstairs. You do downstairs, Jude,’ Tony instructed. ‘And look everywhere … just in case. You never know … she might have hidden in a cupboard or in the pantry or something, and fallen asleep. Yes, yes, I know she isn’t six years old … but kids are always full of surprises.’ And he was off, haring upstairs, and calling out Holly’s name.

  ‘What about her best friend, Katie?’ Jude turned to Sam as they went into the sitting room, ‘would she have gone to her house, perhaps?’

  ‘Not without saying, she’s usually pretty good about that sort of thing,’ Sam shook his head, but then thought back to the time Holly had duped him into leaving her at home alone. ‘But I should check.’ And he went to leave the cottage again.

  ‘Have you got Katie’s phone number?’ Jude continued. ‘You could try calling her first, save racing over there. Holly might not thank you for showing up out of the blue. She might think you’re checking up on her. And with things the way they are … it won’t look good.’

  ‘That’s a good idea,’ Dolly stepped in, ‘and why don’t you try Holly’s mobile number too before we jump to conclusions. I’m sure there’s a simple explanation.’

  Sam pressed to ring Holly’s phone.

  An Ed Sheeran song ringtone rang out.

  And it was coming from the kitchen.

  Sam dashed to find the phone, closely followed by Jude and Dolly.

  ‘Her bag!’ Sam lifted Holly’s patent pink satchel from the back of a dining chair and rummaged through it. Everything was inside. Her phone. Hairbrush. Purse. Keys. A book. Make-up. Bits and bobs. He tipped it all out on the kitchen table. And … oh God. ‘Her insulin!’ Sam held the kit containing everything Holly needed to check her levels and inject herself.

  ‘She’s definitely not in the garden.’ Barry appeared back in the kitchen, bringing a swirl of evening air in with him. ‘And I’ve checked in the shed and the summerhouse. Not a dicky bird, which is
just as good. Don’t fancy her chances if she was hiding outside somewhere … in the woods or whatever. It might be nearly summertime but it’s still a bit parky out there and the temperature drops quite sharply in the middle of the night in amongst the trees!’ He drew in a sharp intake of breath so they were all definitely under no illusions as to just how cold it could get outside of an evening, in the dense woods or open fields of the countryside.

  ‘OK, Barry, we get your drift.’ Jude glared at him, conscious of Sam’s stricken face in her peripheral vision. The last thing any of them needed right now was an image of Holly huddled up on her own outside somewhere in the fields or lost in the woods.

  ‘And she’s definitely not upstairs.’ Tony came through the doorway and stood by the Aga.

  ‘I should call Mark in the police house.’ Sam grabbed the landline phone off the wall. ‘She can’t be going off on her own. Chrissie specifically said that we needed to keep an eye on her … while we’re getting her levels under control. And what’s she going to think now? I should have been more responsible. I can’t even be sure when I last saw Holly … not in the last couple of hours.’

  ‘Hang on! Let’s at least ring Katie first. She might have gone to see her, meet her … we don’t know,’ Jude said, trying not to panic for Sam’s sake. But just how long did you wait until you called the police to tell them a child was missing? And it wasn’t like Holly was a three year old – she was a teenager, after all. ‘Dolly is right. There could be a simple explanation, and it’s not like she knew I was coming over to see her, so she may well have popped out to visit her friend. Are we sure she hasn’t left a note on the side or something? And you know what thirteen-year-old girls are like …’ Jude looked to her dad for confirmation. Tony shrugged and nodded in agreement. ‘You see! Dad thinks so too. She’s probably dashed out to meet her mate and just forgotten to take her bag. I’ve done it so many times,’ she added, to make light of the situation, in the hope of easing Sam’s now very obvious anxiety.

  Jude took Holly’s mobile from the kitchen table, and after scrolling through her goddaughter’s contacts – luckily there wasn’t a lock on the keypad – she found the girl’s number and rang it. Katie answered right away.