SNATCHED BAIRN: Scottish Fiction

by Anne Bone

  There were certain characteristics that were similar: the child was taken after school; there were no sightings; no witnesses; both girls were similar build; both had long fair hair; they were around the same age, and the one thing that bothered her most was that these incidents were both within the geographical area of the Grampian force. There was a similar pattern, and she wasn’t one for putting things down to coincidence, she couldn’t ignore this.

  She didn’t verbalise her concerns to her team, she needed to chew them over with someone who would challenge her thinking. She knew exactly who that person was, it was Tim. She had phoned him to say that she was leaving the office, and he had indicated that he was cooking.

  When she arrived she was met with an aroma that sent her taste buds soaring. She realised she hadn’t eaten all day and, suddenly, she was ravenous. She found Tim in the kitchen and laughed at the apron he was wearing, which had a frilly outline. ‘Very you,’ she commented.

  He laughed, ‘Yes it’s mine, it was a joke present that Sophie gave me some years ago. I am, so I’m told, the messiest cook in the world. So I wear it when I create my wonderful masterpieces.’ He waved his hand over the stove, demonstrating that he had three pots on it, containing the ingredients for their supper.

  ‘Well, it smells divine,’ she informed him, ‘I’ll just go up and change if that’s okay?’ She left him toiling over the pans, and went up to her room where she changed into her track suit; it was the most comfy of all her outfits, and one she donned after work. It was pretty scruffy and did nothing for her figure but she didn’t care. Sean had always despaired about her wearing it, but she didn’t bother, it helped her with the ritual of unwinding from the stress of the day.

  When she returned to the kitchen, Tim was dishing up food onto two plates. I hope this is okay for you, its meat and two veg. She was presented with a large perfectly-grilled lamb cutlet, accompanied by small buttered potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower. ‘It smells and looks perfect,’ she told him. ‘Absolutely yummy.’

  ‘Now I know you are still SIO, but I don’t think one glass of Merlot would really affect your judgement, if you get a call, do you?’

  She shook her head, ‘No, looking at this big meal, I have no doubt it will soak it up. I think one glass would be great. Thanks so much, Tim,’ she smiled at him as she watched him pour the dark red liquid into a small wine glass.

  ‘You are most welcome. Do you know, I was looking forward to cooking a meal for two tonight. It surprised me how much. So just tuck in and enjoy.’ He watched her start to eat and felt a great flood of pleasure at seeing how much she was enjoying his food. ‘Now, come on, tell me all about your day. I heard on the grapevine that there hasn’t been much to go on.’

  ‘You couldn’t be more right, it’s desperate. Here we are more than twenty- four hours later and nothing, apart from the sighting of this Land Rover, but that could or couldn’t be something to do with the disappearance.’ She took time to fill her mouth with another forkful of food. While she chewed it, she watched Tim as he continued to eat. He gave no sign of pushing her to reveal more than she wanted to, and he was a good listener, something she remembered from when they knew each other in the past. She continued, ‘You know, Tim, I am concerned that the only thing I have to go on is the similarities with the Mary Dinnet case.’ She waited for him to comment. He didn’t, he just raised his eyes. ‘The same age, similar circumstances, both girls had long fair hair; I can’t help wondering whether there is a connection. If there is, then, my God, we got it wrong last time and it wasn’t anything to do with Laird. It makes me feel sick. What if we got it wrong, Tim?’

  Chapter 32

  Elgin

  Benview Close was a hive of activity, there was a constant flow of people, many of them journalists who were interviewing Pam and hoping to get a new slant on the story. There had been rows: Danny did not agree with airing their dirty washing in public. He was sure, and was proved right in the end, that by allowing the press in, it would end in tears. Pam insisted that she needed to do this, as she was sure that by doing so it would help with the search.

  Danny was exhausted. Thankfully, his boss had given him compassionate leave, and told him not to worry, that his wages would be covered. He was relieved and grateful for this because if he didn’t get his wages then the rent would not be getting paid. They were already in arrears, something that Pam had kept from him until he had happened to pick up one of the brown-enveloped letters that she had forgotten to hide from him. He had been shocked and that led to another fight, which had only ended when he had stormed off.

  He had been astounded and overwhelmed with the support they had received from the community. People he had never spoken to before were dropping things off at the house. This morning, an elderly lady who lived in the next street had arrived with a pot of lentil soup, while another delivered a whole load of sandwiches. This had kept the kids fed and they were still wandering around the house looking shell shocked and trying to stay out of the way. He had insisted that Sam took himself off to bed early last night. The poor lad had looked as though he was going to pass out, he had been on the go all day.

  Danny was completely fed up with Pam’s friends, who seemed to have taken root in the sitting room. They were as much help as a chocolate fire guard. They had been here all day yesterday, not doing anything apart from sit with her, and demand more cups of tea from the kitchen. He had told them last night when they were leaving that he would rather they didn’t come today, but that had made no difference at all: they arrived at nine, giving him a look of disdain as they marched past him and took up their places on sofa. He could imagine that they would have been first in line with their knitting at the gallows.

  The police still hadn’t seemed to make any progress. He was feeling frustrated. He had gone out again this morning to search, but knew that the area he was walking through had been searched by the police teams more than once. There was still a large police presence; they were still knocking on doors and interviewing people, but no one seemed to have seen his lass being taken. Because that is what had happened to her, he knew now someone had got her. He felt the heat rise in his blood; if he got hold of them he would beat them to a pulp. He tried to block out images that floated through his mind of what might be happening, because there was one thing he couldn’t ignore, and that was, whoever had her wouldn’t have taken her unless they were intent on causing her some sort of harm.

  It was now the second day; she had been gone for forty-eight hours. He was trying to hold it all together, and kept out of the sitting room, as he was well aware that if he went in there it would trigger another row. The two hags were still there, and when Wayne had been sent to the chip shop for fish suppers, they had had the audacity to put their orders in as well. He noted there was no sign of them getting their purses out to pay for their own. He and the kids were in the kitchen consuming the crispy battered fish. ‘The lady at the chipper gave us extra portions,’ Wayne announced, his mouth crammed full of chips.

  ‘That was good of her,’ said Danny, as he continued to munch. ‘People have been good. Now you, Kerry and Josie need to get washed and get yourselves to bed when you finish these. Kerry, you can help your sister, right?’

  ‘But I dinna wan’ to go te bed, Da,’ Josie whined, ‘I wanna watch sum telly, Da, please?’

  Danny found irritation creeping into his response. Well you canna watch any telly, your ma’s in the sitting room and she doesna’ want the telly on. Nay more arguing, just git to your beds,’ he told them and by his tone they knew better than argue with him.

  The girls finished their tea, crumpled the fish and chip paper up and put it in the bin. They hadn’t bothered to get plates, it saved them washing up. Kerry drank the last of her coke and put the cup into the sink that was already full to the gunnels with crockery. ‘Da, what do you think’s happened to our Shona?’ she asked.

  ‘I dinna know, lass. The Bobbies think someone has taken her, and I agree with
them. She wouldn’t have run off and, if she had, she would have been back by now.’

  Josie started to cry, but it was her big brother Sam who went to her to comfort her. Danny wasn’t used to showing his children affection. The small girl started weeping copiously once she had started and this had the effect of starting Kerry off too. Danny patted Kerry on her head. ‘Come on now, that’s not going to help, is it? The Bobbies are still looking for her, so let’s just hope that she’ll be back soon.’ He suddenly had an idea. ‘How would youse two like to go and stay with your Aunty Janet at Lossiemouth for a few days?’ As he said it, he realised that maybe it would be best for the girls if they were out of the house for a while, he didn’t want them upset.

  Kerry stopped crying immediately. Really da, can we?’ She quickly brightened up. ‘I love going to Aunty Janet’s, its magic being by the sea.’

  ‘Right now, off to bed. I’ll go and give her a phone, and see whether it will be okay.’

  The girls made their way up to bed, their minds now focused on a visit to their favourite aunty, who lived in a nice house overlooking the sandy beach on the Moray coast.

  Danny was just about to try and empty the sink, he hated washing up, but it seemed his wife wasn’t going to shift her ass off the sofa, where she had not only sat for the past forty-eight hours, but slept the previous night. He heard her shout to Sam as he was climbing the stairs, ‘Sam! Git us a brew will ya?’

  This was the final straw; Danny dried his hands and marched through to the sitting room. Pam was still lying on the settee, Gladys, one of the hags was sitting at one end while Edie, the other fat unkempt woman, was sprawled on the armchair. You could have cut the air with a knife there was so much smoke. The three of them all smoked, something Danny did not do. He had packed up years ago after he had had several bouts of bronchitis; he couldn’t afford to stay off his work so, on the advice of his doctor, he quit. Now, entering this room he could be back smoking again. ‘For fuck’s sake, it’s like a smoked kipper factory in here. For Christ’s sake, open a window.’ He went over to the window and threw it open which produced a gust of cold air.

  ‘Close that fucking window, it’s freezing,’ wheezed Pam. ‘Is our Sam making us a brew?’

  Danny looked at the mess. Not only were the ashtrays full of dog-ends, but the fish and chip papers were on the floor. He bent down to pick them up, doing his best to control his temper. He turned to Gladys and Edie, ‘I want you two out now, you’ve done nothing else but sit on your asses and drink tea, smoke and eat our food.’ They looked at Pam waiting for her to intervene.

  ‘Dinna you speak to my friends like that, I need them here.’ She protested. ‘They’ve been such a support to me.’ With that she started howling.

  ‘Look, it’s near nine at night and I would have thought your own men would be wanting youse two back,’ he challenged them, ignoring his wife who was now sounding like a cat who was stuck in a door.

  Pam intervened again, snivelling. She said, ‘Their men know they are here supporting me. They show more sympathy than I can expect from my own man, so they do.’

  He ignored this jibe, and turned and pointed his finger at the two women, ‘Now, I am not just asking you to go, but I’m now telling you. Get your asses off my chairs and away home, both of you.’

  They responded, both recognising that Danny’s temper had risen and it was, after all, almost time for them to leave anyway. They both went over and kissed Pam on her cheek, telling her to hang in there and they would see her tomorrow.

  ‘And,’ said Danny, ‘I dinna want you here all the day tomorrow, do you hear me?’ They glanced at Pam again to see what her view was, but before she could respond he had pushed them both towards the door, and they went off mumbling about poor Pam.

  Once they had left the building, Pam started. ‘You’ve na’ righ’ to speak to my friends like that. They’ve been so good to me, I dinna know what I would have done without them.’

  ‘Well, I can tell you what you might have been able to do: the washing up would have been something, even if they had pulled their weight a bit, it might have helped. But you’ve done nothing but greet and lay on the sofa.’

  ‘I canna help thinking about my poor wee lass, where is she Danny? I just wish she was here.’

  ‘I know, we both want her back, but your na’ helping. The other kids need you to be there for them.’

  ‘Dinna you put that on me,’ she retorted, ‘they’re as much your kids as mine. An’ our Sam is old enough to do the washing up, so why didn’t you tell him to get cracking?’

  ‘For fuck’s sake, Pam, the lads have done their best, but they canna do it all. You need to get a grip, get this place sorted out and there’s shopping needing done, were just about out of a lot of things. And while your so-called friends sup our tea and swallow our pieces all day we’re getting through masses. And we could do with not supplying half the fucking Scottish media with mugs of brew as well.’

  ‘I canna go to the shops,’ she shouted, ‘I can hardly get meself to the lavvy, let alone up to the shops. You’ll have to go.’

  ‘See, that could be something one of your so-called friends might offer to do, don’t you think, rather than sitting here all day long gawping about them?’ He knew that he was wasting his time trying to make his wife do something that she didn’t want to. ‘I’m going off to the phone box to give our Janet a phone, see if she’ll take the girls for a few days. It’s not doing them any good staying here, they were right upset tonight.’

  ‘Aye well, your Janet is always waiting to get her hands on my girls, especially because she’s not got any of her own. But you can tell her that they are only going to stay for a couple of days, I need to have my kids around me.’ She tried to sound as though she meant it, but she got no sympathy from her husband.

  Danny looked at her and wondered if she could hear herself, she had hardly acknowledged the girls over the past couple of days. He put his coat on, made sure he had change for the phone and left the house, the cold air hitting him. He was thankful to be out of the smoky atmosphere for a while; the fresh air would help clear the residual nicotine from his lungs.

  He walked the short distance to the phone box that was situated at the end of the road. His neighbour had offered him the use of her phone any time, but it was a bit late now to knock on her door and ask if he could use it. So, he would be better using the public one, as was normal for him. He hoped his sister would be agreeable to taking the girls for a bit. He guessed she would be, as long as they went on their own, without Pam. Janet and Pam didn’t see eye to eye about anything, and had taken a dislike to each other when he had introduced them fourteen years ago. Janet, his only sister, had become more or less estranged from him over the past couple of years due to Pam. Janet had raised her concern about the way Pam spoke to children, always swearing and cursing at them. She couldn’t hold her tongue, and it had resulted in Pam and her having a blazing row.

  He dialled his sister’s number and waited for the phone to be answered. It was, after a couple of rings. ‘Hello, Jan, it’s me,’ Danny said.

  ‘Danny, how are you? Is there any news about Shona?’ asked Janet, pleased to hear her brother’s voice. ‘I was going to come over tomorrow and see you. I would have come today, but I didn’t know whether I would be welcome, and whether Pam would even let me into the house.’

  ‘No news I’m afraid, it’s horrible Jan. I can’t help but think the worst, but the police keep saying its early days yet. What I was ringing you for, was to ask whether you could take the girls for a wee whiley. They’re really upset and I think it would be better to get them out of it.’

  ‘Of course the girls can come over, I would like nothing better. Is Pam in agreement then?’ she asked, quite amazed that she would be, given the way it had been last time she had spoken. Pam had accused her of a lot of things, one of which was that because she couldn’t have her own bairns she was trying to get her hands on hers. And she had shouted, asking what s
he knew about the difficulties of bringing up kids when she had no experience of her own.

  ‘She is not having a say in it, Jan. She’s not so good, not handling things particularly well, as you can probably imagine. So I told her I was going to ask you, and she didn’t put up much of a fight.’

  ‘I saw her on the news yesterday, she looked pretty cut up.’ Janet hadn’t been quite so complimentary when she had watched her sister-in-law who, in her view, was milking the situation to get all the attention for herself. Bill, her husband, had reasoned with her telling her to imagine how the woman was feeling with her daughter being missing. Bill could be a bit naïve in her view, always trying to see the best in people, even when there wasn’t any.

  They agreed to a time that she would arrive the following morning and he told her he would do his best to get their clothes together, but couldn’t guarantee that they would be clean clothes. Janet didn’t mind one bit. She would have likely had to re-wash all the clothes anyway as they would no doubt stink to the gunnels of smoke.

  Chapter 33

  Three weeks later Aberdeenshire

  He was beginning think he had made a colossal mistake. This one was very different to the first one. He was nursing his hand that showed signs of her teeth; this was from his attempt this morning to get her to sit on his knee. She wasn’t going to be easy to deal with and she would need to be kept confined longer, until she was more pliable.