MISSING

MISSING   By Tessa Harvey "God," Lisa prayed, "please help me not to keep seeing that dead lady's face. Please God!" Then she pulled up the bedcovers and soon fell asleep.     She was dreaming. There was a river and she was walking along. The grass was very green. She thought of Psalm 23 - He makes me to lie down in green pastures. Primroses were blooming along a grey drystone wall. She sniffed their faint, lovely scent.     A woman was walking ahead of her. There was a wild daffodil blooming low on the river bank. The woman reached for it, then was distracted by some very bright shiny yellow flowers. Lisa saw they were kingcups.     The woman slid on the wet bank and fell into the river. The young girl was too far away to reach her, but then a man was shambling towards her. There was something odd about the way he moved, but he pulled the woman safely out. She was shivering and trembling. Clouds were covering the sun, a cool wind was springing up. The...

MISSING   By Tessa Harvey But, as he recalled all these details he had been striving so hard to subdue, to obliterate, something struck him hard. The dress was long-sleeved. The colours were the same, but the dress was not.     Gabe ran upstairs and opened his wife's wardrobe. Right there hung the short-sleeved dress he remembered, in swirls and patterns of red, blue and yellow - but the colours were different shades!! He had not wanted to remember his wife's dead face so he had not looked properly, and the young constable had not thought to question him more fully.     The pastor's mind went back to the last day his wife had walked out, angry because they had quarelled.     Suddenly he remembered!! Angel had worn bright sky blue jeans and white top!! So where was she? And who was the drowned lady? Was Angel still alive? His heart was beating so fast, he felt faint and sat down. Then his shaking fingers flitted over his iPad.  --------------------...

MISSING   By Tessa Harvey The latter put his hands over his eyes and broke into terrible tearing sobs. His whole body shook.  "Oh no," he cried, "why now? We have been hoping for this for several years. Oh God, why? This is so not fair!"     The police stayed until the man was more settled, then left. Blanche was upset. The missing woman had been pregnant, the foetus so young she probably was not even sure herself.     Mind wandering, Blanche wondered why on earth her parents had named the woman Angel. God and angels were for the policewoman a distant mystery. She did not want to know more. Life did indeed seem very unfair.     At least the man had seemed honest, thought Blanche, remembering the high-ranking church leader on television smoothly protesting his innocence of any crime. To her, he had seemed very guilty. She wondered about the young man they had visited. How much had he contributed to his wife's death? And why had she gone missing in ...

MISSING   By Tessa Harvey Gabe scowled as he opened his front door. Despite herself, Blanche, the junior police officer found herself stepping back slightly. Her mother had told her once of visiting a vicar. He had opened his door with a pleasant smile, wearing dark colours and a very white dog collar. Next to him had sat a smug-looking cat, black with a white neck patch! She had told the story, saying she had found it so hard not to giggle at the time.     At the back of her mind, Blanche realised she had been expecting someone similar. Maybe not the cat - but certainly someone meek and mild. But, this man was definitely not gentle, or meek or even mild for that matter. His jeans and tee shirt looked rumpled and none too clean.  And no one could ever assume that he was anything but very hostile.     Smoothly, James stepped forward and seemingly unperturbed, introduced them both.     "Why are you police back?" demanded the youngish man. "Is it bec...

MISSING   By Tessa Harvey They dumped the firewood haphazardly at the back of the house and trooped in silently , shedding gumboots and raincoats fairly tidily as they had been taught, then they turned to their mother. "Whatever's wrong?" she queried, seeing their pale, shocked faces. Sandy was very close to tears. She put an arm around him. "What is it?" she asked, more softly, the shock of sharpness leaving her voice.     "Us needs the police," whispered Robert, and burst into tears. Their mother listened, horrified. Finally the children's explanation stumbled to a halt.     Lisa looked the worst. Only later did her parents realise she alone had seen a face, a bruised and white face glimpsed, fleetingly, but enough to haunt her for a long time.     The two older ones had said goodbye to granny, but hadn't seen her die.     She sat the children at the table with a drink and some scones and then called her husband at work. His shift was nearl...

MISSING   By Tessa Harvey The older children had scampered over the wet fields to the river. They watched for a few moments in awe at the tumbling, surging water, foaming crests swollen in great flood.     They headed over the bridge and through the woods to the deep bend where all the best dead wood collected in a huge floating raft. Carefully they reached for as much as they could salvage. Robert and Jack sorted it into manageable piles and Lisa tied ropes into harnesses and then around the branches. Sandy's pile was smallest. The older ones could haul much more.     Roger barked before they could move. He was a rescue dog of indeterminate  breeding and rarely barked. So they all looked and saw what they had missed - a bundle of sodden rags - blue and red and yellow, caught up at the edge of the still water.     Uninterested, they moved to go, then stopped as though they had been shot, for Sandy said loudly and shakily "I can see a foot. It's a ...

MISSING   By Tessa Harvey For days, it had been squally, intermittent rain, hail and snow and fierce buffeting winds, confining the school children to classrooms or common rooms. Finally, on the Saturday the skies had cleared and the wind was more manageable, more a subdued roar than a howling tempest.     The children had tumbled out of the new estate houses like rambunctious puppies sniffing the air and smiling with glee. They all wore galoshes and raincoats and all the mothers were glad to see them go.     They turned their attention to younger children, to shopping and meals, to wresting some sort of order out of muddled chaos. Some had other jobs they needed to attend to, such as serving in stores, factories, schools.     Mary had the smaller children to feed and keep occupied. The others had gone to collect bonfire wood.     Fireworks for Bonfire Night had been carefully chosen and hidden - rockets, poppers, golden rains, and Mount Vesu...