Operation Eiffel Tower (7 page)

And Jack tried his best to be sure. Dad couldn’t just disappear, could he? The plastic stars were slowly fading now, losing their light. Jack turned his face into the pillow and tried to get to sleep.

Lauren was already dressed and sitting at the kitchen table when Jack got up. He walked into the room, rubbing his eyes. He took a bowl from the draining board and helped himself to cereal.

‘Morning,’ Jack said.

Lauren said nothing. Jack added milk to his bowl. He twirled his spoon round so that the milk turned chocolatey brown.

‘I tried ringing Dad last night,’ Lauren said.

Jack chewed his cereal thoughtfully.

‘But he didn’t answer. I got voicemail.’

‘Did you leave a message?’ Jack asked.

‘I didn’t know what to say.’ She looked at her phone. It lay silent next to her plate.

‘He’ll see the missed call though. He’ll ring, won’t he?’ Jack asked.

They ate without speaking. When Lauren finished she pushed back her chair; it scraped along the lino.

‘Where’s Mum? Is she up?’ Jack asked.

Lauren shook her head. ‘She took a sleeping pill at about three o’clock in the morning. I bumped into her on the landing last night.’

‘Did she say anything?’ Jack asked.

‘Like what?’

‘Like where Dad is. Like whether he’s coming back.’

‘Jack, it was three o’clock in the morning.’ Lauren sighed.

‘So?’

‘So she didn’t say much of anything.’

Jack chewed his cereal. Lauren stared at the table.

‘It’s the Golf Open Championship today,’ Jack said. ‘I could win fifty pounds to put in the Paris fund.’

‘Oh yes, I suppose you might. What time does it start?’ Lauren asked.

‘Two o’clock.’

‘What if Dad rings? What if he wants to see us?’ Lauren said quietly.

‘He’ll ring this morning, won’t he? He said he’d ring as soon as he could. He has to!’

Lauren stood up. She slipped her phone into her pocket. ‘I’m going to get Billy so he doesn’t wake Mum. Wash your bowl, OK?’

Jack nodded.

He rinsed his bowl under the tap. He didn’t know what to do next. He felt a horrible tightness in his chest, like breathing in water. What did people do when their dads were missing? He gripped the hard edge of the sink and waited for the feeling to pass.

It did. Slowly.

He’d win the competition later and Dad would be OK.

He could hear Lauren coming back downstairs with Billy in her arms. They came into the kitchen. Billy’s face was still red from sleep, his hair sticking out, his eyes crusty. Jack suddenly wanted to whisk him away and keep him safe somewhere.

Lauren dropped him into his high chair.

‘I’ll go and see what Ruby’s doing,’ Jack said.

He went upstairs. Ruby was in her own bed; she must have crept back there before dawn. The curtains were still closed and the light was pinky-red. He drew them back, letting real sunshine in.

Ruby moaned from under her duvet.

‘Morning, Ruby,’ Jack said.

‘Daddy?’ Her voice was thick with sleep.

‘No,’ Jack said. ‘It’s just me. Dad hasn’t called yet, but it’s early. He will. Come on, sleepyhead.’

Ruby followed Jack down into the living room. Lauren and Billy drifted in soon after. They sat in front of the telly watching cartoons. Only Billy laughed at them.

One programme turned into another. Then another.

Jack looked at the sunlit road just outside the window. It was a good morning for golf, but he didn’t move. He didn’t even get dressed. It was the same feeling as when he sat outside the dentist’s office, hearing the drill going and knowing it was his turn next.

Then, just before ten o’clock, the phone rang.

‘Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!’ Ruby leaped up from the sofa and pelted into the hall towards the phone. ‘Daddy!’ she said into the receiver.

Jack ran after her. Lauren swept Billy up too and followed behind. Ruby was listening carefully and nodding.

‘Is it him?’ Lauren said. ‘Let me speak to him.’

Ruby clung tighter to the phone and pressed it against her ear. ‘Yes, yes. No. Lauren and Jack. And Billy. When are you coming home? Hey!’

Lauren had snatched the phone. Ruby’s scream of outrage was loud enough to wake the dead. She tried to kick Lauren, but Jack pulled her back just in time. ‘Let Lauren have a turn too,’ he whispered.

‘Dad? Where are you?’ Lauren said. She listened for a minute, then made agreeing noises.

Jack tried to catch her eye – it was his turn now. But Lauren just twirled the cord round her finger and listened. Finally, she hung up.

‘Lauren!’ Jack couldn’t help himself.

‘What?’

‘I didn’t speak to him!’

‘Well, you will later. He told me where he’s staying. He says we can visit. We can go as soon as Mum wakes up.’

There was a creak on the stairs. ‘Did I hear my name?’

Jack looked up. Mum was coming down, her dressing gown wrapped tight around her. Her hair was flat where she’d been lying on it.

‘Mummy!’ Ruby ran up the stairs as though it had been weeks since she’d last seen her.

‘Morning, sweet pea,’ Mum said. ‘I need a cup of tea. Have you all had breakfast?’

They followed Mum into the kitchen. Jack watched her fill up the kettle, then flick it on. She dropped a tea bag into a mug, then leaned against the counter waiting for the water to boil. Just as though it were a normal day. Jack felt his chest tighten again. ‘That was Dad on the phone,’ he said.

Mum paused for a moment. Then she said, ‘How was he?’

‘I don’t know. I didn’t talk to him.’

‘He sounded sad,’ Ruby said quickly.

‘Oh.’ Mum poured the hot water on the tea bag and stirred it. She fished the bag out and put it on a saucer next to the kettle that already had loads of dried-up tea bags on it, like mouldy pebbles. Mum rubbed her face with both hands, then pulled her fingers through her hair. She took the milk out of the fridge and stirred it into the tea.

There was silence. Jack looked at the ground. There was a blob of something sticky on the floor near his toe – old marmalade or something. He pressed his slipper on to it then lifted it with a ripping noise.

‘He’s staying at a bed and breakfast near town. He says we can visit him today,’ Lauren said.

‘What?’ Mum asked. ‘Where?’

‘Near the real golf course. The Larches, it’s called. He told me when he rang. We’re going there later. It’s all arranged.’

‘But you can’t,’ Mum said. ‘It’s too soon. Dad and I have to talk about this first. He can’t just go and take you away somewhere.’

‘He’s not taking us away,’ Lauren said.

The crease between Mum’s eyes deepened. ‘I don’t know that, do I? What’s it like, this place he’s staying? Is it safe? Is it clean? I don’t know anything about it. I can’t just let you go there by yourselves. And, I . . . I’m not ready to see him. Not yet.’

Lauren seemed to swell with anger. ‘Well, you should have thought of that before you kicked him out, shouldn’t you?’

‘Lauren! That’s not how it was,’ Mum said, her face draining of colour.

‘Well, what was it like then? He chose to leave, did he? He decided he’d had enough of us all? That we were getting on his nerves?’ Lauren pushed a chair and it clattered heavily against the table. ‘I’m going to visit Dad, and you can’t stop me!’

‘Lauren. Wait!’ Mum said. But Lauren had already left the kitchen. Jack heard her stamping her way up the stairs.

‘I’ll go after her, Mum. Don’t worry,’ Jack said.

Jack climbed the stairs two at a time. He tapped gently on her door. ‘Lauren, it’s me. Can I come in?’

‘No! Go away!’

‘Please?’

There was a pause, then the door opened. ‘What do you want?’ Lauren’s teary face peered out at him.

‘Nothing.’

Lauren relaxed slightly. ‘Then what are you bothering me for?’

‘No reason.’

Lauren smiled properly. Then a frown creased her forehead. ‘I’m going anyway, you know. She can’t stop me. Dad’s all by himself in some grotty place –’

‘We don’t know it’s grotty,’ Jack interrupted.

‘He’s all alone in some grotty, smelly, ugly place and she won’t even let us visit. Well, it’s not fair. I’m going and I don’t care what she says.’ Lauren disappeared into her room. Jack followed cautiously. She pulled her trainers out from under her bed and tugged them on to her feet.

‘You’re going now?’ Jack asked.

‘Yes. Coming?’

‘Yes. No. Should we tell Mum?’

‘No,’ Lauren shook her head. ‘She’d only try and stop us. We’ll tell her when we get back.’

‘What about the competition?’

‘Don’t worry, we’ll be back in plenty of time for that.’

Jack paused, then nodded. He rushed into his room and pulled on some clothes. Then he followed Lauren down to the front door, where his trainers were balanced on top of a jumbled pile of shoes. ‘We’re just nipping out, Mum,’ he yelled towards the kitchen.

Ruby appeared in the kitchen doorway. ‘Where are you going?’ she asked, her eyes wide with alarm.

Poor thing, Jack thought. She must be worried that everyone’s leaving her. ‘Just to the shops,’ he said. ‘Lauren needs a few things. And I thought she could do with getting out for a bit.’

‘Can I come?’ Ruby asked.

‘No. You can’t walk quick enough. But we won’t be long. Promise. We’ll bring you back something.’

‘No!’ Ruby wailed. Mum appeared beside her.

‘We won’t be long, Mum,’ Jack said. ‘Lauren just needs some fresh air.’

Mum nodded silently, then pulled Ruby into a hug. Ruby let herself be cuddled. ‘I’m sorry,’ Jack heard Mum whisper, but he wasn’t sure who she was talking to. Mum carried Ruby back into the kitchen.

Lauren threw a dirty look at the space where they’d been. Then she opened the front door and they were outside, in bright sunlight.

‘Do you know where the B and B is?’ Jack asked.

‘Yes. Dad told me. We walk to the front and along the parade. It’s just past the end. Should take us about fifteen minutes.’

Jack stopped walking. ‘Should we take anything? Does Dad need clean clothes or a toothbrush or anything?’

‘He didn’t say. I think he just wants us. Come on.’

Chapter 13

The road outside was busy with children playing and old people walking to the shops. But there was a heavy feeling on Jack’s heart that meant he didn’t want to talk to any of the people who waved at them.

Was Dad OK? Jack knew it had only been a day, but Dad had been on his own, surrounded by strangers, away from his family for all that time. He suddenly had an awful thought: what if Dad had cried himself to sleep last night?

Jack gasped. He stopped still.

‘Come on,’ Lauren said crossly, pulling his arm.

Jack stumbled but carried on walking. He wished there was someone he could talk to about this pain. If only Paul were still here. Emails just weren’t the same. Why did everyone feel so far away?

The bed and breakfast, when they got there, was part of a row of three. They all had signs hanging in the front gardens with a small white plaque saying ‘Vacancies’. There was ‘Sunnybank’, ‘Abbeywood’ and then ‘The Larches’.

‘See, it looks grotty,’ Lauren said.

Jack looked at the hanging baskets of flowers beside the door. They had dried and shrivelled to brown husks. The paint around the window frames had been white but was now chipped and yellow. It was hideous.

‘Should we go in?’ Jack asked.

‘Well, we didn’t come all this way for the view,’ Lauren said. She marched up to the front door and pushed. It wasn’t locked. There was a narrow hallway, with two doors on the left and two on the right. One door had
Reception
painted on it in black letters. The hall smelled fusty, like damp sheets.

Lauren pushed the Reception door. It was locked.