As soon as I saw the letters on the grass outside our front door, I said I didn’t want to go to school. I was scared and I didn’t want Mum to be alone. But Mum made me go. She drove me herself and waited outside the gates until she saw me walk in. She said she was going to work because she was afraid if she took many more days off, the Langdowns would sack her. I thought the Langdowns were very lucky to have her, and they knew it, but I didn’t argue. And I felt better knowing she was going to work rather than being on her own at home. Nothing could happen to her there. Could it?
I’d messaged Cassie to tell her I was running late, so as soon as I got into the classroom, she was there waiting for me.
‘What’s happened?’ she said, obviously clocking my face, which I couldn’t seem to twist into a smile, no matter how hard I tried. ‘What’s wrong?’
But I was so late that I couldn’t tell her then, because it was already time to go to French. ‘I’ll see you at lunch,’ I said. ‘On our bench.’
I found it hard to concentrate in lessons. My thoughts kept coming back to those brown letters on our little front lawn, and Hermione’s pink collar on the doorstep. I wanted to go home and check if she was there, but I knew if I did, someone from school would phone Mum to find out where I was, and I didn’t want to add to her worries.
At lunchtime, I hurried outside to the far end of the benches where we ate when the weather wasn’t bad. They were quiet at this time of year with most people preferring to stay inside, but Cassie and I liked to sit on the bench at the end, which was under the sloping roof and sheltered from the wind. Sitting on the table, with his feet on the seat and a book on his lap, was Callum. My heart thumped when I saw him. He looked so sweet sitting there, concentrating on his reading. Sweet and also hot. He looked up as I got near and grinned.
‘I saw Cassie in science and she said something was up.’
I dumped my bag on the ground and climbed up so I was sitting next to him. ‘Literally, everything’s gone wrong,’ I said.
Callum opened his mouth and I knew he was going to tell me that I was using literally wrong, so I nudged him. ‘I mean it, literally everything.’
‘Start from the beginning.’
‘No, wait,’ Cassie appeared, holding a can of Diet Coke and balancing a plastic lunchbox on top of a pile of books. ‘Wait for me.’ Awkwardly, she elbowed my leg. ‘Sit down properly or we can’t all fit.’
Callum and I jumped from the tabletop and sat down next to each other again, on the seats this time. Cassie emptied her arms onto the table, plonked herself down opposite us and started rearranging the books and her lunch. ‘What’s going on, Jem? Are you all right?’
I looked at her lovely, concerned face, and at Callum’s worried frown, and I suddenly felt like I was going to cry.
‘I’m fine,’ I said in a funny, tight voice. I swallowed and tried again. ‘I’m fine, honestly. There’s just been some weird stuff happening.’
‘The skeletons?’
I nodded. ‘And more.’
Quickly, I explained about the word in the grass, and Hermione disappearing and then her collar being on the doorstep.
‘Mum was really rattled,’ I said. ‘She’s so edgy anyway, after the witch and then skeletons showing up, wearing our stuff. And now this …’ I felt my voice tighten again. ‘I’m scared something’s happened to Hermione.’
Cassie reached across the table and squeezed my arm, and I felt Callum’s hand sneak into mine. I gave them both a weak smile.
‘This doesn’t feel like a Halloween prank anymore,’ I said.
Cassie’s eyes widened. ‘What are you saying?’
‘That it could be personal.’
‘Why would anyone want to do nasty stuff to you and your mum?’ Callum asked. He pushed his glasses up his nose. ‘You’re really nice.’
‘Thank you,’ I said and he reddened slightly.
‘I mean, you’re not bad people.’
‘Ah.’ I pressed my lips together. ‘Not everyone would agree.’
‘What? Why not?’ He looked alarmed.
I looked down at my knees, thinking about how Mum had reacted when she found out I’d told Cassie about my dad. But I trusted Callum and it was hard to explain what was going on without him knowing the whole story. I glanced at Cassie and she gave me a tiny, encouraging nod. ‘You know Alistair Robertson?’ I said to Callum.
‘The TV presenter?’
‘That’s him.’
‘Isn’t he in jail?’
‘He is,’ I said. ‘And he’s also my dad.’
Callum’s jaw dropped. ‘But your name’s Jemima Blyth.’
‘It is now. Mum went back to her maiden name after they got divorced and I wanted to be the same as her. But my name used to be Jemima Robertson.’
‘He did some bad shit.’
I almost smiled at Callum’s turn of phrase. ‘He did.’
‘But your mum didn’t.’
‘No, but lots of people blamed her. They said she knew what he was like, or that she’d driven him to it. She sent a tweet she shouldn’t have sent and it all went crazy. There was some awful stuff on social media. That’s why she won’t let me have Instagram or TikTok.’
‘Man,’ Callum said. ‘That’s tough.’
‘So that’s why I’m worried it might be personal,’ I went on. ‘We’re not hiding, but Mum doesn’t go around shouting about who my dad is.’ I felt tears behind my eyelids again. ‘This was supposed to be a new start. I don’t want to move again.’
‘No,’ Cassie said firmly. ‘You’re not going anywhere, we need you here.’
I sniffed. ‘Thank you. It just all seems a bit hopeless.’
‘Nothing’s hopeless,’ Cassie said. ‘We’ll get this sorted out.’
‘What can we do?’
‘Tell the police?’ Callum suggested.
I shrugged. ‘We had a family liaison officer in Edinburgh. She was nice. I could ring her?’
‘Do that.’ Callum pushed my phone towards me. ‘Do you have her number?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do it now.’
‘Shouldn’t Mum call her?’
‘Maybe but so what?’
I found the number in my contacts and hit the green button. But it rang out.
‘Voicemail,’ I said, listening. My heart sank as I heard Jacqui’s familiar voice telling me she was away until the middle of November. I ended the call without leaving a message.
‘Holiday,’ I said.
‘Ohh, where has she gone?’ Cassie said. I looked at her and she made a face. ‘Not important.’
I played with my phone. ‘I think the North Berwick police will just think it’s kids,’ I said. ‘There must be loads of this stuff going on at this time of year. Especially round here where everyone gets so into Halloween.’
We all thought for a moment and then Cassie sat up straighter, looking excited. ‘We can solve the crime,’ she said. ‘We can set up a stakeout, or do some other detective work and work out who’s doing this.’
‘We’re not the Famous Five, Cassie.’
She made a face. ‘I know that, but think about it. We’ve got Callum’s geek brain for tech, you’re sharp as anything and you’re good at puzzles, and I know just about everyone who lives here. Surely together we can work it out?’
‘And then we can go to the police,’ Callum said. ‘Because we’ll have evidence.’
Cassie rolled her eyes. ‘Yes, whatever.’ She picked up her own phone and started scrolling, her fingers moving fast. ‘I’m just searching for any mention of North Berwick on social media,’ she said. ‘There’s loads of local accounts. Someone might be talking about it.’
‘Aren’t they mostly tourist stuff?’
‘Some of them. But there’s gossip, too. My mum’s on the Facebook group and I’ve seen people share stuff on Insta.’
Callum and I exchanged a smile. Cassie’s social-media expertise was proving useful for once.
‘Shiiiit,’ she breathed, staring at her screen.
My stomach lurched. ‘What?’
Cassie put her phone on the table and pushed it across so Callum and I could both see the screen. On a group called North Berwick Gossip there was a post that read: ‘Missing: Jemima Robertson, aged 14. Last seen in North Berwick East Lothian.’ It had been shared hundreds of times.
‘What is this?’ I said. My voice sounded shrill. ‘What does this mean?’
‘I don’t know,’ Cassie whispered.
Underneath the writing was a picture of me from my old school, wearing the horrible maroon uniform I’d hated, and staring at the camera without smiling.
‘That’s from my old class photo,’ I said. ‘How did they get that?’
‘How many kids in your old class?’ Callum asked.
‘Twenty-two.’
‘That’s a lot of people who could have shared that picture somewhere.’
I felt hot and cold and sick all at once. ‘But I’m here,’ I said, pointlessly because obviously I was here. ‘Why would anyone say I was missing?’
‘I don’t know.’ Cassie took my hand and I gripped it gratefully.
I swallowed. ‘What if it’s a warning?’ I said. ‘A threat?’
‘No,’ Callum said. ‘Surely not?’
‘In Edinburgh, people took photos of me and posted them online,’ I said. ‘People do really weird, scary stuff, Callum.’
‘We should tell your mum.’
‘No.’ I was firm. ‘No way. She’s on the edge. She can’t know about this.’
‘But …’
‘No,’ I almost shouted. ‘We will deal with this ourselves.’
Callum shook his head, but he didn’t say no. I scrolled down the post. Lots of people had commented when they shared it, all over the country. ‘Shared Southampton,’ I read, wondering why anyone from the south coast would bother. ‘Shared Newcastle. Shared Glasgow.’ My heart was thumping and I had a funny taste in my mouth like I was going to throw up. ‘It’s everywhere,’ I said. And then I realized that whatever sicko had posted this had used my old name. This time I did heave, turning away from Cassie and puking up into the bin next to our table.
‘God,’ I heard Cassie say. She shoved her can of Diet Coke into my hand. ‘Drink some of this.’
I took a massive gulp, swilled it round my mouth, and then spat it out. ‘Thanks,’ I said, holding the can out to Cassie.
‘Ewww,’ she said. ‘Keep it.’
‘It’s someone who knows who we are,’ I said. ‘It’s their creepy way of telling everyone where we live.’
Callum was staring at the post on Cassie’s phone, his mouth in a tight line, typing furiously. ‘There,’ he said. ‘I’ve reported the post. I ticked the box that said it was fake news.’
‘Will they take it down?’ Cassie said.
He shrugged. ‘No idea. But it’s not just on Facebook, it’s all over every platform.’
I buried my face in my hands. ‘Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I actually should tell my mum.’
‘Yes,’ said Callum definitely, as Cassie, just as firmly, said: ‘No.’
‘Which?’
‘Let’s do our own digging first,’ Cassie said. ‘Maybe it’s just someone wanting to spook you.’
‘Ha,’ I said, though it wasn’t funny. ‘They’ve succeeded.’ I threw my head back in despair. ‘But Mum would freak out. She’d make us go and stay with my granny. She might even make us move in with her.’
‘You’d miss the Halloween disco,’ said Cassie.
‘And the play,’ Callum added.
I nodded. ‘Okay, let’s see if we can find anything out before we worry Mum.’
Callum didn’t look sure, but after a bit of hesitation he nodded.
‘Where can we start, though?’ he said. ‘The post was anonymous.’
‘I don’t know,’ I wailed. ‘I just want to do something. Maybe I should say I’m ill and just go home?’
‘We’ve got rehearsal,’ Callum reminded me and I groaned, even though I enjoyed our school play preparation.
‘You’ve just got to get through that and history,’ Cassie said.
‘I suppose we can do our project in history so it’s interesting enough to distract me,’ I said.
‘I’ve got games, count yourself lucky,’ Callum added with a shiver, looking out at the muddy field.
The bell rang and we all jumped even though we were used to it.
‘Fine,’ Cassie said with a sigh. ‘I wanted to do a stakeout, but we can go and read some history instead.’
Callum laughed. ‘Are you going to be okay?’ he said seriously, staring into my eyes. I felt a bit giddy and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the throwing up or how close he was to me. But I nodded. ‘I’m fine.’
‘Good. I’ll see you at rehearsal.’ He stood up and squeezed my shoulder, then he picked up his bag and wandered off, looking less than enthusiastic about an afternoon of rugby.
‘He is so nice,’ Cassie said as we watched him go. She made a face. ‘He’s nicer than Max, isn’t he?’
‘Max is a douchebag,’ I pointed out. ‘Everyone’s nicer than he is.’
Cassie groaned. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘Why do I even like him?’
‘Beats me.’ I was still shaky but I was feeling slightly better. It felt good to have Cassie and Callum on my side. ‘Come on, we don’t want to be late for history.’
We spent the first bit of the lesson going over what we’d learned about the witch-hunts and then Miss McGinty said we should start to look at how we could learn from the past and apply it to life today.
‘How can we learn from an old prison?’ I heard someone complaining and I grinned at Cassie.
‘We totally chose the right topic. Everyone’s doing the jail.’
‘We’ll be Miss McGinty’s favourites forever,’ she said, looking pleased. ‘Right, so I was thinking, remember how Heather said the witch-hunts started with rumours?’
I nodded. ‘People accusing everyone else.’
‘So it’s kind of like gossip at school, isn’t it? Last year, I swear there was a rumour going round that Michael Malone has six toes on one foot.’
I giggled. ‘Does he?’
‘I don’t think so. But everyone believed it. He was called Mickey Six Toes for months.’
‘It’s like the stuff with my dad,’ I pointed out. ‘That gossip went round school in a flash. And every time someone passed it on, there were more and more rumours added to it. Some of it was true, but loads of it wasn’t.’
‘We can’t put that in our project though. We don’t want to start gossip about you here, too.’
I stared at Cassie. ‘This is just like Honor and Alice,’ I said.
‘Erm, yes. That is literally the point of our project, Jem.’
‘No, I mean the stuff that’s been happening to Mum and me. Spreading lies. Sharing a photo that could mean people recognize me.’ I paused. ‘Calling us witches.’
‘Shit,’ Cassie breathed. ‘You’re right.’
I drummed my fingers on the desk. ‘Maybe if we find out more about what happened to Honor and Alice, it’ll help us work out who’s doing this to me?’
‘I don’t see how.’ Cassie looked sceptical.
‘I can’t think what else to do, Cass,’ I said. ‘Someone’s spreading stuff about me on social media, like someone spread rumours about Alice in real life and like the girls in my old class talked about me, too.’ I looked at her pleadingly. I felt so helpless and researching the Setons was the only thing I could think of doing. ‘I don’t want it all to fall apart again.’
She linked her arm through mine. ‘Shall we go back to see Heather? Tomorrow, maybe? She said she was going to find out more for us.’
‘That would be good.’
‘Cassie and Jemima, are you researching or gossiping?’ scolded Miss McGinty.
‘Bit of both, Miss,’ said Cassie cheerfully and I laughed, feeling more positive now I had a plan.
*
After school and the rehearsal, I raced home, wanting to see Mum and make sure she hadn’t stumbled upon the weird post online.
I flung open the door and there was Mum in the living room, sitting next to Rory on the sofa. They were both looking at Mum’s laptop and they were quite close together. I scowled. ‘Is Hermione home?’ I asked, throwing my coat on the sofa. ‘Has she eaten her food?’
Mum made a face. ‘She’s not been back as far as I can tell.’
‘Oh no.’ Suddenly everything that had happened that day felt too much to deal with. I just wanted to cry and cuddle my mum but stupid Rory was there.
‘I’d really hoped she would come home,’ I said, focusing on Hermione because she really was missing, unlike me. ‘What if something’s happened to her?’
‘It is quite a busy road,’ said Rory. I glared at him.
‘She’s not been run over, has she? Because her collar was on the doorstep. Unless it just magically flew off when the car hit her.’
‘Jem,’ said Mum, warning me not to be rude. ‘Rory was just trying to help.’
‘Sorry,’ Rory muttered.
‘Cats do sometimes wriggle out of their collars though,’ Mum said. ‘Especially ones like Hermione who might not be used to wearing them. Maybe we just didn’t do it up tightly enough.’
‘Maybe,’ I said, doubtfully.
‘We’ll find her, sweetheart. How about we go and have a look now? Perhaps she’s got stuck somewhere.’
‘Aren’t you busy?’
Rory shut the laptop. ‘All done,’ he said.
‘Rory’s put up one of those CCTV doorbells,’ Mum said. ‘So we can see if anyone comes up to the house.’
‘That’s actually a good idea,’ I said.
‘Thank you.’ Rory looked pleased with himself. I wasn’t sure about him. But perhaps that was just the way he looked at my mother. I turned back to Mum, thinking about the horrible post. ‘We could make some lost cat posters for Hermione, maybe? We could put them on lampposts along the road.’
‘Okay.’
Rory was gathering his stuff together. He kissed Mum on the cheek a bit awkwardly and I noticed that Mum’s cheeks flushed. ‘I’ll message you later.’
‘Right,’ Mum said as he walked down the path. ‘Let’s find this cat, shall we?’