‘Oh God, I’m sorry. I think it’s nerves.’ Shannon emerged from the bush she’d disappeared behind in order to find somewhere to pee.
‘It’s that coffee,’ said Frankie, ‘and delayed shock. After all, last time you went was before your brother decided to roll the car off the motorway.’
Jonny walked on. Sometimes Mum said the wrong thing. So he’d crashed the car. He wasn’t getting into a discussion about what had happened. He’d driven well. It might have been easier to keep it on the road if Shannon hadn’t decided to clamber through to the back seat and knocked his arm off the wheel. But now wasn’t the time to go there. ‘Come on, Mum,’ he said. ‘Let’s keep moving.’
Shannon joined them on the path. ‘Sorry about the pee thing. Didn’t do much anyway.’
‘Too much detail.’ Jonny moved off again.
They walked on through a small wood, which hid them from the few scattered houses. It was far better for the limping one-sleeved trio to stay out of sight, thought Jonny, after what he’d had done to the car. Not that there’d been a choice, he told himself. They were here for Henry. It was no time to be caught in a stolen vehicle.
Luckily that last stretch of the motorway had been almost empty and there was nobody on the slip road to see what had happened to the car. The vehicle would have burnt out before anyone got to it.
The sky grew darker and the sun looked to have withdrawn for the day. Jonny suspected it wouldn’t be long before the heavens opened. They’d get drenched. ‘When we get out of these woods, it’s all open fields and we should see the lighthouse ahead.’ The trees were starting to thin out and Jonny could see a field, fallow for winter.
Frankie caught up with him. ‘Have you any idea what we’ll do? When we get there? Is this a stupid idea?’
‘I don’t think it’s any more stupid than turning up for a job that didn’t exist.’
Frankie’s eyes fell to the ground and Jonny took her hand. ‘Sorry, Mum, that wasn’t fair. You’ve always done everything you could for us three. I know it’s not been easy. You’ve been brilliant, the best mum any of us could hope for. Now it’s time for us to do this together. I hope you’re right about where Henry is.’
Frankie smiled. Rising on tiptoe, she put a hand behind his head to pull his forehead down and kiss him. ‘I do find it hard to say how fantastic you are ... but you are.’
‘Mum, Jonny! Look.’ They both turned to see Shannon standing where the trees met the field. She took something out of her bag and held it up in front of her. Set against ominous charcoal clouds was a lighthouse, a white lighthouse with two small cottages at its base. The lighthouse in the picture that Shannon was holding.