Mandy’s morning had been a disaster. It all started with the phone call to home. She had made sure she rang long before her parents left for the shop so there was time to talk. Her father had answered and he’d been pleasant enough until she asked them to come down and help with the search. Then he quickly handed the phone to her mother.
‘Mandy! What day is it?’
Mandy had no idea—she’d lost count.
‘It’s Saturday. The busiest day of the week. And you’re asking us to close the shop and come down to be with you. I don’t understand why you’re being so selfish. You know we’ve got a business to run.’
‘But the other parents are coming down.’
‘So would we, if it was you that was missing. You know that.’
‘But they’re my friends, Mum.’
‘Yes, we know. And we hope they’re all right. But I’m sure the police are doing an excellent job. We’d only get in the way.’
‘I’d just like to talk to you about it.’
‘Do you want to come home? I’m sure we could arrange for someone to bring you back.’
‘No. I must stay until they’re found. I just want to talk.’
‘I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time for that after they’re found. But if you really need to talk then give us a call tonight. Make sure it’s before seven, though. We’ve got guests coming for dinner.’
Mandy was silent.
‘Well, if there’s nothing else…then try to keep calm. I’m sure they’ll be found, all safe and well. Remember, we both love you. Bye.’
After that she stayed on her bed for ages thinking about things. When Alice and Richard returned from the airport with the families she joined them in the community room. After the introductions Hine’s auntie took her in an enormous hug. She was a big woman and her body almost swallowed Mandy whole. Then Jack—Hine’s big brother—repeated the performance. Mrs Matthews was more reserved, giving Mandy a brief peck on the cheek. Mr Matthews simply said, ‘Hello’.
Soon she was forgotten. The families were naturally more interested in the search for Hine and Tyler. They gathered around the table for a briefing from Jonno. Mandy wandered outside where the TotalCom technicians were erecting the temporary aerial. It seemed that the job was just finished and they were testing the system. One of them saw Mandy and asked, ‘Do you have a mobile phone?’
She nodded.
‘Good. Go and get it and we’ll test it for you.’
Soon Mandy was back with her phone. She gave the technician her number and a moment later her phone was ringing. They had a brief conversation even though they were standing next to each other.
After hanging up she moved to a quiet place in the old sheep yards to wait for her text messages to download. Five minutes later she decided there weren’t any so she sent off a couple. Another wait, but still no reply—her friends must be busy doing other things.
She was about to move away when she had a thought: maybe Hine’s phone was working now. A moment later she located the number and pressed OK. Her hand was shaking as she held it to her ear, waiting for the ring tone to come. But it never did. There was a long pause and then Hine’s voice asking her to leave a message. Quickly, she disconnected. The sound of Hine’s voice was distressing enough, but the thought of leaving a message that might never be received…
After that she simply wandered off. If anybody saw her go they didn’t seem to care if she stayed or went, for nobody called after her.
At first there was no plan to her movements. Later, when she found herself by the cliffs, she decided to check the spot where she had kept out of sight when she was ‘lost’—maybe the searchers had overlooked it.
The top of the cliff was empty of people; even the goats seemed to have gone. She quickly found the spot where she had hidden from Tyler and Bill. It was a dusty shelter under a large thorny bush that could have been called a cave. At the back was a clay cliff with a rabbit hole close to the ground. The only sign that anything had been there recently were some animal tracks leading to and from the burrow. She assumed it was the rabbit.
After that she walked around with no set purpose other than to think about things, and she didn’t really want to do that. For she couldn’t help but think that something horrible had happened to Hine and Tyler and somehow she was the cause. She knew other people thought that, even her parents.
That’s when she heard the approaching plane. She moved so she could see it clearly, knowing that it must be the search plane. Yet it didn’t occur to her to get out of view until it was too late. By then the plane had swerved towards her. It passed and then banked to make a return sweep. She tried to send a signal of ‘No’ by shaking her head and waving her arms sideways.
It didn’t work. The pilot made another sweeping turn, obviously thinking he had found Hine. Then as it swung round in a circle, the phone in her pocket rang.
It was Jonno and he wasn’t happy. ‘Where are you, Mandy?’
She told him.
‘Is there a plane flying overhead?’
‘Yes.’
‘Stay on the phone. I’ll talk to you in a moment.’
She could hear him talking to someone else. ‘It’s not the girl we’re looking for…no, no, it’s not her…it’s a stupid girl who should know better…yes…yes…okay, you need to continue with the search.’
Then he was talking to her again. ‘Right, Mandy, you’d better get yourself back here immediately. If you can’t stay out of the way then you can go home. I’m not having you jeopardise our search. You can go in one of the police cars tonight. But get back here now! Do you hear me?’
Mandy heard him.
As she watched the plane disappear she heard a gull call overhead. It sounded remarkably like a human yelling for help, and she remembered hearing a similar call while the plane had circled. That had come from below the cliff. Maybe she should investigate. Then she thought of Jonno’s orders and turned towards the track down to the beach. She’d better get back. If she stayed around here she’d only cause more trouble.