Page 65 of The Inn on Bluebell Lane

“Upset?” The anxiety Ellie had feeling tightened every muscle. That was why Jess had been in such a foul mood last night? She should have realized, or at least suspected. “Why?”

Ben shrugged, his gaze sliding away. “Something on the music board.”

“What?” Ellie stared at him in confusion.

He turned back to the cupboards, on the hunt for more food.

“Ben, seriously. Stop looking for snacks and tell me what you know. It’s important. What about the music board?”

With a heavy sigh, Ben turned around. “Some jokesters put up photos of her and Sophie on the noticeboard and she was really upset about it. It was only up there for, like, an hour or so…” Another shrug.

“Photos? Of her and Sophie? That’s the friend she’s singing with?”

“Yeah.”

Ellie frowned, trying to understand what had happened. “What kind of photos?”

“Just pictures of their faces, probably taken from Instagram. But they’d written ‘Nerds’ in red marker, and everyone was laughing about it.”

“Oh, no…” Ellie stared at him in dismay. How could people—children—be so cruel? Jess had only been at the school for a month. To be teased like that, so publicly, would have been awful for her. Why hadn’t Jess told her? Why hadn’t she asked more questions, tried to find out what was really bothering her daughter? And what did it have to do with her not being on the bus this afternoon? Ellie was afraid to think.

Then she remembered the heavy duffel bag Jess had bumped down the stairs, claiming it was full of outfits for her and Sophie to try on. But if she hadn’t even gone to school… Ellie’s mind raced. What if it had been full of clothes for Jess herself? What if her daughter was running away? Panic iced Ellie’s insides. She needed to ring Matthew.

“Mom…” Josh tugged on her sleeve. “Jess is going to be okay, isn’t she?”

Ellie gave him a distracted smile as she listened to Matthew’s phone ring. He had stayed at the hospital with Gwen, but he might have turned off his phone in the room. Please pick up, Matt…

“Mom?” Josh said again. “Is she?”

“Yes, she’ll be fine, Josh,” Ellie replied. “We just need to find her.” The phone switched to voicemail.

An hour crept by with painstaking slowness, each minute seeming endless in its uncertainty. Ellie could not keep herself from texting or calling Jess every five minutes, even though it continued to switch to voicemail, as did Matthew’s phone. Why was no one picking up? Should she call the police, or was that an overreaction? It wasn’t even two hours since Jess should have come off the bus. The police would probably ask her to wait for a little while. But what if they didn’t? Panic made her feel paralyzed. Jess was only thirteen.

Another half-hour passed while Ellie made dinner and left more texts and voicemails for Matthew and Jess. Then, finally, Matthew rang her.

“I’m just leaving the hospital now. Do you need anything from the shops?” He sounded so relaxed that Ellie didn’t know whether to scream or laugh at herself.

“Did you not see all my missed calls?” she demanded.

“No, my phone was switched off… Ellie? Has something happened?”

“Jess didn’t get off the school bus, and she hasn’t come home. She might not have been at school all day.” Her voice hitched, rising in anxiety. “I don’t know where she is. And Ben says she’d been bullied at school.”

“Bullied—”

“I’m worried she might have run away,” Ellie confessed, her voice trembling now. “She had a big duffel bag with her this morning. She said it was for some outfits for her and her friend, but I just don’t know…”

“I’ll be home in fifteen minutes,” Matthew promised her. “I’m just getting into the Uber. We’ll figure it out then. She’ll be okay.”

“Should I call the police?”

He hesitated, and in that second’s silence, Ellie felt the terrible weight of his fear as well as her own.

“I suppose you should,” he replied heavily. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, Ellie, I promise.”

It felt utterly surreal, to dial 999 and wait for the dispatcher to pick up. Ellie felt numb as she explained the situation. “My daughter was meant to come home from school, but she hasn’t shown up and I’m worried she might have run away.”

In a voice that was so calm it felt unfeeling, at least to Ellie, the dispatcher went through the routine questions. Had she called or texted Jess? Yes, of course she had. Had there been any calls from school regarding her absence? No, but perhaps Jess had made some arrangement without her knowing. She suspected her daughter could forge her signature; she’d seen it enough times. Her brother hadn’t seen her in school. Was she unhappy? Depressed?