Chapter 8

I don’t understand. There have been search parties out for days, and we haven’t found anything. Not even a whisper of a clue. I am currently trudging through the woods, the path that I have trudged through for countless days, my strained voice travelling through the vast space. It is an unfortunate atmosphere at home, mum is going loopy with worry and dad has turned into some sort of robot. If I know dad at all though, he is lost in his own mind again. It happened to him when his brother died, he just shut down for goodness knows how long. Suddenly, someone’s whistle is blown and I run full pelt towards them, shoving people to the floor in my hurry. An elderly man then grimaces as he sees my eagerness, and points to a dead dog that had been shot on the floor. I recognised it from a missing poster. In a frenzy, I pin the old man’s frail form up against a tree, screaming at him and bawling that he shouldn’t have blown his whistle for something like that. Before I know it, a police officer is pulling me off him into his strong arms, and I briefly register that it is PC Terrance, the man that I was with on the night Jaz disappeared. I sob into his shoulder and let him lift me to my feet, grateful when he keeps his reassuring arm around me and leads me to my car. He gets in at the driver’s side. I get in the passenger seat without a word.

“I know the feeling.” He begins, clutching the steering wheel so tight that I could see his knuckles go white. “My stepsister, Heather, went missing sixteen years ago now. I was four at the time. I really want to help you, Ginny. Heather was never found, but I want to help you find Jasmine. You’ve gotta know, though, that I can’t do that when you’re pinning old men to trees and threatening them.” I nod, taken aback by this information. I remember the Heather Tanning case. It was quite like Jasmine’s, except Heather had run away from home when she was fifteen. There was a huge search, but After a while, everyone just came to the conclusion that she skipped town. I think of Jasmine. I can’t let that happen to her. Jack Terrance takes me back to my house and tells me to try and get some rest. He will continue searching. Surprisingly, I accepted the offer and ran upstairs to my bedroom, watching Jack talk to my mother before collapsing into a much needed, deep slumber.