Page 73 of Second Chance Summer
After closing the doors behind her, Lily went back into the sitting room.
Sam walked in from the kitchen and winced. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’ll go up and have a word.’
Not long after, the music stopped. As a teenager, Lily had done the same herself a few times and, despite Morven’s rudeness, she could understand the girl’s frustration. She must feel that the only control she had over her life was through the volume of her sound system.
‘It’s safe to go up now,’ Sam said on his return. ‘I’ll lock up.’
Wondering if he usually locked the doors, Lily went up to her room and was soon lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves breaking on Hell Bay.
When she woke, it was to sounds that were anything but soothing.
Shouts reverberated through the house, along with heavy footsteps on the stairs. Morven must be thumping around, possibly spoiling for a fight over breakfast.
Lily got up and pulled on a hoodie over her pyjamas. She opened the door a crack to find Sam just emerging from Morven’s room, raking a hand through untamed hair.
‘Is she up there?’ Unexpectedly, Elspeth’s plaintive cry came from the hall below.
‘What’s the matter?’ Lily said.
Sam’s face was grey with anguish. ‘It’s Morven,’ he said. ‘Her bed’s definitely not been slept in and she’s nowhere to be found.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Lily got dressed as fast as Superman and ran downstairs to where Sam was pacing up and down the hallway.
Elspeth was also there and Lily discovered that Sam had called her after finding Morven’s room empty and no sign of her in the house. He’d gone back to double check her bedroom when Lily woke up.
His aunt was now on the landline, sounding panicked. ‘No sign of them at all? … OK. Thanks … Yes, she probably has … Yes, I’ll call back if I hear anything.’
Sam looked disappointed. ‘Not at Rowena’s, then?’
‘No. Her mum says Row spoke to her on FaceTime but that was much earlier, probably when Morven took the pudding up to her room.’
Sam burst out: ‘Where the hell is she in this weather?’
For the first time, Lily registered the rain blowing against the windows. The mayhem inside the house had blotted it out.
‘What about her friend Damon – might she have gone to his?’ Lily suggested.
Elspeth shook her head. ‘Already tried his house. He’s out fishing with his brother now, though his mother reckonshe was in all night before that, “for a change”. She thinks he’s got a secret girlfriend.’
‘And that could be Morven?’ Lily said.
‘I don’t know about that,’ Elspeth said. ‘They’re thick as thieves but I’ve never seen them canoodling. They seem more like brother and sister – or a gangster and his moll, always plotting something.’
Lily’s cogs whirred. ‘So, Damon’s been out a lot at night … I could be way off here, and please don’t be offended, but have you thought that he – or Morven – could have had something to do with the intruders on Stark?’
‘Yes, and I dismissed the idea,’ Sam said, then grimaced. ‘I’d assumed she couldn’t get across there on her own but …’
‘She wouldn’t dare go that far!’ Elspeth cut in, sounding horrified. ‘Sailing over to Stark and trying to scare you? I can’t imagine why.’
‘I can,’ Lily said. ‘In fact, someone left a very specific message on my terrace.’
‘What?’ said Elspeth. ‘You never mentioned that.’
‘It said LEAVE – very neatly spelled out in pebbles. It could have been framed as a collage to be honest.’
Elspeth clapped her hands to her face. ‘Oh, I hope it wasn’t Morven! It’s so dangerous crossing to Stark.’
