Free Tideline by Penny Hancock Page A

looked at Helen with such misery and helplessness that she held her arms out to hug him. He stayed where he was.
    ‘He wasn’t on the night train,’ he said. ‘She’s booked a flight and is arriving this afternoon.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘She’s told Nadim. He’s in the Middle East on some assignment but he’s coming straight to London if we haven’t heard anything by tomorrow.’
    ‘She still blames me. I could tell by what you were saying.’
    ‘It’s not just you, is it? I’m to blame as well. I can’t believe this has happened. We should have kept closer tabs on him.’
    ‘No Mick! She’s mollycoddled him! Our kids would never get into this type of trouble because they’ve been given responsibility from an early age. But Jez! He’s been
pushed and overprotected by Maria all his life. If he has got into some sort of trouble she should have a good look at herself before casting aspersions on us.’
    ‘She asked why we didn’t drive him to his last college interview.’
    ‘The one in Greenwich? But Barney went to the same one! We didn’t need to taxi him there, did we? They’ve got legs!’
    ‘You know what I mean,’ said Mick. ‘We should have kept an eye on him.’
    ‘If anyone gets onto that course it’ll be Jez, not Barney. He’s the talented guitarist and she knows it.’
    ‘Let’s not get sidetracked by your idiotic sibling rivalry,’ Mick said. ‘This is about the boy.’
    At ten o’clock on the dot, Mick picked up the phone in their room and called the police.
    ‘Well?’ Helen asked when he’d put it down again.
    ‘They’re more interested now he’s been gone for another night. Said they’d send someone round to talk to us by the end of the day.’
    Helen sighed and pushed back the bedcovers. ‘I’d better get up,’ she said. ‘Maria will have to sleep in Jez’s room. If he’s back before tonight they’ll
just have to bloody well share.’
    After lunch Mick set off to meet Maria at Stansted. Helen caught sight of herself in the mirror and was shocked. The short hair that she dyed light caramel-brown had gone grey
at the roots, her eyes were puffy, red veins had appeared on her cheeks. How had that happened overnight?
    There was no way she could let Maria see her like this. She nipped out to buy a hair dye at the Tesco Express and sat on the bed while the colour developed, wrapped in a dressing gown. When
she’d dried her hair she dressed in a green wool miniskirt, with a cashmere jumper, purple opaque tights and brown suede boots. She felt better.
    She knew it would be another hour at least before Mick and Maria came back. She needed to clear her head. She’d have a walk and a coffee, get some organic bits and pieces to make a nice
meal. And she’d buy flowers. It would please the new, health-conscious Mick, and reassure Maria that they looked after themselves and the home they’d invited Jez into.
    ‘You two in this afternoon?’ Helen asked Barney, who was making a cup of tea in the kitchen, half asleep. ‘In case Jez comes in. I want you to phone me immediately if you hear
anything.’
    ‘Don’t worry, Mum,’ Barney said, putting an arm around her shoulders. Helen wished he hadn’t, the gesture brought a tear to her eye. It made her realize how alone and
afraid she really felt.
    Later, she sat at outside her favourite café in Greenwich Market sipping her cappuccino. It did nothing to shift the hangover and she resolved once again to cut down on
the wine. Weak sunlight fell through the corrugated plastic roof, warming her. She wondered whether the plans to renovate the market were being followed up. She wasn’t sure she liked the idea
of it becoming gentrified. It had become so trendy anyway at the weekends with its craft stalls selling everything from fountains for the garden to velvet corsages, from handmade soap to carved
wooden sculptures. But on weekdays when the trivial merchandise fell away as if it had been sieved, only the old Greenwich