Free Father Unknown by Fay Sampson Page B

at the centre of the drama, upstaging her elder brother.
    â€˜Seriously? Since when?’
    â€˜She wasn’t at school on Thursday, and nobody’s heard from her since.’
    â€˜Have they got the police on to it?’
    The others exchanged glances. Suzie said carefully, ‘It’s a bit odd. We’re not quite sure about the position. Her parents – well, her mother and stepfather – are acting as though everything’s under control. They haven’t admitted she’s missing. They say she just needs a rest. But they won’t let Millie see her, and Tamara isn’t answering her phone.’
    â€˜She’s pregnant,’ Millie burst out. ‘We’re afraid they’ve sent her away for an abortion. But she doesn’t want one. What if she’s run away to avoid it and they’re afraid to tell anyone?’ She clapped her hand over her mouth. ‘You’re not to say anything about that. It’s a secret. Nobody knows but me. At least, not till I told Mum and Dad.’
    â€˜Trust me. My lips are sealed.’
    â€˜To be honest,’ Suzie said, ‘we don’t even know if she’s told her family she’s pregnant. She could have run away because she’s too scared to face them.’
    â€˜Because she’s scared of Mr Dawson. Or what if he’s the father, and she’s terrified of what he’ll do?’ Millie’s face was avid with the darkest possibilities.
    â€˜As you can see,’ Nick said over Millie’s head, ‘there’s been no shortage of wild theories. All the same . . . We met Mr Dawson this morning, and I can see why Tamara might be afraid of him. He certainly terrorizes his wife.’
    â€˜That wouldn’t be the Mr Dawson, would it? The Head of Briars Hill?’
    â€˜That’s the one.’
    Tom whistled. ‘Poor kid. I certainly wouldn’t want to come home to him every evening, from what I’ve heard. But you don’t seriously think he’d, well, put her in the club?’
    â€˜It happens,’ argued Millie. ‘Just because he looks respectable. Headmaster, going to church, and all that. You can find paedophiles anywhere. If it had been one of the boys at school, I’d have known they were going together.’
    â€˜Mm. You sure? Why don’t I ask around? See if any of the gang have heard anything?’
    â€˜You mustn’t tell them!’ Millie cried. ‘It’s a secret. Tamara wants to keep the baby, but nobody else knows yet.’
    Tom grinned, his blue eyes crinkling in the way that made Suzie’s heart turn over. ‘I’ll employ my famous diplomatic skills. Promise. I could make out that I quite fancy her myself. See if there’s word of any competition.’
    â€˜Would you?’ Suzie felt a rush of relief. ‘We’ve all been worrying ourselves silly, thinking up dark scenarios. It’s bad enough anyway, because she’s under age. But it would be a relief to know it was just a boyfriend, after all. We’ve been letting ourselves think of things much worse than that.’
    â€˜Well, yes. I get your point. Incest’s not very pretty, when it’s a middle-aged man with a reputation for bullying and a fourteen-year-old kid.’
    â€˜We’re not kids!’ Millie protested.
    â€˜Strictly speaking,’ Nick said, ‘it wouldn’t be incest. They’re not blood relations. But it would certainly be an abuse of a position of trust and authority. He’d go to prison.’
    â€˜I think there are quite a few kids at Briars Hill who wouldn’t be too sorry about that. Sorry. That’s no help to Tamara, is it? Look, leave it with me. I’ll do the rounds this afternoon. Let the world know I’m back. I’ll start to put the word out casually and see what I can turn up . . . Hey, that lasagne looks good. Is there any more?’
    Suzie was occupied, but in a lazy, Sunday