I Was Born for This(89)

No one’s sure. No one saw him leave. It’s nearly eight o’clock now.

‘I saw him two hours ago, but that’s it,’ murmurs Jimmy.

‘I’m sure he’s just gone out somewhere to smoke in peace,’ says Bliss, still determined to keep everyone hopeful, but everyone’s already thinking the worst. It’s obvious by the looks on their faces.

‘Yes, I’d like to report someone missing,’ says Piero. He’s on the phone to the police, all of us seated round the kitchen table. ‘A young man. Nineteen years old. About five foot eleven, white skin, light-brown hair, slim build.’ He looks at us. ‘What was he wearing?’

‘White T-shirt, grey joggers,’ Jimmy supplies immediately.

‘White T-shirt, grey joggers,’ says Piero.

There’s a pause.

‘His name’s Allister Bird. Goes by the name “Lister”.’

There’s another pause.

‘Yes, I know he’s famous. He’s a local lad. I’m a friend of the family and he was with me this evening.’

Will the police even believe Piero?

‘Been missing about two hours.’

There’s a much longer pause. Piero’s face drops.

‘This is serious,’ he says. ‘There’s flooding in our area, and we’re really concerned, and—’

We’re all holding our breath.

‘I see,’ says Piero. ‘Well, thank you for your time.’

He hangs up, and we all realise simultaneously what has happened.

Two hours isn’t long enough to report a missing person. Not nearly long enough.

Jimmy makes a low groaning noise and puts his head in his hands again. Bliss makes a loud tutting sound.

‘We’ll go and look for him, then,’ says the last person I would expect to make such a statement – Juliet. She links her hands over one knee and flicks her hair back. ‘It’s getting dark, but we’ve all got torches on our phones. It won’t be that hard.’

Rowan stares at her.

‘I’m still not totally sure who you are,’ he says, ‘but you’re right.’

‘I’m Juliet,’ says Juliet in a very irritated tone, which actually makes me smile. I thought she’d be a mess around Rowan. Instead, she’s looking at him like he’s an annoying little brother.

‘Right, then.’ Bliss claps her hands together. ‘We’re going.’ She looks at me and Jimmy. ‘Angel and Jimmy? You in?’

We both stand up and say, ‘Obviously’ at almost exactly the same time.





It’s my fault that Lister is gone. He’s been hinting at not being okay again and again and again. And I didn’t notice, even after he tried to explain about the photo. Was I even listening properly?

I’m always so consumed by myself. Why don’t I notice anything that’s happening to anyone else?

Grandad’s the only one staying home. The five of us set out – them with their phone torches, me with an actual torch because my phone is out of battery – into the garden. Grandad lent Rowan his only pair of wellies, since they wouldn’t fit anyone else. The rest of us are in trainers and plimsolls, which get covered in mud in under five minutes.

The sun is beginning to set now, though it’s barely noticeable. The clouds are just turning a slightly darker shade of grey.

‘Where would he have gone?’ asks Juliet. ‘How do we know where to look?’

‘There are some muddy footprints here!’ calls Bliss from the end of the garden. We go and join her, and sure enough there are footprints in the wet earth. ‘I guess he went in there?’

She points towards the woodland path. We used to walk Rowan’s old dog there sometimes, or play manhunt, or make secret bases.

There’s water running down the path in some places. Tiny streams. What happened to the summer?

‘LISTER!’ Rowan has the loudest voice and is doing most of the shouting. We’ve been walking for nearly fifteen minutes now, further and further into the woodland.

The three of us even camped out here once. I remember my way around, but everything looks warped and wrong in the rain and the darkening sky. Grandad’s house has long disappeared out of view.

‘LISTER.’ Rowan comes to a halt and turns to us. His skin, soaked from the rain, shimmers under the dimming light. ‘I … I really don’t think it’s safe to go any further. We’re getting so close to the river.’

What? We’re not just going to give up. Anything could have happened to him.

But Bliss nods in agreement. ‘Yeah …’ She shines her torch further down the path. ‘Look, the path down there has flooded completely.’

The light reflects off a rush of water.

To my surprise, it’s Angel who speaks next. ‘We-we can’t just leave him out here.’

‘To be fair,’ says Juliet, who is shivering quite violently, ‘we don’t know for sure that he’s out here.’

‘But what if he is …’

Rowan stays very still, staring at the ground.

Then he turns round and bellows Lister’s name so loudly that the rest of us all flinch and Juliet puts her hands over her ears.

‘This fucking rain,’ Bliss mutters.