Finding Maisie
Chapter 17
It took us a while to get back to shore. Harry had driven us quite far out to sea, although we could still see the shore, and we had a row boat. My arms ached from pulling the oars, Callum tried to row the boat the whole way but I could tell he was exhausted and in pain.
We hopped out the boat and onto a beach that we had rowed the boat into. It wasn't the one that Harry had taken me from but I recognised it from our family holiday. If I remembered rightly, it wasn't far at all from the hotel our families stayed at as we often walked by foot there. We would be able to get back to our hotel from here.
Both Callum and I lay on our backs in the sand to get some energy back.
'What was all that about?' Callum asked.
'What d'you mean?'
'I'm just a bit confused. So what happened was by you running away at the hotel they had to change their plan. Then because of that the abductor put me in the boat whilst Harry got you on the beach. If that's so, where was the abductor on the boat?' Callum questioned.
I had been thinking about this on the row back. I had thought what was the point of taking us out to sea if the abductor wasn't with us?
'I'm guessing he was going to meet us out in the sea on a separate boat,' I concluded.
'But why that extra effort? Why couldn't he just stay on the same boat as us?' Callum asked.
'He's probably more conscious about us finding out his identity, the abductors trying to be more careful. And maybe so he had time to move Maisie into a secure location,' I said.
'Yeah, probably,' Callum replied. 'So I'm gathering that the abductor didn't mean for us to find that picture of your family.'
I dropped my head down thinking about more of my family betraying me, 'No.'
Callum scooted over to me, 'Poppy, are you alright?'
'Yeah, it's just I don't know who to trust now. Anyone could be lying to me. I already suspected that he was one of my family because of him lying to Adam, but to see it confirmed makes it all that more real.'
'I know, it's weird. I understand, Poppy, I understand how you feel because your family are practically mine as well. But once we find out who the abductor is it will be over.'
I smiled slightly at Callums attempt to comfort me.
'And this is an advantage,' Callum said.
I raised my eyebrows, 'How so?'
'Because we know them, Poppy. And they know us. I can say that as a child no one was mean to me, with the exception of Adam. That means they have no reason to hate me. And that's the same for you,' Callum said.
'Except my Auntie Melonie,' I informed.
'Aunt Melonie, how was she mean?' Callum questioned.
'She was just always snappy and gave me strange looks, that's all. But she's not a man, she can't be the abductor.'
'She's not, but...' Callum said, thinking. 'Don't worry. Are we getting back to our hotel?'
I nodded and stood up, curious as to how Callum was going to finish that sentence, but I knew that if I needed to know then Callum would've said.
Callum and I stood up from the sitting in the sand and began to make our way back to the hotel.
'What are we supposed to do now?' Callum asked as we walked down the street.
'Either the abductor will tell us what we do or there'll be a clue that we have to figure out.'
*
The next two days we had no word from the abductor. We were left to do what we wanted, actually pretend we were on holiday. And although I couldn't help but be grateful for the time we were allowed to explore Venice, I couldn't help but feel like the gap in contact was because the abductor was planning something. Something big. Did the abductor hear us talking about him being a member of my family? It wouldn't have surprised me if he did, the abductor did well at going unnoticed, that had been proven by the fact he has stalked me when I was younger.
This morning we received envelopes, though. Envelopes with tickets home in them. I seemed a bit confused when I saw them. Surely there was a reason as to why he brought us to Venice?
'So we're going home, just like that?' Callum asked.
'It looks like it,' I replied, sadly. If we were then this had just been a wasted trip, but then I thought of something. 'Unless...'
Callum sat forward on his bed, eager to hear what I was going to say, 'Unless what?'
'Unless we had to come here,' I said. 'Unless there was something that we could find here, something in Venice meaning we had to fly over here.'
'Why give us the tickets home then? That makes it seem like he doesn't want to find whatever it is,' Callum said, truthfully.
'Because these clues and items telling us things about the abduction benefit us, not the abductor. If we miss clues that our problem,' I replied.
'Hold on, you're saying that these clues benefit us. Why would the abductor willingly give us something that can help us in his downfall?'
'Because he's playing a game, and what that game is we have to find out.'
Callum nodded, 'So what's the reason we had to come to Venice?'
My mind went back to what I was thinking before. This trip all obviously reverts back to the holiday Callum and my families had in Venice. That was our starting point; we had to think back to then.
'You can remember the holiday more than me. Did anything strange happen that wasn't explained?'
Callum's face went immediately into thought as he reminisced back to our childhood, 'No, sorry, nothing comes to my mind.'
I looked down, disappointed. If there wasn't a clue to find here, there wasn't any point to the trip.
'Hang on,' Callum said, his eyes looked clouded over as he was in thought. 'My bag of toys went missing.'
I looked at him blankly, 'Your toys? Callum, I don't think that helps u-'
'No listen, Poppy, it was strange,' Callum said. 'You might not remember this but we went on a picnic on the beach. I had my bag of toys with me, like all my cars and things. The beach was quite uncrowded so we got a good spot underneath the shadow of a tree as it was quite hot. You, Maisie and I went down to the sea with both of our dads to play in there for a bit. We were gone for about half an hour. When we went back to our picnic I was hoping to play with my toys, but.. They had vanished.'
'Callum, are you sure you didn't-'
'Leave them in the hotel, or leave them in the car?' Callum said, interrupting me, 'That's exactly what my mum said, but yeah, I'm sure I had them with me on the beach.'
'So what's weird about that?' I asked.
'Because when we went back to the hotel.. It was on my bed,' Callum replied.
'So you did leave it in the hotel,' I said.
'No! Poppy, let's assume for the moment that I didn't leave it in the hotel. I specifically remember taking it with me, so leaving it in the hotel isn't what happened.'
'Okay, sorry, carry on.'
'Well, because I knew that I definitely took it to the beach with me I decided to check that all my toys were there. But they weren't. My aeroplane was missing,' Callum explained.
'What makes you think that the abductor took it? Why would he just take a random aeroplane?'
'It was an aeroplane that you and Maisie had made for me.'
I sat forward. I didn't know whether this meant anything but the aeroplane did seem like something the abductor would take. Something to do with our past and connected all of us. I remembered what the plane looked like. We had gotten an empty drinks bottle and stuck on cardboard to the sides in the shape of wings. We had painted it and written Callums name on it. I hadn't been friends with Callum when I was younger but Maisie was urgent for help as she hadn't got a present for Callums birthday. Maybe it was just a dead end and didn't mean anything. Or maybe we had to go back to the beach where Callum lost his aeroplane and see if it meant anything.
'Show me where you lost it,' I said.
We arrived at the beach and Callum immediately showed me to the tree we had our picnic at. The beach wasn't crowded but it wasn't stranded either. There were a few families, group of friends or couples dotted around the place. Luckily nobody was sitting under the tree we needed at the back of the beach. It was next to a wall of trees.
I crouched down under the shadow of the tree and began looking for a sign to say that we were in the right place. I felt the sand to see if there was anything buried underneath. There wasn't. I checked the branches of the tree to see if anything was hanging in them. There wasn't. And then I checked the trunk of tree. I checked it from the top to the bottom and all around. When I was looking at the trunk just above the sand, something caught my attention. It was a carving in the wood. It looked like a... poppy. This must've been drawn by the abductor. It was a way to get our attention. Above the poppy lay a carved arrow directing to the left of us. It was pointing to the bundle of trees at the edge of the beach. It didn't look like a forest as it was light in between the trees, where as in a forest it would be darker. There must have been an empty space behind it.
'This way,' I said to Callum as I pointed in the same direction as the arrow. We ran to the trees and began climbing over the roots embedded in the ground. I knew I was right about there not being many trees as I could already see where they ended. Callum and I continued to climb over the tree roots until we reached the end and came to a dirt path.
'Which way do we go?' Callum asked.
'I say this way,' I said, pointing down one path direction. 'As the other way leads back to town.'
Callum nodded and we began walking down the dusty path. I noticed that, as we walked, we were becoming more and more secluded. I couldn't hear the laugh and chatter from people on the beach anymore. We were moving further away from any other people which made me sure this was where the abductor wanted us to go. I kept my eyes alerts as we walked; I didn't want the abductor to come out unexpectedly from the bushes.
I began to hear the gentle waves of the ocean nearby. We had come back to the sea.
Suddenly, a smell of burning met my nose. It smelt like something was on fire. I looked above the tops of the trees and my attention was caught by the small cloud of smoke rising from somewhere near us.
'Callum, this way!' I shouted and began running through the trees towards the grey mist of smoke. I heard the twigs breaking from behind me where Callum was following. Quickly enough, I could see a small orange flame. It was on a tree stump in a clearing next to the sea.
'Quick!' I said and tried to run faster to the flame. I could tell that this flame was set intentionally and that meant it was probably the abductor that lit it. If it was, then the object on fire would've been a clue or something to assist Callum and I.
I jumped over the last branch and into the small, clear area of sand. From here, I could see what was on fire; it was Callums aeroplane. I could see the blue paint and the bottle shaped body. I could see the wings that were quickly crumbling away. And I could see the memory of Maisie and me, when we created the toy, bursting into flames.
I was going to try and put the flame out but there was no point; the aeroplane had completely lost its structure and was gone past the point of saving. We just let it burn until the fire would have nothing to stay alight to. I knelt down near the tree stump, with the sea behind me.
So Callum had been right. His suspicion that his toy being taken was the key to the next clue was correct, but I couldn't understand why. Had the abductor taken Callums toy all those years ago because he had already planned the treasure hunt and was hoping to lead us back here? And what was the point on setting it on fire? Surely the abductor must have had a purpose for the homemade aeroplane instead of just setting it on fire.
A twig snapped in front of me.
I looked up and saw the abductor moving out from the cover of the darkness of the trees. Not that he was much different from the darkness. His standard dark clothing resembled the darkness inside of him and his large hood covered his true identity. But the secret that he so desperately tried to keep hidden was slowly being unveiled. I stared at him. I stared at his stature and each item of his clothing intently. I was trying to see of anything rang a bell, if any of it was recognisable. It wasn't.
'I don't recognise him,' Callum said. 'I don't which one of them he is.'
'Me either, but we will find out Callum, don't worry.'
I looked back up to the abductor with a small smile on my face. His fists were clenched, obviously at mine and Callum's secret conversation, but it wasn't going to remain a secret. I was going to confront the abductor about him being my family. Maybe that would shock him enough to make a mistake.
'That's right, abductor, you are hearing correctly,' I said as I stood up. 'We know you are one of our family.'
I watched the abductor carefully for a reaction but he gave none.
'Even people who can hide in the shadows and remain unseen for years can leave pieces of them behind,' I said.
I roughly pulled at my pocket, pulling out the family photo and unfolding it. I held it in the air.
'Even you can make mistakes,' I said almost shouting. 'You should have been more careful when letting us on your boat. You shouldn't have let us find this.'
I shook the picture, clarifying what I was talking about. The abductor still stood there emotionless.
'You're someone in my family. You are someone I grew up knowing. And now I know that, trust me, I will find out your identity.'
I held the family photo over the flame that was small after not having much left to burn, 'If you don't care about your family, if you think we're so worthless that you want to kill us.. I guess you won't be needing this.'
I dropped the picture into the flame and watched as the faces of the people I used to trust turned to ashes.
I felt a tug on my arm, Callum was pulling me. 'Poppy, we need to leave.'
I looked at Callum and reality came crashing down on me. I had just told the abductor that we were closer to finding his identity and he wouldn't be happy about that. I nodded at Callum and we began to run towards the trees and back the way we came. As we jumped over the first root and passed the first tree, I looked back at the abductor.
He was just standing still, looking at us.
When seeing me stare at him, the abductor raised his left hand and moved it from side to side. He was waving goodbye. He wasn't running after us.
I followed Callum back into town and back to the hotel. All the time the abductor didn't follow us. By the time we closed our hotel room door we were out of breath.
'We're lucky the abductor didn't follow us,' Callum panted.
'I don't think so,' I said.
Callum looked up at me, confused. I could see why he thought it was a good thing the abductor didn't follow us but I knew otherwise.
'Why?' Callum asked.
'He waved at us, Callum.'
'What, he waved? So what if he did?'
I went to the windows and made sure they were shut before answering, 'Callum, I had just told him that we knew he was our family. The abductor didn't react at all. That's bad news for him and he didn't even try to hurt us.'
'What are you saying?' Callum questioned.
'That he didn't need to hurt us. The abductor has something bigger planned, something that meant we could run home safely today. He knew he didn't have to worry about us.'
'What has he got planned?'
'I don't know, Callum, but whatever it is won't be good for us. We need to think about this, from the beginning,' I said.
'Well I guess the beginning was when the abductor took my aeroplane.'
'Okay,' I said, pacing the room. 'When we were younger the abductor stole your toy plane. Years later, either by coincidence or intense planning, the abductor uses that to lead us somewhere and then sets the plane on fire.'
My face scrunched up in bewilderment, 'Callum, I feel like we're missing a piece of the puzzle. We still don't know why the abductor brought us out to Venice.'
'Maybe there isn't a reason. Maybe he thought we just be weaker enemies in an unknown environment,' Callum suggested.
'There has to be a reason. The abductor would have one,' I said, rubbing my face and yawning.
'Poppy, you're tired. We can think about this tomorrow before our flight, but right now we need food and then sleep. Whatever it is the abductor has got planned for us we will deal with together when we get to it.'
I nodded and Callum ordered room service and got ready for bed. However, I didn't sleep much that night, I couldn't shake the feeling of foreboding danger.
**
'We're going to miss it!' I yelled, frantically, as Callum and I ran through the airport. We had woken up late and realised, in a panic, that our flight was leaving soon. Getting ready as quick as we could, we made it to the airport when our flight was about to leave.
'Just run faster!' Callum yelled, 'And get out the tickets!'
Using my hand that wasn't pulling my suitcase, I reached into my bag and pulled the envelope with the tickets out. I put the edge of the envelope in my mouth so I could use my hand to take the tickets. A piece of paper fell out of it and onto the floor. I stopped running. Hesitantly, I reached down and picked up the small, folded paper.
'Tick, tick, tick, tick.'
Realisation hit me like a ton of bricks. I had thought the ticking noise had something to do with time running out but, foolishly, I overlooked the fact that clocks went "tick, tock". All this time the noise only went "tick".
It all made sense.
The ticking, the toy plane being set on fire, the abductor not worrying about us getting closer to his identity. It all led to one thing.
We were going to die on the plane, in an explosion.
I looked ahead of me to warn Callum but, to my dismay, he was already far ahead of me. He hadn't realised that I had stopped running.
'CALLUM!' I shouted, 'CALLUM, STOP!'
I ran towards him and continued shouting but, because of the noise from the people around me, the shouts weren't as loud as I'd hoped. Callum was getting closer to the bag check-in. I was very far behind him, but he would have to see eventually that I wasn't next to him.
Callum turned to look behind him, worriedly. He had seen that I wasn't running with him anymore. When he saw me he looked relieved but the expression on my face made his worried look return.
'Poppy?' He said as I got closer.
'Don't get on the plane,' I said, out of breath.
'I wouldn't be able to, Poppy. You've got the tickets.'
Rolling my eyes at the fact I forgot I was the one who could get us on the plane, I tried to calm down. We were safe, but everyone else who was on the aeroplane wasn't. The abductor was going to cause the aeroplane to explode. That's why the abductor set Callum's toy on fire and that's why I kept hearing a ticking noise. That's why he didn't try to hurt us yesterday. The abductor wanted to kill us and everyone else on that aeroplane.
'Poppy, what's wrong?' Callum asked.
'We need to stop that plane,' I demanded.
'What, why?'
'I think the abductors put a bomb on it,' I whispered.
But how? How would we stop it? Explain our crazy story of cat and mouse, hope we were believed and then have the abductor kill Maisie for cheating? As much as it pained me to admit, I couldn't declare the lives of me, Maisie, and Callum as above the many lives on the plane. He took it too far. All of this would be for nothing, meaning... all of his work would be for nothing. He wouldn't want that, surely. A mad idea came to my mind and I prayed it would work. I pulled out my phone and started typing a message.
'I know about the plane. Stop it or I will.'
It dinged almost instantly.
"I spy a cheater."
My heart was pounding. This was response I expected so I had to talk him round, see things from my mind.
'If I have to tell and you kill Maisie this is all pointless. Your treasure hunt is pointless. End it now and you can finish it.'
There was a pause. I waited anxiously, resisting the urge to throw my phone away in fear for his reply. And then, it dinged.
"They're safe."
I laughed. I didn't know how else to respond. I hugged Callum before he could even read the text. I had did it. I had stopped anyone dying. The abductor wasn't in control, not fully. This treasure hunt meant everything to him, and I'd been able to manipulate that fact. With a grin, I handed Callum my phone. No one would die today.
**
After a while we finally managed to get on a flight. We had decided to go to a different airport, just in case the abductor had anymore plans about the next plane we got on. It was already late into the evening when we landed. I had resented the flight; it gave me hours to think about the abductor, his ruthlessness, and how he was willing to let many people for the sake of his treasure hunt. Then, it reminded me of all the other people the abductor had killed in the treasure hunt. And it made me realise how very much alone Callum and I were; if anyone else got involved, the abductor would kill them, just like Bella and just like he's trying to do to Heather and Adam. Even people who didn't get involved have been killed.
'Poppy, this way,' Callum said, snapping me out of my thoughts. He was pointing to the doors out. I followed Callum and we went to find a taxi. As we were walking along to the edge of the pavement, one of my bags slipped through my fingers and the contents spilled into the floor. Callum, who was already by the road, turned around and started laughing when he saw me.
'Honestly Poppy, you really can be clumsy,' Callum said.
I had bent down to pick up my belongings when I went to give Callum a scowl. As I lifted my head I saw a black car speeding towards us. Callum didn't see it. His back was to the road.
The car raced forward. I was expecting it to drive right past us but it didn't. The car skidded to a halt and the door opened. I saw the non-existent face that I didn't want to see.
The abductor.
Callum turned around at the noise of the car as the abductor reached forward. He grabbed Callum's wrist and pulled him sharply down to the car.
'CALLUM!' I screamed.
Callum flicked his wrist upwards to get out of the abductors grasp. He started to move his elbow back but the abductor moved away. For a moment, everyone was still. Nobody moved or said a word. The only sound I could hear was my heavy breathing.
Then Callum leaped towards the abductor. I was wondering why Callum was being so reckless as to move closer to the person trying to kill him. And then I realised. He was reaching for his hood. Callum was trying to pull his hood down. As Callums hand got closer the abductor realised his plan and reacted. He pulled the door shut on Callum, catching his hand in the door. Callum yelped back in pain and held his bruised fingers to his chest. The car sped off as quickly as it came; we were left, dumbfounded.
'What the hell was that?' Callum shouted.
It took me a few seconds to recover from the shock of what had just happened to register what Callum had said.
'He's trying to kill us,' I said.
'No offence Poppy, but I think he's been trying to do that the entire time.'
'No, I mean he's not holding back. Before, every time he tried to kill us I could tell there was something stopping him from doing the best he could, but now... There's nothing holding him back.'
'I see,' Callum said, 'We almost know who he is, this has got too bad for him. The aeroplane was his plan to kill us, but now that didn't work he'll do anything to-'
'-Have us dead.'
Callum nodded and I looked to the floor. The abductor wanted to kill us - properly wanted to kill us. Whatever the reason for him holding back before didn't matter to him now. He wanted us dead and that was the end of it.
'We need to get back to Joshua's',' Callum said.
We picked up our suitcases and got a taxi. After a while in the taxi of feeling anxious and worried about my safety, I finally saw the familiar and comforting surroundings of Joshua's house; but something wasn't right. There was someone outside the house that should never be outside Joshua's house. It was Harry... And he was wearing his police uniform.
Harry, the police officer, was outside the house.
'Callum, what's going on?' I asked.
'I have no idea,' he replied as we got out the taxi.
At the noise of the doors closing, Harry and the other policeman he was with turned around. When Harry saw us he looked momentarily triumphant before masking himself with his policeman facade.
'Are you Poppy Leads?' Harry asked like he didn't already know.
I nodded weakly.
'Can you please come with us to the station, we have some questions for you about the disappearance of Maisie Miller,' Harry said.
'You have got to be kidding me,' Callum whispered in disbelief.
I had a hard time believing it myself. Harry and the abductor could stoop so low as to try and say I had something to do with Maisie getting kidnapped? I was confused. I was going to be questioned about my best friend disappearing.
Was this really happening?