They met Sellan outside Bertram's Books. He was empty-handed. He just gave a shrug and mixed in with the ranks as they trudged on down the street.
Elle had been walking just a little way behind the others, and he fell into line beside her.
"Morning, Elle," he said.
Elle suppressed a desire to give him a suspicious frown. It was insanely rare for Sellan to initiate a conversation. It was enough of an event for him to even participate in one.
"Morning, Sellan."
They walked a few paces in silence. It wasn't comfortable, like the ones she kept having with David. Sellan was gearing up to say something, and the quiet between them was heavy with the expectation of it.
Finally he spoke.
"Listen, Elle. Is everything alright?"
She felt a shiver go through her. She hadn't realised her apparent breakdown was obvious enough for even Sellan to notice.
"I'm fine, Sellan. Why wouldn't I be?" Her voice was just a bit too bright, a bit too forced.
"No reason, I guess. It's just that you seemed really out of it yesterday. When we came out of that talk with Mr Luzlic you looked like you were going to be sick."
Elle looked away sharply. She hadn't realised it had been as bad as all that. Then again, she'd never been known for her ability to play it cool.
"Thanks for the concern, Sellan. But really, I'm fine. Maybe I'm coming down with something."
Sellan nodded quietly. He spent a lot of his time nodding quietly to himself. Elle realised with some surprise that she'd never really thought too deeply about Sellan before. He was a much deeper person than any of them really gave him credit for.
"Well. I just hope you're alright," he said.
He didn't say anything else, but funnily enough Elle did feel better. It was nice to know her friends were looking out for her.
Less nice to know they literally all thought she was losing her mind.
"Here we are!" Russell declared excitedly from up ahead.
They came to a halt at the top of Bank Street. Ahead of them, sandwiched between the Ginger Cat Cafe and a closed-down antique store was a dingy, narrow shop with a faded orange sign over its grimy windows.
"The Pumpkin Patch," David read from its sign. "What is it?"
"It's the only half-decent shop in this whole godforsaken town, that's what it is," Russell said.
"Secondhand clothes," Elle said.
"Vintage," Russell corrected.
Elle rolled her eyes.
"Come on then," she said. "Let's just get it over with. This place gives me the creeps."
They all trooped into the shop to the jangling of an old bell above the door.
*
Elle wasn't lying: The Pumpkin Patch always did give her the creeps. The whole place was packed front to back with piles and piles of fusty old clothes. It stank of must and mothballs, and round every corner were creepy mannequins dressed up in mouldy fur coats, with hollow plastic eyes gazing out under the veils of their old-fashioned hats.
Russell and Jax charged straight through toward the back wall. They were chatting excitedly - Elle heard something about prom, and rolled her eyes. She had no clue what they could be looking for. They'd both had their prom outfits hanging on their wardrobe doors for weeks now.
Sellan and Maggie were over by the wall, raking through a rack of old T-shirts. David sidled up beside Elle and said:
"So. You guys come here often, then?"
"Pretty often. Russell and Jax like it."
"I see. You don't shop here much, then?"
Elle shrugged.
"A few T-shirts and stuff. There's not much in here I usually go for."
"No. I can imagine."
He was peering at a mannequin in a turquoise taffeta party dress. He and Elle shared a look, and they both grinned.
"So it's a bit out there," she admitted. "But they like it."
She pointed to Jax and Russell. They were rooting out various garments from among the racks and holding them up to each other, giggling over them.
David looked at them, then looked thoughtfully at Elle.
"You do a lot for your friends, don't you?" he said.
It wasn't really a question - more like an observation. Still, Elle felt she needed to answer.
"I guess."
The truth was, they did a lot for her, too. Maybe more than she realised.
She gave David a little smile and then came further forward into the shop. She had a creeping feeling that the place was closing in around her, the rails of clothes closing up as she stepped past them. There were dozens of pairs of shoes hanging from the ceiling, dangling from the rafters by their shoelaces like dead carcasses hung up in a butcher's window; they were casting dark spindly shadows across the walls.
Elle shuddered. She found herself wishing she could just get out of there. The front door and the fresh morning air seemed like it was a million miles behind her.
"Have you decided what you're wearing to prom yet, Elle?" Russell asked. He was holding up an old military blazer, judging the size against his chest.
"I - don't really know," Elle said. Her brain felt a little foggy, no doubt due to the musty smell clogging her nostrils. "That red and black dress, maybe?"
"Elle, that thing's ancient," Russell groaned.
"So's all this," Elle pointed out, indicating the garments stacked high all around her.
Russell gave her a flat stare.
"You know what I mean. You can't wear some old dress you've worn a million times before."
"I told Elle she could borrow that black and gold thing of mine, if she likes," Jax said.
Russell gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes. Practically everything he did was with some dramatic flourish.
"Elle, you need a new dress for prom. It's not up for debate."
"But you know I'm not bothered about prom, Russell. It's not like I've got a date or anything."
She realised a second too late that David was standing just beside her, and she wished she hadn't brought up the subject of dates at all.
"None of us have dates, Elle," Jax said. "Except those two, of course."
Maggie and Sellan turned their heads in unison and gave a pair of semi-sarcastic smiles.
"I've already said that it's not up for debate," Russell said staunchly. "We'll order you something. I'd say we could go into Elkington but it's probably too late now."
Elle picked at her bracelets. It was becoming a nervous habit.
"Actually, Kaye offered to take me into Elkington to go shopping for a dress."
They all stared at her, frowning slightly.
"When?" Jax asked.
"Today or tomorrow. It's no big deal, though. I told her I couldn't go."
Russell and Jax looked quickly at each other.
"Why did you do that?" Jax asked.
"Well, I can't go, can I? I'm with you guys today, and tomorrow I'll be revising for the English exam."
"You, Elle? Revising for English?" Russell was looking at her as if she were a martian.
"Just leave it," Elle snapped.
The others all looked round at one another. There was a strained feeling in the air, and all at once they all became strangely interested in raking through the clothes again.
Elle took a deep breath, steadying herself. She could feel herself getting tetchy, and she didn't like it. It was probably just the smell and the heat of the shop, but she couldn't let that get to her. If she kept sniping like that she'd end up annoying everyone, and the last thing she needed was all her friends getting mad at her on top of the craziness that was already going on inside her own head.
David was looking at her. He suddenly pointed up to the ceiling, at a pair of gold sequinned trainers dangling above their heads.
"They'd suit you," he said.
"Ha, ha," she replied, stony-faced.
"No, I'm serious. Maybe you should try something different for a change, Elle. You never know. You might like it."
She was going to say something but Maggie distracted her by suddenly letting out an aggrieved sigh. The others all looked at her, and found her staring angrily at her phone.
"Sorry," she said. "It's a text from my dad."
"Jealous," said Russell, smiling wickedly. "I wouldn't mind your dad texting me. Hey, Jax, what's it like having the only DILF in Farway as your boss?"
Maggie gave him a withering stare.
"Gross, Russell," she snarled at him.
David was looking confused.
"Maggie's dad is manager of the garden centre, on the edge of town," Elle explained. "Jax works there part time. And, if you take Russell's word for it, he's apparently quite attractive."
"There's no apparently about it and you all know it," Russell said. He was holding up a purple jumper in front of him to the mirror, but he looked over his shoulder to say to Maggie, "It's an unavoidable fact, I'm afraid. Your dad's fit and you know it."
"And you'll be going straight to hell, Russell," Maggie replied.
Russell smiled at her sweetly and went back to staring at himself in the mirror.
Elle, focusing on the one important part of this whole conversation, said:
"What's the text about, Maggie? Anything the matter?"
Maggie frowned, shoving her phone away in her pocket.
"Nothing. He's just checking in. You know it annoys me when he treats me like a baby. I guess he's just got himself all worked up about this kid that's gone missing."
Elle froze. She felt as if an icy cold hand had gripped her by the back of the neck.
"Kid? What kid?" she said. Her voice shook a little. That smell really was disgusting - she suddenly felt as if she was going to be sick.
"I don't know. Some kid." Maggie was giving her a funny look.
"Where did this happen? Here, in Farway?"
"Yeah. Last night, on one of those streets that runs along the edge of the woods over by Farway Primary. Meadow Lane, I think."
Elle felt every muscle of her body tense. Her stomach lurched. Her heart leapt into her throat.
"Meadow Lane?" she said, her voice breathy and verging on hysterical "Last night?"
The others turned to stare at her. She could tell that she looked crazy. That wasn't a surprise. She felt crazy.
It couldn't be true... it just couldn't be true...
"Elle," said Jax, crossing the floor toward her in a few quick steps. "What is it? What's the matter?"
"What was her name?" Elle said.
Her voice was now so insistent that Jax looked genuinely shocked.
"I - I have no idea," Maggie said blankly. "Elle, what's going on -"
"Does anyone know?" Elle demanded. "The kid's name? Does anyone know?"
Sellan said, very quietly:
"I do. I heard about it this morning. There was something about it on the radio. I only really remember because it was such a funny old-fashioned name."
Elle took a brief, manic step toward him, so swiftly that he flinched.
"What was it, Sellan? What was the name?"
She knew before he even spoke.
"It was Marigold."
Elle felt as if something exploded in her mind. The next minute the floor was racing up toward her face, and after that everything went dark.