‘Just in case,’ Tom told her. ‘Wee Jonathan wouldn’t go near the river; it’s green and smelly. He doesn’t even like the sea much.’
‘Well, where is he?’ she wailed, and the tears did come.
Tom put an arm around her shoulders. ‘I don’t know,’ he murmured. He didn’t look too sound himself emotionally, a worried little guy in contrast to the strong kid who had taken charge earlier.
I might have cracked too, but Liam appeared in the doorway just in time. He read the situation, took me in his arms and held me fast, making me feel protected, for the first time in longer than I could remember. ‘It’ll be all right,’ he said, to all of us.
Tom looked him in the eye, via the mirror on the wall. ‘How do you know?’ he challenged.
‘I do, that’s all; I have faith. Do you know what that is?’
‘Religion,’ my son replied.
‘Yes, but it’s more than that; it’s when you have an absolute belief, even when there’s absolutely no evidence to support it. I have faith that the little boy is all right.’
‘But why?’
‘If I didn’t, what else would there be? Only despair. Come here,’ he said, ‘both of you.’
They did and we had a hug-in, feeling Liam’s certainty spread to us all, making us all feel warm and safe.
That’s not to say that we switched on the party music. No, we sat there and waited. As soon as I left that room, nagging doubts and awful visions came back to me. I joined Conrad in the kitchen and had a beer with him.
‘If you’re right,’ I asked him, ‘what will happen?’
‘We’ll have a message, once they feel secure; there’ll be a ransom demand.’
‘What do we do then?’
He stared at me. ‘Pay it. Whatever the cops say.’
‘But will they let him go then?’
‘We can only hope they do.’
‘No,’ I contradicted him. ‘First and foremost we can hope you’re wrong.’
‘There is that. But if I’m not, I promise you, Primavera, I will find whoever’s responsible, and that will be that for them.’
‘Don’t say that.’
‘This is Oz’s son we’re talking about. He’d demand it of me.’
‘But he isn’t here to do any demanding, so, who owns your loyalty now? Tom and Janet, I’d suggest. If you try to make them murderers by association, you’ll cross me.’
The phone rang an hour later, ten minutes before the time at which I’d determined that I’d call Susie to let her know what had happened. Tom had tracked her flight on the internet and had given me its scheduled arrival time. Fifteen minutes later, I reckoned, she was bound to be in the transit lounge, and if her mobile wasn’t switched on, Audrey’s would be for sure.
We were all in the living room when the call came in. I’d made the kids switch off the news, and given Janet her choice of replacement. She’d opted for Spanish MTV which seemed entirely harmless, so I’d let them watch it on the big set.
Conrad sprang out of his chair, but I forestalled him. ‘I’m taking this,’ I told him, inviting no protest as I rose from the couch I’d been sharing with Liam. I picked it up, fearful that the next words I heard would change my life, but with no idea what they would be or even in what language they’d be put.
‘He’s safe,’ Alex Guinart said, in Catalan.
All the breath rushed from me in a great sigh, and I slumped back on to the sofa. ‘Oh, thank God, Alex,’ I exclaimed, in English, so that everyone in the room could share the good news. ‘Now tell me what happened,’ I continued, switching back to his language.
‘He ran away, Primavera, simple as that. There was a pickup, parked down the road beside the river; windsurfers. The child climbed into the back and hid under a tarpaulin. When the owners, two gay men,’ he didn’t actually say gay men, but that’s how I choose to translate it, ‘came back, they put their boards in there and didn’t notice him at all. They drove away, and went straight home, all the way to Badalona. Why they come north to surf, God alone knows, but they do.’
‘Go on,’ I said, impatiently. I wasn’t in the mood for a discourse on the merits of beaches.
‘Sorry, of course. The boy was in the back of the truck all the time; they only found him when they unloaded it. By then he was cold, and he was terrified. Neither of the men speaks English, but fortunately one of them is fluent in French. They’re good guys; they fed him soup to warm him while they worked out what to do. Then one of them switched on the television, they saw the news and it was their turn to be scared. They phoned my colleagues straight away, and told them what had happened. Our guys went there, and the boy confirmed their story. They’re bringing him home now, blue lights. He should be with you in an hour, no more. I’m about to release a statement that he’s been found alive and well.’
‘Will there be consequences?’
‘For the two men?’ he exclaimed. ‘I can’t see why.’
‘Of course not, Alex; for wee Jonathan?’
‘Good God, no. He’s nine years old, and he’s a sad, frightened child; if it was anyone else, I’d be holding him until I knew why. I’m only returning him because I trust you to make whatever it is right. What is happening in his family?’
I couldn’t explain in any detail, for Tom would have understood everything I said and Janet would probably have picked up most of it too. I stalled him by telling him that I would explain everything next time I saw him, and that the problem would be leaving his patch next morning.
‘It won’t stop me worrying about the kid,’ he said.
‘I know, me neither, but his mother will make it right, I’m sure. He’s worried about her; that’s the heart of it.’
‘So why run away?’
‘As I said, I’ll tell you later. Thanks, Alex.’
I hung up. Everyone else in the room, Tom, Janet, Liam, Conrad, even bloody Charlie was gazing at me intently. I told them what had happened, just as Alex had explained it. I hadn’t got far before I saw that Janet was furious, but I hushed her until I was finished.
She had her say as soon as I was through. ‘He did that to us, Auntie Primavera,’ she snapped. ‘It was cruel. I was terrified; so was Tom, so was Conrad even. I thought he was dead. If Mum had known about it … Wait till I see him.’
‘What will you do, Janet?’ Liam asked her quietly.
‘What’s it got to do with you?’ she shouted at him.
‘Nothing,’ he replied, with a smile. ‘You hardly know me. But I was here when it happened, and I helped look for him, and I was just as scared as the rest of you. So I’m asking you, what are you going to do when he comes back?’
‘I’m going to …’ She struggled for the words, but couldn’t find them.
‘We’re going to ask him why he did it,’ Tom told her. ‘He’s our brother, and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt you and me. He’s sad, Janet, and he’s lonely. He didn’t do that just to be bad. He isn’t bad; he isn’t like that. So we’re going to ask him what’s wrong, you and me, and whatever it is, we’re going to make it better.’ He looked at Liam. ‘Isn’t that right?’ he asked. ‘Isn’t that what we should do?’
He nodded. ‘It’s what I would do, for what that’s worth. I think Tom’s right, Janet, that he’s sad and he’s lonely, but I believe he’s angry as well, and you don’t take someone’s anger away by throwing more of the same at it. That’s what your other brother’s learned from his wing chun, and what I’ve come to understand from my own studies.’
‘Don’t get mad. Get even,’ Conrad muttered.
‘You’re only half right. Usually there’s nothing to get even for.’
‘Mmm.’ The kids’ minder stood and walked from the room, without a backward look.
‘He’s old school,’ I told Liam.
‘So would I be if something had actually happened to wee Jonathan. There’s nothing in my philosophy, or Tom’s, that says “Don’t punish the guilty”, but there is no guilt here.’ He looked at Janet, my ward, I suppose, to use an old-fashioned term. ‘Agreed?’ he asked.
She allowed him a quick smile, and nodded. ‘Yes, Liam. Sorry I was rude.’
‘You weren’t, you were upset. What does he like, wee Jonathan? What really floats his boat?’