Abigail: Chapter 6

I banged on the door. “Abigail? You ok?” I banged again, all thoughts of a gentle knock chased out of my head by the scream. I peeked through the letter box but couldn’t see anything so I banged again and then looked at the door, deciding where the best point would be to make contact. One good kick should do it. I didn’t really want to have to break her door down but felt a certain duty of care. Before I could decide on my next course of action though, the door swung open to reveal a sheepish looking Abigail.

She smiled when she saw me. “Charlie, good of you to call round. Come in won’t you?” She stood to one side so I went in and followed her into the lounge. “Tea? Coffee?”

“Are you okay? I heard you scream.” My heart was still racing and I couldn’t just sit there and pretend nothing had happened.

“Yeah, sorry about that. It was a spider.”

“A spider?” I wasn’t buying it.

“I’m ‘fraid so. They terrify me. It ran across my foot when I was in the kitchen doing the dishes.”

“Didn’t you hear me banging? I made quite a racket.”

“Did you? Oh. Sorry. I had the radio on.”

Something about this was weird. I turned my attention to the reason for my visit. “Did you have time to take a look at the paperwork I left you?”

“Absolutely. I filled it all in last night after story time. Didn’t want the children to see me upset so thought it best to leave it until after they were safely tucked in.”

I nodded. “Very sensible. May I take a look?”

She stood up and went to a small desk behind the door that I hadn’t noticed before. She took a little key out of her pocket and carefully unlocked one of the drawers, pulled out a stack of papers and handed them to me.

“I found some bank statements, bills, that kind of thing. Just in case it was helpful.”

“Do you mind if I take these with me? I’ll return them when I’m done.”

“Of course, take anything you need.”

I’d go through her form properly later. For now I wanted to hear more about her life since he’d gone. I needed to find a way in, an angle. “So how are you doing Abigail? With him being gone all this time. You mentioned the children. How old are they?”

I knew I was babbling, filling the silence while waiting for her to latch onto something I was saying so she could run with it.

“We’re okay. I mean, it’s not great, especially for Alexander. He misses his dad. But Lucy doesn’t seem to have really noticed.”

“Alexander’s the oldest?”

She nodded. “He’s six. Lucy’s three. In fact …” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “You can meet her if you like? She finishes pre-school early on a Thursday.”

“Sounds good. If you think she’d be okay with that?” The last thing I needed was to cause a tantrum.

Abigail smiled. “She’s very laid back our Lucy. Seems to take everything in her stride.”

“Great!”

Abigail stood up and started busying herself with shoes and a coat.

“Oh, you mean right now?” I’d hoped we’d have a little more time to chat without children.

“If we leave now we can walk instead of taking the car. We can talk more on the way.”

“Walking it is then.” I wasn’t usually much of a walker but if walking helped her relax and maybe open up a little, that had to be a good thing. I followed her as she led us along the leafy road. The sun was shining but the air was crisp and I was glad I’d brought a coat.

“Have you lived here long?”

“Just over six years. We moved here when we found out I was expecting. Toby wanted somewhere quieter for the children, away from the noise and pollution of a big city.”

“And before that?”

“Cardiff. We met there, in university, and never had a reason to leave. Well, until the kids.” She shrugged.

“Were you on the same course?”

“Me and Toby?” She laughed. “Not a chance! He’s far cleverer than me. Masters in civil engineering. No, we met in the bar during Freshers week. Such a cliché.”

“Sweet.” I kept my tone light. “Love at first sight eh?”

“Sort of. We had our ups and downs, but ultimately, yeah, it’s always been just him and me.”

“Is there much work for a civil engineer round here? I’d have thought Cardiff would have much better career options.”

“It’s not ideal but it works for us. He spends a lot of time on the road though, site visits, meetings. That’s where he was off to when he …”

“When he disappeared?”

She nodded, her eyes filled with tears. One fat tear escaped and fell slowly across her cheek. She wiped it away. “Sorry. I’m usually okay. It’s just talking about it.”

I put my hand on her arm. “I understand. Would you rather we talked about something else for now? Tell me about his family maybe? Do they live close?”

Abigail took a deep breath, pulled her shoulders back and plastered a smile on her face. “We’re here now. Come and meet Lucy.”

As she said this we turned a corner and I saw the large blue gates of a school ahead of us. The main entrance was deserted but I could see a gang of people near the back of the building. I watched her carefully as she smiled at a few familiar faces but it wasn’t until a little girl with a shock of red hair waved at her from behind the legs of a teacher that her face broke into a broad grin. The girl pointed at Abigail and the teacher nodded, releasing her little charge into the welcoming arms of her mother.

“Lucy!” Abigail gave her daughter a squeeze and they stood like that for a moment, lost in each other’s company. When Lucy glanced over her mother’s shoulder and saw me watching her she stopped and pointed.

“Who she?”

“Lucy, this is Charlie.”

I crouched down and offered the child my hand. “Nice to meet you Lucy. Your mummy’s told me all about you.”

Lucy turned her head from me to Abigail, then back to me, paused for a moment as she drew breath, and then burst into tears.

I sighed. Here we go again!