Someone You Know. Olivia Isaac-Henry

I will.’

      ‘Tonight?’

      ‘Tonight,’ Edie said.

      *

      A knot formed in her stomach. She had always made fun of Martin Vickers and did impressions of his rants about ‘those bloody kids’, ‘eating me out of house and home’, ‘should be taken into care if their parents can’t look after them’. Tess would laugh then check over her shoulder, as if Mr Vickers were hovering there. Edie would never admit she was actually scared of him. She’d never seen a man so angry. Raquel told them that when her dad lived with them, he sometimes hit her. Edie wasn’t sure whether to believe it or not. Their dad never so much as raised his voice. Even when one of their ball games destroyed his beloved plants, he’d just sigh and say, ‘Please be careful, girls.’ They never were. Uncle Ray laughed all the time and let them have anything they wanted. When Auntie Becca said, ‘You spoil them,’ he’d say, ‘Of course I spoil them, who wouldn’t spoil them. Look at them.’ Mr Vickers was different. He didn’t think she and Tess were ‘just so cute’ and he was angry all the time, even when he had a posh car and beautiful wife who made cakes. She didn’t understand him and that made her scared. What if he was like Raquel’s dad?

      Mum came home at half past five. She asked them how their day had been, unpacked some shopping and started to chop vegetables. Just before six, Edie and Tess slipped out of the house. On cue, Mr Vickers’ car drew up. He got out and walked towards them, his face set in a scowl. Edie’s stomach tightened. She opened her mouth as he walked past but no words came out. Tess nudged her. The words still wouldn’t come. As he was about to enter the gate, Mr Vickers spun round. Edie took a step back.

      ‘What the hell are you two gawping at?’

      ‘We …’ Edie began.

      ‘Get lost. There’s nothing for you to scrounge today.’

      He marched up the path and entered the house, slamming the door behind him.

      Edie and Tess looked at each other and went back inside without speaking. Dad didn’t look up from the TV.

      ‘In here, you two,’ Mum called from the kitchen.

      She was standing by the sink, her arms crossed.

      ‘Sit down.’

      Edie and Tess shuffled onto the chairs under the kitchen table.

      ‘Was that Mr Vickers you were speaking to?’

      ‘No,’ Edie said. ‘Well, sort of.’

      ‘I’ve something to tell you,’ Mum said. ‘This is going to be difficult for you to understand, but Valentina’s gone away.’

      ‘We know,’ Tess said.

      ‘Is she at her sister’s?’ Edie asked.

      ‘I don’t know. The thing is, she’s not coming back.’

      ‘Why not?’

      ‘It’s hard to explain.’ Mum looked down at the table. ‘Sometimes couples stop being friends.’

      ‘Like Raquel’s dad running off with that slag from the travel agent’s?’

      ‘Don’t use words like that, Edie.’

      ‘It’s what Raquel calls her.’

      ‘And Mrs McCann,’ Tess added.

      ‘Raquel and her mum can say what they like. I don’t want you two speaking like that and using words when you don’t understand the meaning.’

      ‘I do know what it means, Raquel told me.’

      ‘That’s enough, Edie. Don’t use those words and don’t go bothering Mr Vickers. He’s got enough to worry about without being pestered by a couple of silly ten-year-old girls, poor man.’

      ‘Poor, he’s not … he’s … he’s …’ Tess spread her arms.

      Edie took up the sentence. ‘He’s a horrible, cross, mean and bad-tempered—’

      ‘I said enough.’

      ‘No wonder she ran away.’

      ‘Edie, I’m telling you once and for all to leave that man alone. You don’t understand. You’re just a little girl. One day you’ll realise …’

      But Mum never told her what she’d realise. She’d turned away. When she turned back her eyes were wet. Edie hadn’t seen her mum cry since Grandpa Len died. She didn’t know what to do. Tess ran over and wrapped her arms round Mum’s waist.

      ‘I’m sorry,’ Tess said. ‘I’m so sorry.’

      Mum buried her face in Tess’s hair. She remained there a moment stroking it before standing straight again. ‘Now, go and sit down with your dad. I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.’

      Dad’s eyes pointed unfocused towards the TV screen as he drew on his cigarette. He didn’t notice when they slumped on the sofa, nor when Tess nudged Edie, pointed to the ceiling and they sneaked upstairs.

      ‘Why’s Mum so upset?’ Tess said when they reached their bedroom.

      ‘I don’t know.’

      ‘Valentina’s not come to see her. What does that mean?’

      ‘I don’t know,’ Edie said.

      ‘I think Valentina’s dead.’

      Edie considered this.

      ‘They’d tell us and if they didn’t, Mrs McCann would.’

      ‘What if they don’t know for sure?’

      ‘How could they not know?’

      ‘I think…’ Tess lowered her voice to barely a whisper. ‘I think he killed her. Mr Vickers murdered Valentina and said she’s gone to her sister’s.’

      Edie pulled a face.

      ‘I don’t think …’

      ‘He’s always shouting at her.’

      It was a big step from shouting at someone to killing them. But maybe Tess knew more than she did. Edie remembered her attack on Caitlin. If Tess had been bigger, if Mr Everett hadn’t stopped her … On the other hand, Tess obsessively watched detective shows on TV. Miss Marple, Inspector Morse, Sherlock Holmes. Not to mention all the true crime programmes. Her imagination was running away with her.

      ‘I’m not sure,’ Edie said.

      ‘If everyone thinks she’s at her sister’s and no one’s looking for her she could be dead. On the news I saw about a man who said his wife had run off with another man and twenty years later they found her body in a lake.’

      ‘But what if Valentina is at her sister’s?’

      ‘Then why hasn’t she come back to see us?’

      ‘She doesn’t want to bump into him.’

      ‘He’s not back until six. She could come every day.’

      It was true, Valentina was supposed to be fond of them and when Edie thought about it, she was a little hurt that Valentina had not come back. She still couldn’t see Mr Vickers as a murderer. Not that she was entirely sure what one looked like. On the news they had cold, hollow-eyed expressions and didn’t smile. A bit like a passport photo. If you don’t smile, if you just stare, you look like a murderer. It was true Mr Vickers never smiled.

      ‘That’s why Mum’s so upset. Valentina hasn’t come to see her. I don’t think she’s even rung her,’ Tess said.

      ‘Even if he has killed her, how could we do anything?’

      ‘Follow him.’

      ‘If he’s thrown her in a lake he won’t