Schoolgirl Missing: Discover the dark side of family life in the most gripping page-turner of 2019

‘Got a little angry. Wouldn’t eat her lunch at first. Miss Walker sat with her and persuaded her to eat something. Poppy wouldn’t actually say what was wrong and in the end, she stood up, pushed her chair backwards and marched off.’

‘Sorry,’ said Neve. ‘As you know, that’s her way of dealing with difficult situations at the moment. To walk off.’

‘We spent a lot of time with Poppy this afternoon, talking her reactions through. It was tricky as she wouldn’t tell us what was wrong,’ said Mrs Ogden. ‘However, now we know, we can perhaps make some headway with her tomorrow. If that’s all right with you?’

‘Of course,’ said Neve. ‘We have spoken to Poppy about the dangers of walking off but talking to you it’s highlighted, to me at least, that she still needs a lot of support in processing her emotions and how she interprets situations.’

They talked some more about Poppy and her behaviour and Neve felt reassured that the school were keeping a close eye on her daughter and constantly striving for ways to provide Poppy with the tools to deal with everyday situations. The school’s reputation for their pastoral care was one of the reasons her and Kit had decided to move Poppy there.

‘Thank you so much for all your support,’ said Neve, as the meeting came to a close and she stood to leave. ‘We do appreciate it.’

‘Not at all. It’s our pleasure,’ said Mrs Ogden. ‘Now, I think Poppy should be sitting outside the office waiting for you. Miss Walker was going to bring her along.’

Poppy was indeed outside, reading a book, lost in her own world. She looked so young and vulnerable, thought Neve. Poppy looked up and seeing Neve, closed her book and stood up.

‘I’m hungry,’ she said.

‘Well, we’d better get you home, then,’ said Neve, taking Poppy’s bag from her. She thanked Mrs Ogden again and headed out to the car.

‘Your shoes are muddy,’ said Poppy, as she fastened her seat belt.

‘I know,’ said Neve, trying hard to push away the thought of her and Jake down by the river.

‘You’ve gone red,’ said Poppy.

‘Have I?’ said Neve, aware that her cheeks were burning from a mix of guilt and pleasure. ‘It’s rather hot in here.’ She slipped off her jacket to emphasise her explanation.

‘You’ve got red paint on your face,’ continued Poppy, pointing to Neve’s right cheek.

Neve’s hand flew to her face and she pawed her skin with her fingertips. It must have been from where Jake touched her earlier. Good job Kit hadn’t seen it first. ‘I must have got paint on my fingers when I moved my art stuff earlier.’ Neve said, trying to make her lie sound casual. ‘Has it gone?’

‘Still a bit there,’ said Poppy, watching as Neve rubbed her face again. She gave Neve a long stare. ‘It’s gone now.’

‘Good, now let’s get going,’ said Neve.

‘Callum didn’t sit with me today,’ said Poppy, as they drove home. ‘He sat with Lydia.’

‘Oh, that’s a shame but never mind,’ said Neve.

‘Why would I not mind about it? I do mind. He promised he would sit next to me. I don’t like him anymore.’

‘Maybe he will sit with you tomorrow.’

‘I don’t want him to.’

‘OK, in that case, you don’t have to,’ said Neve, realising she wasn’t going to reason with Poppy at all. Some battles weren’t worth the fight.

‘That’s someone else who has broken a promise,’ continued Poppy.

‘Sometimes people make promises they can’t always keep.’

‘I still don’t like him.’

They sat in silence for the rest of the journey as Neve navigated their way out of the town and onto the country lane which lead back to Ambleton. They crossed the stone bridge into the village.

Automatically, Neve looked over towards Copperthorne Lane and her thoughts turned to Jake and what he’d said. Had he really been making her a serious offer? She couldn’t quite work it out. There was no doubt about the spark between them. She had to admit, she found him nothing short of sexy and when he had kissed her, that was something else. She couldn’t remember responding like that to Kit in a long time. And then Jake had said how much he wanted children and how he could make her happy. She’d surprised herself confiding in him, but it had seemed so natural to do so.

Thinking about it now with her detached logical head on, could she really give up everything she had? Could she give up Kit? Could she give up Poppy? All for the promise of what … a baby? Is that what Jake had meant? Surely, she was reading too much into it all. Jake’s proposal was quite full-on, it wasn’t like they were even involved in a physical relationship yet. She paused. That wasn’t true actually. The kiss had upgraded it from an emotional relationship to a physical one and sleeping together was only a matter of time. If she allowed it to happen, that was. Just because they hadn’t slept together didn’t mean it wasn’t physical. Was his offer worth trading in what she had for what she wanted? Did she want Jake, or did she want what he could give her?

Within a couple of minutes, Neve was pulling up outside their house, the wheels of her car crunching on the gravel drive.

‘Would you like a drink and a biscuit?’ asked Neve, plonking her handbag down on the kitchen chair once inside the house.

‘Everyone breaks promises,’ said Poppy.

Neve was used to Poppy’s abruptness when it came to conversations. It wasn’t unusual for minutes, hours or even days to elapse before Poppy responded to a comment. Mostly, Neve and Kit were able to keep up with the disjointed way Poppy held conversations.

Neve took the milk from the fridge. ‘I expect we all do but as I said, sometimes it’s not on purpose.’

‘You broke a promise to Dad.’

‘I did?’ Neve replaced the lid on the milk bottle and pushed the glass towards her daughter.

‘When you got married you said you promised to love him for ever.’

A little flutter rose in Neve’s chest. ‘That’s right.’ She returned the milk bottle to the fridge. ‘And I will.’

The fourteen-year-old dipped her finger into the glass and then let the drips of milk fall onto the counter.

‘Don’t do that,’ said Neve, tearing off a sheet of kitchen roll and wiping the work top. ‘It’s dirty.’

‘Your shoes are dirty,’ said Poppy.

Back to the shoes. ‘I know. I’ll clean them in a minute.’

‘You got them dirty when you were down by the river today,’ said Poppy, now stirring her finger around in the milk.

Neve stopped mid-wipe. Her heart fluttered harder this time. ‘I went for a walk. It’s nice along there,’ she said, trying to regain her composure. She dropped the kitchen roll into the bin.

‘Did Jake get his shoes dirty?’

Neve, now with her back to Poppy, closed her eyes for a moment. How the hell had Poppy seen her at the river with Jake? She stalled for time. ‘I don’t know if Jake got dirty shoes today.’

‘Why not? You were with him.’

Neve turned to look at Poppy and gave another smile as she went about making herself a cup of tea. Trying to sound casual, she spoke. ‘When did you see me at the river?’

‘Today.’