“Your phones been going daft Gabs.”
what now, “coming.”

I left Max and headed back to the kiosk.

“Its rung about six times,” Con advised as I recovered my Handy from my backpack.

I flicked through the call history, it was actually four calls from a number I didn’t recognise immediately, before I could reply myself the phone started to announce another incoming call, yep same number.

“Hello?”
“Gab? That you?”
“Er yeah,” I admitted as I tried to place the clearly English voice on the other end of the line, “who is this?”
“Helen?”
Helen, Helen – oh Helen, “er hi Hel, sorry, so how’s Warsop?”
“Same as, you heard from your cousin lately?”
“Mad? Not for a bit, few weeks maybe.”
“She’s not rung this week at all?”
“What’s up Hel, what’s going on?”
“Damn, its a long story.”
“Cut to the chase?”
“Well you know she’s been seeing that lad?”
“John?”
“James,” she corrected.
“James,” I agreed, “so?”
“They broke up and now she’s disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“She was supposed to be at one of those Cosplay things with James this weekend but no ones seen her since Friday, everyone’s frantic.”
“Sugar.”
“You got any idea where she might’ve gone?”
“Not really, we’ve not exactly been close lately, maybe she’s got some other cosplay friend she’s with?”
“Yeah maybe,” Helen didn’t sound convinced of that idea, “if you hear from her...”
“I’ll ring Auntie Carol, I’ll tell Mum, let me know if there’s any news Hel.”
“I will, look, gotta go, we’re going down to Nottingham, we go down quite a bit, you never know someone might’ve seen her.”
“Yeah, good luck.”
“Bye.”

“Bad news?” Con asked.
“My cousin’s gone missing.”
“One of the littlies?”
“No, Maddy,” I told her, the reality only now sinking in.
“Your Zwillingschwester?”
“She’s not actually my twin,” I pointed out.
Con shrugged, “you look like Zwilling. So what’s happened?”
“From what Helen said she was going to a Con with her boyfriend, they had a fall out and she’s disappeared.”
“Damn, so your friend, she thinks she will come here?”
“Unlikely, how’d she get here?”
“Fly?”
“She’d need a passport to get out of the country, they don’t have ID cards like us, bum, Max!”

“Well?” I queried.

I’d only got little bits of the conversation, Mum has been on the phone with Auntie Carol for like half an hour.

“Calm down kiddo.”
“I can’t, what happened?”
“So,” Mum started, “Mad, this James lad and some of their friends got the train up to Scarborough Friday afternoon. Apparently there was some argument and Maddy stormed off when they got there. Her friends thought she’d turn up at the b&b later, when she didn’t they assumed she’d gone home.

No one realised she was missing until last night when she should’ve got home, long story short, the police are on the case, your Uncle has made one of those TV appeals.”
“You think something’s happened to her? Its not like she’s in the habit of going off is it?”
“Well Carol says she’s stormed off a couple of times in the last year but she’s always rung home before.”
“She’s never said anything.”
She pulled me into a hug, “I know your worried kiddo, we all are, Carol will call if there’s any news, its not like we’re just around the corner.”
“I could go and help look?”
“If I thought it’d help we’d be packing already, no, for now you aren’t going anywhere young lady, the best thing we can do is get on with our lives and be there if and when the Peters need us.”
“But...”
“You might not realise it but me and your Dad fret about you and your sister all the time, every time you go training, shopping with your friends or just around to Connie. Its part of being a parent, your Aunt Carol is just the same and she wouldn’t want you gallivanting half way across Europe on a wild goose chase.”

Whilst I sort of got that, it still feels off not to be doing anything, to be carrying on as if nothing is wrong. Mum held me tight and I had a few little sobs, what if something horrible has happened? I mean you hear about these things, you just never imagine that it’ll be someone you know, let alone a relation.

“You alright Gab?” Hannah enquired, “you’re a bit quiet tonight.”
“Er yeah, I’m fine, just a bit distracted.”

Yep, Mum all but forced me to come to Cheer, people relying on me and all that blah.

“Boyfriend?”
“No, no, we’re fine, its my cousin in England, she went missing at the weekend.”

I started to sniffle, the prelude to more sobbing.

“Come on, in the office,” she told me before calling out, “Lisse, can you take over for a minute please.”

I sipped more of the water I found myself holding as I once again found myself the subject of a motherly hug.

“Better?” Han asked.
“A bit, I just feel so useless.”
“Gaby Bond, you are far from useless but at the minute there’s nothing you can do on a practical level so you just need to be positive, be there for your other friends, be strong for your Tante und Onkel.”

Wise words but easier said than done. Oh I know its not my fault or anything like that but we used to be like brother and sister, well sister and sister a lot of the time I guess and whilst I’m close to Con and Mand and even Jules, well it was different with Mad. What happened to that, when did I stop being her go to shoulder?

I’d barely got indoors when my Handy started chirping, it took me a moment to locate it, I didn’t recognise the number, no one I know then.

“Abent, wie sind Sie?”
“Gab?”
“Ja, wo ist das?”
“Gab, its me, Mad,” the voice advised
“Mad, thank Gott, where the hell are you, have you rung home?”
“Germany,” she stated
“Germany?”
“Well some place called Altenahr to be precise,” she told me.
“How, no don’t bother, stay there, we’ll come and get you, where exactly are you?”
“At the station.”
“Stay put, we’ll be there in like fifteen minutes.”
“Thanks Gab,” she sniffed in reply.
“Just stay there,” I ordered before it went silent at the other end.

“Mum! Dad!” I shouted down the stairs.
“You don’t have to shout kiddo,” Dad advised poking his head into the stairwell.
“Its Mad, she’s in Altenahr,” I replied as I did the herd of elephants thing back down the stairs.
“Whoa, slow down,” he suggested as I skidded to a halt in the main hallway.
“She just rang, she’s in Altenahr, at the bahnhof!”
“You sure?” Mum queried joining us.
“Hundred percent, I said we’d fetch her, quick, please?”
“I’ll go,” Dad stated already reaching for his shoes.
“Take my car, I’ll ring Carol,” Mum stated lifting the house phone from its cradle
“I’m going too,” I told them.
“Shoes then missy,” Dad suggested as he retrieved the A Klasse’s key fob.
“They found her?” Mand queried from the landing above us.
“She’s here, we’re just gonna fetch her.”
“I’ll get the kettle on.”

The two of us pretty much ran out to the car and Dad had us moving before I even had my seat belt on. Dad’s usually the more sober driver but hidden inside is Michael Schumacher!

“Slow down Dad,” I requested as we turned onto the Rotweinstraße with a squeal of tyres.
“Sorry kiddo, so how’d she get here?”
“No idea, she just said where she was before the money ran out.”
“Which is?”
“At the bahnhof, I said before.” I pointed out.

There wasn’t much traffic as we retraced the road we’d come down just a few minutes ago. Its not far but its quite twisty, the Mercedes is however a lot faster than the camper so we emerged from the tunnel barely five minutes after I finished speaking with Maddy. Its always a dodgem run through the town, a slalom through parked cars and then we were crossing the bridge.

“There she is!”
“I see her,” Dad replied barely pausing to cross onto the station apron.

I had my seatbelt off and halfway out of the door before we stopped.

“Mad!” I called as I ran over.
“Gab?” she queried looking up from her ball of hurt.
“Who else dumbo,” I stated pulling her into a tight hug.
“Oh Gab,” she blubbed.

I held her tightly barely aware of Dad coming up behind me.

“Come on kiddo, lets get her home, you okay Maddy?”

I released my grip and stood back as she nodded vigorously.

“Gab, get her bag,” Dad told me, “come on missy, you okay to walk to the car?”
“Uh huh Unc.”
“Come on then,” Dad helped her up and into the car while I followed with her bag before climbing into the back beside her where I pulled her into another hug.
Dad got back in, “belts kiddo.”

I sorted us out before resuming an awkward hug for the slightly longer journey back to Chez Bond.

Maddy Bell © 30.07.2018