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missing”, and that everybody is looking for him.’ Peter took a noisy sip of tea. ‘Finn’s been having
nightmares since Sunday, because of being there in the woods with us I think.’
The thought of Finn’s concern and the memory of his anxious face in the car park made me feel
Ben’s absence more vividly than ever. I thought of Baggy Bear upstairs, on Ben’s bed, and his nunny. I
thought of Ben without either of his favourite objects, without me, without comfort, somewhere out
there, going through something that none of us could imagine.
I crumpled.
‘Oh I’m sorry,’ said Peter. ‘I’m so sorry. I’ve put my foot in it. That’s the last thing I meant to do.’
He looked at his watch. ‘I should go.’
Nicky showed him out, said all the things that I couldn’t, like ‘thank you’ and ‘we’ll let you know if
we hear anything’, and ‘thank you again’.
I found Laura in the front room. She was on the sofa, hunched over her tablet.
‘I think this has the potential to go wrong for you,’ she said.
‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s all over the net. Facebook, Twitter, comments on news websites, everywhere.’
‘What is?’
‘I was right. They’re saying you’ve done something to Ben.’