Ethan ran a hand over the back of his neck and hoped that whoever it was could be despatched quickly. ‘It’s pretty late. Are you expecting anyone?’
‘No. But around here people just call. Especially if they’re in trouble.’ She gave a frown, straightened her top and walked out of the kitchen towards her front door. ‘Aisla?’
Ethan heard the surprise in her voice and wondered what on earth Aisla was doing calling so late in the evening with a storm brewing. Was it her diabetes again?
And then she spoke and he heard the raw terror in the woman’s voice. ‘It’s Fraser. He’s gone.’
‘Gone where?’
‘I don’t know. He told me he was going to Hamish’s for a sleepover but I needed to speak to Hamish’s mother about a knitting order, so I rang and she told me that he wasn’t with her. And Hamish had no idea where he was.’
Kyla frowned. ‘Well, he’s an imaginative boy. He’s just playing.’
‘But it will be dark soon.’ Aisla covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. ‘I’ve told him over and over again that he can’t just go off on his own, but he’s so independent and he sneaks off when I’m not looking. I’m a terrible mother.’
‘You’re not a terrible mother,’ Kyla said immediately, ‘and try not to panic. He’s probably gone to tea with someone else and forgotten to phone. Have you called Paul Weston? Henry Mason? They might know.’
‘I’ve called them both and they haven’t seen him.’
‘Then I’ll give Ann Carne a ring,’ Kyla said immediately, reaching for the phone. ‘She might have an idea what was in his head today.’
Ethan walked forward, ignoring the potential consequences of revealing his presence in Kyla’s cottage. ‘Where else does he normally play?’
Aisla looked distracted and her eyes were full of fear. ‘I don’t know—the beach? That’s his favourite place. He’s always sitting there, dreaming about Vikings and shipwrecks and making up stories in his head.’
Kyla came off the phone. ‘Ann Carne said that he was in school until lunchtime and then said he had to go home because he had a doctor’s appointment. He gave her a note.’
Aisla stared at her. ‘I didn’t give him a note. And Hamish didn’t mention that he hadn’t been at school this afternoon. Oh, God …’
‘There’s going to be a perfectly reasonable explanation.’ Kyla slipped her feet into the trainers that she’d left lying by the door and reached for a coat from the peg. ‘We just need to think logically and not panic. But I think, given the fact that it’s going to be dark soon, we should phone Nick Hillier and tell him what’s happening.
He’ll get the whole island searching, if necessary. In the meantime we’ll take a look ourselves. I’ll go down onto the beach and take a look around.’
Ethan stepped forward, reflecting on the fact that they all turned to Kyla in a crisis. ‘I’ll just go next door and grab a jacket and my car keys. Then I’ll come with you. Two are better than one.’
‘Go back to the house,’ Kyla told Aisla. ‘That way, if he turns up at home, you can let us know. I’ll keep my mobile switched on. Call Nick and fill him in.’
Ethan grabbed what he needed from his cottage and then rejoined Kyla as she walked out of the back door and down onto the beach. Angry streaks were splashed across the darkening sky and the waves lifted and crashed against the rocks at the far end of the bay.
‘The storm is closing in. Is it worth calling the coastguard? If Fraser was walking on the cliff path, he could have been swept into the sea.’ Ethan stared at the boiling, churning water, trying to not to think about the young boy being devoured by those waves.
‘He hasn’t been swept into the sea. Don’t even think about it.’ Kyla spoke briskly but her stride quickened. ‘Fraser isn’t stupid. And, anyway, we were down there earlier. If he’d been hanging around, we would have seen him.’
‘Unless he went to a different beach.’
The both stopped and searched with their eyes and shouted, but their cries were snatched away by the rising wind.
‘Why would he go to school for the morning and then leave? It doesn’t make sense.’ Kyla reached up to stop her hair blowing into her face, a frown in her eyes as she stared at the ocean. ‘If you’re going to play truant, why turn up at all? Why do half a day at school?’
‘You think that’s significant?’
‘I don’t know. It might be. I’m going to call Ann Carne again, but I’ll do it from the house. It’s too wild on this beach to hear properly. And, Ethan …’ She put a hand on his arm and her blue eyes were worried. ‘I think you might be right. Perhaps we’d better put in a call to the coastguard. Just put them on alert.’
He followed her to the house and made the call, and when he’d finished she was standing next to him, an urgent look on her face.
‘I’ve spoken to Ann Carne.’
‘And?’
‘The last lesson of the morning was history. They were doing something on the Celts and Vikings.’
He looked at her blankly, failing to follow her train of thought. ‘Why is that significant?’
‘Because the bloodiest battle of this island’s history was fought between the Celts and the Vikings.’
‘And Fraser loves history. It’s his favourite subject.’ He looked at her, suddenly understanding. ‘Where was this battle fought?’
‘The castle.’
He gave a grim smile and reached for his keys. ‘Let’s go.’
Kyla huddled the coat around her and peered at the sky as Ethan pressed his foot to the accelerator. ‘There’s a wild storm coming. Let’s hope we find him before it hits. We could walk from here but it’s probably quicker to take the car.’
‘He might not be anywhere near the castle. We might be completely wrong. Can we park near the ruins? How close can I get?’
‘Pull in further up the road—that’s right. This is good. We have to walk from here.’ She undid her seat belt and was out of the car before he’d even switched off the engine. ‘The kids do come and play up here sometimes. During the day there are guides, waiting to tell horror stories of the dungeons.’
‘Just the sort of thing to appeal to a twelve-year-old with a vivid imagination.’
‘Precisely.’
‘But wouldn’t there have been guides today? If he came up here this afternoon then surely someone would have seen him?’
She shook her head. ‘It’s only open from ten until two. My guess is he actually waited for them to leave so that he could explore.’
‘I haven’t even had a chance to look round the ruins yet.’
‘They’re brilliant. Remind me to bring you here under less stressful circumstances.’ She broke into a run, thinking about Fraser. What would have been in his head? Where would he have gone?
She clambered over the crumbling stone wall that led into the main part of the castle. ‘Fraser? Fraser!’ The wind took her voice and carried it away and she looked at Ethan with frustration. ‘Even if he is here, he’s never going to hear us above the weather.’
‘Then we just have to search.’
She looked at him helplessly. ‘The place is a warren and it’s getting dark.’ She suddenly realised that she’d given no thought to the approach of night, and when Ethan pressed a torch into her hand she almost sobbed with relief. ‘Thank goodness one of