‘Because …’ Lexie looked away from him and covered her face with her hands. A sob escaped but she tried to speak through it. ‘Because …’

Her words were overwhelmed by sobs and she bent double in the seat. Marty placed a hand on the sharp ridges of her shoulder blades and searched for Bella through the windscreen.

FACEBOOK

Tara Murphy Facebook page

HELP! My friend’s daughter is MISSING! Bella wandered off from our playgroup near Merrigang shops this morning. She’s in jeans and a pink jacket. Here’s a picture from a few weeks ago. She’s only three years old. It’s her birthday next week. Please help us find her!! SHARE this post. I’m f*cking freaking out!!

486 people reacted to this. 295 shares.

5 BRENDAN PARRISH

5

BRENDAN PARRISH

OUT ON LUNCH DUTY, BRENDAN LISTENED TO THE SUDDEN CHEER AS one of the girls kicked the soccer ball into the goal. Beyond the school oval, he could see a bunch of police officers. As Brendan watched, they divided up into smaller groups and set off in different directions. Just before the lunch bell, a message had been sent around to all the teachers: A three-year-old girl has gone missing from the playgroup near the shops.

Brendan chewed on his ham and salad roll, slathered with Dijon mustard and barbecue sauce—a great combo and much tastier than the plastic ham they sold at the school canteen. This morning, he’d come in early for a parent meeting and left his lunch on the kitchen bench at home. Luckily, his townhouse was close enough to the school that he could scoot back at recess for his ham roll. That was the beauty of Merrigang—small enough to walk anywhere; it was even smaller than the country town where he’d grown up. Brendan turned his face to the sun: fourteen degrees today, and not a cloud in the sky. Hopefully it wouldn’t warm up next week. Some colder nights and they should get powder on the mountains. One more week until school holidays, then he’d be carving it up at Blue Cow. He had to master the misty flip—almost had it last time they’d been down there but he kept landing on his back and his side. He’d been watching snowboarding videos on YouTube since and now he had the moves figured out in his head.

Surprisingly, the kids in the playground weren’t taking any notice of the police. The last child to go missing from school—apart from Fox, of course—was Danny from year six at the beginning of first term. Like Brendan today, Danny had forgotten his lunchbox and walked home to get it. Unusual. Kids at this school rarely left the grounds.

Apart from Fox.