Ellie nods. ‘OK. If you were taught at home you should have been registered as being home-schooled, but you’re not. At least, no one at your address.’

I nod. ‘Right. So maybe Dad didn’t fill in the forms. Is that a crime?’

‘Well actually …’ PC Oaks says, but Ellie shoots her a look and she stops talking abruptly.

‘We haven’t been able to trace any family for the man you call your dad yet as we don’t know who he is.’

‘No, you wouldn’t have done, I remember that much. It was just me and him. He told me we had no other family.’

A wave of grief washes over me as I remember that he’s gone and I don’t want to talk about this anymore.

‘I’m tired now,’ I say. ‘Can we please leave this till tomorrow?’

They are back again the next day with more questions.

‘Did he, um, the man, ever talk about … do you remember your mother?’ Ellie asks gently.

‘No,’ I say. ‘I never knew her. She died in childbirth.’

PC Oaks nods. ‘I see. It’s been quite difficult to find out any information about the man you were living with, there was an unusual lack of official documentation in the house. The house we believe you lived in has been rented for around eleven years by a man called Daniel Johnson. Does that name ring any bells? Do you think that might have been the name of your – uh – the man who you called Dad?’

I shake my head. ‘I don’t know. I always called him Dad.’

‘And your friends?’

‘Friends?’

‘What did your friends call him?’

Friends? I try to picture other people I might have known, but can’t picture anyone other than me and Dad. Did I have friends? Did we? Have I just forgotten? Oh God. He can’t be dead. He’s all I have. I’m sure of it. A sob rises in my throat and then there is a wailing sound, and it takes a few minutes before I realize the sound is coming from me.

I’m all alone.

19

July 2013

Inverness

After a lot of discussion with Ellie, I agree I will meet my ‘real family’. While it is constantly reiterated that everything will happen at my pace and in my best interests, it still feels very scary. I am having to come to terms with the fact that Dad isn’t coming back, and my original family is desperate to have me home with them. As I am, apparently, not yet sixteen, it’s either this or a foster family. So my original family seems like the best option, even if I have no memory of them whatsoever. I get dressed for their arrival and sit on the bed. Ellie is here for the occasion.

‘Ready?’ she asks.

I nod. ‘I’m a bit nervous.’