So Darren joined the search, half-thinking his mum must have it wrong. Why would Andrea have the neighbour’s small child with her on Christmas Eve? It didn’t make any sense. But if the child was there — and she’d been thrown from the car — then she could be anywhere. On the side of the freeway the ground sloped down away from the road and the bush was thick with undergrowth. And while the crash site was now lit up, it was still pitch black down there in the bushes. What if she’d hit the ground and rolled down the hill? How far could she have got?

He realised as he searched that a part of him didn’t want to be the one to find her. What if she was dead? He couldn’t cope with finding a dead child. Not after Andrea. Not after Tony.

But as it turned out, he was the one who saw it — a splash of pink in the scrub. He approached cautiously, and when he recognised it as a pink sneaker, on the twisted leg of a small child, he moved faster and dropped to his knees next to her. There was white froth at the edges of her mouth and her eyes were closed. But there was movement beneath the eyelids. She was alive.

‘Here!’ he yelled. ‘She’s here, I’ve found her!’

People crashed through the bush towards him as he touched a hand to her forehead. ‘Help is coming,’ he said. ‘You’re going to be okay.’

Then he burst into tears.

Chapter Twenty-One

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Friday 25 December — Christmas Day

Mimi

Maybe it was because the initial shock had worn off, or maybe it was because the two of them were alone together. Whatever it was, a switch had flipped and Callie was letting everything out.

They were together in a hospital waiting room — although neither of them had any serious injuries, everyone from the accident had been brought in to be checked. Pete, Tara and the twins had all been admitted: Pete for a head injury, the twins for observation, and Tara for facial lacerations and a suspected broken wrist.

A helicopter had landed in the centre of the M1 and Andrea had been airlifted to a different hospital. They’d tried to take Jill along with Pete for her own head injury, but she’d insisted on accompanying Andrea. Violet had been taken in an ambulance to a children’s hospital.

Mimi and Callie had stayed with the rest of their family for several hours, but now they’d been temporarily ushered away. Tara and the twins were fast asleep and Pete was resting.

‘Go and wash your faces and get yourselves a quick cup of coffee,’ one of the nurses said. ‘Just take a breath for a minute. You can come right back when you’re ready.’

They stepped into the visitor’s room with the coffee machine and Callie spun on her heel.