A soft rapping sound came from the closed attic door. Jack turned away from his conversation with Mr. Smith. "Yeah?" he called.

"Uncle Jack?" came the soft voice of one of the girls (Jack wasn't sure which), "Do you mind if I come in?"

"Door's open!"

The door squeaked open and a pair of bright blue eyes peeked into the attic. Reassured that she wasn't interrupting anything important Meredith slipped quietly into the attic leaving the door open behind her. She cheerfully greeted both Jack and the computer. Jack offered a welcoming smile in response and Mr. Smith wished Meredith a pleasant evening.

Turning to Jack, the girl held up her hand to show him the stack of notebook paper she held. "I just came to have Mr. Smith check my homework. Aunt Sarah's rubbish with this stuff," the girl explained.

Jack was curious. "Can I see?"

The teenager shrugged and handed over the papers. Pencil markings covered the line sheets: diagrams, equations and calculations.

Jack's eyebrows shot up. "Isn't this level of mathematics a bit advanced for someone your age?" he asked.

Meredith smiled shyly and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm good at maths," she said simply.

"So I see."

"I'm not a genius or anything, but for the most part I do really well in school."

"I'm not surprised. Your mum was very clever,"

"Is," Meredith stated firmly.

"What was that?"

"I said my mum is very clever," the girl repeated. "She's not dead, just missing. I'm sure of it."

Jack stared at the teenager in front of him. "What makes you think Gwen's alive?" he studied her face carefully while.

Meredith scrunched up her face in concentration. "It's like I can almost feel her or something," she tapped her head with one finger, "you know, in here." Meredith turned away from Jack to gaze off into empty space. "When I was younger, before Mam and Tad disappeared, it was stronger. Now it's like something's blocking me." She whirled around to face Jack. "But my mother's not dead! I just know it." The expression on her face made it clear that she would accept no argument on this matter.

Jack studied her calmly for a moment. "Okay," he said.

Meredith wasn't sure weather to believe him or not. "I'm not crazy, Uncle Jack," she said, her voice trembling.

Jack's warm hand settled comfortingly on her shoulder. "I know you're not," he reassured her when she looked up. "I believe you."

Meredith sniffled and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. Jack returned the hug, putting his own arms around the upset child. "We'll figure it out," he whispered. "You'll see, it's going to be alright." For quite sometime Jack just stood there with his arms around his crying niece, rocking her from side to side and promising the girl that her uncle was here for her. It was all he could do, but it was enough for now.

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