CHAPTER 10
The vans were parked in a small field away from the main camp site, further from the magnificent sea views but nearer the spreading farm buildings.
WPC Griffiths had taken them to the farm first, greeting the dumpy farmer's wife with a hug.
"I'm ex force myself," explained Ellen as she bustled about the kitchen, having insisted everyone sit down, she filled a big kettle at the sink as she spoke. "Although you wouldn't think so, seeing me now," she patted her ample tummy. "Cassie here was at the same station."
Despite their protests, their lack of appetite, Ellen spread open tins of home baking across the table, insisting they eat.
It was some time later when she directed them to the field beyond the house, finally letting them escape as she urged Cassie to come back to the farmhouse after she had seen them settled.
Robbie, Greg and Finn parked the vans angled close together, their doors all opening inwards. The sun was still blazing down, but nobody felt like sunbathing and they sat in the shade, hardly speaking, all of them lost in their own thoughts, still hardly able to believe what had happened.
It was more than two hours later that Jackson and Simon returned with Constable Pascoe, but even then, their mood didn't lift and the five men sat listlessly in the dying heat of the day.
"If only there was something we could do," groaned Robbie. It was a refrain that echoed between them; sitting, waiting was hard, almost impossible. Simon and Jackson had already repeated their conversation with DCI Thomson, when for all the police jargon, it boiled down to just waiting, hoping.
Jackson was lying on the grass, saying nothing, letting his friend's fragmented conversation drift above his head. He felt numb, sick if he thought too much, if he let his imagination have free reign. He couldn't see a way out of it, a way of finding Aaron, when the police seemed ridiculously short of leads. Unless they knew more than they were telling, of course. His mind buzzed with it all, soared, every thought filling him with terror.
Beside him, his mobile rang. Grabbing it, a burst of hope flooding through him, he looked at the screen. Chas! She knew then! The police had told them they would be sending someone to Emmerdale, to tell her and Cain; as Aaron's next of kin, they had to…he didn't count, not really.
He stared at the screen, making no move to answer the insistent ringing. He was surprised to feel Finn's fingers curling around his own, gently taking the phone from him, answering it.
Finn walked slowly away from the others as he spoke to Chas; he could hear her distress, her confusion, through the phone but could tell her no more, offer no more hope than the police had already done.
"They're on their way,"he said, returning the phone to Jackson before throwing himself on the ground beside Greg. "Be here in the middle of the night sometime, although she said they are going straight to the Police HQ."
"D'you think they'll tell us if they hear anything," asked Robbie. "The police, I mean," he continued.
"Constable Pascoe said he would," said Simon, his voice hesitating, wondering if the officer would be true to his word.
"We should try and do something," said Robbie, "help pass the time."
"Any ideas then?" asked Simon.
Nobody spoke; time hung heavy between them. On other days, lazing around, doing nothing, had been a joy, a pleasure, the minutes never dragging. Now each minute seemed endless; they sat or lay in silence as at last the sun sunk slowly over the horizon. It was only as the end of the endless day came into sight that they moved into one of the vans; not yet ready to split up for the night.
Sorry for such a short chapter tonight but when I wrote it I wasn't thinking in terms of chapters and this ended up as a short chapter between two longer ones. Thanks again for the reviews, much appreciated.