Chapter 25
By the end of the week Annalease had worked out a plan in her head to try and hunt for Sandy, she had spoken to Joe a few times about what she thought would work but he kept telling her that it wouldn't help and that he and Freddie had it covered, Freddie was home from hospital but he was still experiencing some pain so he was out of action for a while. For Annalease that was too long to wait she needed to get this done sooner rather than later. The current time was 7:30am, usually Annalease wouldn't ever wake up at this time but today was different. She quickly had some breakfast and got herself ready to leave the house. The day before she sneakily got hold of Sandy's new address, Freddie had it set as a memo on his phone. Annalease made the excuse that she needed to text a friend because she had no credit, Annalease being the trustworthy girl that she was made Freddie allow her to use it without hesitation.
With the the address safely inside her purse, Annalease was now about to leave to set out on her mission. She told herself the earlier she left the more chance she would have of successfully finding Sandy, once out of the house she made her way to the bus stop to catch a bus to the address she had found. When on the bus she was the only one on it much to her satisfaction, the less people she came in contact the better kept flowing through her head. Just as a pro caution she had her phone in her pocket just in case any danger came her way, she didn't except anything to go wrong but being prepared was a good idea she thought. As the bus drove past the scene of the recent accident she wanted to cry as the memories of that day came flooding back to her, she looked at her plaster cast and realised how lucky she and Freddie were to be alive. The tree in which the car had it was now just a stump.
As the bus came to a sudden standstill Annalease realised that she had reached her stop, the view in front of her was not what she had expected. She quickly thanked the driver and left the bus, she looked around for any sign of life but there was nothing. She got her phone out of her pocket and re added the address to her map app and according to it she was very close to her destination, after a short walk she found herself inside a field. Here she began to panic a little, there was no sign of anyone or anything and she wondered if she and Freddie had been set up that night of the accident. Before she went any further she decided that going home would be a good idea, she turned around and walked back to the bus stop. Suddenly out of nowhere she heard footsteps fast approaching her, trying to ignore whoever it was she picked up her pace. Someone grabbed her by the hair causing her to be yanked to a stop.
"What are you doing on my land!" A hard looking man who she hadn't seen before shouted.
"I'm looking for somebody, get off of my hair right now" Annalease snarled, trying to break free.
"I suggest you go back to where you've come from or I'll shoot you! The man retorted, eventually letting go of her. Annalease studied his face hoping to make out who this horrible person was but no recognition what so ever came to her.
"Well go on!" he shouted, presenting the gun and threatening to pull the trigger, She ran away from the man and out of the field as fast as she could. Running so fast she caused herself to trip, she fell to the ground with a massive thud. As she quickly got up she placed her and on her right cheek and felt a warm wet patch. It was bleeding, it wasn't terribly deep but she knew she would have to make an excuse up as to where she had been and how it happened.
Soon after Annalease found herself sitting back at the bus stop waiting for a bus, after a 45 minute wait one came and she was on her way home, all journey long she was fighting back tears but she managed to keep them bottled up for a while longer. She needed to speak to somebody, she scrolled through her phone book trying to find the most appropriate person or someone that she knew would definitely answer their phone. She stumbled across Jason's number and decided to dial it, she realised he would probably be the best person to cheer her up a little as he always could.
J: Alright Annalease?
A: Where are you?
J: In my room, you okay? You sound as if you're crying.
A: I'm good thanks, I've done something really stupid and I really wish I hadn't
J: What do you mean? You're worrying me now. Where are you?
A: I'm on the bus home, meet me in the folly in about half an hour.
J: Okay, urm I'm gunna bring Rob with me we're gunna sort this mess out yeah?
A: Thanks, I'll see you soon. Bye Jase.
As Annalease hung up she noticed that she was nearing the village, she was so glad when she was able to get off the bus and head to the folly. She knew how stupid she had been but Sandy was out there somewhere away from her family for some unknown reason and Annalease wasn't going to settle until she was home where she belongs. Once again as she got off the bus she thanked the driver and made her way to the folly. Jason and Robbie were already there when she arrived, they rushed over to her. Noticing the cut on her cheek.
"What's happened" Jason put both hands on her shoulder examining her face for any more injuries.
"Why didn't you tell me what you were doing! I would have come with ya" Robbie added.
"I wanted to do this on my own, it didn't work out. I went to look for mum" Annalease sighed.
"I thought Fred told you to stay out of it!" Robbie retorted, shaking his head.
"Oi, don't shout at her!" Jason shouted
"What are you gunna do about it Jase?" Robbie shouted, squaring up to him.
"Just go home Robbie if you're not going to help!" Jason moved away from Robbie, putting his arm around Annalease for support.
"Don't come crying to me when this all goes tits up!" Robbie said as he left them to it.
"Don't worry about him, he's just having a bad day that's all" Jason said calmly.
"Got out the wrong side of the bed again I see" She laughed.
"Yeah, tell me everything" he asked as he sat down, Annlease at bedside him.
"The night of the accident Fred was taking me to see mum, I lied to him yesterday you know when I used his phone? I didn't text anybody, I copied an address which I thought was where mum was. I tried to go to it this morning, I got as far as a field. This weird man came out warning me off with a gun. I tripped on the way out that's how I grazed my cheek" Annalease sighed.
"Rob was right earlier in saying why didn't you tell any of us! You could have been killed" he said sternly but with some softness in his voice.
"You would have told me not to go, and that was exactly what I didn't want to hear" she announced.
"Me and Rob would have come with you, we miss mum too you know" Jason sighed with sadness in his voice.
"Freddie knows something! I know he does, whenever I ask he just tells me not to worry. We need to find out what he knows and quickly " Annalease had determination in her voice.
"Joe's been acting weirdly too, I agree we need to suss them out. We'll have to start as soon as possible.
"If they wont tell us what's going on, we're going to have to find mum ourselves" Annalease added.
"Right, I say we go home and pretend nothings happened okay?" he said, quickly checking his watch for the time.
"Yeah, tomorrow we need to get to work. I need to find that address, the real address" she said sternly.
"What if Rob blabs to anyone about where you've been today?" Jason asked in horror.
"He wouldn't would he? We've got so many things to tell others about him but we haven't, I don't think he would jeopardise the safety of those secrets" She said hopefully.
"We need to make sure he doesn't, you know what he's like when he's upset" Jason started to walk home.
"He does realise that if he ever did tell then I would tell the police everything we saw him do that night" Annalease announced. Jason looked at her in shock.
"You can't! He'll go down for it, we'll never see him again. He'll get life" Jason shouted.
"Well if he wants freedom he'll remember to keep quiet then wont he" she retorted, Jason came to a sudden stop and appeared to be out of breath. He hadn't walked very far at all, Annalease picked up on this and quickly rushed to his side.
"You okay Jase?" she asked in a worried tone, he looked pale and could barely stand.
"I uh forgot my..." he slurred and suddenly collapsed, Annalease knew what was wrong he needed his insulin. He must have been deprived of it for a while judging by his sudden collapse.
She decided to phone Robbie as he would be able to fetch the insulin. Robbie quickly answered the phone.
R- What do you want!
A- Jase has collapsed he needs his insulin, bring it to the folly now!
R- What! Uh okay keep an eye on him, I'll be there in 5.
Robbie came running to the folly in around 2 minuets, he quickly injected the insulin into Jason's stomach, Annalease placed his head on her lap so he would wake up comfortably. A couple of seconds his eyes slowly opened.
"You're okay Jase don't worry" Annalease soothed, Jason groaned as he tried to sit up. Robbie helped him stand up.
"What happened" he asked.
"You collapsed, we need to get you to hospital just to get you checked out" Annalease said as she linked arms with him so she could make sure he was stable on his feet.
"You should have gotten him an ambulance instead of calling me you stupid girl" Robbie retorted.
"He's alright isn't he?" she added in an annoyed tone.
"That ain't the point" he spat.
"Oi, I am here you know. Can you stop bickering for just one second please" Jason snarled.
Robbie stormed off once again, Annalease walked Jason to the hospital where he got checked out. He was okay and was allowed home soon after, when they both got home Robbie was no where in sight he had gone missing somewhere. Nobody had seem him in over 3 hours, Jason phoned around a few of his friends and non of them had seen him either. Where had he gone? It wasn't like him to just leave and not tell anybody where he was going. Annalease felt a little guilty for arguing with him as he had obviously gone due to being upset about the argument. Around 5 hours later The Roscoe's received a shocking phone call...