Chapter 15 - Crossroads

"Hush now, baby," Aleks cooed softly as Alfendi began to cry again. "It's alright. Your mummy and daddy will be here soon..." He rocked him gently and glared at the door as he heard yelling coming from upstairs.

"I just hope they hurry up..."

When the Layton search party had arrived at the crossroad in Falkirk, they split into groups and took one of the three rods each, with Emmy, Bronev, the Tritons, Alicia and Alex in one group, Randall, Angela, Henry and Celeste in another group and the Black Ravens, Carla, Antonio, Aldaz and Xavier in the last group. Each group was driving up each of the three alternate routes, keeping their wits about them and an eye out for anything remotely suspicious-looking.

Luke squinted into the distance in search of any kind of building in the quiet Scottish countryside. "She has to be here," he thought. "She has to." The day was slowly turning to night as dusk began to settle in. The previously grey cloudy sky was slowly turning pink as the sun began to set behind the clouds, making the misty hills in the distance look dark and ominous. This made Luke even more certain of Andrea's presence. If ever there was a more dramatic setting, this was it, and everyone knew by then that Andrea McIntyre didn't do things by halves.

Luke was jolted out of his thoughts as the Triton's hired corolla came to a halt. His heart began to hammer in his chest as he and his parents stopped behind the Bronev's car. They got out, with Luke expecting to see some sort of house or any type of building. Unfortunately, they weren't so lucky.

They had arrived at yet another crossroad, pointing off in two directions.

The window of Bronev's car rolled down and he called out to them.

"You take the left. We will take the right."

"Alright!" Clark called.

"Emmy, I'll call you if we find anything, as soon as we find it, i promise!" Brenda called.

"Likewise," came her tense reply.

Brenda and Clark looked piteously in her direction before returning to their car.

"We're definitely getting closer..." Luke thought determinedly. "I'm sure the professor's intuition has rubbed off on me... Because I'm almost certain..."

The two cars split up and covered each route. The area seemed near deserted, consisting mainly of fields of grazing sheep and mountains in the distance. The long roads twisted and turned as they carried on. A crossroad later, there were three more paths to be searched, and Bronev and Alicia took the car to carry on down the middle road, while Alex took the left lane on foot and Emmy took the right.

It had been too long since Emmy had been out for a long walk left alone with her thoughts. Any other time she would have welcomed it; a break from the stresses of life, fresh air, exercise and surrounded by beautiful scenery and perfect photography opportunities. Emmy couldn't even remember where she left her camera. It felt like years since she had last snapped a photo, which coincidentally was of her baby bump, Alfendi growing inside her, one of a large collection of snapshots. She had taken a picture of her bump every day since her life had calmed down after Andrea's previous exploits, and she had vowed to take a picture of her little boy for every day of his life, so she would be able to look back and see how he had grown. Now, she had nearly missed the first week of her child's life... Emmy wiped her eyes. She wondered if Alfendi even remembered her. He wondered if he thought that Andrea was his mother now, and that she would be lost in the impact of being taken away to a new place, shoved to the very back of his catalogue of images, smells and sensations which he would have gathered in his very first days of life...

She would find out soon enough.

Emmy squinted, spotting a small stone cottage by the side of the road in the distance. Could this be it? Could Alfendi be there? There was only one way to find out, Emmy decided. She walked faster and quickly began to run, desperate for answers and to see her little boy again. As she got closer, she felt a sense of relief. She could hear yelling, a high-pitched female shout, and a familiar one at that.

Andrea.