Читать книгу Of Things Gone Astray - Janina Matthewson - Страница 16

CASSIE DIDN’T NOTICE AT FIRST when her phone started to ring. She didn’t hear it. At least, she heard it but it felt remote, even though it was in her pocket and vibrating as well as ringing; it wasn’t connected to her. It wasn’t until she saw someone staring at her that she realised she was supposed to do something about it. That it was hers.

She pulled out the phone, suddenly thinking that maybe it was Floss, that soon they would be laughing over whatever mix up it was that had meant they weren’t yet together.

The photo on the display wasn’t Floss.

Cassie stood still and gazed at the phone as it went silent and the picture that stared at her from the screen, her mother, disappeared. Disappointment started at the nape of her neck and trickled slowly down her spine, seeping into her through her skin. She breathed deeply for a moment, blinking hard, and called her mother back.

‘Well, well?’ her mother asked on answering. ‘Did she arrive OK? Are you bringing her here? I thought you were bringing her here. I thought you’d be here a couple of hours ago.’

‘Um, she’s not here yet,’ said Cassie, chewing her lip.

‘What? Why not?’

‘I don’t know. I guess something went wrong. She was delayed, maybe.’

‘The flight was delayed?’

‘No, the flight arrived. She wasn’t on it.’

‘Where are you?’

‘At the airport still. I’m waiting.’

‘For what? Planes from Argentina don’t arrive every five minutes, Cass. You’d best come home and find out what’s happened.’

‘Brazil.’

‘What? Yes. What? Come home, love, I’ve a roast in the oven.’

‘I’m going to wait a while, Mum. See if I can find out anything here.’

Cassie’s mum was still talking, but a large German tour group was walking past, their voices raised in excitement, and Cassie couldn’t hear her anymore. She hung up and slipped her phone back into her pocket.

The crowd surged around her, pushing at her, catching her hair in the zips of their bags, but she did not move.

She didn’t realise it, but she had not moved in five hours.