The Holiday

 CHAPTER ONE

 Helen woke with a start. She looked at the alarm clock. It was nearly ten o’clock. She had slept in. Terry would be arriving any minute to pick up Toby to take him to the game. 

She slid out of bed and went to see if Toby was ready. He rarely slept in on Saturdays. It was the only day she let him watch TV in the morning. He was always excited whenever Terry took him to the football. They were football mad and their team was having a great season, so she fully expected to find him ready and waiting to go.

She wondered why Toby hadn’t come in to wake her.

There was no sign of him in the TV room. There were no dirty breakfast dishes on the table or in the sink. There was nobody in his bed. She was the only one in the house. 

She looked into the backyard through the laundry window. There was no sign of him. She checked the back door. It was locked from the inside. She checked the front door. It wasn’t locked, but the security door was locked from the outside. Maybe Terry had come while she was asleep. She went into the kitchen, to see if they had left her a note on the white board attached to the side of the fridge - nothing. 

Typical bloody Terry, she thought. She went back into her bedroom to fish her mobile phone out of her handbag.

Before she could call him, she heard Terry’s truck pull up in the driveway. When she opened the front door he was standing there, alone.

‘Hi, Helen. Is Toby ready?’

‘I thought he was with you.’

Terry looked at her. He hadn’t expected that response.

‘How could he be with me? I only just got here.’

The colour drained from Helen’s face, as it dawned on her that she didn’t know where Toby was.

 ‘If he’s not with you, where is he?’