Rain Station

Chapter 4

He denies that he checks every room 3 times, searched further than the others, and calls everyone listed on his phone to keep alert.

After twenty minutes of running around, searching for Darcy in the house, neighbors’ yards and the park near by, everyone meets back at Anne’s kitchen. Jay is comforting Anne who sitting on a stool trying her hardest not to break down after her granddaughter is lost under her watch.

When Harry who has been pacing around in his own little world stops, Louis who has been pacing right behind him bumps into him and finds it difficult to find his balance again.

“I’m going to the police station again” Harry is as wreck as he was this morning if not more. Louis doesn’t know how he does it. Taking care of the kids in the daycare for a couple of hours is exhausting, but this is worse. This is mentally and emotionally exhausting. He can’t imagine how it would be if Darcy fell ill. Louis can’t have it in his heart to imagine the little angel hurt. How does Harry do it? How does Harry do it all by himself?

If everyone wasn’t here right now, Louis doesn’t think he’d still be sane. If he spares a minute to think of what might happen, he thinks that if he did, he doesn’t really know what he’d do.

“You just came back from there, Harry” Gemma tells him.

“She is a little girl.” Harry chocks out.  “I can’t sit here. If I sit here I’ll just end up thinking about horrible things” He shakes his head Louis reckons he trying to stop the images running in his head “I can’t just not do anything”

Jay reasons with him “Harry, it’s Holmes Chapel. Everyone knows everyone. Nothing bad can happen to her.”

Harry argues that they should search the park another time and widen their search area in which Gemma, Jay and Anne join in to calm the wreck of a father in front of them.

“What got her upset?” Louis who has been standing in the same spot since he bumped into Harry, asks. The four ignore him and go back to bickering.

Where would you go? You are Harry’s girl. You are too smart for your age.

 “Before she was gone” Louis raises his voices to get their attention “Did she say anything?”

“I don’t know Louis.” Gemma doesn’t meet Harry’s eyes “I knew my kids were teasing her about her mother yesterday but I thought I shouldn’t speak to her about it. I thought if I did I’ll make her feel worse” She flinches at the anger at her little brother’s eyes “I’m sorry Harry. I just thought that she is just a kid”

“God Gemma! What the hell were you thinking?” Harry yells at her. “ You know better than this Gemmy with dad and all. You know better” His yelling gets louder.

“Stop it” Louis stands between the two and thinks loudly to himself, “No if that’s why she run away, she would have done it yesterday.” He turns toward Gemma “Did anything upset her this morning”

Gemma rubs her palm together “No she was having breakfast with me and mum then she was gone”