Monday, mid-morning
“Stop, stop.” The engineer's voice crackled under a staccato dit-dit-blat-blat on the studio loudspeaker. “Whose bloody phone is that? I said turn them off.”
They stopped playing, looked at each other, then Harry felt his pocket, and raised his hand.
“Sorry.”
He pulled out the offending article and looked at the screen. He turned pale, rose to his feet, then walked from the room.
Doug and Danny looked at each other.
“Go on,” Danny said. “I'll talk to Jay.”
Doug set down his bass and hop-stepped out the door. There was no sign of Harry in the corridor, only a quiet hiss and thump as the door to the practice room closed. He made his way down the corridor, peered through the glass, then pushed into the room. Harry was just inside the door, staring at his phone as it buzzed in his hand.
He pressed the call button and lifted it to his ear. “Hello?”
Doug moved around and braced himself against the wall.
“Who is this?” Harry tilted his head forward and closed his eyes.
“You bastard.” He stepped back, leaned against the wall. “You fucking bastard. You fucking shit of a…”
Doug took a step forward.
“Is that really you?”
Harry let his breath out. His back slid down the wall, he moved his legs and sat with his knees high in front of him.
“It's really you. You bastard.” A tear fell from each eye, and he leaned forward, propped his forehead on his spare arm.
Doug knelt, then sat beside him, leaned in and rested an arm across his back. Harry nodded, shook his head, waved the phone.
“Where are you? I am going to fucking kill you.” Harry gulped a breath, turned to Doug, wiped his eyes, and smiled. “Thomas, I thought… ”
Doug frowned.
“What happened?”
The door cracked open, and Danny's head appeared. Doug looked up at him, then back at Harry and shrugged. Danny nodded, raised a thumb, and slipped back out the door.
“Aw, he… The idiot. I bet they did. So when are you…?” Harry nodded. “Well, I'm still going to kill you, and then we'll go out and get absolutely shit-faced… You better. Have you talked to Kat-?”
He covered his eyes with his hand, closed his fingers and drew them down his nose, then chuckled. “Yes, I think she probably will, with nail scissors… OK.”
Harry lifted his head, and stared out the window. “All right… Thomas? Love you… Uh huh?”
His face broke into a huge grin. “Nowhere!”
He pressed the call button, stared at his phone. Doug watched in silence.
The door swung open. Danny crept in for a couple of steps, realised the room was quiet and cleared his throat. Harry and Doug looked up.
“I told Jay there were a bit of a family emergency.”
Harry smiled, let his head sink, then looked back up. “Thanks.”
“He's gone for an early lunch, back in an hour. Said that gives us two full hours before we have to leave, so it's good anyway. If there's owt he can do, if we have to cancel and rebook…”
“No,” Harry said. “No need. It's over now.”
He closed his eyes. A tear welled up and trickled down his cheek. He brushed it away, another appeared. His smile trembled and twisted, he hunched forward, and then the dam broke.
Danny eased himself down beside Harry, threaded his arm alongside Doug's, and together they waited for the flood to stop.
“He said he might stay on a few extra days, and he had an open ticket, so no-one thought anything when he didn't call from the airport.”
Harry sat on the practice room floor, back to the wall, legs stretched out in front of him. Doug lay with his head resting in Harry's lap, Danny sat cross-legged a few inches away. Harry's fingers were in Doug's hair, twirling and untwirling.
“Then my parents got a call from one of his friends he was travelling with, said Thomas had disappeared, just picked up his stuff and walked out of the hostel without saying a word to anyone, and when he wasn't back that evening, they got worried. A day later, they were scared enough to phone my parents.
“So Dad called me, to see if he'd been in touch or told me anything. That was Saturday night. At first, I thought he was Tom calling back.”
Harry shook his head. “There I was, middle of the street, it's pissing it down, and my brother is missing in the fucking jungle. And then Tom turns up and tells me not to drip in his car.
“Poor Tom. And you guys. I'm sorry I took it out on you. I wanted to say something, but…”
“It's all right,” Danny and Doug murmured together. “It's OK.”
Harry chuckled, and caught Doug's eye.
“All I could think, it was like some kidnap movie, tell anyone and we'll…” His cheeks turned red. “Stupid.”
He sat up. “To cut a long story short, he went to see this waterfall someone told him about. Bit of a mission, couple of days each way. He knew Jezzy had other plans, so he left a note. Map, timetable, all that stuff. Jezzy, his mate, he's a solid bloke, but he's not exactly the sharpest tool in the box. When Thomas got back the note was sitting exactly where he left it.
“He called right away. Mum and Dad were packing to catch the next plane out. Another few hours…”
He looked at his watch.
“We'd better go get lunch.”
⇐ Part 28
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Part 30 ⇒