Cloak of Silence (Jake Harding Adventures Book 1)

Jake got out his own mobile and rang his mum. She didn’t take long to get there, arriving almost at a run.

‘Show me where you found the phone,’ she demanded.

He pointed out the spot and she got down on her hands and knees and carefully examined the area. The policemen looked on, unsure what to do or say.

There was nothing to see except a few old cigarette butts and two beetles scurrying around.

She got to her feet at last. ‘Well?’ she asked the policeman who stood anxiously nearby. The dog handler and the police dog had retreated up the narrow path to the car park.

The officer cleared his throat and explained that the trail simply ended right there at the bench.

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she said, glancing around. ‘It can’t just end here.’

‘I called superior,’ he said. ‘He here soon.’

Little was said while they waited, but when he arrived the senior police officer could offer no rational explanation either. He made the handler repeat the last section of the search in case Zoë had retraced her steps and gone off in another direction.

They drew a blank. The handler led the dog past the place where the mobile had been found and on down the steps to the monastery gate, but there was no trace of her there. The officer pointed out that the gravel around the bench was undisturbed, so with no evidence of a struggle she was unlikely to have been forcibly carried off.

‘How reliable is this dog?’ Jake’s mum asked at last.

‘The very best,’ he assured her.

‘So what now?’ she asked.

The senior policeman shrugged elaborately. ‘We will question local people, alert all police stations on the island, inform ports and airports…’

Barbara held up a hand and the policeman stopped in mid-flow. ‘Just find my daughter, inspector.’

Jake had never heard his mum sound so desperate.

‘We have our procedures, Mrs Harding.’

Jake stayed on at the bench after the police and his mum had left. There didn’t seem any point in looking anywhere else; the answer to Zoë’s disappearance must surely lie here at the old bench.  But being honest with himself, he hadn’t a clue. Neither, it seemed, did the police.

His eyes dropped down to the tiny bay below, the water glinting invitingly through the canopy of tall trees. It reminded him of a windy afternoon last summer when he and Rob had windsurfed together along the coast.

‘Hey, that’s Monastery Bay, why not check it out?’ Rob had shouted.

Without a second thought, Jake had spun his board in a scissor gybe and shot into the narrow entrance channel. The low limestone cliffs pressed in from both sides, but in a few moments he was through, propelled by the wind behind him. He emerged into the calm water of the tiny bay, but had to change course quickly to avoid a boathouse built out over the water. He raced on past the boathouse and the end of a wooden jetty. As the beach came up he had spun the board into the wind and jumped off into waist-deep water.

He stared in disbelief at Rob, before grinning widely. ‘You set me up!’ he shouted, but his words were snatched away by the wind that was blowing straight into the narrow entrance. There was no way he could windsurf out of the bay to where Rob, grinning and waving, was waiting for him.

It looked the same now from his vantage point, although the trees that encircled the bay allowed only glimpses of the scene. It was peaceful and timeless, but as the branches moved, he thought he saw something. The trees swayed again, revealing a group of men in dark robes on a path along the shoreline.

The monks were searching.

They vanished again under the green canopy, but appeared a few minutes later walking slowly up the path that emerged from the trees and swept up the wide sloping lawn to the monastery building. There were six of them, dressed in the black robes of their holy order. One was in charge and pointed up the path to the building before turning to indicate the rough footpath that led up the steep hill to the gate below the bench.

They split up, three of them continuing towards the monastery while the other three started up the stony path towards him.

Jake felt guilty that they were hunting for his sister while he was sitting in the sun, but they might have noticed him already, so he waited. Anyway, it seemed this was Zoë’s last known location, so where else should he go?

The monks were making slow but deliberate progress, leaving and rejoining the footpath as it snaked up the hill.

The first monk to reach the gate had used his staff as a giant walking stick on the steep slope. Even so, he was red in the face and breathing hard from the stiff climb. The other two were searching under the bushes and by the time they reached the gate, the leading monk had almost got his breath back.

He produced a key from a pocket of his robe and gave it to one of the others, who looked like the youngest of the three. The other two then set off slowly down the hill, while the young monk unlocked the padlock and opened the gate.

He scrambled up the steps and started looking around, smiling politely when he saw Jake. Then he broke into a huge grin as recognition lit up his face.

‘Jake!’ he exclaimed.

‘Taki!’

They grinned at each other before embracing and patting each other on the back.

‘You’re looking well, Jake. Still playing sport, right?’

‘Yeah, when I can. Are you okay?’ Taki was just as Jake remembered him – tall and lean with an olive complexion and a broad smile that lit up his face.

‘Okay, but listen, tell me it’s not Zoë we’re looking for.’

Jake was lost for words, but managed to nod his head.

Taki’s sat down heavily on the wall. ‘We’ve been looking all over,’ he said quietly, pulling off his monk’s hat and running his fingers through his dark hair. ‘They said the girl was from Thunder Bay. I thought she might be someone on a course…a grommet,’ he added, remembering the word with a quick smile.

‘I hope she turns up soon,’ Jake replied. What else was there to say?

‘I’ll pray for that,’ Taki said fervently.

Jake felt he should reassure him that everything would be fine but, in reality, he had no reason to believe it would be.

‘Hey, after Zoë comes home,’ he said, trying to sound upbeat. ‘Can you come over and we’ll go windsurfing?’

Taki grinned. ‘Great!’ he exclaimed. ‘But I’ve not windsurfed since the time you taught me.’

‘No problem,’ Jake said.

‘I hope I can get permission to come,’ Taki said soberly.

‘And I hope Zoë comes home soon,’ Jake said, coming back down to earth.

Neither of them spoke after that, but before long a distant sound intruded into the silence. After a few moments it resolved itself into the thud of an approaching helicopter. They both looked up, squinting into the clear blue sky. It suddenly appeared, below them surprisingly, skimming low over the surface of the sea beyond the entrance to the bay. They watched as it disappeared behind the monastery before turning back and rising up to land with a cloud of dust in the car park.

Taki had been looking at it intently. ‘My father I think,’ he said.

‘Your father?’ Jake was surprised, before remembering. ‘Oh, he’s a government minister, right?’

Taki waited until the noise of the aircraft engine died away. ‘Yes, but my parents are getting divorced and because my father is, well, famous, it’s in the papers.’

‘That’s tough,’ Jake sympathised, but Taki sat unmoving, gazing out at the view. ‘Shouldn’t you go and say hello to him?’

‘Sure,’ Taki said, getting to his feet. He went down the steps and clicked the padlock on the gate before rejoining Jake at the bench. ‘I’ll get in trouble if I leave it unlocked,’ he explained.

‘You know Selena’s gone to stay with your mum in Athens?’ Jake said as he followed Taki down the footpath to the car park.

‘She didn’t tell me.’ He stopped and turned. ‘We send messages to each other, you know…we’ve got a secret system.’

‘I won’t tell,’ Jake said, smiling.

The gleaming blue and white helicopter had landed in the centre of the car park. Its rotor blades still turned slowly and the air above shimmered from the heat of the engine. Two uniformed men were already next to it, one opening the side door while the other stood stiffly to attention. Jake realised that he was the senior police officer who had been talking to his mum earlier.

After a few moments a man in a dark suit and sunglasses emerged and the policeman snapped a smart salute.

‘Your dad?’ Jake asked quietly.

‘Yes, I’ll introduce you,’ Taki said, but the minister and the officer were deep in conversation and the boys waited politely a few paces away until the minister looked up and saw them. He broke off the discussion at once and extended an arm to Taki. Jake stayed where he was while Taki and his dad shook hands formally, the son noticeably taller than the father.

They turned towards Jake and Taki beckoned him over.

‘I am Nikolai Andreadis,’ the minister said, shaking Jake’s hand. He had removed his sunglasses and his dark eyes bored into Jake’s. He was a swarthy man and smelt of expensive fragrance. His hand felt cold and Jake reckoned the helicopter must have good air conditioning.

‘Spyros called me about the problem,’ he continued. ‘So I came at once. I want to assure you the police and the government will do everything we can.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ Jake replied.

The minister held up a hand. ‘No need for thanks. We will leave no stone unturned, I can assure you.’

‘I’ll let my parents know.’

‘I will try to visit them later. Now I must go to the monastery; courtesy call you understand.’ The minister put on his sunglasses as if that ended their conversation.

A police car had driven up and he got into the back. He said something to Taki who hesitated a moment before smiling apologetically at Jake and getting into the car next to his dad.

‘See you, Taki,’ Jake called.

The car door was closed and the vehicle was driven through the car park and disappeared through the monastery gates.

‘We should get some action from the top,’ Jake’s dad said as the helicopter banked over the bay. ‘A government minister and wealthy shipping magnate; he’s§ got strong links with Zengounas, of course, but I’m impressed that he came all the same.’

The helicopter gained only a little height as it flew towards Jake and his parents standing on the terrace of their home, passing so low overhead that they could feel the downdraft from the rotor blades. They waved but couldn’t see any response.

As the sound of the helicopter faded into the distance, the buzz of insects and the gentle ripple of small waves on the beach below were all that could be heard.

‘What now?’ Jake asked.

‘We keep looking until we find her,’ his mum said resolutely. ‘Yes, I know the police dog tracked her to the bench and her mobile was there, but it doesn’t make any sense. People don’t just vanish into thin air.’

‘Something happened up there, Barbara,’ his dad said. ‘She wouldn’t drop her phone unless someone, or something, made her do it.’

‘Well, I’m not putting all my faith in that dog. I can’t explain the mobile, but I’m not just sitting back and saying ‘oh well, it’s a mystery’. I’ve got a couple of photos of her and I’ll go everywhere I can think of and ask people if they’ve seen her.’

‘I’m sure Rob, Jenny and Matt will help as much as they can.’

‘What can I do?’ Jake asked.

‘You can help out on the course to fill in for Jenny so she can handle Mum’s admin role,’ his dad said. ‘I’ll look at the schedule and work it out.’

‘Your first thought is the course, isn’t it, Richard?’ His mum’s voice was suddenly brittle.

His dad blinked in surprise. ‘We’ve got twenty-four kids arriving tomorrow afternoon. We’ve got to deal with them.’

‘Even when our daughter’s missing, when she’s perhaps even…’ Her voice caught in her throat and she couldn’t finish the sentence.

‘Look, Barbara, it won’t be easy but we’ve all got to work terribly hard to find her and keep Thunder Bay going at the same time.’

‘To hell with the course – my priority is finding our daughter.’

‘She won’t thank us if we’re financially ruined when she gets home.’

‘You worry about the finances then and I’ll worry about Zoë.’ She strode towards the terrace door. ‘And believe me, if we don’t find her, I won’t be able to bring myself to stay on here.’

‘But Barbara…’

‘No, Richard,’ she turned, the door half open. ‘I love our life here, but if something awful has happened to Zoë, that’s it.’

As the door crashed shut, Jake gripped the terrace railing and stared unseeingly across the bay. His parents hardly ever argued and he hated it when they did.

His mum wouldn’t find Zoë by going around with a photo and asking people, he was sure of that. But she’d bite his head off if he said so and, anyway, he didn’t have any better ideas.

Jake didn’t look around as he heard his dad follow his mum into the house, closing the terrace door quietly behind him. He wouldn’t be able to persuade her differently; he mightn’t even try. Jake didn’t really get why they should leave because of Zoë’s disappearance, but he had never, ever known his mum to change her mind about anything. No, if Zoë never came home they would be leaving Thunder Bay.

He’d lose his sister and he’d lose his home and lose the adventure school that was so much part of his life.

After a few moments he turned away from the view and walked over to the glazed door. He paused and listened; if his parents were arguing he’d rather stay outside for a while.

His reflection in the glass panel stared back at him. Tall for his age, broad shouldered, with dark hair and widely spaced blue eyes, he didn’t look like a loser and he’d never felt like one. But he’d lost his sister and unless she came home, he’d lose this place too.

All was quiet in the house but he turned and walked back to the railing. He needed time to think.

Nobody had referred to him teasing her just before she’d gone out last night. Maybe that wasn’t why she’d not come back, but he still felt desperately responsible. And if that wasn’t the reason, why then had she not come home? What could have happened to her? Where was she? How could he find her?

He bit his lip and gripped the railing even harder as he tried to make sense of it. One of his many questions kept coming back to him: ‘How could he find her?’

His mum wouldn’t, not by going around with a photo. His dad and the instructors wouldn’t have time to search for her properly while they ran the course. His dad was right of course; they absolutely must keep the adventure school going. As for the police, he didn’t have much confidence in them.

As the realisation hit him, he gripped the railing even harder: it was totally down to him. He’d help at the school as his Dad had asked, but hopefully still have plenty of free time.

He would have to find her.

He stared around him as if seeing the familiar view for the first time. The bay basking in the warm sunshine invited him to kiteboard or windsurf or just go swimming. This time yesterday he’d been out there without a care in the world.

‘This won’t be easy,’ he told himself, sombre now.

He looked around again; at the long stretch of sandy beach with the taverna half way along it, at the monastery on the opposite headland and the bay itself, protected by the heads with the open sea beyond. Above the houses in the village, the heavily wooden hillside stretched away to the lower slopes of the mountain.

He had no idea where he should start.

‘But I’ll do it, whatever it takes,’ he promised himself. ‘I’ll find her.’