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that her daughter had asked Amy to spend the weekend, and they had collected her from the school at eleven forty-five on the Saturday morning. However, Amy had said that she wanted to see her father on the Saturday afternoon, and would return in the early evening. Serena had been very disappointed as they had arranged to go to see a film together, but Amy had never turned up. Mrs Newman presumed that the girl had decided to stay with her father, as she knew that Amy often did so when not at home with Lena.
    ‘Did you try to call her?’ Lena asked nervously.
    ‘Obviously, yes we did, and I left you a message on your house phone, but we never heard back from anyone. Serena went to the film with some other friends and we returned her to school Sunday evening.’ Mrs Newman sounded more irritated than concerned, as if Lena was blaming her in some way.
    Lena realized that with the dinner party, the pending solicitor’s meeting and other things on her mind she had not bothered to check any missed calls on her landline since Saturday. ‘Thank you, I’m sorry to bother you. I think I will just call her father and sort it out as she has not returned to school.’
    ‘Well, I can understand you must be worried. Serena told me you’re going through a divorce so it has to be a difficult time,’ Mrs Newman said, more friendly now.
    ‘Yes it is, but Amy is handling it very well as it’s amicable. We’ve made sure she didn’t find herself caught in between us. Thank you again.’
    Lena replaced the phone, angrier because the least Marcus could have done was to let her know that Amy was staying with him. She had a good few sips of wine before she called him, only to reach his voicemail.
    ‘Hey, it’s Marcus, leave a message and I’ll get back to you.’
    Trying to keep her voice from becoming shrill, she said, ‘Can you please ask Amy to call me? She is not at school and I am concerned as she has made no contact with them or with me.’ She sat beside the phone, willing it to ring, even while admonishing herself for being stupid and impatient, but she was angry at having to call the last person she wanted to talk to, especially after their meeting that morning. She finally turned her attention to her computer to check the latest emails but there was nothing of any urgency and she didn’t feel like looking at any business arrangements for the following day as she would first have a serious talk with her daughter, and insist she drive her to school to apologize personally.
    Amy’s bedroom was just along the landing from her office, with a sign hanging on the door: ‘Privacy Please’. Usually she was very aware of giving Amy exactly that, knocking before entering if she was at home, and rarely if ever going into the bedroom when she wasn’t. Agnes changed the sheets, cleaned and collected any dirty laundry and dry-cleaning. This evening Lena opened the door and stood looking into the room. It was not at all girly or draped in pink, but tasteful, with pale blue fitted carpets, white curtains and wooden slatted blinds. The small double bed had a duvet and frilled pillows, and an old teddy bear that Amy had kept since a toddler. He was worn and moth-eaten with one glass eye missing but was very much loved. She used to always carry ‘Teddy’ around and sleep clasping him tightly, although at about eleven years old, she had stuffed him into a drawer for some reason. Lena couldn’t recall exactly when he had resurfaced but he was now always placed on her pillow. A pair of mule slippers were left on the floor beside the bed, but the rest of the room was exceptionally tidy. Fitted wardrobes took up an entire wall – the sliding doors opened to a bank of drawers and then full-length hanging sections. Winter coats were hung together and all her winter dresses and skirts were colour-coordinated and then there were a few evening dresses and rows of shirts and jackets. Her jeans were folded on the top shelf of the wardrobe alongside