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Livvy?’
    ‘They haven’t found her yet, sweetheart. Let’s get you to bed. Maybe, maybe when you wake up in the morning... ’
    But Maggie couldn’t go on. How could she encourage Joe to hope for something she knew herself wouldn’t happen? He finished for her, though.
    ‘Maybe Livvy’ll be home!’
    But of course she wasn’t. Maggie, forced into drugged sleep by another of the doctor’s pills, went to bed straight after Joe, leaving Colin sitting outside listening to the helicopter still droning overhead.
    And the helicopter was the first sound Maggie heard the next morning.
    For a fraction of a second when she woke, her world was as usual. Then the realisation of the previous day’s events swept through her and she moaned aloud.
    Colin was lying on top of the duvet with his back towards her, still wearing the clothes he’d had on yesterday. Maggie could tell he was awake.
    ‘Col?’
    She touched his shoulder. He rose to his feet and staggered towards the door, not even looking at her.
    ‘They haven’t found her,’ he said, his voice expressionless. ‘If they don’t find her today...’
    He went through to the kitchen and Maggie listened to him crashing around among the mugs. The radio crackled for a moment and was then abruptly silent. Maggie heard Colin’s voice talking to Joe, and then the front door slammed. She rolled into a ball. She knew that Colin had turned away from her, and she knew why. He blamed her.
    He was right, too. This whole horrible situation was her fault and no-one else’s. She had allowed a fit of pique at a small child’s thoughtlessness to colour her actions, and now Olivia was gone.
    ‘Mummy? Are you up yet?’
    Her son’s voice in the kitchen drove Maggie out of bed. Joe needed her to be strong. She couldn’t fail him too, she had to be a mother to her little boy, at least.
    He was sitting at the table spooning up yoghurt, his usually bright little face clouded.
    ‘Mummy,’ he said, and Maggie blinked back tears, he looked so worried. ‘Mummy, when will they find Livvy?’
    Maggie sat down beside him, struggling to find words. Colin strode into the room in time to hear Joe’s question.
    ‘It might take a long time,’ he said. ‘If Livvy’s badly lost it might take days to find her. I think the best thing would be if I took you to Grandma and Gramps, Joe. You can stay with them until... in the meantime.’
    Maggie shivered. It was a good idea, but since when hadn’t they discussed decisions like that? Colin’s parents lived in Looe on the south coast, not exactly next door, but her own mother was on holiday in Tuscany. And whatever happened today it would be better if Joe wasn’t around.
    ‘We’ll wait until Howard comes, then we’ll go,’ said Colin. ‘You’d better pack, Joe.’
    Without a word, Joe went into the living room and began gathering toys together.
    Maggie stared at Colin. He was angry, she could see that little pulse beating near his hairline and his jaw was tight.
    Quite suddenly he turned to her and she shrank back at the expression on his face. ‘Don’t put the radio on until we’ve gone,’ he said, his voice low and furious. ‘She’s on the news. And there’s a policeman outside making sure a herd of reporters don’t cross the tape they’ve put up at the start of Cliff Road. They all want horror pictures for their news sites. “Drowned girl’s parents in grief.” Fucking shit.’
    For a brief moment, Maggie closed her eyes. Then she stood up and slowly stepped towards Colin, but he evaded her and opened the back door.
    ‘You should have bloody watched her,’ he said viciously, going out and banging the door behind him.
    There was nothing to say. Alone in Joe’s room, Maggie opened drawers, unable to keep her tears in check. Joe’s belongings only half-filled the blue canvas bag. Last week, she’d packed Livvy’s things in here too. How happy they had been, Olivia most of all. Packing was a wonderful game now that she was