Sister, Missing by Sophie McKenzie Page A

whining you’ll get in, no problem,’ I snapped.
    Shelby threw me a fierce look.
    ‘Lauren, please.’ Jam glared at me, then checked his watch. ‘It’s almost 2 pm. Holtwood’s calling again at 4. What are we going to tell her?’
    ‘We’ll tell her we need more time,’ I said, feeling nettled. Why did Jam have to behave as if I was the one in the wrong. Shelby was the snitch who’d gone behind
our backs to the police and stopped us getting Madison back. ‘We’ll tell Holtwood we’re still in London, looking for whatever Sam hid.’
    Jam looked sceptical. ‘But instead we’re going to Norbourne? We’re going to attempt to find some surfer boy who may or may not know something?’ He paused.
‘It’s not much of a lead, is it?’
    ‘It’s all we’ve got,’ I said.
    ‘Come on, then,’ Shelby said.
    ‘Not you,’ I said. ‘You can come back with us to Norbourne, but you’re not helping us look for Mo.’
    ‘Why not?’ Shelby said indignantly.
    ‘Because I don’t trust you.’ I put my hands on my hips.
    Honestly , how could Shelby expect us to include her when she had betrayed us just hours before?
    ‘That’s not fair,’ Shelby said. ‘I want Madison back as much as you.’
    I opened my mouth to tell her that I sincerely doubted that, but before I could speak, Jam patted his jeans pocket . . . the one containing Sam’s letter to Shelby.
    ‘Lauren,’ he said, a warning tone to his voice, ‘I think we should let Shelby help if she wants to.’
    I bit my lip, resentment mingling with fear that if I didn’t agree Jam would show Shelby the letter and then all hell would break loose and we’d be further away than ever from
finding Madison.
    ‘Fine,’ I said.
    Shelby smiled triumphantly and marched out of the room.
    Jam shouldered the backpack with the two million and turned to me. ‘Thanks, Lauren.’ He lowered his voice. ‘You know, I can think of a lot better things to spend money on than
cross-country train journeys and insane treasure hunts.’
    ‘Yeah?’ I felt for the wooden oval on its string round my neck. ‘Well, I guess that’s what you get if you go out with me.’
    I smiled, hoping Jam would smile that crinkly smile of his back at me, but he just rolled his eyes and headed after Shelby.
    I picked Sam’s letter to me off the bed, folded and pocketed it and followed them. What with everything else going on, the knowledge he wasn’t my biological dad hadn’t begun to
sink in. It didn’t feel real. Which was fine – worrying about that stuff was the last thing I needed right now.
    We got back to Norbourne in record time and made straight for the Boondog Shack. The place was buzzing. I’d only seen it from a distance before, but it was cool. A great
track was playing, there was nobody in there over twenty-one and the staff were all fit and very smiley.
    A couple of the waiters recognised Shelby and threw her a wave. She looked extremely pleased with herself as she led the way to a table by the window.
    I described the boy who’d spoken to me on the beach to our waitress. ‘I think he knows someone called Cassie who comes here?’ I said, remembering the name the boy had asked
about.
    The waitress said she didn’t know either of them. It was the same with the next two waiters I asked. I checked the time. Holtwood was due to ring me in twenty minutes.
    It was starting to look like we’d made a terrible mistake in coming here. And then a girl with curly brown hair and freckles beckoned me over. She’d been sitting close to the door,
watching me ask the waiters if they knew the blond boy. I’d described him as tall and good-looking, trying to ignore the quizzical look Jam had given me when I did so.
    I left Jam and Shelby still chatting to the waiters and went over to the girl with the freckles.
    ‘The boy you’re looking for?’ she said with a frown. ‘Why d’you want to find him?’
    I hesitated. The freckly girl knew him . . . that was obvious . . . and