Missing Me by Sophie McKenzie Read Free Book Online Page B

stuck.’
    ‘Yeah, thanks to her.’ Esme pointed at me. ‘You must have done something to the door.’
    ‘I didn’t, I swear,’ I said. ‘There must be some other way out, isn’t there?’
    ‘No.’ Esme shook out her long blonde hair. I had the sense that, despite her surface display of anxiety-fuelled rudeness, underneath she was enjoying all the drama.
    I shrank against the wall, not enjoying it myself at all. For a start, Allan would surely have noticed I wasn’t in the marquee anymore and what would he think? That I’d run away?
Things wouldn’t improve once I was found, either. I’d only just met Allan and he’d been so nice to me, bringing me to this party, and now the daughter of the host clearly thought
it was
my
fault we were locked in this room together.
    ‘I’m really sorry,’ I said. ‘If I did jam the door somehow, it was an accident.’
    ‘It’s not your f . . . f . . . fault,’ Wolf said. ‘And there’s no need to be so melodramatic, Esme. This isn’t the end of the world; we can just phone someone
to let us out.’
    ‘
I
can’t phone anyone,’ Esme said with a theatrical flourish. ‘I left my mobile upstairs.’
    Wolf turned to me, his eyebrows raised in question.
    ‘I had to hand mine in at the door,’ I said.
    ‘Ah, so did I,’ Wolf admitted.
    Esme glared at him. ‘But you’re my
friend
, Wolf,’ she said. ‘You didn’t have to do that. You wouldn’t normally.’
    Wolf shrugged. ‘Dad m . . . made me – he said it was the polite thing to do seeing as all the other guests had to.’ He paused. ‘It’s not such a big deal, Esme.
Someone will notice when we don’t show up later. Then they’ll come looking for us.’
    ‘That could take
hours
,’ Esme whined. ‘We’ll miss the circus show Dad has organised.’
    ‘You mean the acrobats and people in the marquee?’ I said.
    ‘That’s nothing,’ Esme said. ‘Dad has a high-wire act lined up . . . there’s even a tiger somewhere. I saw the trainer earlier.’
    ‘A tiger?’ I stared at her. ‘In a private house? Isn’t that illegal?’
    Esme shrugged.
    ‘Money buys you everything,’ Wolf said drily. ‘What’s your name, anyway?’
    ‘Madison,’ I said.
    ‘As in Madison Avenue?’ Wolf said. ‘You know, the street in New York with the ad agencies?’
    ‘Er, yes.’ I could feel myself blushing. Wolf was taller than me by a good few centimetres. He wasn’t outstandingly handsome compared, say, to Rory’s friend Marcus. His
nose was slightly crooked and his lips a little thin. But there was real warmth in his grey-blue eyes.
    We stared at each other for a moment. I had no idea what to say.
    ‘Hey, guys.’ Esme had wandered across the room and was standing facing one of the big couches. ‘If you could tear yourselves away from the geography lesson, I think I’ve
found a way out of here.’
    ‘How?’ Wolf asked.
    Esme pulled the couch away from the wall, revealing a small door. ‘It’s locked,’ she said, ‘and I don’t have the key, but if we could force it open, I know it leads
to the cellars that run under the whole house.’
    ‘I don’t know, Ez,’ Wolf said slowly. ‘Your dad won’t like us breaking a door down, and we won’t r . . . r . . . really know which direction to head in once
we’re down there.’
    ‘I’ll know.’ Esme put her hands on her slim hips. ‘Man, Wolf is
such
a bad name for you. You should have been called Chip, for Chipmunk or something, not Wolf for
. . . for Wolfhound.’
    Wolfhound?
Jeez, was that his real name?
    Wolf’s pale cheeks pinked. He rubbed his thick fringe off his forehead. ‘Stop it, Ez.’ He turned to me. ‘W . . . what do you think, Madison?’
    I glanced at the little door, thinking of Allan. He would definitely be wondering where I was by now. I looked up. Esme was watching me, hands still on her hips. The light from the lamps around
her shimmered on the gold of her dress and lit up the white-blonde highlights in her hair.