Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Ransom, Part 3

Michael

Mitch is in the nursery as we arrive, working on... something... A stack of ripped-up glossy magazines to one side, she works through a mass of wires, strings and multi-coloured somethings-or-other...

She smiles as we enter, glancing up but not really looking. "Jenny showed me how she makes those little paper birds she does." She waves across to where the Christmas tree is half-decorated, still waiting for tinsel, but with Charlotte's kaleidoscopic creations dotted through the branches.

"They're so pretty, so I looked up other kinds." She lifts the contraption up, untangles a couple of wires and then displays it, a swirling display of birds, fish, unicorns and more. "It's a mobile for over Cara's cot. I thought it would go well with the larger one from the ceiling."

Then she finally looks at us. "So, how did it go..." Her smile dissolves. "What's wrong?" She looks past us, out to the hallway. "Where's Jenny?"