Page 10 of The Missing Sister

‘Thank you for trusting us,’ CeCe said as Mary-Kate crossed the room towards a door.

‘No worries. I’ll tell my mate Fletch to come in and keep you company,’ she replied.

After Mary-Kate left and the two of them sat down on the old but comfortable sofa in front of the fireplace, Chrissie squeezed CeCe’s hand. ‘You okay?’

‘Yup. What a sweet girl she is. I’m not sure I would have let two strangers into my house after that story.’

‘No, but people round these parts are probably a lot more trusting than they are in cities. Besides, as she says, she has a team of minders just outside.’

‘She reminds me of Star, with her blonde colouring and big blue eyes.’

‘I know what you mean from the pictures you’ve shown me, but remember, none of you sisters are related by blood, so the chances are high that Mary-Kate isn’t blood-related to any of you either,’ Chrissie pointed out.

The door opened and a tall, lanky man in his early twenties entered. His long, light brown hair hung down from underneath a woollen beanie, and his ears sported several silver piercings.

‘Hi there, I’m Fletch, good to meet you.’

The girls introduced themselves as Fletch sat down in an armchair across from them.

‘So, MK’s sent me in to make sure you guys won’t hold her at gunpoint over her jewellery,’ he grinned. ‘What’s the story?’

CeCe left it all to Chrissie to explain, because she did stuff like that so much better.

‘I know it sounds strange,’ Chrissie finished, ‘but CeCe comes from a weird family. I mean,they’renot weird, but the fact their father adopted them from all over the worldis.’

‘D’ya know why he adopted all of you? I mean, specifically?’ asked Fletch.

‘Not a clue,’ said CeCe. ‘I guess it was probably random, like, on his travels. We happened to be there, and he swept us up and took us home with him.’

‘I see. I mean, I don’t see, but...’

At that moment, Mary-Kate arrived back in the sitting room.

‘I’ve looked through my jewellery box and Mum’s, but the ring isn’t there. She must have taken it with her after all.’

‘How long is she away for?’ asked CeCe.

‘Well, what she said when she left was, “for as long as I want to be”.’ Mary-Kate shrugged. ‘My dad died recently, and she decided she wanted to take a world tour and visit all the friends she hasn’t seen for years, whilst she was still young enough to do it.’

‘I’m sorry your dad died. As we said, so did mine recently,’ said CeCe.

‘Thanks,’ said Mary-Kate. ‘It’s been really tough, y’know? It was only a few months ago.’

‘Must have been a shock for your mum too,’ said Chrissie.

‘Oh, it was. Even though Dad was actually seventy-three, we never thought of him as old. Mum’s quite a bit younger – she has the big Six-O coming up next year. But you’d never know how old she was either – she looks so youthful. See, there’s a photo of her over there, taken last year with me, my brother Jack and my dad. Dad always liked to say that Mum looked like an actress called Grace Kelly.’

When Mary-Kate brought it over, both girls stared at the photo. If young Mary-Kate was pretty, Mary senior was still displaying the signs of a true beauty, despite being in her late fifties.

‘Wow! I’d take her for not much older than forty,’ whistled Chrissie.

‘Me too,’ said CeCe. ‘She’s... well, she’s stunning.’

‘She is, but more importantly, she’s a great human being. Everyone loves my mum,’ Mary-Kate said with a smile.

‘I’ll second that,’ said Fletch. ‘She’s just one of those special people; very warm and welcoming, y’know?’

‘Yeah, our adoptive mum, Ma, is like that – she just makes all of us feel good about ourselves,’ said CeCe as she studied the other pictures arranged on the mantelpiece. One was a black and white shot of what looked like a younger Mary senior, dressed in a dark academic robe and cap, with a bright smile on her face. In the background were stone columns flanking the entrance of a grand building.