Page 5 of The Missing Sister

‘If it is the missing sister, it’s a terrible shame that, after all these years of searching for her, she’s found only a year after Pa’s death,’ Maia sighed.

‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if itwasher,’ said Ally, ‘and we could bring her back to Atlantis in time to board theTitanand go and lay the wreath?’

‘It would,’ Maia smiled. ‘Although there is one big problem. According to your information, Georg, “Mary” hardly lives next door. And we leave for our cruise down to Greece in less than three weeks.’

‘Yes, and sadly, I have a very busy schedule at present,’ said Georg. ‘Otherwise, I would go to find Mary myself.’

As if to underline the point, Georg’s mobile rang. He excused himself and left the table.

‘May I suggest something?’ Ma spoke into the silence.

‘Of course, Ma, go ahead,’ said Maia.

‘Given that Georg told us last night that Mary currently lives in New Zealand, I made some enquiries this morning to see how far it was to travel between Sydney and Auckland. Because—’

‘CeCe is in Australia,’ Maia finished for her. ‘I thought about that last night too.’

‘It is a three-hour flight from Sydney to Auckland,’ Ma continued. ‘If CeCe and her friend Chrissie left a day earlier than they are planning to, maybe they could take a detour to New Zealand to see if this Mary is who Georg thinks she is.’

‘That’s a great idea, Ma,’ Ally said. ‘I wonder if CeCe would do it. I know she hates flying.’

‘If we explain, I’m sure she would,’ said Ma. ‘It would be so special to unite the missing sister with the family for your father’s memorial.’

‘The question is, does this Mary even know about Pa Salt and our family?’ Ally asked. ‘It’s not often these days that all us sisters are gathered together,’ she mused. ‘It seems to me like the perfect moment – that is, if sheiswho Georg believes her to be. And if she’s willing to meet us, of course. Now, I think the first thing to do is to contact CeCe, sooner rather than later, as it’s already the evening in Australia.’

‘What do we do about the rest of the sisters?’ asked Maia. ‘I mean, do we tell them?’

‘Good point,’ said Ally. ‘We should email Star, Tiggy and Electra to let them know what’s happening. Do you want to call CeCe, Maia, or shall I?’

‘Why don’t you do it, Ally? I think that, if it’s okay with everyone, I’ll go and have a lie-down before lunch. I’m still feeling a bit queasy.’

‘You poor darling,’ said Ma, standing up. ‘You definitely look a little green.’

‘I’ll come inside with you and make the call to CeCe,’ said Ally. ‘Let’s just hope she isn’t on one of her painting trips in the Outback with her grandfather. There’s apparently no signal at all at his cabin.’

Claudia appeared on the terrace from the kitchen. ‘I will start preparing lunch.’ She turned to Georg who had walked back to the table. ‘Would you like to stay?’

‘No, thank you. I have some pressing matters to attend to and must leave immediately. What has been decided?’ he asked Ma.

As Ally and Maia left the terrace, Ally saw that beads of sweat had appeared on Georg’s forehead and he seemed distracted.

‘We’re contacting CeCe to see if she will go. Georg, you are convinced that this is her?’ Ma asked.

‘I have been convinced by others that would know, yes,’ he replied. ‘Now, I would have liked to chat further, but I must leave you.’

‘I’m sure the girls can deal with this, Georg. They are grown women now, and very capable.’ She put a reassuring hand on his arm. ‘Try to relax. You seem very tense.’

‘I will try, Marina, I will try,’ he agreed with a sigh.

Ally found CeCe’s Australian mobile number in her address book and picked up the receiver in the hallway to dial it.

‘Come on, come on...’ she whispered under her breath as the line rang five or six times. She knew it was pointless leaving CeCe a message as she rarely listened to them.

‘Damn,’ she muttered as CeCe’s voicemail kicked in. Putting the receiver down, she was about to go upstairs to feed Bear when the telephone rang.

‘Allô?’

‘Hello, is that Ma?’