Chapter 58

After Janey left my room, I took the opportunity to think things through properly. Was I going to try to help Alex Ferguson? That was an easy one. I felt I owed her for testifying that I hadn’t touched her when I sleepwalked into her bed, and for warning me about her father even though I’d ended up being suckered into going to FreshFields. However, if she had been kidnapped by Norris Ferguson’s enemies, that was bad news: they were likely to be as dangerous as he was.

When I had sleepwalked out of FreshFields, I’d ended up in bed with Mrs Thomas, but it hadn’t been her usual bed because she’d been sleeping in the guest bedroom while redecorating her own room. If Brenda Rodgers had contacted me as soon as Alex was kidnapped, sleepwalking would probably have delivered us both to Alex’s own bed at her house. But since Alex had been kidnapped two days ago, it was more likely I’d end up wherever the kidnappers were holding her. That meant I was heading into danger and might have only moments to alert potential rescuers to our location. Could I do that before Alex woke up? If not, I’d only have a second or two tops to make her recognise me and talk her down. That would have to be long enough because if she screamed again, the kidnappers would probably find me comatose in bed with her, and I couldn’t imagine that would go well.

My cellphone would be no use because it didn’t have GPS. Ms Edgeway’s phone might but, even if it had, who could I call who would be able to send immediate help against armed men? I couldn’t imagine the police taking a phone call seriously from a teenage boy they had reason to dislike.

It was clear I’d have to delay my attempt to sleepwalk to Alex until that issue was resolved. I bet Norris Ferguson would have been able to help but he was locked up in prison and there was no way I’d even be able to visit him since I was a potential witness against him. And the police would no doubt dismiss an offer of help from me out of hand.

Would Mrs Ferguson help? Alex hadn’t mentioned her when warning me about her dad, giving me hope that perhaps her mum didn’t hate me as much as her dad did. Surely she would help with her daughter’s life was at stake.

Eventually I realised it was getting late so I went to bed. I was still churning things over in my mind when I fell asleep, without having thought of a better option than trying to elicit help from Mrs Ferguson.

I woke up late, still without coming up with a better plan. When I went to the kitchen for breakfast, I found Dad had gone to work and Janey was just leaving for school.

“What are your plans for this morning?” asked Mum.

“I thought I’d go for a ride on my bike. I haven’t ridden it since the last time I went to the moors.” I saw Mum hesitate. “Don’t worry, I won’t go there today. It’s just that I’ve spent all that time sitting in a car recently and I could do with some exercise. I’ll be back by lunchtime.”

“Okay. Just be careful,” said Mum. “I probably won’t be home for lunch because I’ve still got a lot of work to do for Richard. I’ll call you later to let you know for sure.”

Message received loud and clear. Be home at lunchtime because Mum was going to call to check up on me.

My bike was in the garage. I’d cleaned it down since my last moors trip, but that was all. I noticed my metal detector now indicating that it was fully charged so I disconnected it from the mains, hoping I’d be able to use it on Sunday.