Page 5 of Maybe Tomorrow

A large crash of thunder caused everyone in the building to stop and turn to the window. It sounded like something had come through the roof. The lights went off, plunging the whole room into darkness. They came back on again a few seconds later.

‘Good heavens, that sounded like the world was being torn in half,’ Mrs Wilkinson said.

‘I think I’d better be getting off,’ Alice said.

‘You be careful, Alice. Don’t stand under any trees. Oh, and will you tell your mum I’ll bring her the catalogue on Thursday when I see her?’

‘I will.’

At the door, Alice zipped up her coat, put up the hood and pulled the drawstrings tight. She stepped out into the early evening which was as dark as midnight. She put her head down and marched for home.

John Street, 5pm

Judith usually walked home from work. It took around twenty minutes. Even during the winter months, she’d button her coat up, put her head down, and enjoy the bracing air and the exercise. Tonight, Dr Pratt gave her a lift. The storm was just too severe. Anyone out in weather like this was a fool. He dropped her off outside her front door and watched her go into the house before setting off again.

Judith closed the door behind her and wiped her feet vigorously on the mat while carefully taking off her coat so the rainwater wouldn’t go everywhere and make the floor slippery.

‘Good grief. I’ve never known weather like it,’ she said. ‘There were trees down on practically every road we went on. Thank God we trimmed that one in the back garden.’

She looked up. The hallway was in darkness. She turned on the light and headed for the kitchen, desperate for a mug of tea.

‘How were the buses?’ she called upstairs to her daughter.

Judith turned the light on, filled up the kettle and flicked the switch. She pulled the tea pot down from the shelf and opened the cupboard for a mug and the tin of tea. She frowned. There was no sound from upstairs. Alice always came down to see her when she arrived home from work.

Judith went back into the hall and looked up the stairs.

‘Alice, are you up there?’

There was no reply.

Judith ascended. It wasn’t unheard of for Alice to be on her bed reading a book and oblivious to what was going on in the rest of the house.

Judith knocked on Alice’s closed bedroom door. There was no sound from within. She pushed down the handle and opened the door to reveal an empty room, the bed neatly made. Alice’s satchel, usually by her desk, was missing. She obviously hadn’t come home yet.

A loud crash of thunder from outside, the flash of lightning lighting up the room, caused Judith’s heart to sink. Surely Alice wasn’t still out in weather like this.

5:30pm

The front door slammed closed. Judith jumped up from her seat at the table in the kitchen and ran out into the hall.

‘Oh. It’s just you.’

‘I’ve had warmer welcomes,’ Geoff said, kicking off his work boots. ‘Have you seen the weather out there? It’s practically biblical.’

‘Is Alice with you?’

‘No. Why would she be?’

‘She hasn’t come home yet.’

‘What?’ he asked, looking concerned. ‘Surely she’s not still out in this.’

Judith wrapped her arms around herself, worry etched on her face. ‘She said she was going to the library after college and then coming straight home. She should have been back by three o’clock at the latest.’

‘Maybe she’s taking shelter in the library.’

‘I’ve called them. There’s no answer.’