Ray’s back. He’s got the batteries. I told him about the hare. We’re going to look in the hole at the bottom of the garden.

Wish us luck. God bless.

xxx

My God, I don’t believe what I just saw. I think I saw a creature come out of the wall. I mean, out of the wall where there isn’t a hole.

I was on the landing outside Mary Jane’s room. There was moonlight on the wall, a long stretch of it. I think it was a hare.

I couldn’t move, I was so scared. When is Ray going to come back? He’s been out over an hour.

The thought just occurred to me that the hare was following the arrows on the map. Or the arrows on the map were showing the course taken by the hare. Maybe Mary Jane saw this ghost or whatever it was.

I really don’t like being alone in the house.

I’m just typing this to have something to do until Ray gets back.

Someone just sent me a message saying Lisa has been keeping a journal, it just all seems so wrong, I don’t know what to think.

Lisa, sweet honeyone, I’m sure you’ll check this soon. Just text us. We can’t trace that.

Ray’s just come back from taking a look in the garden. He says there’s a great big hole in the back wall. Easily big enough for Lisa to have gotten into. And there was a flashlight left on the ground beside it. He would’ve shone it inside but the batteries were dead.

He said he’s going out to a late-night garage to get some now.

Ray just searched Lisa’s room again, to see if she’d left us a note. He got very angry and practically tore the place apart. I’d be so ashamed if Betty and Joey and especially Mary Jane were coming back! He thinks he found something. A clue. It was in one of Mary Jane’s books. Some ghost stories by M.R. James. It looks very like a floorplan of this house. I’ve taken a photo. See what you can make of it:

The arrows lead from Mary Jane’s room down the stairs and out into the garden and something has left a filthy mess everywhere.

Our lovely daughter is gone. Where can she have gone? It’s a strange city. We’ve had enough trouble finding our way around it with maps and taking taxis. But Lisa wouldn’t have any money. Perhaps she’ll spend the night on the street. Think of that! Oh, God, I just hope she’s okay.

Still no sign of Lisa.

The British police don’t take missing person seriously for the first twenty four hours, so we have to wait until tomorrow evening before they will come round and take statements.

We are absolutely beside ourselves with worry. It’s like when Claribella went awol for two weeks last July, only much much worse. A daughter isn’t a cat.

Lisa, if by any chance you’re reading this to see how we’re coping, honey, please just call to let us know you’re alright.

Lisa has completely disappeared! Just wasn’t here when we arrived back.

We think she might have run away.

If any of her friends are reading this, and she’s gotten in touch in the last nine hours (since 9am Greenwich Meantime), please let us know, if only to let us know she’s safe. ray.and.lynn@hotmail.com

The room she was sleeping in smells really bad, like musty. And there were pellets of some sort on the floor. It’s possible they were marijuana, although we can’t think where she could have got it.

We will be going further off from the center of town today, to a place called Islington. It is said to be very nice. I think we may wind up buying here. We are looking over three beautiful ‘properties’. Well, the photographs make them look beautiful. (What do you think? Here’s links to all three.)

properties-to-view0wermk643s.pdf

Still thinking about those poor people dying on that plane. And we’re using their teapot!

The lawyer called again about this house. Apparently, Betty and Joey had only one living relative. She is Betty’s grandmother, who is ninety and in a nursing home in Queensland, Australia. She has Alzheimer’s, so isn’t in any position to get involved with intestate property. The nub of it is, we can probably stay here as long as we want, paying money into the same account as before. After that, the contents of the house will be sold. Someone will have to come and do an inventory. It is all too too sad.

We are missing Claribella very much. It’s at times like these that you need a cat around the place. They are such a calming influence, rubbing around your feet.