‘Take him, Carlos, he’s heavy.’ Annette was breathing heavily.
Carlos was not happy that the spoilt brat, Antonias, was going with them. That was certainly not what he had planned. He had tried talking Annette into leaving him behind and she’d agreed.
‘Why have you brought the boy?’ Carlos whispered. ‘Wouldn’t Miriam give you the money?’
‘I got it, and more,’ said Annette, trying to appease him. ‘Look.’ Annette opened the holdall and showed him the cash she had taken from the safe; she was pleased when she saw Carlos smile.
He laid Antonias in the back seat of the truck, kissed Annette, then they jumped in the front and drove off into the night.
Annette lay her head back on the seat and smiled. This was the beginning of her new life. She was with Carlos, who had told her many times how much he loved her, and she loved him.
She had paid that bitch Miriam back for her greed and the inconsideration shown for her needs. She was glad to see the back of the place. This was going to be a whole new adventure.
She would be back in London, where she belonged. Annette laughed to herself. She would love to be a fly on the wall when Miriam discovered that she had gone and taken Antonias with her.
Miriam was being served breakfast by one of the maids. She was surprised that little Antonias wasn’t up yet. He always ate breakfast with her and Fredo, and then went to church with his nonna and sat beside her while she prayed. Little sleepyhead, where was he?
‘Please go and see if Antonias is awake yet,’ she said to the maid.
The maid returned after just a few minutes. She was almost too frightened to tell Miriam what she’d found.
‘Well?’ said Miriam, when the woman remained silent.
‘He’s… he’s not there, Mrs Lambrianu,’ she said. ‘His bed has been slept in, but he’s not there, and he isn’t with Mistress Annette, either. Her bed is empty, too.’
Miriam and Fredo looked across the breakfast table at each other. Fredo lowered his newspaper and watched his wife jump out of her seat and run upstairs.
The maid was right; Antonias wasn’t there. Miriam opened the wardrobes; his clothes were still there, but he wasn’t. She ran into Annette’s bedroom. Her clothes were still there, too, but Miriam noticed that her jewellery box was empty and had been tossed aside.
Instinctively, Miriam knew exactly what Annette had done. She had gone, and she had taken Antonias with her!
Miriam went downstairs and was informed by Fredo that the safe was empty. She had taken everything.
Against Fredo’s wishes, Miriam telephoned the police, desperate to find Annette and her beloved Antonias. She instructed the maid to ring the large bell outside, to gather as many of the workers as possible to search the land, just in case they were both out there, somewhere.
Although Miriam feared it was fruitless, she also reckoned anything was worth a try. She was desperate and panic-stricken. More to the point, Annette had double-crossed her!
Miriam vowed she would find Antonias and bring him home, where he belonged, no matter how long it took.
The police informed Miriam and Fredo that, apart from the money being stolen from the safe, no crime had been committed. Antonias was Annette’s son, and she could do as she pleased where he was concerned. Miriam didn’t tell them about the other money she had given Annette.
The police said they would look for her and arrest her for the theft of the money from the safe, but that was all they could do when they found her.
Fredo spoke up, then, and insisted he wouldn’t have Annette arrested for the theft. All they wanted was to know that she and Antonias were safe.
He blamed Miriam as much as he did Annette for entering into this tug of war, fighting and using his grandson as they had. He thought that after Annette returned home, she would write to them and inform them of her and Antonias’s whereabouts.
He wanted to keep the peace; any contact with his grandson was better than none, and Miriam threatening Annette with the police wasn’t going to make her come back.
Miriam was hot-tempered and acted in haste, whereas Fredo was a mild-mannered man who didn’t want to frighten Annette. She had just lost her husband; she wasn’t thinking straight.
He assured Miriam that after Annette and Antonias had had a break from everything, they would come back. After all, they only had the money from the safe, and that wasn’t going to last forever.
Fredo didn’t know that Miriam had given Annette money on the understanding she would let Antonias stay with them. He would have been angry if he had known she was prepared to buy her own grandson.
For now, Miriam had to admit defeat. She checked the mail every day, in the hope that there would be some news, but none came.
A week after Annette and Antonias had disappeared, Miriam sat alone in Fredo’s study; she’d had an idea. Maybe, just maybe, all of Annette’s family were as greedy as her. She searched for Annette’s address book and found it, which meant she had the names and addresses of all her family members.
Annette hadn’t kept in touch with any of them, as far as Miriam knew, apart from the odd Christmas card, but it was better than doing nothing.
Miriam picked up her pen and started writing letter after letter to the names in the address book. She explained that Annette had been grief-stricken after Marias’s death and, feeling alone in her grief, had wandered off.
Miriam wrote in her letters that she needed to know that both Annette and Antonias were with them, and safe. She expressed her concern and, more to the point, she offered a reward for any information.
Miriam felt she had done her best; all she had to do now was wait and pray. Surely one of them would take pity on her and write back?
She was riddled with guilt and felt that what had happened had perhaps been of her own doing. Maybe she should have given Annette more money.
Would she ever see or hear from little Antonias again? Where was he? Was he safe?
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