Missing

Last seen in the newspaper shop.Susan.Susan Deakin.About 11am.Small blonde girl of eight. An impassive constable was recording the statements Inwardly weary with the usual hysteria. Inwardly quailing at the thought of her daughter's reaction, Her frantic grandmother was stumbling over the details. Once the story rippled through the village, A miasma of fear settled like a haar Upon the sunlit streets Where mothers now kept their children tight to them. Little knots of elderly women stood chattering, Every utterance dripping with deadly speculation, Drowning any pious hope that she was off safe with her friends. Solitary males must have keenly felt The sharp glances of suspicion and wondered why. Beneath the warmth of an otherwise bright sky Swam an icy current of deepening distrust Threatening the community with its riptide of rancour. There was now nothing to be done but wait.