After Mr Squires had thoroughly searched the tree, with much grunting and cursing, he confirmed that Keenen was definitely not there.

  “Well, he can’t have gone far without his wheelchair.” said Mrs.Beckett who stomped off to the office where the children were nervously fidgeting and waiting to see the headmistress.

  

   Mrs Ridge was usually very kind and patient but a missing student who supposedly disappeared whilst climbing a tree was testing her patience to the limit.  

  “Come now, children, you know how ridiculous this sounds.” she had a stern look on her face which made Hannah start to cry, none of them had ever been called into the principal’s office for bad behaviour before.  Kaydee was starting to get cross too and was really struggling not to shout back at her.

  “Really, Mrs Ridge, it happened exactly as we said, why would we lie? We’re worried about him too, lying wouldn’t help us find him!”  

 

   This seemed to get through to Mrs Ridge as she went pale and sat down.  

  “Ok, well, we’ve called your parents and the police, they should all be here shortly.”

  

   There was total chaos in the little office a half an hour later as it filled with anxious adults all talking at once.  The children were taken into Mrs Ridge’s office one at a time by Constable Horsley and interviewed.  By the time he had finished interviewing them all he looked more confused and worried than before. It was obvious now that the children were telling the truth, however unlikely it seemed.  He had never seen young children be so consistent under questioning.                                                                                                                                                                                

   Mrs.Ridge had assured him they were all model students.  He also felt that questioning them any further would just make them more upset than they obviously were.

 

  More constables were called in and a large scale search of the school and surrounding areas was launched.  The other children were all confined to their classrooms but the teachers allowed them to watch from the windows as getting them to ignore the police and continue with school work was proving to be impossible.  

 

   Kaydee, Anya, Hannah, Tatum, Dan and Damon went home with their parents, all badly shaken now that the authorities had not been able to find Keenen.  

 

  Later that evening Kaydee was watching the news at home.  Someone had obviously alerted the press to the situation as there was a report on the 6 o’clock news.  The BBC1 reporter was standing outside their school.  Kaydee stared at the screen in disbelief, it felt so surreal seeing a place she knew so well on the news.

 

  “Earlier today Keenen Romero, a year 6 student at Ambleside Primary disappeared from the playground during lunch break.  The police are baffled as he was wheelchair bound after a car accident last summer and his wheelchair was found, abandoned, at the scene.”

 

   Kaydee was startled from her absorption in the television broadcast by a knock at the door.  She went to open it and stepped back, startled, as a bright light made her blink and a microphone was pointed at her.  The reporter that she had just seen on the news addressed her.   

 

   “Kaydee? Keenen’s friend?  Can you tell us what happened today?”

Kaydee looked from the reporter to the camera and, after a moment’s pause said,

  “He was pulling himself up the tree in the playground and slipped.  As he fell he just disappeared.”

  

   There was a slight pause as the reporter tried to process what Kaydee was saying.  Apparently, all the police had told her was that he had disappeared.   Kaydee looked at her expectantly, then at the camera and said,

  

   “If anyone knows how we can find him please help us.”                                    

This was apparently the moment the reporter needed to recover herself,

  “I’m sorry Kaydee, that was quite a statement, I’m sure the viewers are as confused as I am, what do you mean, “he just disappeared”?”

 

   Kaydee shuffled nervously, glancing over at the camera.  Her father Percy came to the door to see what was going on.

  “Can I help you?  I’m Kaydee’s father.  What’s going on here?”

The reporter’s expression changed from one of confusion to charm as she smiled at Percy, realising that the arrival of a parent might mean the end of the interview.

  

   “Good evening, Mr Pienaar, my name is Lucy Styles, I’m reporting for BBC News.”  

She stuck out her hand and he automatically shook it, glancing over at the camera.

  “We are hoping Kaydee would be able to shed some light on the disappearance of Keenen today so the police can get some help from the public.”

This seemed to get Percy’s attention as he looked down at Kaydee, putting his arm around her.

  “Do you want to do this?” he asked.

She nodded,

  “If it will help find Keenen then I don’t mind saying what I saw, maybe someone will believe us and be able to help.”  

Her father nodded and said to Lucy,

 

  “Can you please keep our front door and address out of the footage?  We don’t want a bunch of reporters and curious people showing up at our door.”

Lucy nodded, obviously relieved.

  “Of course, where would you like to conduct the interview?”

 

  Percy invited her and the cameraman to join them in the sitting room and sat beside Kaydee, offering the seat opposite them to Lucy.  The cameraman positioned himself so that he could easily pan between them as they spoke.  

 

Lucy turned to address the camera,

  “We are chatting now with Kaydee, she is Keenen’s good friend and was a witness to what happened at school today.  She has a very unusual side of things to tell, as I’m sure you’ll agree.”

 

She turned back to Kaydee,

  “Kaydee, you said that Keenen was climbing the tree at school, slipped and fell and then disappeared?  Was he not wheelchair bound?”

 

Kaydee sat up straight and spoke clearly,

  “Yes, he was feeling really down about not being able to climb trees anymore so we decided to help him.  He was pulling himself up because his arms are really strong now and Dan was helping with his legs.  

   I went to warn him that he should start coming down because Izzy, Anya’s dog started whining and that was making me nervous.  I called up to him but then he lost his balance and fell.  

 

   Dan grabbed him but then a funny mist formed under him so I couldn’t see them anymore.  I heard Keenen and Dan scream and some crashing like Keenen was falling but I couldn’t see anything.  Then the mist cleared and all I could see was Dan hanging onto a branch, staring down at me.”

 

   Lucy was stunned for a moment but quickly recovered her composure,

  “Are you saying you think something supernatural happened to him?”

  “I guess so, I only know what I saw, it was very weird.  What I’m really worried about is that the police don’t believe us so they’re looking for him like he’s been kidnapped but he hasn’t.  Well, not in the normal way.  We need someone to believe us who can explain what happened or help us figure out what happened so we can find him.”

 

   Lucy turned the microphone to Percy,

  “Mr.Pienaar, do you believe what your daughter is saying?”

He was startled at suddenly having the attention turned on him but didn’t hesitate as he looked into the camera,

  

   “Absolutely! Kaydee is the most honest, kind person I know.  She and her friends are very well behaved and never get into trouble.  There is no reason for her to make this story up, she’s as desperate as anyone else for Keenen to be found.  I agree with what she is saying that the police need to expand their investigation and start thinking outside the box.”

 

   This seemed to surprise Lucy, she had expected Percy to be embarrassed by what his daughter was saying and make up an excuse that she was traumatised and didn’t know what she was saying.

  

  “So you’re saying you believe her story?”  she confirmed.

  “Absolutely, the police interviewed her and her friends separately and their story was consistent.  In my experience that only happens when people are telling the truth.”

 

   Lucy turned to the camera and said,  “There you have it.  From an eyewitness to this numinous occurrence, I’m sure we will all be following this story with great interest as it unfolds.  If anyone has any ideas that can help explain this strange disappearance, please call the number below.  This is Lucy Styles reporting for BBC News.”

 

   The camera light switched off and the cameraman nodded and smiled at Kaydee,  giving her a wink and said,  

“You’re a natural kid.”  Then turned and headed out the house, back to his van.  

  Lucy looked a bit uncomfortable as she stood and smiled at Kaydee and then at Percy, sticking her hand out again, which he shook.  

 

  “Thank you for your co-operation,”  She withdrew her hand and reached into her suit jacket pocket and pulled out a business card, which she handed to him,  

  “If you hear anything I’d appreciate it if you could give me a call.”  Percy took the card and looked at it as Lucy hurried down the driveway after her camera-man.  

 

   He closed the door and turned to Kaydee,

  “Well! that’s one for the books!”

  “I know!” she said, just as amazed at what had just happened.

  “What does numinous mean?” Kaydee asked.     

  “It’s a supernatural event.  That’s actually a good description of what happened, she thinks fast under pressure but I guess that’s her job,” said Percy, shaking his head, still in shock at having had a reporter in their home.  

 

   He headed to the kitchen to finish preparing supper.

  “Pity Uncle James missed all the excitement.” said Kaydee.

  “Yes, he just popped out to deliver some tickets, we’ll tell him when he gets home.”  said her dad.  Uncle James was her father’s friend and also his partner in their travel agency in town.  He had come to live with them after Kaydee’s mother died when she was 6 years old to help her father with his business.

 

  “Where do you think he is? He was so brave climbing that tree by himself.  How could he just disappear like that? Where did he go?” her voice finally broke on this last question as she started sobbing.  Her father took her in his arms to comfort her.

  “I don’t know.  I’m sure the police will sort it out and he’ll be home soon.”  But somehow Kaydee didn’t think he would be.

  

  Over the next few days, Kaydee was glued to the TV at every chance she got,  following the story of the mounting search for Keenen.  Her interview had apparently resulted in a huge amount of “nut jobs” as Uncle James called them, calling in to give their opinion of what had happened, based on Kaydee’s description.  

 

   All sorts of experts had been brought in and the school had been closed down while investigators combed every inch of it in search of clues but nothing had been found.  

  A week later the school reopened and the group of friends were back under the oak tree at lunch break.  They lay on their backs, looking up through the leaves to the place where Keenen had vanished.

  

  “So what do you think really happened?” Dan asked

  “I think a portal to another dimension opened up and he fell through it,” said Damon.

  “I saw it in a movie once.”

  “But that’s a movie, it’s not real life,” objected Anya.

  “Where do you think ideas for movies come from? A lot of them are from real life but people don’t believe they really happened so they make a movie about it.”

 

   There was silence for a moment as they all considered this.  Kaydee sat up and told Hannah in sign language what Damon had said, she laughed and shook her head.

 

  “Actually, what Damon says makes sense, I told you I saw that weird mist and it felt like he was yanked out of my grip by something pulling him down.  If it was a portal then how do we find him?” Asked  Dan.

  “Well the portal must have closed again otherwise you or Mr Squires would have gone through it.”  said Damon, pleased at being the authority on the subject.

 

  “I think you should climb up and make sure,” said Kaydee, staring up into the branches,

looking for a shimmering light or something that might look like a portal.  Damon jumped up, glanced around the playground to make sure Mrs Battleaxe wasn’t watching and slipped round the back of the tree.  

 

   Dan joined him, although a bit reluctantly, he was a bit nervous at the thought of falling through a portal but didn’t want his friends to think he was scared.  The others sat up to keep watch as they heard the rustle of the leaves and their grunting as they clambered up.  A few minutes later the noises changed as they started making their way down again.  Eventually, they dropped to the ground and came around the tree again.

  

  “Definitely no portal,” Damon said, sounding a bit disappointed,

  “What now?” He looked at Kaydee expectantly.

  “We’ll have to research it and see what we can find out.  I think your idea is the most logical unless anyone else has any ideas?” She looked around at the group, Hannah had read her lips so was up to speed and joined in with the others as they shook their heads.  

  

   “The police are still looking for some rational explanation like kidnap or running away but we all know that didn’t happen so it’s up to us to find him.”

They all nodded and agreed that they would all do some research that night.