I waited
most of next day, worried sick, but she didn't show. Early that evening,
I rang a few friends I knew went to the same clubs and pubs as Van. Sure
enough, one of 'em had seen her the night before dancing wildly in a Rave
club in London. He reckoned she was stoked up on Ecstasy and booze. He
hesitantly told me he'd seen her leave with a bunch of misfits and wasters...
which really gave me the chills for her safety.
I rang
my old mate Mol, and told him what was going down here. I know he loves
Van and me lots and sure enough... he said we'd have to go looking for
her right away and came over there and then!
We
went down to 'cardboard city' on the Southbank. This is a place South of
the city near the river, where people without homes tend to spend
the night laying on the concrete with some limited shelter from building
over-hangs. A pretty girl, who couldn't have been older than 15, told us
she'd seen a red-haired woman walking along the wall next to the River
Thames.
Me and
Mol became really anxious. With Van's state of mind, and all boozed up
and all, she might have jumped in or even fell into the icy waters below.
The wind
seemed to howl around the Shell-BP tower building, like the foreboding
breath of death, as we walked up the river bank looking for the worst!
We
found nothing. We crossed over the river into the West End, and moved towards
Soho. As we searched the shops, alleys, and bars - I stuck up little posters
I'd made earlier on my PC. Each had a small photo of Vanessa, and a promise
of 100 pounds reward if anyone phoned me to say where I could find her.
As we
left to go home, my mind was filled with an image of her walking along
the Thames wall, bent on killing herself. I just prayed she was still alive!
It was
nearly a week and a half later - and a lifetime of worry and self-guilt
- when we got a call from someone looking to pick up the 100 pound
reward. The caller said that a woman like the one in the photograph
was sleeping rough in a cemetery in Kennington.