6 Emmerdale Spoilers for Next Week – 13th to 17th January

Next week on Emmerdale, Marlon heads to the city in his search for April, Wendy betrays Ella as press invade the village, and Ruby’s dark secret is revealed.

1) Marlon fears the worst

Only three weeks have passed since April’s (Amelia Flanagan) disappearance, but Marlon (Mark Charnock) and Rhona (Zoe Henry) have already had to face a series of devastating blows in their quest to find the 15-year-old.

April was discovered missing on Christmas Day, after a downward spiral saw her come home drunk the previous day and argue with Marlon. It was already known that April had been seeking out weed as well as turning to alcohol, with Marlon and Rhona further concerned when they found out she was on the pill.

Family liaison officer Anna (Rhea Bailey) later revealed that April also had a secret social media account, where she made known her (mistaken) belief that her dad was having an affair with Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy).

Only days later Marlon and Rhona faced every parent’s worst nightmare, when student doctor Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) informed them that April had been admitted to the emergency department at A&E after being attacked. The pair hotfooted it to the hospital only to then be told that April had died during surgery.

However, when Marlon went to identify her body, it transpired that a terrible mistake had been made—the mystery girl was not actually April, but was somehow in possession of her wallet.

If that wasn’t bad enough, an online appeal video uploading by Marlon last week attracted comments from internet trolls accusing him, and Rhona of wrongdoing, before two vigilantes tricked their way into the vets. As one kept Rhona occupied, the other crept into the house and started livestreaming from April’s bedroom whilst searching for ‘evidence’.

Next week, Marlon begins suffering nightmares that April is dead, and as he wakes up he tries to cover his distress from Rhona.

When Vanessa (Michelle Hardwick) shows Rhona the latest coverage on the Hotten News website, she’s upset to realise that they are dragging up her past—no doubt over the baby Ivy controversy—and questioning whether she could have any hand in April’s disappearance.

Almost at breaking point, Marlon is forced to admit to Rhona his belief that there’s a likelihood that April could indeed be dead.

Meanwhile, over at The Woolpack, the villagers pull together in an attempt to boost morale and provide further motivation for the search.

2) Marlon heads to the city

Later in the week, Marlon widens his search and heads into Leeds city centre. Knowing that he’s searching for a needle in a haystick, Marlon desperately tries to get the attention of passers by in the hope that someone will recognise April. As he wanders the streets, he gets his hopes up when he spots a girl in the distance and races over, only to be disappointed when it’s a case of mistaken identity.

Marlon soon comes across a less welcome familiar face when he bumps into Ross (Michael Parr).

It had been Ross’s involvement with April, and his telling her the truth about mum Donna’s (Verity Rushworth) death, that Marlon sees as being responsible for April’s downward spiral.

Whilst things are initially heated between the pair, Ross manages to calm Marlon down as he urges him to not give up hope. But as much as they want to believe they can find April, they are surrounded by the stark reminder that she’s just one of the hundreds of thousands of missing people up and down the country…

3) Wendy betrays Ella

As the Hotten Courier’s damning story on Rhona blows up, Wendy (Susan Cookson) unexpectedly finds herself caught in the headlights when a scheming journalist uncovers some dirt on her that she’d rather keep under wraps.

Finding herself in an impossible situation as the journo blackmails her, Wendy instead offers them up another scoop in desperation… namely Ella’s (Paula Lane) dark secret.

The villagers have now come to terms with Ella’s past, after it was revealed she had spent most of her life in prison after killing her best friend as an 11-year-old, with Ella now managing to integrate herself into the community.

However, Wendy was unfortunately on the receiving end when, in a desperate state of panic, Ella had lashed out in an attempt to land herself back in prison, the only place she had felt safe.

So it’s perhaps no big surprise that Wendy has traded in Ella’s story in an attempt to save her own skin, but when the villagers inevitably find out what she’s done, her life looks set to fall apart…

Wendy later makes a big decision, and with one resident set to say goodbye on Friday, could Wendy be the one leaving the village…?

4) Ruby’s secret is revealed

Elsewhere in the village, predator Anthony (Nicholas Day) continues to hide in plain sight as daughter Ruby (Beth Cordingly) goes through turmoil.

Viewers recently learned that Anthony had abused Ruby as a teenager, with Ruby concerned that he could have been responsible for fathering her daughter Steph (Georgia Jay).

With her father now back in her life after decades of estrangement, something she’s been felt forced into in order to rebuild her relationship with Steph, the time had come where Ruby needed to know the truth. Unbeknownst to her family, she ordered a DNA test to try and ascertain whether Steph was indeed Caleb’s daughter, and sent off the samples this week.

In the meantime, Anthony has started to become integrated into the community, but most concerningly with 17-year-old Arthur (Alfie Clarke). After offering to help Arthur with a maths problem in the cafe, Anthony was asked by Laurel if he would agree to tutor Arthur, something which he was only too glad to do whilst declining any form of payment.

On Monday, seeing the help that Anthony has already provided to Arthur, Nicola (Nicola Wheeler) arranges for Anthony to conduct a tutoring session with teenage daughter Angel (Rebecca Bakes). The session appears to go well, with Laurel later asking Anthony to carry on with tutoring Arthur, blissfully unaware of the sort of man she’s letting into her son’s life…

When an anxious Ruby later returns home, she has the results of the DNA test. She’s considering whether to open them when Caleb returns unexpectedly, forcing Ruby to conceal the envelope in her handbag.

After a sleepless night, Ruby finally rips open the envelope ready to find out the truth, but is interrupted by Steph coming downstairs. With everything beginning to get on top of her, Ruby seeks guidance from Chas (Lucy Pargeter), who she has previously confided in over the situation.

Although Chas is aware that there’s a possibility that Caleb isn’t Steph’s father, with Ruby having been assaulted on her sixteenth birthday, she is still unaware of who the perpetrator actually was.

Chas tries to assure Ruby that no matter what the DNA test reveals, Caleb will still have her back and will always be a father to Steph.

Deciding that she would be better off not knowing, Ruby resolves to destroy the results without reading them. However, her plans are scuppered when Caleb goes into her handbag, searching for painkillers, and is concerned to find the envelope with the return address of the DNA clinic printed on the back.

By the time Ruby gets back to the cottage, Caleb is standing with the open envelope, and the results in his hand… is he reeling from the discovery that he is not Steph’s father, or from the fact that his paternity has now come into question?

As Caleb and Ruby’s lives look set to implode either way, Chas finally comes to a shocking realisation… has the penny dropped as to who Ruby’s abuser was?

5) Joe tries to win over Noah

Elsewhere, away from all the dramas at Home Farm, recently returned Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) is doing his best to build bridges with half-brother Noah (Jack Downham), much to the annoyance of his mum Charity (Emma Atkins).

Joe has been doing his best to try and convince everyone that he has turned over a new life, but appears to be secretly battling with a serious health issue at the same time.

Whilst Joe has already managed to put Noah offside by insulting the Dingle family, it looks as though Noah might be swayed when Joe offers him the chance of VIP tickets to a Leeds United match. When Charity then returns, she’s annoyed that Joe still hasn’t got the hint that he isn’t wanted. Hoping to make the message clear, Charity asks Ross to warn Joe off.

Ross’s intervention seems to have the desired effect when Joe tells a hurt Noah that he can no longer take him to the match. Charity is secretly delighted, though she doesn’t realise that Joe is about to start orchestrating yet another way to get closer to Noah.

6) Moira prepares for radiotherapy

Also next week, up at Butlers, Moira (Natalie J Robb) is all set to begin her course of radiotherapy. But with Cain still holding his guilt over sleeping with Ruby whilst Moira was undergoing surgery, he’s been finding himself letting Moira down when she most needs him.

Cain promises to support Moira through her treatment, but will be be able to hold onto his secret for much longer?