NOBODY SAID a thing. Not one thing.
Sheila wouldn’t even look at him. Maybe he had won this time. His dad kept smiling at him and touching him awkwardly, as if he was just making sure he was real.
Sometimes, he thought to himself, everything in life is just wrong.
He was lying on his bed.
That policeman was kind of okay, really. It’s strange to find people being good to you when you don’t expect them to be.
‘I’ll come quietly,’ Robbie had said to him, when he’d recovered from the shock. The shock of the police being there, plus the shock of the alarm, plus the shock of Fran.
To his surprise, he’d received a big grin in return. He’d got in the back and the policemen both turned to look at him.
‘Run away from home, have you?’
‘How d’you know? I mean, I could’ve been breaking and entering.’
‘Then the alarm would’ve gone off when you were entering, wouldn’t it? Your friend let you in?’
‘Sort of.’
‘We’ll work something out for you. In trouble?’ Robbie nodded. ‘Don’t worry, son. I ran away once.’ There was a look on his face, as if he understood. ‘Homes aren’t always sweet, are they? My stepdad terrorized me and my mum. I didn’t go back until he left.’
‘Didn’t you hate her for letting him do it?’
‘Yeah, yeah, I did. For a long time.’
‘He goes to see her every Sunday,’ said the other one, pulling the car out into the traffic. ‘He’s such a softie, mate, we don’t know what to do with him.’
*
Now he’d been back a few days, he’d been to school, and he’d said sorry to Alice, though it turned out the alarm had switched itself off after half an hour. When he told her what he’d seen, she’d been horrified.
‘Poor Fran,’ she said. ‘Poor, poor Fran.’
‘Yeah.’
‘So that was who you saw in the wood?’
‘Yeah.’
‘That is so terrible.’ She looked at him for a long time. Then she asked him what he was going to do about it, and if he had said anything to Mags. And he said no he hadn’t, because he hadn’t seen her.
‘Well, you’d better tell her soon,’ said Alice.
*
There was a knock at the door.
‘Are you there, Robert?’
Lucy. The only person who called him that, usually when she wanted to annoy him.
‘Robert?’
The handle moved.
‘Robert?’
‘Robbie?’ That was Jess.
The door opened.
‘Robbie?’ said Jess again.
‘Yes?’
‘Lucy’s just been next door, you know, Mrs Allardyce’s, she’s wondering whether you forgot you were supposed to go for tea on Saturday.’
‘She said perhaps you could go this coming Saturday instead,’ said Lucy. ‘And she asked me to give you this.’ She was holding an envelope.
‘It’s not my birthday.’
‘Whatever.’
‘Go on, open it,’ said Jess.
Robbie didn’t move.
Lucy got to her feet. ‘Come on, Jessica, we’re not welcome here.’
‘Okay, I’ll open it for you,’ said Jess.
‘Fine,’ said Robbie, so she did.
‘Just inviting you round,’ she said. ‘Nice picture, though.’
Robbie turned the card over. It was a picture of a white hare, running.