‘I can walk there by myself,’ Eva said the next morning.
‘Absolutely not,’ Dad said.
She stood by the front door, shoes on, jacket tucked under her arm, emergency coins in her purse. Dad was at the bottom of the stairs, pulling on his trainers.
‘Please, Dad. I’m old enough now.’
‘No, you’re not.’
‘Well,’ Eva said quietly, ‘when will I be? At sixteen? Or eighteen? Or thirty? You have to let me sometime. Why not now? It’s broad daylight. The stars are all hidden. Nothing bad is going to happen to me. Dad, you have to trust me sometime.’
‘I trust you,’ Dad said. ‘It’s the rest of the world I’m not sure about.’
‘It’s a five-minute walk. I’m not a baby any more.’
Dad paused. Eva could see that there were tears glistening in his eyes. He nodded slowly. ‘OK. OK. I know you’re not a baby. But you’re still my Bug. If I let you go alone, don’t talk to any strangers. Or stop on the way. Promise? And I will call Sally to text me when you get there safely. OK?’
‘OK, Dad. And I promise.’
Eva gave Dad a tight hug and then stepped out of the front door alone. She felt a little taller, a little bolder than usual. She smiled at the street lights and grinned at the traffic. The hard tarmac of the pavements felt as soft and springy as clouds. Her feet felt as though they were bouncing her the whole way.
Until she reached the lodge.
Then the smile was wiped clean off her face as though it had never been there.
The driveway looked like a scene from a cop show. Two police cars were parked on the gravel outside. Sally stood next to a police officer. Her face was streaky with tears. None of the children who had turned up to work had gone inside. They stood around the police cars in small huddles. One or two were crying; others looked furious.
Eva felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Was someone ill or injured? She looked around the crowd – there was Shanika and Dilan, together with a few others. Heidi stood alone, looking shocked.
And Jamie?
There was no sign of Jamie.
Eva rushed over to Heidi. ‘What’s going on? What’s happening?’
Heidi turned slowly. Her eyes seemed to have a hard time focusing. ‘The lodge has been trashed.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Someone came in here last night. Broke in. They’ve smashed the place up. All the furniture is ruined. There’s spray paint all over the walls. Windows broken. It’s a mess.’
Eva felt her own eyes prickle with tears. ‘Why?’ she said finally.
‘Who knows? Why would anyone do something like that? They’ve ruined our work. Who knows whether we can fix it? And, if we do, what’s to stop them doing it again?’
Heidi’s cheeks were flushed with anger.
Eva looked at the police officers. Another car pulled up and two people with black suitcases climbed out. Their black uniforms had four letters printed on the back. Eva tried hard to make the letters form a word, but she couldn’t do it. Her brain felt thick and fuzzy.
‘SOCO,’ a voice said. Shanika. ‘Scene of crime officers. They’ll be looking for evidence.’
She’d sneaked up behind Eva and was now staring at her hard. Her brown eyes were full of fury.
‘McIntyres. Your friend or his brothers. They’ll have been too stupid not to leave evidence behind. Fingerprints, or hair, or something.
‘Jamie?’ Eva asked, her voice weak.
‘Who else? The McIntyres do stuff like this for fun – everyone knows that.’
‘Not Jamie.’ Eva was certain of it. He wouldn’t do this. He’d worked hard on getting the place done up. He’d painted stars so they could all think about how amazing the world was.
Then she remembered that he’d been made to paint over his stars.
And he wasn’t here.
She shook her head. ‘It wasn’t Jamie. He wouldn’t do this.’
Shanika snorted. ‘We’ll see. The SOCO people will find out soon enough.’
Eva turned to Heidi. ‘Can we go in? Can we start clearing up?’
Heidi shook her head. ‘No. We won’t be allowed in until the police are done.’
Eva looked back at the lodge where Sally stood clutching a tissue. Jamie wouldn’t have done this. He couldn’t have. Could he?