The Runaway

by Linda Huber

  ‘Right, lads. Remember, keep focused. You’re both up against wily boxers, but find a weak point early and go for it. Norrie, off you go with Davie here. Good luck, but you won’t need it.’ Stu put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. ‘On you come, Ed lad. And try to look fiercer, huh? Use the psychology.’

  Eddie almost laughed. Use the psychology – that was Dad, not him. He was the one who had psychology used on him. He allowed Stu to usher him into the corridor. Halfway along they met his opponent, Gary, and his team, and they all trooped through a green door. Cheers rang in the hall as they were led down to the ring.

  Seconds blurred past, and he was placed in his corner, Stu hanging over the ropes with his gum shield. The ref bawled at the crowd as lights in the hall dimmed, and Eddie caught sight of his parents near the front. Mum looked scared and Dad looked – possessed. That grin on his face, the light in his eyes; he was waiting for a result and it wasn’t going to happen. Dad should be the one up here. Eddie hugged his arms to his middle, his bowels churning; oh God oh God, why had he allowed this to happen?

  It was time. He lurched to his feet, understanding in those first few sickening seconds that Stu was right, using psychology was paramount in a real match and it was too late already. His opponent weighed in, looking for a weak point, raining punch after punch on Eddie’s splendid body. The crowd jeered and cheered and he found himself up against the ropes. Gary’s glove slammed against his head, and the ring flickered as blood filled his mouth. This was so not him; it wasn’t him…

  ‘Come on, lad!’ Stu’s voice pierced his head, and Eddie fought back grimly, punching and dancing, fighting to survive to the end of the round.

  The bell rang. Stu was there immediately with water, pouring advice into his ear. ‘You’ve lost that one but two more to go – you can do this. Cross jab to his left, that’s what he won’t expect. And move quicker; you need to whirl around him like a wee firefly. Now go!’

  Eddie danced, concentrating as hard as he could on his footwork and his opponent’s left hand. For an exhilarating half-minute it worked; Gary was wrong-footed and stumbled backwards. The crowd howled; Eddie glanced away and – wham! His jaw took full force of the next onslaught, and he staggered backwards while impish glee settled on Gary’s face. Those little piggy grinning eyes, what did they remind him of?

  Something deep inside him snapped in two. He leapt forward, raining punches of any kind against every part of his opponent he could reach, not caring about tactics or techniques or anything other than destroying the force attacking him. His ears buzzed and the ring appeared through a blood-red mist; all he wanted was revenge.

  The punch to his shoulder spun him around before another to the side of his head swept him off his feet and he fell heavily onto his chest, hearing his mother’s shriek above the start of the countdown.

  ‘Get on your feet!’ His father’s voice.

  This time, he couldn’t obey. He lay still, sick and winded, knowing the fight was lost.

  But the battle was won. The rage was awake.

  The following year, he won the championship.

  Part Two

  Chapter One

  Thursday, 23rd July

  Rob Gillan put his head out the back door. ‘Coffee, Mum? Or iced tea?’

  Late July sunshine was blazing down on the patio where Dorothy and Mia were playing Rummikub, and Rob took a moment to enjoy the sight. It was great for Mia, having her nan in Brighton for her birthday tomorrow. A cake with eight candles was waiting.

  ‘Coffee, please!’ Dorothy laid her last tile on the table. ‘Out! Thank goodness, I’ve won a game at last!’

  ‘Winner clears up!’ Mia danced towards Rob and the kitchen. ‘Can I have an ice lolly?’

  ‘Sure. Go and pick one.’

  Rob made coffee and joined his mother under the sun umbrella.

  Dorothy lifted her mug. ‘I’ve made your list of jobs for when we’re in Cornwall next week. There’s a lot we’ll need to organise for – afterwards.’ She shot him a guilty look.

  Rob tapped his nose. They kept forgetting Mia didn’t know about Dorothy’s move to Brighton. The flat above theirs had gone on the market, and Rob had seized the moment.

  Mia’s almost-eight-year-old ears were sharp. ‘What’s happening afterwards?’

  Rob reached out and touched the little girl’s sticky lips. ‘I’ll tell you tomorrow. It’s a birthday surprise. Scram and get washed for your last dance class before the holidays, huh? Phoebe’s taking you today.’

  ‘Yay!’

  Rob grinned. He and Phoebe had been together since Mia was four, and Rob blessed the day he’d met her. It had been just him and Mia since Jan’s death in a car crash when Mia was a tiny baby. Phoebs had filled the gaping hole in their lives perfectly.

  Mia pirouetted off, and Rob leaned back. He’d be able to sit here with his mother every day, soon. The removal was planned for the end of the summer holidays, and it wasn’t the only thing Mia didn’t know about yet. There was Kelly. Rob rubbed his face. He had no idea how to break it to his daughter that her beloved ‘holiday sister’ had vanished off the face of the earth. He’d hoped Kelly would come home before they went to St Ives, but with three days left, that wasn’t looking likely. It was a mess, and he could only imagine what Nicola and Ed were going through.

  First up, though, was creating a happy birthday for Mia, and as they were picking the puppy up tomorrow, happiness was guaranteed.

  When Mia and Phoebe were gone, Rob fetched a beer, and a glass of wine for his mother, and raised his can to her.

  ‘Cheers! Have you been heard anything from Nicola this week?’

  Dorothy slumped in her chair. ‘No. It’s been nearly a month now, and I don’t know how she copes. She spends all day going around London looking in shelters and showing people flyers of Kelly.’

  ‘And Ed?’

  ‘He spends all the hours God sends at work. Poor Kelly could come home and then give up waiting for someone to be there.’

  Rob frowned. There was an odd tone in her voice.

  ‘What’s up, Mum?’

  She sighed. ‘I don’t think Ed’s pulling his weight, searching for Kelly, and Nicola’s such a lovely woman. She doesn’t deserve this.’

  Rob grimaced. ‘Well, I’m glad you’re moving in here beside us. We’re all lovely.’

  She blew him a kiss, though her eyes were sombre. Rob leaned back with his beer. Thank God his own family problems weren’t as far-reaching.

  The sun was low in the sky on Saturday afternoon when Rob pulled on the handbrake and high-fived Mia in the back seat. ‘Made it, all the way to St Ives with no pee or poo in the car – good start, Mr Scout!’

  ‘Da – ddy… he’s not Mr, just Scout. Can I show him the garden, Nan?’ Mia unclicked her seat belt, and Rob got out to release the dog from his cage at the back.

  Dorothy joined him on the driveway. ‘’Course you can, darling. Let him have a good run around, then come in and I’ll show you your room.’

  Rob hefted the box of groceries they’d brought into the car and joined his mother at the kitchen window. Mia was chasing Scout around the back garden, the very picture of a happy child. Thankfully, Scout was distracting her very nicely from the silence next door. Mia still didn’t know about Kelly, but the question would come soon.

  Dorothy smiled reminiscently. ‘Mia’s so like her mum, isn’t she?

  Rob nodded. Mia didn’t remember Jan, of course, but the two of them had the same sunny nature as well as the same looks. Bittersweet.

  His mother put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Look at that dog nosing around. Your first job will be to stop up the holes in that fence, Rob. I don’t want to have to spend all summer searching the cliff tops for an escaped dog.’

  Rob saluted, then started to fill the fridge. He was gasping for a chilled beer, but the chilled part would take an hour or two. A scream from the garden had him running outside. Mia was jumping up and down by the band of tall shrubs separating next
door’s garden from theirs.

  ‘Scout’s gone through the hedge – I’ll get him!’

  ‘No, I’ll get him – you go inside and find a good place for his bowls. He’ll be thirsty when he gets back.’ Rob jogged round the front of the house and up the neighbouring driveway. There was no car here, but Ed was unlikely to be at work on a Saturday. Maybe he was helping Nicola in London.

  Scout bounded up as soon as he saw Rob, and he bent to rub the golden head, which made the pup go mad with joy. They had a brief play-fight, then Rob straightened up and glanced at the house. What would happen if Kelly was never found? It didn’t bear thinking about. Rob swung Scout, who was about to run off again, into his arms and returned to his mother’s house. Another eight years and Mia’d be sixteen, same as Kelly. What had happened in the teenager’s life to make her go on the run for weeks on end?

  Mia was filling Scout’s water bowl when he arrived inside with the dog.

  ‘Was Kelly home? Can I go over later?’

  ‘No one’s home. I think they’re all in London this weekend.’ What a coward he was.

  Mia’s mouth drooped, then she turned back to Scout. ‘We’ve made you a lovely bed in your cage.’ She laid the bowl on its mat, slopping water over the floor in the process. ‘Here you are, Scout, a nice drink.’ She looked up at Dorothy. ‘Can Scout sleep in my room?’

  ‘Of course.’ Dorothy beamed at the child. ‘We’ll take his cage upstairs at bedtime every night. I’ve put Daddy and Phoebe into the little room, and you and Scout can have the big one, so you’ll have space to play if it rains. Scout must sleep in his cage, though, and if he bothers you in the night-’

  ‘He won’t,’ said Mia confidently, and Rob grinned at his mother, who winked back.

  Mia was happy. Long may it continue.

  Chapter Two

  Tuesday, 28th July

  It was always fun at Nan’s. Mia threw Scout’s red ball, laughing when the puppy fell over his feet as he scrambled to catch it and then ran off. Dad said he had to learn how to bring the ball back and drop it at her feet, but Scout didn’t understand that part yet. He was so funny, and he loved it when she gave him hugs and back-scratches – having a dog was brilliant. Mia loped after him, shrieking as he scurried down the side of the house and out of sight. He wasn’t allowed to go out of the garden, but he didn’t understand that yet either. Dad had fixed the holes in the fence, but Scout kept finding new places to squeeze through.

  ‘Scout!’ Mia stood in the driveway, spinning round to see everywhere, but no Scout came running up. Then a bark – oh no, he’d gone next door again. Mia ran. She wasn’t supposed to leave the garden either, but Dad and Phoebe had gone to the big DIY store in St Ives for removal boxes, so Nan was alone here and she wouldn’t mind, would she? It was just lovely that Nan was coming to live in Brighton. Mia raced round into the garden next door. It was such a shame that Kelly and Nicola were still in London, and Nan didn’t know when they’d be back. Kelly’s dad was here because he had to go to work – she would ask him when Kelly was coming first time she saw him.

  Scout was sniffing at something at the back of the house, but he bounced up the moment Mia appeared. She made a fuss of him – Phoebe said that was the way to train him to come. The grass here was longer than at Nan’s and the roses along the side were a bit scruffy. Kelly’s mum and dad didn’t seem to like gardening much. They had a big apple tree at the bottom of the garden, though. Mia ran over to it and craned her neck to see up through twisty old branches to the blue sky above. If Nan had a tree in her garden, they could put up a swing. Some of the branches of this one were dead, but lots of others had leaves and little apples hanging among them. There were lots of little apples on the grass at her feet, too – they must have blown down when it was windy. Nobody would mind if she tried one, would they?

  She poked among the apples until she found one that didn’t have brown bits on the skin, but sourness filled her mouth as soon as she bit into it, and she spat it out again. Scout thought it was a lovely game, and crunched his way through a green one before Mia could stop him.

  ‘Come on, Scout! Play catch!’ Mia ran a few steps, then clapped her hands at the puppy. She didn’t want him to have a tummy-ache from eating sour apples.

  Scout immediately tore across the grass, and Mia dropped to her knees. ‘Good boy!’

  She fussed him, then gripped his collar and pulled him across the grass. The back of Kelly’s house was funny – the kitchen window was freshly painted, but other bits looked like they’d been there forever. The cellar windows were boarded up, but the boards were a bit loose. Maybe that had been the wind too.

  Scout stopped to pee in the grass, and Mia lifted him up.

  ‘We have to go home, Scout.’ Phoebe said it wasn’t a good idea to carry him because she wouldn’t be able to when he was a few weeks older. For now it was fine, though. Mia scuttled round to the front of the house. She’d been away too long.

  Kelly’s dad was getting out of a big green car on the front driveway.

  ‘Mia!’ he said, staring at her. ‘What are you doing here?’

  Mia’s mouth went dry. He sounded cross. ‘Scout escaped from Nan’s garden,’ she said, twisting one foot round the other leg. ‘When’s Kelly coming home?’

  He wasn’t one of those nice smiley people. ‘No idea. You’d better make sure Scout stays in your nan’s garden.’

  ‘I know,’ said Mia. ‘He’s eaten one of the apples on your grass. I hope he won’t get a tummy-ache.’

  She hurried back home, not putting Scout down until they were back in Nan’s kitchen where it was safe. Kelly’s dad was nothing like her own dad.

  ‘Pooh, Nan, Kelly’s dad doesn’t know when she’ll be home. I hope it’s soon. Why do people like going to London so much?’

  ‘Oh, there’s such a lot to do there.’ Nan started to talk fast about making spaghetti for tea, so Mia didn’t say more about Kelly, or Scout escaping.

  It was late when Mia went to bed – she was always allowed to stay up in the holidays – but it was still light outside, and something was banging. Mia went to peek between the curtains. Kelly’s dad was hammering the board on the outside of his cellar window back on. Why did he want it dark down there? She couldn’t think of any reason, unless they were going to get a home cinema. If they did, she and Kelly could watch films and eat popcorn in the cellar. That would be fun.

  On Wednesday morning Rob awoke to sunshine and birdsong outside. He showered quickly and ran downstairs, energised. Mia and Scout were in the kitchen, but his mother was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘She’s in the living room,’ said Mia, who was laying the table for breakfast. ‘She answered her phone, and I think she was sad about something.’

  Rob put his head round the living room door. His mother was on her mobile, but she beckoned him in and he perched on the arm of the sofa, listening to her end of the conversation.

  ‘No, he’s definitely still around, he was fixing something in the garden last night; I saw him. Nicola, what’s happening about Kelly?’

  The reply took a long time, and Rob glanced out of the side window to the house next door. No Land Rover, but you’d expect that at this time on a Wednesday.

  ‘Give me a call when you know what time you’ll be here,’ said Dorothy into the phone. ‘And don’t lose hope, Nicola. She must be somewhere.’ She ended the call, and shook her head at Rob.

  ‘She’s on her way back for more clothes and things, but she couldn’t find her keys and Ed isn’t answering his phone. She tried several times yesterday and again this morning. Oh, Rob – I’m so thankful to have you all right here at home!’

  He went to hug her. ‘It’s an awful situation for them.’

  A shriek came from the kitchen, and Rob hurried to see what was happening. Mia was standing in the middle of a sea of sugar, clutching an empty packet while Scout wolfed up the mess at her feet.

  ‘I wanted to fill the bowl, but the packet opened at the bottom,�
� said Mia.

  Rob laughed, and grabbed Scout. ‘Come on, mate. That’s not your breakfast. And it looks like we’re having tea with no sugar this morning,’ he added to Dorothy.

  When order was restored, he sat down and helped himself to muesli. ‘Ladies – plans for today. Mia, how about you and Phoebe can have a girls’ day out in St Ives? Shopping, the beach, whatever you like. Your nan and I are going to start organising things here for her move to Brighton. Then later this afternoon we’ll all do something together.’

  ‘What about Scout?’

  ‘He’ll stay here first, but he can be part of whatever we all do together.’ Rob winked at his mother. There was a very nice pub a mile or two along the clifftop, and it had an excellent garden for dogs and small girls.

  He was loading the lunchtime plates into the dishwasher when Dorothy’s phone trilled on the work surface.

  She tapped connect. ‘Hello, Nicola – where are you? … Oh, that’s good … Come in for a coffee when you get here … See you soon.’

  ‘She’s got hold of a key?’ Rob started to wipe the table.

  ‘She reached Ed at last, so she’s picking up his key on her way. She’ll be here in half an hour.’

  ‘Good. I’m going to shift some of those boxes down from the attic. I’ll leave them in your bedroom, then you can sort through them at your leisure.’

  He was still heaving boxes around when he heard the doorbell – Nicola had made good time. He’d leave them to it; Mum would want to speak to her alone. Ten minutes later, though, Dorothy called up the stairs.

  ‘Rob! Come and have a coffee with us!’

  He ran down and joined them in the garden, a little shock running through him when he saw Nicola. The woman in the chair beside Dorothy was hollow-cheeked and pale, with long, lanky hair pushed behind her ears, and the denim shirt she was wearing was hanging off her shoulders. Thin fingers were cupped around her mug as if she was gathering warmth, although it was another almost unpleasantly hot day.