‘I ... I haven’t got a purse. I ...’ I dug my hands into my jeans and pulled out the five pound note that I had left of my pocket money. ‘Here. Take this. It’s all I have.’ We’d been told so many times in school that, if we were ever mugged, not to put up a fight but just to hand over what they wanted. I could hear Mrs Goldman’s voice saying, ‘You can always get another mobile phone or bit of cash, you can’t get another life.’ As I remembered her words, I felt even more panic. What if one of them had a knife?
‘OI!’ I heard a male voice cry in the distance. ‘Leave her alone!’ I tried to writhe around while at the same time cry out in response, but the hand over my mouth clamped tighter and, in doing so, he yanked my neck back.
‘LET HER GO!’ someone shouted and I could hear the sound of footsteps approaching.
‘Leg it,’ said one of my assailants.‘Someone’s coming.’
The hands released me and I fell back on to the pavement with a thud. I turned my head to see the backs of two boys running down an alleyway to my right. Then they leapt over a wall and disappeared.
Seconds later, a third boy was towering over me. He looked about eighteen, tall, dark-skinned with brown eyes. He kneeled down, leaned over and offered his hand. I shrank back.
‘It’s OK,’ he said.‘I won’t hurt you. And I think I scared them off.‘ He took my hand and squeezed it gently.‘Are you OK?’ He helped me into a sitting position and I rubbed the back of my head. I’d hit the pavement with quite a bang.
‘I . . . I . . .’
‘Can you stand up?’ asked the boy.
I nodded and he helped me to my feet. Once up, I felt myself begin to shake. Once I’d started shaking, I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t control it and my backside hurt where I’d fallen. The boy looked up and down the street. ‘Did they take much?’ he asked.
‘My phone and some money.’
‘But you’re OK?’ he asked.
I nodded. Then I burst into tears.
Getting home was a blur. I knew that the boy accompanied me, but everything seemed unreal, like I was in a dream. I felt very shaken, in shock that someone had penetrated the bubble I usually walk around in. School. Home. Fridge. Bed. Friends. Family. India Jane world. Safe and sound. Muggings happened to other people, not to me. I’d read about them in the newspaper but it always happened to someone else. Not this time. My world had changed, like anything could happen. However, I felt that the boy who helped me to my feet was a friend. His face was full of concern for me and the hand he offered was strong and kind. He told me that his name was Tyler and I must have given him my address because he knew where to bring me, and he must have rung the bell when we got to the house. It was weird, like I was disconnected from my brain. Tyler kept reassuring me that I was all right. It was over. The boys had gone. As we walked home, I was so thankful that he was there. He felt like a solid presence, unphased by what had happened, in charge of getting me home and thankfully in no hurry to leave me to make my own way. As we walked, he told me about a course on journalism that he’d been on that afternoon and I was grateful for his chatter. It distracted me from going over what had happened in my head.
Mum answered the door and I vaguely remember her look of curiosity on seeing me with a strange boy changing to an expression of horror when Tyler told her that I had been mugged, and then she clasped me to her in a big hug. In typical Ruspoli style, soon the whole family knew and, shortly after I’d got back, I was sitting on one of the sofas in the front room between Dad and Dylan, who both had their arms around me, while Mum brought mugs of hot chocolate. It felt wonderful to be home, like Christmas had come early and it was touching to see how much each member of the family seemed to be affected by what had happened – even Kate came down to see if I was OK. It was only after Lewis had arrived that I stopped shaking and started to feel more like my normal self.
‘So go over it again,’ said Lewis, who had been told the whole story by Mum. ‘Who was the boy who brought you back here?’
‘Tyler,’ I said.
‘No surname?’ asked Lewis.
Mum shook her head. ‘Nice-looking boy. He had a good face and seemed responsible.’
‘Where did he go?’ I asked.
‘That I don’t know,’ said Mum. ‘I asked him in but he said he had to be somewhere. Once he knew that you were home safely, he wanted to be off’.
‘I never said thank you,’ I said. ‘I’d like to ring him or send a card. He called out and the other boys ran off.’
‘A veritable knight in shining Armani,’ said Kate. ‘A cutie. I saw him going down the path from my bedroom window.’
I hadn’t really registered his fanciability at the time but, when I thought about him, I realised that he was, as Mum had said, a nice-looking boy – tall, slim with an intelligent, handsome face, but it was more than his looks – there was something grounded about him, like he knew where he was going and how to handle himself. Bollards, I thought. All the boy hunting that we’d been doing all week with no luck and I meet a fabster who is kind, good-looking and a hero and I let him slip away. I hope I see him again. Mum seemed to pick up on my thoughts.
‘Maybe he’ll call again,’ she said.
‘Hope so,’ I said. ‘He was almost like the perfect boy’
‘Pff. No such thing,’ said Kate. ‘If they’re male, you have to compromise,’
‘Sexist,’ said Dad.
‘Yeah, speak for yourself,’ said Lewis. ‘The girls I go out with don’t have to compromise.’
‘You think? And have you ever asked one of them?’ asked Kate.
Yeah, maybe you’re not God’s gift to women like you think you are,’ said Dylan.
So much for being the centre of attention for long in this house, I thought as my family all dived in with their opinions about Lewis and his attitude to girls. I was about to join in but when I looked at Kate, I saw that she looked pale and her eyes were red.
‘Has something happened?’ I asked.
‘Not really. Just a row with Tom.’
All eyes turned towards Kate.
‘What happened?’ asked Mum.
‘When?’ asked Dylan.
‘Did you dump him?’ asked Lewis.
‘It was a quarrel, OK? No biggie,’ said Kate, and I could see that she wished that she’d never mentioned anything.
‘So does that mean it’s over?’ asked Dylan.
‘No,’ said Kate and she began to edge out of the room.‘Look. Forget it. Relationships are about good times and bad. You ride the storms.’
Dad gave Mum an affectionate look. ‘Quite right,’ he said.
‘Compromise,’ said Lewis smugly.
Kate hit him just before she left the room.
After more hugs and cuddles, it was time for me to go up to bed. Mum asked if I wanted her to tuck me in and read me a bedtime story like when I was five, but I was beginning to feel better and I wanted to talk to Erin about what had happened and then have some time on my own to go over the events of the day and let it sink in that, yes, it had been horrible but it was over. It was over. And I was home and safe. As I went upstairs, I thought about what Kate had said. ‘Relationships are about good times and bad.’ Did that mean that there might be hope for Joe and me after all? I wondered. All I had to do was weather the storm. ‘Compromise,’ Lewis’s voice rang in my head. Boy, this love thing is complicated, I thought.
My black and white kittens, Posh and Becks, were cuddled up together at the end of my bed and both looked up, hoping to be made a fuss of, as I sat at my desk and picked up the phone. When they saw that I wasn’t going to get on the bed with them, Posh put her head down and went back to sleep, but Becks got up and came and sat on my lap then tried to climb on to my shoulder and nuzzle my nose. He was such a sweetie. I stroked him for a while then dialled Erin’s number. Her mum picked up and called her to come to the phone.
‘Hey India. How goes it?’ she said a few minutes later.
‘My turn to need to hear your voice this time,’
I said.
‘Why? What’s happened?’
‘I got mugged today’.
‘You WHADDDTTTTTTTT? When? Where? Are you OK?’
I quickly filled her in on all the details.
‘Jeez. Sure you’re OK?’
‘Yeah. Fine now.’
‘I wish I was there and I could give you a big hug.’
‘Me too. But I’m OK, don’t worry. They got my phone and some cash, but I’m fine.
‘Sure?’ asked Erin.
‘Double sure,’ I said. ‘Do you think we should go on to MSN – this call will be costing a fortune. I just wanted to hear your voice for a few minutes.’
‘Nah. There are times when it is absolutely permissible to run up our parents’ phone bills and this is one of them. Stay on the phone. Will you see this Tyler again?’
‘I hope so. He had a good vibe. He made me feel safe.’
‘Could it be love?’
I laughed. It felt good to be talking boys instead of muggings. ‘Duh. What is love? I don’t know.’
‘Me neither. I’ve been thinking about it lately. I mean, it’s such a general word. Like we say, I love my mum; I love chocolate. Totally different levels.’
‘Yeah. I love my cats too. And I love my friends but that’s a different kind of love too, isn’t it?’
‘And what you feel for a boy is different again. Like what you felt for Joe.’
‘Yeah but that kind of love can do your head in. Love for family and friends is the best; they’re really there for you when you need them.’
‘Yeah. Boys come and go but friends are for ever. Have you let Leela, Brook and Zahrah know?’
‘Not yet. I . . . I wanted to talk to you first.’
‘Quite right. Bezzies first – but they’ll want to know.’
‘I’ll tell them at school when they’re all there. To be honest it all felt a bit unreal earlier on. After my family, I didn’t think of talking to anyone except you.’
‘Sure you’re OK, India?’
‘Yeah. Honest. But what about you? I was about to call and ask how things were with Scott when my phone got swiped. Any news?’
‘No. I called his mobile again but it’s still switched off. I did call his landline though and his mum picked up. She said that he’d gone into town this afternoon, so it sounds as if at least he got home last night or she’d have said something. I’ll see how it goes. Maybe I’ll see him around school, but I need to get him alone; it’s not a conversation I want to have while his mates are around.’
‘Yeah. Very wise. Plus we all know how boys can act differently when there’s a gang of them.’
‘Specially Scott. Like he’s always got to act the big man.’
‘Let me know how it goes, OK?’
‘I will. And hey, aren’t you off to Italy soon?’
‘End of next week. Can’t wait.’
‘Just what you need after a shake-up, India. Sure you’re OK now?’
‘Yep. Bit tired now.’
‘Me too. Off to bed then. Sweet dreams, lady of the red, white and blue land.’
‘Sweet dreams, lady of the green land. Love ya.’
‘Love you too.’
Zahrah, Brook and Leela were so sweet when they heard about what had happened and all week they treated me like a princess, bringing me choccie treats and magazines to cheer me up and even helping me set up the address book on my new mobile. The story of my mugging spread around the school like a flu virus and by Friday lunchtime, because of a lack of any other news that week, I was a celebrity. Everywhere I went, people turned and stared or did a double take then whispered to their friends.
‘Hey India, did you know that you had your head kicked in and are now in hospital with brain damage and a broken leg? The rumour is that you may never walk again,’ said Leela as she came out of the school canteen at lunchtime. ‘I just heard Ruby and Nicole in the lunch queue.’
Zahrah raised her eyebrows. ‘Typical,’ said Zahrah. (Ruby and Nicole were two girls who I almost got in with in the first half of term, but then I realised that they liked to gossip about people all the time and a lot of it was really unkind or exaggerated to make a big drama.)
I nodded. ‘No wonder some people are staring. People must think I’ve made a rapid recovery. I overheard some other girls talking in the girls’ cloakroom and, apparently, my hero Tyler is a black belt in karate and he kung fu-ed and karate-chopped my muggers into oblivion.’
We linked arms and made our way to our favourite radiator outside the sports hall. ‘And I heard that there were six muggers and Tyler floored them all,’ said Zahrah.
‘Maybe you should release a statement for the school magazine,’ said Brook. ‘India Jane is alive and well and hasn’t missed a day of school.’
‘I could,’ I said, ‘but it’s good to have a bit of fun after what happened. I like hearing just how far the Chinese whispers will go. I just wish Tyler would get in touch so I could thank him properly.’
‘With a big snog,’ said Brook.
‘Still no word from him?’ asked Leela.
‘Disappeared into thin air.’
When we got to our radiator, there were three girls from Year Nine lounging there.
Zahrah gave them a look as if to say, ‘That’s our place.’
They took no notice and a small blonde one nudged her friends when she saw me.‘Hey. Aren’t you India Jane Ruspoli?’
I nodded.
‘Aren’t you supposed to be in a coma?’ she asked.
‘She is,’ said Zahrah.‘She’s a zombie. The undead walking the corridors of school. I’d get out of her way now if I were you, before she rips off your arm and hits you with the soggy end.’
‘Take no notice of her,’ I said. ‘I was in a coma but my friends came in and sang songs from The Sound of Music to me and that brought me back.’
Zahrah, Brook and Leela nodded. ‘It was like a miracle,’ said Leela in a trembly voice that sounded as if she was near to tears. ‘We thought we’d lost her.’
Brook burst into the song that the nuns sing in the movie. ‘Climb every mountain,’ she warbled in a silly voice.
‘Ford every stream,’ Zahrah and Leela joined in while I put my hand on my heart, nodded and looked gratefully at them.
The Year Nine girls’ eyes grew large and then the tallest of them screwed up her nose. ‘Pff. They’re winding us up,’ she said to her mates. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
They slunk off down the corridor, leaving us to lean up against the radiator and get toasty warm.
‘We really ought to have a system in place for the future though,’ said Zahrah, ‘so that we can see each other safely home.’
‘Seems mad to have to do that in broad daylight,’ I said. ‘I think the best thing is that, if we have to go home alone, we stick to the busier streets. I should have known better than to go down the road I did – it’s always quiet and there are a couple of alleyways there where people can hide.’
‘My mum makes me and Ranjiv carry two mobile phones since he got mugged last year,’ said Leela. ‘An old one that doesn’t work and isn’t worth anything in our pocket so that if anyone grabs us and demands our phones, we can hand them over. And she says to keep the good ones in our rucksacks.’
‘Good idea,’ I said. ‘I should do that and tell Dylan to as well.’
‘Yeah but I keep forgetting,’ said Leela, ‘and I carry both of them in my pocket. I won’t in future though. Talking of which, are you looking forward to Italy?’
I nodded. We were going later that day. I’d packed my bag the previous night, and Dad was going to be waiting outside school at the end of the afternoon with our cases to whisk us away to the airport. I couldn’t wait.
‘Will there be any boys at your grandmother’s party?’ asked Brook.
‘Maybe,’ I replied. ‘A few.’
‘Anyone you know or fancy?’ asked Leela.
I shook my head. ‘Not unless there’s someone new there – it’s mai
nly going to be family and I know most of my cousins.’
Brook looked disappointed. ‘No one?’ she asked. ‘There must be one boy over there.’
‘There’s Bruno. His parents own the hotel we’re staying at.’
‘Why are you staying in a hotel?’ asked Zahrah. ‘I thought you had loads of family over there.’
‘We do but Nonna’s house is packed out already. It’s going to be a big do. Loads of people will be staying at the hotel. Dad’s known the owners since he was a boy and I used to play there when I was little.’
‘Weeth Bruno,’ said Leela in an Italian accent.
I nodded.
‘Rewind a mo,’ said Brook.‘So who’s Nonna?’
‘Nonna is Italian for grandmother,’ I explained.
‘Tell us more about Bruno,’ said Leela.‘I like his name.’
‘You so wouldn’t be interested in him. He put a frog in my bed once and thought it was really funny. My main memory is of trying to get away from him because, when he wasn’t finding insects or creatures to annoy me with, he wanted to fight. I won once and he got really sulky and said that hair pulling, which was my technique, was girl fighting. But Bruno as potential boyfriend material? Never in a million years. He was a clumsy oaf with a face like a potato which, no doubt, he still has. He isn’t my type at all.’
Leela laughed. ‘Sounds like love to me,’ she said.
‘When did you last see him?’ asked Zahrah.
‘Ages ago. He was twelve and I was nine.’
‘Haven’t you been over there since then?’ asked Brook.
‘Yeah, we go every year to see Nonna, but he’s been away when we’ve visited the last few times – at summer camps and on school trips, stuff like that.’
‘So he’s three years older than you,’ said Zahrah. ‘He’ll be eighteen or nineteen now and might have grown up to be a babe.’
I laughed. ‘Bruno? Hah. I think you can pretty well see how boys are going to turn out, so – fanciable? No way but hopefully there will be some other boys there. You never know.’
The afternoon flew by and, by four o’clock, Kate, Dylan and I were squashed in the back of the car and Mum and Dad were in the front. Lewis was meeting us at the airport and Aunt Sarah, Ethan and his wife Jessica and their twins had gone out on a morning flight. Kate and I did a good cruise of the airport shops once we got to Heathrow and I bought a magazine for the journey and some lip-gloss at duty free. On board the plane, I fell asleep for what felt like a few minutes and then we were landing at Naples airport.
Looking for a Hero Page 6
