The Goldfish Boy

by Lisa Thompson

  I nodded.

  “I want you to really think about this before you answer, okay?” He leaned in toward me.

  “Matthew. Do you know who took Teddy Dawson?”

  My face reddened as I considered my answer. Did I have enough evidence to accuse Penny and Gordon? No. All I had was scraps. I could see Dad chewing on a nail out of the corner of my eye.

  “No,” I answered. “I don’t.”

  The top story on the news was that Teddy Dawson had been found safe and well, but that at this stage there was no indication as to where he might have been. By lunchtime it was story number four, and by 3 p.m. it wasn’t reported at all. A ferry had run aground in the Mediterranean and Teddy was officially old news.

  I took a quick peek into my newly decorated bedroom, and to my amazement, it looked really good. The paint was dry and Dad was going to move my furniture back in today. The walls were smooth and Mum was right, Mockingbird’s Breast was indeed a lovely shade of white. The curtains had been washed, my window cleaned, and the whole room looked so much lighter. It was fine, better than I expected, apart from one thing. I looked at the space where the Wallpaper Lion had looked down on me, and it just looked bare. I went back onto the landing and took my binoculars out from my bedside table. Back in the office, I knelt on the carpet and steadied my elbows on the windowsill again as I focused on number one.

  Melody appeared from her house and ran across the road in her pink flip-flops, heading toward the graveyard. It must be card-collecting time again.

  Using the binoculars, I scanned Penny and Gordon’s driveway inch by inch, then slowly moved along the pavement. The wheels of a bike filled the lenses, and I looked up to see Jake circling around the street. He got as far as number one, then bumped down the curb and crossed over to start again outside Mr. Charles’s house. I carried on searching. A few stones and leaves caught my attention, but I quickly moved on when I realized they weren’t the Wallpaper Eye. After a few minutes I sat back. Jake was zigzagging across the widest part of our road now, darting this way and that. He skidded outside our house and created a swirl of dust just in front of Detective Bradley’s silver car, parked outside Mr. Charles’s house. Something fluttered up in the breeze, and I zoomed in as much as I could. It was lying flat on the pavement, and then a light gust of wind lifted it up and it tumbled toward Penny and Gordon’s house. I’d found it! I’d found the Wallpaper Lion’s eye! I grinned to myself and dropped the binoculars on the windowsill with a clatter.

  I had to be quick or I’d lose it again. I ran out the door, past the police car, and across the road toward number one.

  “Matthew! What you doing?” said Jake, pedaling up beside me.

  “Nothing, Jake,” I said as I stood at the end of the driveway. He stopped his bike and watched me.

  “It doesn’t look like nothing,” he said.

  Gordon appeared from around the side of his house wheeling a black bin behind him.

  “Ah, Matthew. How are you? Good news about young Teddy, isn’t it?” he said, but I didn’t look up.

  “Yes, yes it is.”

  I couldn’t see it anywhere.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Gordon walked toward me, leaving the bin in the middle of his driveway. I glanced up at him.

  “I-I’ve lost something. I dropped it yesterday. I thought I saw it, but I can’t see it now. It’s blown away.”

  Gordon looked around on the ground.

  “Oh dear, let me see if I can help. What exactly are we looking for?”

  His kind face smiled, and I felt a huge sense of relief that someone was helping me. It seemed inconceivable to think that only a few hours ago I thought he might have had something to do with Teddy’s disappearance.

  “It’s a piece of yellow paper, about this big,” I said and I held up my gloved hand, making a circle with my index finger and thumb. As Gordon stared at my hand, Jake shouted.

  “There it is!”

  I looked to where Jake was pointing. There, by Penny and Gordon’s front step, blowing in the wind so that it appeared to be dancing around in a circle, was the Wallpaper Lion’s eye.

  “Yes!”

  Jake dropped his bike with a clatter and ran onto the driveway to join me.

  The piece of wallpaper tumbled toward the front door and Jake laughed as we both tried to reach for it at the same time. I got there first, and as I picked it up I noticed something on the window. I straightened up, my eyes fixed on the glass as the veins in my body shriveled with coldness. I looked at Jake. He saw my face and I nodded my head toward what I’d seen. He frowned and took a step closer, and then he turned back to me, openmouthed.

  Gordon joined us, his face beaming.

  “Let’s have a look at what was so important then!”

  I stared at him.

  “What’s up, Matthew? You haven’t lost it again, have you?”

  I held the Wallpaper Lion’s eye firmly between my thumb and finger.

  “No, no. I’ve got it. It’s nothing really. It’s just a silly piece of paper. I thought I might need it.”

  Jake stared at him wide-eyed, his mouth still hanging open. Gordon looked at us both, puzzled by our faces. I edged myself away slowly and Jake went to pick his bike up.

  “Well, it must be important if you’ve been running around trying to catch it,” said Gordon, frowning.

  I took two more steps. Detective Bradley was coming out of Mr. Charles’s house and heading toward his car.

  “It’s nothing. Thanks. Thanks for helping me …”

  Gordon shook his head, and then he suddenly reached out and grabbed my shoulder. I froze as he looked at me with his pale gray eyes.

  “Are you sure you’re okay, Matthew?”

  He looked at me and then at his house, trying to figure out what it was that had made us both react like we had. I tried to shrug him off, but he gripped me hard.

  “I’ve got to go, can you let me go, Gordon?”

  He shook his head.

  “What are you up to, Matthew? You’re a nosey one, aren’t you? Always staring out of that window over there, always looking at matters that don’t concern you. Do you think it makes you look clever?”

  Jake rolled up next to me.

  “Didn’t you hear him? He said, let him go!”

  Gordon didn’t even look at him; he just kept his eyes fixed on me. I heard the policeman’s car start up behind us and I looked at Jake, raising my eyes. It took a split second to register, but Jake understood and ran over to the car and banged on the glass.

  Thump, thump, thump!

  Gordon continued to study me.

  “What is it with you, Matthew? What are you trying to prove to everyone? That you’re a normal kid with a normal life?”

  He smiled sadly.

  “I’d give up now, son, if I were you, you’re better off back in your window. You know nothing about life out here.”

  He loosened his grip and I pulled my arm free.

  “No, Gordon, you’re wrong,” I said and I stared back at him.

  “I know everything.”

  I ran home, past Jake, who was still talking to Detective Bradley, his face bright red as he pointed urgently toward Gordon and Penny’s house. I went straight up to the office without taking my shoes off and stood watching the street below. Jake was running home with his bike beside him. Detective Bradley was still sitting in his car with the engine running. Gordon had gone inside, the bin positioned at the end of the drive for tomorrow’s collection.

  “Please, Detective Bradley. Go and take a look. Please,” I said quietly.

  The detective pulled his seat belt across his lap, and then he stopped. The engine turned off and he slowly got out of the car, shaking his head. He looked around the street, then up at me, and he gave an exasperated sigh before casually strolling toward Penny and Gordon’s house. Standing on the driveway for a moment, he surveyed the front and around the car, and then he walked toward the window, his hand shading his eye
s from the sun.

  “Come on, come on … You’ve got to see it! Please!” I said.

  He looked at the main pane of glass first, and then he walked closer to the front door and bent down to study a corner. Standing motionless for a moment, he then suddenly snatched the radio from his belt and began to shout into it urgently.

  I sat down and let out a long breath and smiled to myself as I looked at the Wallpaper Lion’s eye in my palm. The relief I felt was immense.

  He’d seen it.

  I’d seen it, Jake had seen it, and now Detective Bradley had seen it as well.

  It was there—in the corner of the side panel of glass, barely visible unless you stood at a certain angle and if the sun was in the right position.

  It was a child’s sticky handprint.

  The residents of Chestnut Close were slowly emerging from their houses to see the events unfold at number one. Two policemen stood at the end of the street, keeping the public away. Melody and her mum stood with their arms around each other on their step.

  “I still can’t believe it,” said Mum. “Penny and Gordon? Penny and Gordon?”

  Dad put his arm around Mum’s shoulder, and for a tiny fraction of a second I wanted to reach down and squeeze her hand, but I didn’t.

  The turquoise-blue sky had turned a strange shade of purple as black clouds edged toward us. The neighborhood looked like it had been covered with a large, dark blanket. The heat wave was breaking at last.

  Sue stood on her step, her arm linked in Jake’s. He didn’t look happy about it but he didn’t pull away. I met his eyes and he smiled at me, and I smiled back.

  The door of number seven opened and Hannah and Mr. Jenkins walked to the end of their path, Hannah rubbing her stomach as usual. They stopped at their gate and Mr. Jenkins stood behind Hannah and circled his arms around her.

  “Are you okay out here, Matthew?” said Mum, turning around to me. I nodded.

  Over to our left Mr. Charles stood next to his rosebushes, the remaining flowers curled and faded. Casey was holding his hand, her eyes fixed on the house opposite; Melissa Dawson stood in the doorway with Teddy on her hip. Melody ran across the road to join me.

  “How could we not have known, Matty? How could Teddy have been so close?”

  She tucked her hair behind her ear. She was only about ten inches away, so I took a tiny step to my left so I didn’t accidentally touch her.

  “Look!” she said.

  The door of number one opened and Gordon appeared wearing a pale blue shirt and beige trousers … and handcuffs. The policeman led him to a waiting car and Gordon looked up at us all watching him. He covered his face with his hands as the policeman eased him into the back.

  As the car drove off I looked next door and saw that Melissa and Teddy had gone back inside.

  “He looked so casual about it,” said Mum. “How could he be so unemotional after all they’ve done? All the pain they’ve caused?”

  Dad didn’t say anything, just rubbed her arm.

  A few seconds later, Penny appeared. She looked immaculate. A policewoman led her down the path, and Penny held her cuffed hands to one side as if they were a mere accessory. She didn’t look in our direction, but as she was about to get in the car, Mr. Charles called out to her.

  “Why, Penny?” he said, choking on his words. “Why did you do this to us?”

  She looked at him over the car roof, and then she slowly looked at all of our faces.

  “I cared for him like a proper mother should,” she announced to us all. And then her gaze fixed on the little girl holding Mr. Charles’s hand.

  “Didn’t I, Casey?”

  After the police had gone we all let out sighs of relief.

  “What did she mean? Did that little girl know?” Mum said.

  Dad shrugged. “She’s just been arrested; she’d probably say anything.”

  “I still can’t get over it. Penny?”

  Dad snorted. “I’ve been telling you for years what a know-it-all she is, Sheila. She obviously thinks she’s better than everyone else.”

  They went indoors discussing it and left me and Melody on our own outside. Lightning lit us up like a camera flash, and I whispered under my breath.

  “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten …”

  A low rumble thundered in the distance.

  “Ten miles away!” said Melody, who had been listening to me counting.

  “It’s two, actually,” I said. “You have to divide the seconds by five. Dad told me that once.”

  Melody looked impressed.

  “Storms are a lot closer than we realize then, eh?”

  The thunder rumbled again and Melody squealed.

  “I’ll see you later, Matty!” she said and she ran back to number three. Her mum was laughing and held out her arm, scooping her into the house. A few drops of rain began to fall, leaving dark, round circles on the pavement, and I looked around the empty cul-de-sac as the rain pounded onto the steaming concrete. Old Nina’s lamp was glowing brighter than ever in the gloom. And then her door opened.

  She stood there, her tiny kitten snuggled up to her neck, and then she curled her finger, beckoning me over. Putting my hands in my pockets, I opened her gate using my elbow and walked slowly up to the large, black door. She had a pale dusting of pink powder on her cheeks and her eyes were a bright, vivid green. The kitten wriggled in her arms and she pecked a quick kiss on the top of its head. Her eyes darted around the street and she took a step toward me.

  “I know you probably won’t … ,” she started, stopping to clear her throat before trying again. “I know you probably won’t take much notice of an old lady like me, but I’m going to say it anyway.”

  Her face brightened as she smiled.

  “I know you’ve been watching me, from that window up there?”

  There was another flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder so deep my heart shuddered.

  “I-I’m sorry,” I started, but she waved a hand at me to stop.

  “No, no, no, don’t you worry about that. It’s nice to see everyone going about their lives each day, isn’t it? Why, I watch people myself sometimes when I’m feeling a little lonely. Life isn’t always easy, is it, Matthew?”

  She stopped and her face became a blur as my eyes filled with tears. I hadn’t even realized she knew my name.

  “I’ve had tough times myself, you know. Things certainly haven’t been a bunch of roses in my life, I can tell you.” She gave a little laugh but her eyes were sad. Looking toward her glowing orange lamp, she stopped for a moment and took a few breaths. I was soaked to the skin and my hair was plastered around my face and I just wanted to get home. I shifted around on my feet, and she quickly turned back to me and leaned forward, the tiny creases around her eyes wet with tears. Then, slowly reaching out, she held my wrist, squeezing it firmly in her hand. I wanted to pull back, but she fixed her eyes on me and I froze.

  “Listen to me, Matthew. Listen to what I’m going to tell you and things will start to make a lot more sense.”

  I waited; her forehead was furrowed and her hand gripped tighter.

  “Don’t ever wait for a storm to pass. You’ve got to go out there and dance in the rain.”

  Her eyes searched mine.

  “Do you understand?” she said.

  I thought for a moment, shivering, and then I nodded at her. Smiling, she dropped my arm and took a step back into the house. The large, black door closed behind her and I turned around and walked home.

  Friday, August 1st. 5:41 p.m. Bedroom. Cool and cloudy.

  Number of children playing in Mr. Charles’s garden = 2

  Number of Wallpaper Lions = 0

  Number of neighbors currently held in custody = 2

  I was back at the dinner table with Mum and Dad. Mum had been out for hours getting the news from Officer Campen and some of the neighbors and she was bursting to tell us.

  “Apparently Penny saw Teddy playing on his own in
Mr. Charles’s front garden, so she crossed over to check he was okay …”

  “That woman’s always poking her nose in where it’s not wanted,” Dad said, squirting tomato sauce on his plate. “I never knew why you were so friendly with her, Sheila.”

  Mum ignored him and carried on.

  “She looked through the window and saw Mr. Charles asleep in the armchair and Casey on the floor playing with her doll.”

  “So Casey was around then?” said Dad.

  “Hold on, hold on, Brian!” said Mum, wriggling in her seat. “This is the thing! Penny decided to take him home to look after him, so she picked Teddy up, and before she took him home she waved at her! She waved at Casey!”

  Dad put his fork down.

  “What? Do you mean to say that that kid knew exactly where Teddy was all along?”

  I ate my pasta in silence.

  “I don’t know, Brian. Casey denied it. And Penny’s a desperate woman! Surely she’d say anything to try and get herself off the hook?”

  Mum picked up her fork and then put it down again, too agitated to eat.

  “Penny told the police she only intended to look after him for a while so that Mr. Charles could have a rest. She didn’t mean to keep him so long.”

  “No, no, no,” said Dad. “I don’t believe that for a minute. That woman drove her own kids away trying to interfere with their lives, trying to prove she was some kind of superior mother. No, what happened was she saw Teddy and thought: ‘I can do a better job looking after him than that.’ She didn’t care about anyone else, so she just took him. End of story.”

  Dad took a big mouthful of mashed potato.

  Mum carried on.

  “Before they knew it the police helicopter was thudding overhead and rather than own up, Penny persuaded Gordon to keep him just a bit longer. She told the police Mr. Charles was useless.”

  Mum turned to me. “You know when Teddy got pushed into the pond? Penny said Mr. Charles was too busy jabbering at her to realize his own grandson was in danger. She said if it wasn’t for you banging on the glass, Teddy would have drowned.”

  We were all quiet for a moment as we ate.