sentence hanging and gave Jackie a fierce look before walking away.
Jackie cast a worried glance back at the school before following. She had regretted her decision to warn Skye as soon as she’d done it, and had been praying that the girl hadn’t gone straight to a teacher to tell on them. If she had, there would be hell to pay when they got back to the home. But the real punishment would come tonight, after lights out.
Skye had no idea where she was going after she’d squeezed her way out through the fence at the back of the school. But she kept her head down and walked quickly on down the road, desperate to put as much distance between herself and Nadine as possible.
The further she went, the more run-down the area became, and her stomach twisted into a huge knot as she passed row after row of scruffy houses and boarded-up shops. Just like the children’s home, every building she passed seemed to have razor wire protecting its entry points; and the people who were hanging around on the street corners looked shifty and dangerous.
Half frozen without her jacket, and despairing of ever finding her way out of the area alive, Skye cried out with relief when she spotted a bus up ahead that was bound for the city centre. Remembering that she still had the twenty pounds that she’d borrowed from Hayley stashed in her bra, she slipped her hand inside her shirt and tugged it out as she raced towards the bus stop. She would easily find her way home from town, and then all she had to do was hide until her dad came out of hospital and put everything right.
And he would put it right, she was sure, because he loved her and would never have told the social worker that he couldn’t look after her. The bitch had either lied about that, or had caught him at a low point and made him say it. Either way, he was bound to change his mind once he saw her.
Over an hour later, Skye was glad to be back on familiar territory. It was already dark enough by then that she felt safe to walk the streets without fear of being spotted by anyone she knew. But she kept her head down nevertheless, and scuttled home via a series of short cuts.
A police car was driving slowly towards her when she turned the corner onto her road, and she instinctively ducked behind a wheelie bin and squatted down to watch as the vehicle pulled up outside her house. Two uniformed officers climbed out and one knocked on the front door while the other cupped his hands over his eyes and peered through the living-room window. After getting no answer there they went next door, and Skye strained to hear whatever they were saying to the student who answered. She was too far away to catch their words but it didn’t take a genius to guess that she’d been reported as missing when she failed to arrive back at the home with the others.
When the coppers climbed back into the car and drove away a few minutes later, Skye waited to make sure that they didn’t come straight back before she slipped out from her hiding place and darted down the back alley.
It was dark in the yard and she had to grope around for the brick under the kitchen window beneath which her dad had stashed a spare key for those times when her mum locked him out. She let herself into the house when she found it, then bolted the door and leaned back against it as an overwhelming sensation of relief settled over her. The air smelled really bad, and she was sure she could hear mice scurrying around. But it was home, and she had never been so happy to be there.
Afraid to switch on the lights in case the police had told the neighbours to keep an eye out for her, Skye tiptoed down the dark hallway and into the living room after a while. The curtains were partially open in there, and the dim beam from the lamp-post across the road highlighted the dark patch of blood on the carpet where her dad had been lying when she’d found him. Her legs wobbled at the sight of it and she staggered back against the couch, knocking
Jackie cast a worried glance back at the school before following. She had regretted her decision to warn Skye as soon as she’d done it, and had been praying that the girl hadn’t gone straight to a teacher to tell on them. If she had, there would be hell to pay when they got back to the home. But the real punishment would come tonight, after lights out.
Skye had no idea where she was going after she’d squeezed her way out through the fence at the back of the school. But she kept her head down and walked quickly on down the road, desperate to put as much distance between herself and Nadine as possible.
The further she went, the more run-down the area became, and her stomach twisted into a huge knot as she passed row after row of scruffy houses and boarded-up shops. Just like the children’s home, every building she passed seemed to have razor wire protecting its entry points; and the people who were hanging around on the street corners looked shifty and dangerous.
Half frozen without her jacket, and despairing of ever finding her way out of the area alive, Skye cried out with relief when she spotted a bus up ahead that was bound for the city centre. Remembering that she still had the twenty pounds that she’d borrowed from Hayley stashed in her bra, she slipped her hand inside her shirt and tugged it out as she raced towards the bus stop. She would easily find her way home from town, and then all she had to do was hide until her dad came out of hospital and put everything right.
And he would put it right, she was sure, because he loved her and would never have told the social worker that he couldn’t look after her. The bitch had either lied about that, or had caught him at a low point and made him say it. Either way, he was bound to change his mind once he saw her.
Over an hour later, Skye was glad to be back on familiar territory. It was already dark enough by then that she felt safe to walk the streets without fear of being spotted by anyone she knew. But she kept her head down nevertheless, and scuttled home via a series of short cuts.
A police car was driving slowly towards her when she turned the corner onto her road, and she instinctively ducked behind a wheelie bin and squatted down to watch as the vehicle pulled up outside her house. Two uniformed officers climbed out and one knocked on the front door while the other cupped his hands over his eyes and peered through the living-room window. After getting no answer there they went next door, and Skye strained to hear whatever they were saying to the student who answered. She was too far away to catch their words but it didn’t take a genius to guess that she’d been reported as missing when she failed to arrive back at the home with the others.
When the coppers climbed back into the car and drove away a few minutes later, Skye waited to make sure that they didn’t come straight back before she slipped out from her hiding place and darted down the back alley.
It was dark in the yard and she had to grope around for the brick under the kitchen window beneath which her dad had stashed a spare key for those times when her mum locked him out. She let herself into the house when she found it, then bolted the door and leaned back against it as an overwhelming sensation of relief settled over her. The air smelled really bad, and she was sure she could hear mice scurrying around. But it was home, and she had never been so happy to be there.
Afraid to switch on the lights in case the police had told the neighbours to keep an eye out for her, Skye tiptoed down the dark hallway and into the living room after a while. The curtains were partially open in there, and the dim beam from the lamp-post across the road highlighted the dark patch of blood on the carpet where her dad had been lying when she’d found him. Her legs wobbled at the sight of it and she staggered back against the couch, knocking
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