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‘You’re right, Kerry. A distinct possibility. A fire like this is a notorious way of warning people to either shut up or get out.’
    ‘Then why are you accusing me?’ Mum began.
    The Sergeant touched her arm. ‘The Laffertys will have cast-iron alibis. No one will have seen them. No one ever does. And there will be no fingerprints for us to find.’
    ‘All because of that silly incident in the shop? No!’ Mum wouldn’t be convinced.
    The Sergeant shook his head. ‘And today young Tess Lafferty received word she’s to appear in front of the children’s panel because of that “silly incident”. Bit of a coincidence, don’t you think?’
    I waited until the police had gone before I asked her. ‘Just promise me it wasn’t you, Mum?’ I had to say it, though I knew it was impossible. But I knew too how desperate she was.
    There was a hurt look on her face when she answered me. Et tu, Brute? she said. I hadn’t a clue what she was talking about. She was obviously in shock.However, I took that as a ‘no’.
    In spite of the fact that Mum might be an arsonist, Mr McCurley offered to put us up for the night, which I thought was very generous of him. Mum refused curtly. ‘I don’t need any help from any of you!’ she snapped.
    She was being unreasonable and stupid, but in a way I couldn’t blame her. I couldn’t sleep thinking about what might have happened if we hadn’t woken up in time, if Mum hadn’t been able to put out the fire.
    I wanted it to be Sandra who was responsible. I would even have preferred it to be Mum.
    But if it was the Laffertys … then just how far would they go?

Chapter Twenty
    Mum just couldn’t come to terms with the fire. For the next couple of days she lay on our couch, drinking tea. The television had almost broken her, the fire had finished the job. The Laffertys had won.
    All she wanted was out of here.
    ‘If your father was here, we could go to him. After all, it’s your safety I’m thinking about. Only for him, you wouldn’t be here – it’s all his fault anyway.’
    ‘It’s not, Mum,’ I tried to tell her. ‘It’s the Laffertys. That’s the only people who are to blame. If you have to blame someone, blame them!’
    That only made her angry. ‘Oh, of course, don’t say a bad word about your wonderful father!’ The same conversation over and over again. Always finishing with: ‘It was her next door that started that fire.’
    But it wasn’t. Ming assured me of that.
    ‘What are we going to do, Ming?’
    ‘It’s over, Kerry,’ he answered. There was even a hopelessness in Ming’s voice I didn’t understand.
    It was as if something really awful was hanging over us. I had never felt so depressed in all my life.
    Our door was mended. They even sent people to clean the flat for us. But nothing helped. Mum still lay along the couch, her eyes rimmed with red, never changing out of her dressing-gown. It was me who had to go to Ali’s for anything we needed. It was me who had to venture out, even though I was terrified I might bump into the Laffertys. Mum couldn’t do anything except cry, and blame Dad for everything that had gone wrong for us.
    I prayed every night for Dad to come back for us. I missed him, wanted to talk to him so much. He had always been there for me, a tower of strength whenever I needed him. He wasn’t here now, and I needed him more than ever. I almost felt like throwing darts at his picture too.
    Then one day I came in from school and there was Mum on the couch with the duvet cover pulled up around her.
    ‘You’ll have to go down to Ali’s. We need milk, and something for the tea,’ she murmured.
    All at once I decided I wasn’t going to take it anymore. I sat in the chair across from her. ‘No,’ I said.
    She turned to me very slowly. ‘What?’
    ‘I said no. Why didn’t you go down and get something? You’ve been in all day.’
    ‘I’m never going out there again, unless it’s to leave this place.’
    ‘But I have to