Read Online Forget Me Never by Gina Blaxill - Free Book Online Page B

pavilion and sat down, dumping my bag on the seat next to me. I spotted a couple of Reece’s friends, but they were too busy limbering up to pay any attention to me.
    Reece’s team lost the toss and were made to bowl. Reece turned and made a face at me – he was more of a batsman. I waved and gave him a big grin.
    About ten overs into the game I heard ringing inside my bag. For a moment it puzzled me – it wasn’t a sound I recognized. Then I remembered that Reece had given me his phone to look after before the match began. I took it out. The screen said, ‘Mum Calling’.
    ‘Hi, Effie,’ I said. ‘It’s Sophie. Reece is playing in a match right now.’
    ‘Oh. Of course, I forgot.’ She sounded flustered. A feeling of unease rose inside me. ‘Sophie, listen, could you get Reece to come home as soon as possible, please? I wouldn’t normally ask, not when he’s playing, but I need him. We’ve been burgled!’
    Having pictured the house turned upside down, when we got to Reece’s I was surprised. If it hadn’t been for Effie’s call and the police car outside, you wouldn’t know that the house had been burgled.
    ‘Pretty crap burglars!’ Reece exclaimed, walking into the sitting room. ‘Flat-screen telly – still there! New computer – still there!’
    ‘Reece!’ Effie hurried through from the kitchen, a tearful-looking Neve behind her. A police officer followed. ‘I’m so glad you’re here; I can’t cope with this by myself. I came back from Waitrose and found the conservatory window smashed! Sergeant Hill here thinks I might have disturbed whoever it was – they didn’t have the chance to take much – but all the same. Burgled! In the middle of the day!’
    I looked around. ‘Do we know what they took?’
    ‘Your mother’s still working that out,’ Sergeant Hill said. ‘Most of the intruder’s efforts seem to have been concentrated upstairs.’
    ‘She’s not my mother,’ I said quickly. ‘I’m Reece’s friend.’
    ‘Have they messed with my stuff?’ Reece asked, narrowing his eyes.
    Effie reached out and gently pulled Neve away from him. ‘I’m afraid so. You’re not going to be too happy . . .’
    Reece ran upstairs, dumping his cricket bag en route. I followed him. As I stepped on to the landing I heard an angry howl.
    Reece’s room was a mess. The drawers had been emptied and were lying on their sides, his iPod had been snatched from it’s dock and his bedclothes were pulled across the floor. He didn’t seem bothered by this. He was kneeling by the overturned bookshelf, cradling some old books that I realized were his dad’s annuals. Some of the pages were ripped and a couple of covers had come off. Reece looked utterly crushed.
    ‘Oh, Reece!’ I went over and hugged him. Reece didn’t need to say how much the books meant to him – tracking the annuals down had been something Reece and his dad had done together, travelling to second-hand bookshops and searching eBay. Reece had once said that these annuals brought back the good memories of his dad more vividly than anything else.
    ‘Bastards!’ Reece said. ‘Didn’t even nick them. Just tossed them on the floor like they were dumb old books that didn’t mean anything.’
    ‘The police will find the person who did this.’
    Reece snorted. ‘Oh yeah? You got much faith in the police at the moment, Soph?’
    I didn’t have any answer to that. After a while I managed to coax him into checking what else had been taken.
    Surprisingly, the only things that seemed to have gone were his iPod and a watch that looked more expensive than it was.
    ‘It’s possible the burglar was looking around to see what was here,’ Hill said. We were back in the kitchen, sitting around the table with cups of tea. Reece hadn’t touched his. I could feel him seething beside me. ‘That’s quite common,’ he continued. ‘They take a putty imprint from your spare keys, then return with a vehicle to transport the big stuff – TVs and