involved.’ She said not to stroke the cat because he would bite.
Then I saw the boy with red hair. His name is Max. He was on his own, just kicking his football against a wall. He didn’t say hello.
I went into the Rose Garden. There was nobody in there and I looked at the plaques on the benches. I noticed there was one for a girl called Phoebe. It said: ‘In Memory of Phoebe Rednough 1977–1992’. She was only fifteen when she died. That made me feel so sad I nearly cried.
Imagine dying when you’re only fifteen. When you haven’t found out what you’re good at. And you’ll never know how tall you were going to be or how pretty or if you were going to be rich or poor or happy or sad. So I sat on Phoebe’s bench for a while and thought about everything. About you. And what you did. And how we could all have died. And maybe then there would have been a bench for us somewhere – someone might have put one on Hampstead Heath. And how someone might have sat on it one day and said: Oh poor things, they were only eleven and twelve. They had their whole lives ahead of them. Next time I see Rhea I will ask her about Phoebe Rednough. I bet she knows what happened to her.
Then the man came into the Rose Garden, Dylan’s big brother, the one with special needs. I was polite and said hello but I didn’t really want to stay in there on my own with him so I left. After that I went back inside and watched telly with Mum. She was very quiet. I think she misses you too.
Love you, Daddy, more than words can say,
Your Pipsqueak xxxx
Seven
‘What do you think of those girls?’
Adele rested her chin on the edge of the roll-top bath and looked at her husband who was lying in bed reading a book.
‘What girls?
‘Pip and Grace. What do you make of them?’
Leo shrugged. ‘They seem like perfectly nice children. The older one’s a bit frosty but the little one seems charming.’
‘Did Tyler tell you’, she began, ‘what Cecelia said to her when she saw them in Waitrose last week?’
‘No. She did not.’ He put down his book, showing that he was fully engaged with the conversation. ‘What?’
‘She said that she recognised their mother, from an article in the papers a few months back. An article about a man with paranoid schizophrenia who set his house on fire because voices in his head told him it was infested with alien rats who were scheming to take over the world. Anyway. I Googled it earlier and I think she might be right. Two girls aged eleven and twelve. Mother aged thirty-two. House in Hampstead. Happened last November. The article I read said the mother and children had been taken in by relatives afterwards. It all adds up.’
‘Christ,’ said Leo, ‘those poor little girls.’
‘I know. Imagine it. Imagine having a parent just go completely and utterly crazy. You know, sectionable crazy. How would you deal with that as a child? How would you make sense of it? And I wonder if they’ve seen him? I wonder if they visit? Because I must say, I’m not sure, as a mother, if I could face you again if you’d put us all in danger like that.’
‘But don’t forget,’ said Leo, ‘for all his faults, the guy did save the world from an alien-rat invasion.’
‘Leo!’ Adele sat upright in the bath and looked at her husband, aghast. ‘That’s not funny!’
‘Oh, it is.’
‘It is not! And listen, you mustn’t say a word to anyone. Apparently when Tyler asked the girls about it they totally denied it and Grace told her that their dad was dead. So pretend we never had this conversation.’
Leo nodded sombrely. ‘I hear you.’
‘So sad.’ She thought for a moment. ‘We must make a special effort with those girls. And their mum. You know, maybe we should have them all over for supper?’
‘Yes,’ said Leo, ‘why not? Maybe Friday next week? When Dad’s in hospital?’
Adele smiled at the thought of Gordon being in hospital. ‘Excellent, yes, Friday week. I’ll pop over tomorrow and ask
Then I saw the boy with red hair. His name is Max. He was on his own, just kicking his football against a wall. He didn’t say hello.
I went into the Rose Garden. There was nobody in there and I looked at the plaques on the benches. I noticed there was one for a girl called Phoebe. It said: ‘In Memory of Phoebe Rednough 1977–1992’. She was only fifteen when she died. That made me feel so sad I nearly cried.
Imagine dying when you’re only fifteen. When you haven’t found out what you’re good at. And you’ll never know how tall you were going to be or how pretty or if you were going to be rich or poor or happy or sad. So I sat on Phoebe’s bench for a while and thought about everything. About you. And what you did. And how we could all have died. And maybe then there would have been a bench for us somewhere – someone might have put one on Hampstead Heath. And how someone might have sat on it one day and said: Oh poor things, they were only eleven and twelve. They had their whole lives ahead of them. Next time I see Rhea I will ask her about Phoebe Rednough. I bet she knows what happened to her.
Then the man came into the Rose Garden, Dylan’s big brother, the one with special needs. I was polite and said hello but I didn’t really want to stay in there on my own with him so I left. After that I went back inside and watched telly with Mum. She was very quiet. I think she misses you too.
Love you, Daddy, more than words can say,
Your Pipsqueak xxxx
Seven
‘What do you think of those girls?’
Adele rested her chin on the edge of the roll-top bath and looked at her husband who was lying in bed reading a book.
‘What girls?
‘Pip and Grace. What do you make of them?’
Leo shrugged. ‘They seem like perfectly nice children. The older one’s a bit frosty but the little one seems charming.’
‘Did Tyler tell you’, she began, ‘what Cecelia said to her when she saw them in Waitrose last week?’
‘No. She did not.’ He put down his book, showing that he was fully engaged with the conversation. ‘What?’
‘She said that she recognised their mother, from an article in the papers a few months back. An article about a man with paranoid schizophrenia who set his house on fire because voices in his head told him it was infested with alien rats who were scheming to take over the world. Anyway. I Googled it earlier and I think she might be right. Two girls aged eleven and twelve. Mother aged thirty-two. House in Hampstead. Happened last November. The article I read said the mother and children had been taken in by relatives afterwards. It all adds up.’
‘Christ,’ said Leo, ‘those poor little girls.’
‘I know. Imagine it. Imagine having a parent just go completely and utterly crazy. You know, sectionable crazy. How would you deal with that as a child? How would you make sense of it? And I wonder if they’ve seen him? I wonder if they visit? Because I must say, I’m not sure, as a mother, if I could face you again if you’d put us all in danger like that.’
‘But don’t forget,’ said Leo, ‘for all his faults, the guy did save the world from an alien-rat invasion.’
‘Leo!’ Adele sat upright in the bath and looked at her husband, aghast. ‘That’s not funny!’
‘Oh, it is.’
‘It is not! And listen, you mustn’t say a word to anyone. Apparently when Tyler asked the girls about it they totally denied it and Grace told her that their dad was dead. So pretend we never had this conversation.’
Leo nodded sombrely. ‘I hear you.’
‘So sad.’ She thought for a moment. ‘We must make a special effort with those girls. And their mum. You know, maybe we should have them all over for supper?’
‘Yes,’ said Leo, ‘why not? Maybe Friday next week? When Dad’s in hospital?’
Adele smiled at the thought of Gordon being in hospital. ‘Excellent, yes, Friday week. I’ll pop over tomorrow and ask
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