Part 8 (1/2)

'I think that's a no,' Harriet said. 'Perhaps we ought to give him a break and try again tomorrow?' She couldn't believe what she'd just said, but it seemed the simplest and kindest thing to do. His misery was too much for her.

But the young girl shook her head. 'It would be a terrible mistake to give in to him,' she said. Then lowering her voice to a confidential murmur, she added, 'It's usually better if the mother just walks away.'

Her voice equally low, and leaning over Joel, Harriet said, 'It's usually better if the mother isn't dead. My name's Miss Swift; I'm his aunt and legal guardian and I'd appreciate a little more thought on your part towards my nephew. Maybe you should acquaint yourself with his background.'

The girl looked fl.u.s.tered. Down on Joel's level once more, Harriet looked into his face. 'Joel,' she whispered, 'you've got to help me out here. I want you to be really brave and give today your best shot. I'll be back later this afternoon, and ... and I promise I'll bring Toby with me.'

Pressing her mouth close to his ear, she said, 'What's more, I promise to bring him right into the playground so all your new friends can see him. I'll even have your silky waiting for you in the car.' She leaned back. 'Do we have a deal?'

After a lengthy pause, he nodded. But only just.

'Shake on it?'

He put out his hand.

'Okay, and remember, a deal's a deal. You make it through the whole day, and I'll be here later with Toby.'

She straightened up again and though it seemed all wrong, she handed Joel into the care of this complete stranger. She walked away, not trusting herself to look back.

Pa.s.sing Carrie's cla.s.sroom on her way out, she took a moment to glance through the gla.s.s panes of the door. She spotted her niece straight away. She was the one chewing on the end of her plait and staring absently out of the window. It could have been Harriet sitting there at the same age. She had a feeling Carrie was going to need watching. She was a bright girl and if she wasn't stimulated sufficiently, she would quickly grow bored.

When Harriet got back to the car, Toby was standing on his hind legs in the driver's seat, his front paws resting on the steering wheel as he peered through the windscreen.

'Have you got a licence for that motor vehicle, sir?' she asked him, waiting for him to swap seats so that she could get in. As she switched on the engine and put the car into gear, he b.u.t.ted her elbow with his head, reminding her of Joel, the way he often made his presence felt. Poor little devil, she thought. Turning to the dog, she said, 'Now listen, you'd better do your part and cheer Joel up this afternoon. And when you've done that, you can book me into the nearest loony bin. Talking to a hairy mutt must make me cla.s.sic fruitcake material.'

He gave a polite little bark and turned away to look out of the window, his ears p.r.i.c.ked as if ready for any further instructions. It was difficult to understand how such a smart dog had come to be abandoned. The first night he'd spent in Maple Drive, when Harriet was on bedtime duty reading to the children, Carrie had interrupted her and said, 'I'm glad Toby's come to live with us. It must have been horrible in the orphanage for him.'

'It wasn't an orphanage,' Harriet corrected her. 'It was a dog pound.'

'A pound?' Joel repeated. 'Like money?'

'No. It's a place where animals abandoned by their cruel owners are looked after until someone very kind, like Granddad, comes along and takes them home. Can we get back to the story now?'

Her father was in the kitchen putting cereal packets away in the cupboard when Harriet got home. Toby went straight to his water bowl and lapped noisily.

'Where's Mum?' she asked, picking up her post from the table.

'Upstairs in bed. She didn't like to say anything at breakfast, what with the children's big day, but she's not feeling so good. She's got that weakness in her legs again and her back kept her awake in the night.'

'She's been overdoing it, hasn't she?'

'You know what she's like.'

'I'll go up and see her, make sure she's okay.'

'I wouldn't; she was fast asleep when I looked in on her ten minutes ago. Better to let her rest. Coffee?'

Surprised by her father's good mood - this was the chattiest he'd been in a long while - she said, 'Yes please. Shall I make it?'

'No, you sit down; I'll do it while you tell me how you got on with Carrie and Joel. Were they okay? Were there any tears?'

'No real tears, thank G.o.d, but I wasn't impressed with Joel's teacher. She didn't even know that I wasn't his mother. What qualifications do they need these days to be a teacher? A GCSE in nailbiting?' She sighed and sat back in the chair. 'Things will get easier, won't they, Dad?'

It was first break and Carrie searched the playground for Joel. She found him in the sandpit. There were other children with him, but he wasn't joining in with them; he was just sitting there fiddling with a toy car and watching the other boys as they pushed a blue plastic lorry along a track they'd made. He didn't look very happy, but when he saw her his face changed, then he threw down the car and ran to her. 'Is it time to go home now?' he asked. 'Is Harriet here? She said she would bring Toby. She promised.'

Holding his hand, Carrie walked him across the field where earlier she had easily won a running race in a PE lesson. When no one could hear them, she said, 'Joel, we haven't had lunch yet. Look at your watch.'

He pulled a face. 'You know I can't tell the time.'

'But it's easy. Look.' She pulled the cuff back on his sweats.h.i.+rt. 'There, the big hand's on the six and the small one is between the ten and eleven.'

'Where will the hands be when it's time for Harriet to come for us?'

'The big hand will be on the six and the little one will be between three and four.'

'How long will it be before that happens?'

Exasperated, she said, 'Ages!' Then: 'You haven't cried this morning, have you?'

He shook his head solemnly. 'You said I wasn't to do that.'

'Good boy. And no thumb-sucking?'

He looked less sure. 'Um ... I might have.'

She sighed and put her hands on her hips. 'Joel, I told you, you mustn't do it. You'll get called names. You'll be called a baby.'

'But I'm not a baby!'

'Is he your brother?'

Carrie spun round. A group of girls from her cla.s.s had appeared from nowhere and were staring at her and Joel. The one she'd beaten in the running race earlier said again, 'Is he your brother?'

'Yes,' she said.

'He looks really sweet. What's his name?'

'Joel.'

They moved in closer. One of them said, 'Is it true your mum and dad are dead?'

Carrie reached for Joel's hand.

'And is it true they were killed in a car crash and had their heads chopped off?'

Joel gasped. Carrie suddenly wanted to pick him up and run, but she knew she mustn't. She had to be strong. 'Yes,' she said. 'It is true. And do you want to know something else?'