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‘Don’t worry, he’ll be along shortly,’ Kerry said smugly.

As the two girls waited to be called onto the court, Kerry scanned the sidelines, searching eagerly among the other parents for Mr Thornton. She caught her mother’s eye and Ellie waved encouragingly, but Ellie’s presence was of secondary importance to her. The only person Kerry wanted to see was Mr Thornton.

As Harriet and Kerry took their positions for the preliminary knock-up, Kerry took a last look around the sidelines. There was still no sign of Mr Thornton anywhere. She hoped he wasn’t going to be late.

‘I thought you said your father would be here?’ Harriet hissed, as she made her way to the other side of the net. ‘You’ve been lying – you haven’t got a father at all!’

‘Yes, I have!’ Kerry muttered.

‘Liar!’ Harriet said, laughing maliciously. ‘From now on, I’m going to call you Kerry-no-dad!’

Kerry was selected to serve, but she was so blinded by anger that she put the first serve straight into the net.

As she served again, Kerry put the ball wide this time. Harriet’s taunting was seriously upsetting her, and Alan’s absence was breaking her heart. Why would he say he was going to attend, then not turn up? Was she so unimportant to him that he’d simply forgotten?

Kerry’s third serve was successful, and for several minutes the ball went back and forth between the two girls. Kerry began to feel more positive about her performance, but then she made the fatal mistake of averting her eyes to search again for Mr Thornton, enabling Harriet to send a forehand low across the net, too fast and too far away for Kerry to return it.

Kerry’s confidence took a nosedive. She couldn’t think of anything but the fact that Mr Thornton hadn’t bothered to turn up. Blinded by tears, Kerry missed Harriet’s next return as it thundered past her and landed just inside the base line.

‘First game to Harriet!’

As the two girls stood together beneath the umpire’s chair, waiting for the start of their second game, Kerry longed to pour her juice over Harriet’s head, since the bigger girl was using every opportunity to further undermine her.

‘Any sign of Daddy yet?’ the other girl whispered maliciously. ‘What a pity he can’t be bothered to turn up for his daughter – who’s in real trouble right now!’

With Harriet’s peals of laughter ringing in her ears, Kerry’s shoulders slumped as she made her way to the opposite side of the court for the next game. By now, she had lost all concentration and all belief in herself. Mr Thornton didn’t care, so what was the point of caring about anything?

In the second and subsequent games, Kerry was no threat to her nemesis. She’d lost her fighting spirit and, by the end of the match, she’d lost all six games disastrously and ignominiously to Harriet.

As she left the court, smarting from the shame and feeling the weight of other people’s pity, she felt overwhelmed by grief. This was just the most devastating thing that had ever happened to her. As for Mr Thornton, she hoped she’d never see him again. Why had he told her mother he’d be there? He was a liar, and she hated him!

Her situation was made even worse by having to wait on the sidelines while all the other matches were played. Harriet insisted on sitting beside her, continuing to needle her with snide comments about her absentee father all afternoon. Kerry longed to hit Harriet over the head with her racquet, but she knew how important it was to appear outwardly sanguine about losing her match. Despite her humiliation, Kerry wanted to be seen as a good sport.

After the matches and the prize-giving, Ellie was waiting outside the pavilion for her daughter. She was still puzzled that Alan hadn’t turned up, and she cast a final futile glance around the court. She hoped that nothing was wrong. He’d seemed so keen on seeing Kerry play …

Kerry strode angrily out of the clubhouse, pushing aside other pupils and their parents as she joined her mother. ‘I thought you said that Mr Thornton was coming along today?’ she said, her face red with rage.

‘Yes, Al – er, Mr Thornton said he’d be here. I wonder what happened to take him away? I’m sure it must have been something very important,’ Ellie said soothingly. ‘I know he was really looking forward to watching you play!’

Kerry said nothing. She wasn’t able to speak any more, since she was holding her jaw rigidly in an effort to keep her unshed tears under control. She didn’t want her mother to see how upset she was, in case she told Mr Thornton. And Kerry would rather die than let him know that she’d cared about him being there.

‘Never mind, there’ll always be another time!’ Ellie said cheerfully. ‘What does it matter that you lost one match? Even top players lose sometimes. Come on – let’s head back home. I’ve made an apple pie for after dinner – your favourite!’

C
HAPTER
51

T
he following week, Laura got the keys to her new apartment. She didn’t have many possessions other than her clothing and the precious photographs of her parents and brother. When she left the apartment she’d shared with Jeff, she’d taken only the minimum of items with her, since her prime concern had been to get away to safety.

The new apartment came complete with beds, a lavish kitchen and two beige sofas in the large living room, but everything else Laura would need to supply herself. On the day she moved in, she and Kerry spent several enjoyable hours traipsing around the shops getting the remaining items she needed.

‘Shall I stay with you for your first night?’ Kerry asked, as she filled a kitchen cupboard with packets of food. ‘I mean, it’s bound to be a bit lonely until you get settled in. We could get a takeaway …’

‘Thanks, but there’s absolutely no need,’ Laura replied cheerfully. ‘You must be sick and tired of me by now, and I’m sure you’re dying to have your flat to yourself again!’

‘Well, if you’re sure …’

‘Of course. I’m quite looking forward to being here on my own. Not that I’m not grateful for all your help, and for putting up with me for so long –’

Kerry dismissed her thanks with a wave of her hand. ‘All
for one, and one for all – isn’t that our motto? You’d do the same for me.’

Laura nodded. ‘But you’d never be so stupid as to get involved with someone like Jeff.’

Kerry patted her arm. ‘What’s done is done, so forget about him. Anyway, I’m much too cautious to rush into anything – maybe that’s a fault rather than a virtue. At least you followed your heart.’

As Laura stood alone in her new apartment, she felt a surge of joy. The apartment was hers and she loved it! Right that minute, she wanted to buy it, lock stock and barrel. So it was probably just as well that she’d have to wait until next year, because she was being her usual impetuous self again. Living there would enable her to find out if the apartment truly suited her. But in her heart she knew it would.

A sudden wave of sadness swept over her. She’d never expected to be buying a home on her own. She and Jeff had planned on eventually buying a big home in the country, and she’d always imagined it would look similar to the house where she’d once lived with her parents and brother. There would be trees for their children to climb, and acres of garden where they’d learn about nature and have lots of space to let their imaginations run riot, just as she, Pete and Kerry had done all those years ago.

Sighing, she shook her head, as though to dislodge the memories of her past. She hoped she hadn’t seemed too eager to get rid of Kerry. She owed her friend a huge debt of gratitude, and she wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings. But she was really excited at being alone in her new home.

As she walked from room to room, Laura made a list of all the things she’d need. Since she was already planning to stay in the apartment long term, she intended making it look
exactly the way she wanted it. Looking around the apartment, Laura made a vow to start spending some of the money she had stashed away in banks and investments. Rationally, she knew that the guilt she felt over her family’s deaths was pointless, and whether she spent the money or not, nothing was ever going to bring her family back.

She could also assuage her guilt by giving some of the money to Kerry. And she’d do it just as soon as she and Jeff were divorced. The legal ending of her marriage seemed the perfect time to reward her friend for all her help and support over the years.

Checking her watch, Laura was astonished to discover that it was already quite late – how times flies, she thought, when you’re enjoying yourself! Drinking a cup of tea before heading downstairs to bed, she settled back into the comfort of one of the large cosy couches, and contemplated her future in the apartment.

Climbing into bed, Laura was still smiling. She felt that at last she was entering a new and exciting phase of her life. No sooner had her head hit the pillow than she was fast asleep.

Laura awoke suddenly. Her befuddled brain had registered an unusual sound somewhere in the apartment. She reached for her watch, and its luminous dial told her it was just after 3 a.m. In the dark of the room, she was unable to see anything. Listening carefully, she heard nothing, so she assumed it had just been her imagination going into overdrive. It was probably just one of those creaky sounds that buildings made – she wasn’t yet familiar with the Green Street building’s quirks. All the same, she now wished that she’d accepted Kerry’s invitation to stay the first night with her. Her heart was thumping and her mouth was dry. She’d locked the front door, hadn’t she? Stop it, she told herself crossly. You’re behaving like an idiot.
Anyway, there’s a concierge on duty downstairs, so nothing bad can happen. That’s why you took this apartment – so that you’d feel safe.

She was just dropping off to sleep again when she heard it. It was a faint scraping sound that she couldn’t identify, and it was definitely coming from somewhere upstairs. Someone was in her apartment! Terrified, she glanced around the dark downstairs bedroom. But there was nowhere for her to hide. There was no key in the door either, so she couldn’t lock herself in. What was she going to do? Did she wait in bed for whatever was going to happen, or did she try to escape?

Leaping out of bed, she dived behind the bedroom door and crouched down, listening all the while for sounds of anyone coming down the stairs. If only she had some kind of weapon! Her heart was beating so loudly that she felt sure that whoever was in the flat must hear it. She felt as impotent as a small child, recalling all the times she’d been terrified of the monsters beneath her bed, whose tentacles might reach out and grab her leg if she tried to climb out. And she remembered how her father would get down on his hands and knees and confirm with a shake of his head that there were definitely no monsters lurking there.

Laura felt tears filling her eyes as she remembered the father she’d loved so much. How she wished he was there now, to protect her! Angrily she brushed aside her tears – this was no time for self-indulgence and maudlin thoughts. She needed her wits about her if she was to deal with the present situation.

As the minutes ticked by with no further sound, Laura began to relax a little. Maybe she’d just imagined it? But she was still too terrified to leave the bedroom and investigate. By now she had cramps in her legs and one arm was numb from hanging tightly onto the doorknob for support.

Eventually, the cramp proved too much to bear any longer,
so Laura stood up as quietly as she could. Straining to hear, she waited anxiously but could make out no further sound. She could hear the noise of occasional traffic outside, and it lent an air of normality to things. Had she simply imagined the scraping sound? After all, the concierge down in the foyer wasn’t going to allow anyone up to her apartment without good reason, and certainly not in the middle of the night. She was just being silly once again.

All the same, she was still too scared to check any of the other rooms. Sitting down on the bed, her head now resting wearily against the headboard, Laura stifled a yawn as she pulled the duvet around her. A wave of lethargy swept over her. She’d need to let each of the three concierges know about Jeff, and ensure that he was never allowed anywhere near her apartment. She’d do that in the morning. Right then, she was feeling unbelievably tired – all the drama of the last half-hour was proving exhausting. Her eyelids began to flicker, and she was having difficulty keeping them open.

Gradually, Laura’s grip on the duvet relaxed, her eyelids gave up the fight to stay open and she fell into a deep sleep.

C
HAPTER
52

A
lan was turning his car into Treetops’s driveway just as Kerry and her mother arrived home after the tournament.

‘Mr Thornton, what a surprise!’ Ellie said, smiling, as she and Kerry stepped out of her car. ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’

Alan nodded. ‘Thanks, Ms Beckworth, that would be lovely.’

While Ellie went inside, he turned to face the child, looking contrite. ‘I’m so sorry that I missed your tournament, Kerry – but I had a really important business meeting that I simply had to attend.’

Kerry shrugged her shoulders. ‘Don’t worry – it didn’t matter,’ she told him stonily.

Only then did it dawn on him that he’d hurt her badly. He felt chastened, but there wasn’t much he could do. Sylvia had cracked the whip, and he didn’t dare defy her on those few occasions when his mild-mannered wife actually asserted her will.

‘I’ll come to your next tournament,’ Alan said, desperately wanting her absolution.

‘I said it doesn’t matter,’ Kerry told him firmly, refusing to look at him. ‘It was only a stupid tennis tournament anyway – nothing like as important as your
meeting
!’