Rumor Has It (25 page)

    'Which I didn't get to eat. And he lives six thousand miles away. Plus, we've never actually met.' Kaye ticked off each point on her fingers. 'So he doesn't count.'

    'Now you're going to make me feel guilty about telling you my happy news.' Reaching under the counter, Erin brought out a holiday brochure. She rolled it up and clonked Tilly on the head to stop her admiring herself in the full-length mirror. 'Hey, are you listening? I'm going away on holiday!'

    That caught Tilly's attention. 'What? But you haven't been anywhere for years.'

    'I know!' Erin was beaming like a lunatic. 'Fergus is taking me.'

    'You always said you couldn't afford to close the shop.'

    'I did, but this time I'm going to do it anyway. We need the break. Imagine, a whole week away without having to worry about Scary Stella. And guess where we're going?'

    'A muddy caravan site in North Wales.'

    'Close. Venice!'

    'Oh wow!'

    'Now that,' said Kaye, 'is seriously romantic.'

    'I know,' Erin said joyfully. 'And it's somewhere I've always wanted to visit. I'm so excited! Look, this is where we're going to be staying; it's a palazzo overlooking the Grand Canal.' Eagerly she showed them the hotel in the brochure. 'Fourteenth century, views of the Rialto Bridge, it's even got a roof garden.'

'That's fantastic.' Tilly squeezed her arm. 'And you deserve it.'

    'When Fergus told me, I burst into tears,' said Erin. 'We're going for a week at the end of the month. I can't
wait
.'

    'And you're closing the shop?' said Kaye as Tilly disappeared back into the cubicle to change out of her new dress.

    Erin nodded. She'd asked Barbara, who had helped her out on occasions in the past, but Barbara was unable to do it this time. 'It's fine. It's only for a week.'

    'Because I could always look after it for you. If you want,' Kaye added when she saw the stunned look on Erin's face.

    'Are you serious?'

    'Why wouldn't I be?'

    Erin flapped her hands. 'Sorry, I just wasn't expecting this. I mean, you're a Hollywood actress. It'd be like walking into the post office and Joan Collins selling you a book of stamps.'

    'Except Joan still has a career,' Kaye pointed out, 'and I don't. I'm unemployable for the foreseeable future. And it drives me nuts, sitting around doing nothing. I'd love to run your shop for a week, if you think you can trust me.'

    'God, are you sure?'

    'Absolutely. I like clothes. And it's nice in here, friendly and peaceful.'

    'Until you get Stella bursting in, yelling abuse. It's OK,' Erin said hastily, 'she won't do that. I'm the one she's got it in for.'

    'Don't worry. Crikey, is that the time? I'm meant to be at the hairdresser's.' As she paid for the Von Etzdorf scarf, Kaye said wryly, 'See? This is what I'm reduced to, filling my empty days with trips to get my roots done and have my eyelashes tinted. How sad is that?'

    Tilly's phone began to ring. She rummaged in her bag and an swered it.

    'Hello, this is Mrs Heron calling from Harleston Hall.'

    'Oh! Hi!' Mrs Heron, tall and terrifying, was Lou's headmistress. Tilly unconsciously straightened her shoulders and stood to atten tion. 'Is everything all right?'

    'Louisa isn't unwell. But I'm afraid there has been an… incident.' Mrs Heron was choosing her words with care. 'I've been trying to contact Louisa's mother but she isn't answering her phone.'

    'Oh, but she's here!' Covering the receiver, Tilly said to Kaye, 'Where's your phone?'

    'At home, on charge. Who's that?'

    'Mrs Heron.' Belatedly, Tilly thrust the mobile into Kaye's hands.

    'Hello? This is Lou's mum. What's happened?'

    Tilly and Erin watched Kaye's face as she listened intently. Finally she said, 'We're on our way now,' and hung up.

    'What kind of an incident?' Tilly's heart was in her mouth.

    'She said she'd explain everything when I got there. But it's something to do with Eddie Marshall-Hicks.'

    'What?' God, Lou was only thirteen. Surely she hadn't been caught doing something sexual? 'Were they… um, kissing?' Would that warrant a phone call from the headmistress?

    'I don't know. I don't think so.' Shocked and bemused, Kaye said, 'She said there'd been a fracas.'

    A fracas. Well, that didn't sound like a kiss.

    'We'd better call Max.' Tilly reached for the mobile but Kaye snatched it away from her.

    'No, don't. Mrs Heron said not to. Lou doesn't want him to know.'

'SO MUCH FOR SAYING I don't have anything to fill my empty days.' Having called the hairdresser to cancel her appointment, Kaye's imagination was now running riot. 'If that boy has tried anything on with Lou, I'll have him arrested. In fact, I'll rip his throat out with my bare hands.'

    They reached Harleston Hall in record time. Screeching to a halt outside the entrance, Tilly leapt out of the car and raced after Kaye up the stone steps.

    The school secretary was waiting for them in reception. She ushered them through to the head's office and showed them into a high-ceilinged wood-paneled room.

    'Oh my God… sweetheart, what did he
do
to you?'

    Lou's face was pinched and white. Her shirt was torn and splat tered with mud and there were holes in her black tights. With a sob, Kaye flew across the room and scooped her out of her chair. 'Oh my baby, don't worry, we're calling the police, that boy's going to suffer for this, he'll wish he'd never been
born
—'

    'Mrs Dineen… er, Ms McKenna, could you please let me speak?' Astrid Heron, imperious behind her desk, indicated with a tilt of her head that Kaye should take the seat next to Lou. 'I think you need to calm down and listen carefully to—'

    'Calm down? CALM DOWN? How can you
say
that?' bellowed Kaye. 'My daughter's been attacked and we're getting the police here this
minute.'

'Mum, I haven't,' said Lou.

    'But… but…' Kaye gazed wildly from Lou to Mrs Heron to Tilly. 'You said there'd been a fracas.'

    Mrs Heron said grimly, 'That is correct. And I'm afraid your daughter was the instigator. She launched a serious physical assault on another pupil and I'm afraid there will be consequences—'

    'Hang on, you're telling me my daughter attacked someone else? Lou!' Shaking her head in disbelief, Kaye said, 'Is this true? You were actually
fighting
with another girl? Over Eddie Marshall-Hicks?'

    'Oh Mum, no.' Vehemently, Lou shook her own head. 'How can you even think that? Of course I wasn't fighting with another girl!'

    'Edward Marshall-Hicks is the person she attacked,' said Mrs Heron.

    'What?'

    'I blacked his eye.' Lou was unrepentant. 'And I
almost
broke his nose.'

    Bloody hell. Tilly, watching from her position at the back of the office, heard the pride in Lou's voice.

    Kaye's hand had flown to her mouth. 'But why? Why would you do that?'

    'Because he deserved it.'

    'But… I thought you liked him.'

    'Mum, I told you I hated him. He's a bastard.'

    '
Louisa
,' thundered Mrs Heron. 'Aren't you in enough trouble already? I will
not
tolerate that kind of language in my school.'

    'Oh well, I'm probably expelled anyway.' Lou shrugged and folded her arms. 'In fact, why don't I just clear my locker and leave now?'

    'Stop it!' Kaye was beside herself. 'Stop saying things like that and tell me why you did it.'

    'OK, you really want to know? Because I have put up and
up
with that brain-dead idiot making pathetic comments and saying horrible stuff and today I decided not to take it anymore. I told him to stop.' Lou's voice rose. 'And he didn't; he just laughed. So I
made
him stop. And don't ask me to regret it because I don't. I hate Eddie Marshall-Hicks and today I taught him a lesson. Plus, he deserves everything he got.'

    'Oh sweetheart, what's he been saying to you? Has he been making fun of your hair?' Bewildered, Kaye said, 'Is it your freckles?'

    Lou bit her lip and said nothing.

    'Louisa.' Mrs Heron employed her headmistressy don't-mess with-me voice. 'We need to know.'

    'OK, it's not about my red hair. Or my freckles. Believe it or not, it isn't even about my flat chest, my knobbly knees, or my tragic chicken legs. If you
must
know,' Lou said evenly, 'it's to do with having a dad who's gay.'

Kaye asked to see Eddie Marshall-Hicks, who was being kept in a separate room. Tilly stayed behind with Lou while Mrs Heron took Kaye through to another smaller office. As the door opened, she braced herself.

    Eddie was standing gazing out of the window. Mr Lewis the PE teacher was sitting on the desk. But now wasn't the time to admire his stupendous physique.

    'Hello, I'm Lou's mum.' Kaye hung on to her handbag; somehow shaking hands didn't seem appropriate. 'I've come to see how you are.'

    Turning, Eddie said, 'I don't know, how do you
think
I am?'

    Maybe sarcasm was allowable, given the circumstances. His left eye was almost completely closed, his nose was swollen, and there were splashes of blood on the front of his untucked white shirt. He looked as if he'd been set upon by a gang of muggers.

    Kaye experienced a secret surge of pride that her skinny thirteen year-old daughter had managed to wreak such havoc. Calmly, she said, 'I'm sorry this happened. But I gather Lou was provoked.'

    'She just went mental. Started yelling and screaming. Then she launched herself at me and started throwing punches. It was like being attacked by a wild animal,' Eddie said furiously. 'Look what she did to my face!'

    Hooray!

    'He's been thoroughly checked out by matron,' Tom Lewis put in. 'His nose isn't broken. There's no permanent damage to the eye.'

    'Well, that's good. But I'm sure you can understand why Lou was upset,' said Kaye. 'Apparently, you've been making comments about her father for several months.'

    Eddie's face reddened and he stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets. 'It was just a bit of fun.'

    'To you, maybe. It hurt her. A lot.'

    'Oh yeah?' He pointed at his face. '
Snap
.'

    The phone began to ring in his pocket at that moment. Eddie checked caller ID and answered it.

    'Dad? Uh… yeah, I know you're busy. Sorry. The school said I had to call and tell you I was in a fight today.' He paused, listened, then said, 'No, nothing serious. I'm fine. And I didn't start it, right? Mrs Heron just said I had to ask if you wanted to come over and talk about it.' Another pause. 'No, that's OK, you go to your meeting. I'll see you tonight. Bye.' Eddie switched off his phone and mumbled, 'He's got stuff on at work. Anyway, he's cool about it.'

    Tom Lewis looked relieved; evidently, they'd been worried Eddie's father might roar up, all guns blazing and flanked by lawyers at the first mention of assault. Meanwhile, Eddie was torn between embarrassment at having been punched by a girl and the desire to see her punished as a result. But they clearly weren't out of the woods yet. His busy father might well change his mind when he saw the damage that had been done to his formerly handsome son's face. 'She didn't want you to know,' Kaye told Max when he arrived home that evening, 'but I said we had to tell you. Oh Max, she's in a terrible state.'

    Max briefly closed his eyes. And he'd thought today had been stressful, what with Jamie Michaels and Tandy faffing about and finally deciding that the lapis lazuli Italian tiles in the downstairs cloakroom were the wrong shade of lapis lazuli.

    Now this. He pictured Lou being tormented at school because of him and thought his heart would break.

    Shit.
Shit
. How could he have ever imagined his daughter wouldn't be made to suffer as a result of his own selfishness? His chest tightening, Max left Kaye and Tilly in the living room and made his way upstairs.

    'Oh Daddy, I'm sorry.' As soon as Lou saw him, she burst into tears. 'I told them not to tell you.'

    Max crossed the room. The great thing about a hug was that the person you were hugging couldn't see if your eyes were misting up. Clasping her tightly, he said, 'Don't you dare apologize. It's my fault.'

    'It is not. It's
his
fault. Boys are just so immature. And ignorant. I hate hate
hate
Eddie Marshall-Hicks.' Wiping her wet face furiously with the back of her sleeve, Lou said, 'I know I shouldn't have done it, but you know what? I really wish I'd knocked his teeth out.'

    There was a lump in Max's throat. He stroked her bony shoul ders. 'You should have said something before.'

    'I couldn't tell you. And Mum was over in LA when it started.' Lou shrugged. 'Then after a while, you just kind of get used to not saying anything. Boys are horrible, they like to make fun of people. The hilarious thing is, Mum and Tilly both thought I fancied Eddie because they kept seeing us together.' Her lip curled with a mixture of derision and amusement. 'But that was because he was taunting me, saying vile things, and being obnoxious. Once they saw me chasing him and ripping up a piece of paper, and they thought it was a love letter.
As if
.'