The Great Ice-Cream Heist (7 page)

Eva wished she'd never said anything. Dad looked so worn and tired. She'd wanted to bring him tea. She should have left it at that. Her eyes felt hot again.

‘Oh, Bug. Look at you.' Dad smiled a sad smile. ‘You're a wet weekend. Come here.' He reached out and pulled her into a hug. She smelled his warm, sleepy skin and fought against her tears.

‘I didn't mean to make you cry,' he said. ‘I'm a fool. But I'm your fool. You've got me. You know that, don't you?'

Eva nodded. She had Dad and she didn't care what Jamie thought. She didn't care at all.

Chapter 11

Dad wasn't sure that Eva should go to the lodge that morning; he was worried that she was too upset. He said he'd call Gran and ask her to have her instead. But Eva said no. Gran wouldn't like it. Gran wanted her to spread her wings. Eva had insisted on going.

But just because she was at the lodge didn't mean she was going to speak to Jamie. It was easy to avoid him, because he was working under supervision. Melanie sat in the main hall. Her briefcase rested on a pile of bricks and she scribbled notes across pages. She had one eye on Jamie though. He was fixing the mural he'd ruined the day before.

Eva took one look and asked Sally if she could work outside again.

‘Yes, of course. Heidi and Dilan are in the outdoor gang today. You can work with them,' Sally said.

She moved along the corridor, which was dark and clammy like a cave, and stepped out into bright sunshine. Heidi squealed a little when she noticed Eva.

‘I'm glad we got someone else,' Heidi said. ‘We're clearing the path today, so we don't have to walk in the road and more hands make light work, my mum always says. And the path needs a ton of work.'

She waved her hand towards the trees. Eva couldn't see a path.

Heidi grinned. ‘It's overgrown. But we've got some of those cutty things, seca-wotsits.'

‘Hedge scissors?' Eva suggested.

‘Hedge scissors! You're funny.' Heidi slipped her arm through Eva's and led her to the pile of tools. There was something about Heidi that reminded Eva of a china doll. She looked as if her eyes would click shut if you tipped her flat.

Dilan was there already, handing out sacks and bright yellow jackets and rakes and anything else he could find to the group that had gathered. There were six volunteers altogether. Eva smiled shyly at the three she didn't know. A couple said hello.

‘Right,' Dilan said with purpose. ‘You see that path?'

He pointed at a hedge.

‘No,' Heidi said.

‘Well, by lunchtime, you will,' Dilan said.

Eva could just about make out where the path used to be – the leaves were thinner and light filtered through in whorls, like a giant's fat thumbprint on the hedgeline. Once upon a time it had been an arch through the hedge, a shortcut to the rest of the park.

She picked up a pair of seca-wotsits and started cutting.

The hedge was a hundred-year-old bramble, thick as a dragon's leg, wound round the palace of a sleeping princess.

Eva was a prince, cutting the brambles back, forcing a way through.
Here I come, my lady
, Eva thought as another slice of privet hit the ground.
I'll rescue you.
The heat on her skin was the breath of the sleeping dragon. The dust and dirt and old spiders' webs was the build-up of a hundred years of dreaming.

Eva raised her sword and hacked some more. The princess would soon be free, she thought with a smile.

‘Eva,' a voice called, cutting through her daydream.

Shanika.

What did she want?

Eva wiped her face with the back of her sleeve. She felt hot and sweaty, but at least she hadn't woken any sleeping dragons.

‘Eva!'

‘I'm here.'

Shanika was holding a clipboard and pen. ‘I'm going to do some publicity,' she said. ‘I can't believe no one has done it before. Local press, that kind of thing. Anyway, I need everyone to write a few words about why they're here.'

‘No,' Eva said, shaking her head. ‘I don't want to be in the paper.'

‘It will just take you a few minutes. It doesn't have to be a novel. Just a few sentences.'

‘I said no,' Eva said, a bit more forcefully than she meant to. ‘I don't want to. I hate all that stuff.'

Shanika frowned. ‘All what stuff?'

Words, Eva thought, words and letters and the maze they made on a page, the way that they slipped out of focus the longer you looked at them, like a photo taken too quickly. The way they slipped out of her mind like wet fish sliding off a plate. The whole stupid soup of words.

‘You know,' Shanika said, ‘you can be a bit weird sometimes. I think you've been hanging out with that McIntyre boy too much. It's rubbing off on you. Don't worry about your story. I can get plenty of other people to do it. People who want to help. It doesn't bother me.' She turned on her heel and stalked back towards the lodge. Her ponytail whipped back and forth like the tail of an angry cat. Eva could nearly hear her hiss.

She suddenly felt tired. Tired of painting and cutting and moving stuff. Her arms were heavy and her eyes felt full of dust and grit. But she felt tired inside too. First Jamie had nagged her about Dad and now Shanika was having a got at her. Eva had had enough.

She put her secateurs back on the pile of tools and went to wait for Gran.

Chapter 12

Everyone was streaming out of the lodge by the time Gran arrived to walk Eva home. Eva was wearing her invisibility shield again. She kept her head down and the collar up and everyone just walked straight past her. She didn't see Jamie leave, though he must have because Sally closed the door of the lodge behind the last volunteer.

As soon as Eva saw Gran walking up the drive with her bag-for-life swinging at her side, she ran towards her and wrapped her in a hug.

‘Whoa. What's up, duck?' Gran asked.

‘Nothing,' Eva mumbled into her sweatshirt.

‘Well, it's the most something-looking nothing that I've ever seen. Did you row with someone?'

Had she?

Not a row, exactly. It was just Shanika who had made her feel stupid and small. And Jamie who had made her cry that morning, though he hadn't meant to. And Dad. Eva was surprised to find that she was cross at Dad too, though she wasn't sure why.

She didn't answer Gran; she just buried herself deeper in the scent of Chanel No. 5, which was Gran's favourite perfume.

‘Right, that's enough.'

Eva felt Gran's hands on her shoulders, making her stand straight.

‘Eva, tell me what's wrong. I can try to help if I know what's the matter.'

Eva took a few deep breaths. She felt a bit wobbly on her feet and wished they could sit down, but Gran had taken her elbow and they were walking together down the drive.

‘Someone said something,' Eva whispered.

‘Hmm,' Gran said. ‘It's a common enough occurrence. There's not much I can do to stop that, unfortunately.'

Eva gave a weak smile, despite herself. ‘Someone said something about Dad,' she admitted.

‘Oh,' Gran said. ‘And was what they said true or a lie?'

Eva didn't answer. Jamie had said that Dad was odd, wanting to know where she was all the time. But that wasn't odd. Everyone's parents were like that, weren't they? ‘He said . . . he said Dad kept me prisoner.'

Gran gave Eva's shoulder a little squeeze. ‘Oh dear. And did you get angry with the person who said that?'

‘Yes.'

‘And how do you feel about that now?'

‘I don't know.'

Gran stopped walking. They were still in the park and Eva could see the great hill in the centre. Someone was right at the top, flying a kite. It soared above the park, whipping away from the person at the end of its taut string.

‘Eva. You'll find that lots of people in this world will want what's best for you. But they might not always know what that thing is. Your dad wants what's best for you – he always has. But what happened to Mirabelle has made him very cautious. It sounds like your friend wants what's best for you too. Though they have a very clumsy and rude way of saying it. What matters is, can you love the sentiment even if you don't agree with the expression?'

‘Can I do what with what?' Eva asked.

Gran grinned. ‘Sorry. I mean can you be pleased that people care, even if you don't agree with the way they show it?'

Eva understood that time.

She wrapped her arms round Gran. ‘Mum was lucky to have a mum like you,' she said.

Gran kissed the top of Eva's head.

They walked together in a comfy silence, out of the park and along the road. When they were outside the house, Eva paused. ‘I want to say sorry to the person I fought with,' she said.

‘Good idea. Will you see them tomorrow?'

Eva looked up at Jamie's house. ‘He lives on this street. Can I go over, just for five minutes?'

Gran's neat, dark eyebrows pinched together in a frown. ‘You know your dad doesn't like you being out alone.'

‘It's just in the street. Just two minutes. I'll be right back. Please, Gran? Pretty please with lipstick on?'

The corner of Gran's mouth twitched. ‘Well, OK. But just two minutes. Then I send out the search parties. Which house?'

Eva paused. Gran would change her mind quicker than she could say ‘bad influence' if she told her it was the McIntyre house. She pointed vaguely across the street. ‘That one. Five minutes. Tops.'

Eva watched until Gran was safely inside the house before dashing up to Jamie's front door. She rang the doorbell. A surge of angry barking skittered towards her from inside the house. A voice yelled at the dogs. But the barking just got louder.

The door opened.

A young man stood holding open the door. One of Jamie's big brothers. It was like looking at a weird photocopy of Jamie. His brother was taller, bulkier, with shorter hair and a straight-set mouth. But he had the same shape face, the same brown-gold eyes.

‘What do you want?' he snapped.

‘I'm . . .' Eva wanted to turn and run. The snarling dogs at the man's feet were just as unfriendly as the man.

‘Eva!' Jamie yelled from halfway down the stairs. ‘Michael, let her in. She's my friend. Wills, Kate, get out of the way, you stupid mutts. This is Eva.'

Michael took a small step backwards, but Eva still had to keep her elbows tucked in so that she didn't touch him as she went past.

The dogs, on the other hand, were all over her. They scrabbled up her legs as though she were a ladder with roast chicken on top. Their mouths were slathery; they were all tongue and teeth.

‘Down, Wills!' Jamie said sternly.

The dog ignored him completely.

‘Don't mind him,' Jamie said. ‘He's as soft as a brush.'

Eva moved through the hall. It was an odd mirror image of her own house, the same shapes, but decorated differently. She couldn't help but notice the dog-chewed banisters and the jagged edges where the fake floorboards had come loose. It smelled different too. She could smell laundry, and food, and dogs, and boys. It smelled busy.

Eva suddenly felt shy.

Jamie grinned. ‘Shall we go out the back?'

The shed roof. Eva nodded gratefully.

In the kitchen, a woman sat at the table. She had a magazine open and her dark head was bent over a giant crossword.

‘Mum,' Jamie said. ‘This is Eva.'

The woman looked up and smiled. Eva was shocked to see that one of her front teeth was missing. The woman laughed. ‘I take my falsies out at break time. That's how I know it's a break!'

‘Don't mind her,' Jamie said, and pulled Eva through the back door.

The dogs followed them outside. Jamie scrambled up on to the roof of the shed. Eva followed. Wills tried to come too, but his legs were too stumpy to make the jump. Kate didn't even try – instead she found a patch of sunlight to flop down in.

‘I can't stay long. I just want to say I'm sorry about this morning,' Eva said.

Jamie didn't answer. He lay back on the roof and smiled contentedly. His arms and legs settled out in a star shape. He closed his eyes. Was he going to sleep? Eva frowned. She'd never been ignored during an apology before. Was he ignoring her? Why invite her in and be nice if he was ignoring her?

He opened one eye slowly. ‘You're standing in the sun, you know. You should sit down.'

So he wasn't ignoring her. Eva sat down heavily. The roof was hot underneath her legs. It felt nice. She lay on her back and felt the warmth spread through her shoulders. She felt them relax, almost with a sigh.