He bows his head and sighs. ‘When you left, I had to sit in front of them for biology and yesterday was also hell. They kept going on and on at me, saying that I needed you to fight my battles. I don’t, Morgan. I don’t need you at all.’ He blinks several times. ‘They were really mean about your hair too.’
I stroke my orange streaks.
One of James’s friends pushes Harry into me.
‘Blinky’s slut is back in the building and he’s already trying to jump her,’ James says.
Harry regains his balance and I see rage on his face. He brings his arm back fast and goes to punch the bully, but he misses and falls to the ground, and as fast as James appeared, he’s gone.
I resist the urge to say something, knowing I will only make things worse, and I hate the word slut so all I want to do is punch James. Instead, I offer Harry a hand up. He ignores it and gets up on his own before walking away from me.
‘Harry, wait. I have to go to the head’s office but we have English together. Do you want to come with me?’
He stops dead and turns. I’m scared he’ll reject me and I won’t have any friends in this dump. Instead, he nods.
‘Is your mum okay? I heard what happened the other night,’ I ask him. I was holed up in that apartment petrified of whatever the hell was going on in the house while trying to look after Cora. When Mum and Dad got back, they asked me to go to my room, again taking Cora, and then I heard them shouting. Mum blamed Dad for losing his rag and Dad had a go at Mum for not telling him about the worms in Harry’s boot. Harry is going to fall out with me again when Mum goes over to speak to Tessa about James.
‘She was really upset,’ he says.
Progress. He’s talking to me like I’m a human now. I hate being stonewalled.
‘We didn’t break into your house, Morgan. Your dad accused us because our dog was in your house and we were outside.’ He stops in the corridor, and I can see the head’s office at the end. ‘He shouted at us and scared my mum and me. We didn’t deserve that. Mum spent half the night crying and wondering what she’d done wrong. She only wants to be your mum’s friend.’
I shake my head in despair. ‘Things are a bit crazy at the moment. She’s not normally like this and Dad isn’t either. Your mum’s really kind and I’m sorry on their behalf. They’ll all come round. It was the letters which is why I think we have to keep investigating. We can’t give up now.’ I pause, wondering if I should share the other letter with him, the one my mum stole from his post box. It could make things worse but I trust Harry. ‘There’s another letter.’
He raises his brows. ‘Another letter?’
I nod. ‘We can’t take it to your house. We have to investigate somewhere else away from our parents.’
‘Why? Mum doesn’t mind.’
‘She will when she sees this letter. We can’t let either of our mums see it, okay? and if you don’t promise to keep it to yourself, I won’t show you either. So, where can we go? Do you have a shed or something?’
He frowns and takes a few seconds to think. All the time, I know the clock is ticking and I need to get to the head’s office. He clicks his fingers. ‘The den. I bet you can’t remember how to get there so meet me at the entrance tonight at seven and bring a torch. It’s dark. I’ll bring some paper, pins, the exhibits and marker pens. Bring the letter.’ He pauses. ‘Can you tell me what’s in it now?’
The writer of the letter is mean about Harry too. I swallow and look away.
‘It’s about me, isn’t it?’
I don’t answer.
He shrugs. ‘I’m used to it. Let’s just stick to investigating. We will find the poisoner and then our parents will be off the hook and all will be good.’
James bumps into me and I crash into the wall. ‘Can’t wait for my big apology and then worm boy here can kiss my boots.’ He’s already knocking on the door.
‘Ignore him, he’s a dick.’ Harry straightens his coat out. ‘I’ll see you in English. And about later, don’t tell anyone where we’re going. If my mum knew we were at the den, she’d lose her shit and I’d probably get grounded. It’s the one place I’m not allowed to go, ever. Tell them you’re just walking Diggerty with me and meet me at the entrance to the woods.’
Thoughts of that creepy den where a girl was last seen send a shiver through me. My mum is the same. I’m not even allowed in the woods, let alone the den. I didn’t like it when I went there with Harry before, but we have nowhere else to go. A chill runs through me. No one knows what happened to the girl and that freaks me out. A girl can’t simply disappear.
Twenty-Five
Gemma
I carry a wrapped-up Cora on my hip as I trek across the icy road towards Tessa’s house. It’s time to tackle the issue of her nephew. I’ve barely slept this past couple of nights. One minute I think Ray is behind the letters, then I think it’s Tessa or her nephew.
My stomach churns at the thought of a confrontation. I thought a box of chocolates might soften the blow when I speak to her. No one wants to hear the truth about the kids in their family, and I imagine she’ll feel like I’m launching an attack on her. I stop outside her post box at the end of her drive and take a deep breath. I can’t help but open it and check to see if there are any notes. It’s empty as far as I can tell. I see a man scraping ice off the windscreen of their blue SUV.
‘Hi,’ I say with a smile, not wanting to alarm him.
