As Jimmy stood wondering which way his pals had gone, the moon went behind a cloud just as a hand descended on the back of his neck. He chuckled. It was one of the others, of course, jealous of his success, and thinking to show him he wasn’t the only one who could get good-sized branches. ‘Stow it, Freddy,’ he began, then stopped as a voice he knew all too well spoke in his ear.

‘Got you, you bloody little bag o’ filth!’ the voice grated. ‘By Gor, I’ll learn you an’ your sister to keep your thievin’ paws off other people’s property. You took my stash while I were asleep, and I’ll be bound it were one o’ you what made me fall down the stairs as well, though I still doesn’t know how you did it!’ Here Cyril shook Jimmy as vehemently as a dog shakes a rabbit. ‘Where’d you put it? Don’t you think you can keep shtum, because if you won’t tell I’ll beat the truth out of you. I’ll thrash you till there’s not a strip of skin left unmarked on your measly little pelt.’

Jimmy muttered that he did not know what his captor was talking about, whereupon Cyril jerked cruelly at the handful of hair on the nape of his neck.

‘Ho, you thought you could keep out of my way if you stayed away from Solly Court, but that’s where you was bleedin’ well wrong. I remembered you was pally with that bleedin’ Nuttall boy, and when I saw him headin’ towards the park I remembered as how you kids used to cut holly and sell it on Christmas Eve. Well, you’ve cut all the holly you’re going to get—’ At this point Jimmy tore himself free from the older man’s grasp and swung the big holly branch right across Cyril’s face. Cyril give a shriek and let go of his captive for a moment to try to detach the prickly leaves from his skin.

‘You little swine, you’ve bleedin’ well blinded me,’ he howled, causing himself more pain as he tore the holly free. ‘Oh, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill the pair of you for this!’ He let go of the branch and made an ineffectual grab for the boy just as the moon re-emerged from the cloud, and Jimmy saw that his face looked as though a cat had scratched it. He backed off, and then, as Cyril lurched towards him, set off across the park at a fast run. Looking over his shoulder as he burst into the road, he saw that though Cyril was some way behind he was still in hot pursuit. It would not do, therefore, to go to the house where Mo waited, and for obvious reasons he could not go to Solomon Court. There were a hundred little streets and jiggers where he might hide for a while, but he would have to think carefully before he decided which one to honour with his presence. Cyril might have friends who would be happy to join the chase, but on the good side he had to keep stopping to mop at the blood running down his face, so Jimmy did not think he was in immediate danger of being recaptured.