‘Ah, god!’ I put my hands on my head. This is getting worse. I got beaten by an eight-year-old!

Gunfight

‘Felix, are you going to stay in bed all weekend?’

‘What? No. Go away!’ I shout from under my pillow.

‘Don’t be so rude,’ says Mum. ‘I’m just saying it’s a nice day.’ I hear the swishing sound of her pulling back my curtains. ‘Look. There’s not a cloud in the sky.’

I peer out from under my pillow. Sunlight flashes across my room. I bury my head again. It might be sunny outside, but it feels like it’s raining in my bedroom. It’s Saturday morning and I’ve got nothing to do and even if I did I’ve got no one to do it with. Granddad still isn’t talking or eating, because I heard Mum and Dad discussing it last night. Mum was worried; she’d made a roast especially for him, but he didn’t even let her in the house. I’m still not talking to Jake, even though he has sent me four texts this morning and my phone just buzzed again. I reach over to my table.

Felix, come on. It’s going to be a boring weekend.

I scroll back through the rest of the messages.

Mr Keytes said not to talk but that was days ago.

Felix?

?

Are you awake? ☺

I sigh and push my phone away.

I do miss him and it’s a brilliant day to go in our tree because we’d see the enemy coming for miles. But even if I could forgive him, we couldn’t go in the tree, because Granddad will see us and he’ll think I’ve sided with Jake.

My phone buzzes again.

Jake’s not giving up. I reach out and read the message.

Hey, Felix, come on. Meet me at our tree at 2.

Just send a ☹ so I know you got this message.

I press the off button and lie back on my bed. My granddad won’t talk to me and my best friend – my ex-best friend – won’t leave me alone. I roll over on my side and stare at the wall.

4 × 7 = 28

5 × 7 = 35

6 × 7 = 42

I look at Granddad’s chess rules on my door:

2.   Never take the easiest path. If you don’t play you don’t lose and that’s wrong. You lose to get better.

3.   Do not trust the clocks. There may be a power cut and they stop, or they will be slow because of flat batteries, or your opponent may be a cheat. The best clock is the one in your head.

No path is easy and I’ve got too much in my head to worry about clocks.

I bury my head in the pillow again.

*

The house is empty when I eventually go downstairs. Mum has left a note for me on the table.