Chapters (75)
- Cover
- Praise
- About the Author
- Title Page
- Intoroduction
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EITHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- CLIMATE EMERGENCY
- Copyright
SIXTY-TWO
SIXTY TWO
There’s a back way to get to the police station, and we agree that the extra half an hour it will take is worth it. I haven’t told Dana about Carl turning up last night, but she knows he’s looking for her and that there are probably others on the lookout too; the types of characters we really don’t want to run into.
As soon as we step outside, the mood between us is suddenly different. Dana walks fast, her chin deep inside her coat collar. Getting somewhere quickly without being seen is probably something she’s used to doing. I have to jog every third step or so to keep up.
‘We could go past the garden, if you like?’
‘Not now. After, maybe. When it’s done. Then back to yours if that’s alright.’
‘Sure.’ Mum has already confirmed she’ll be away a second night.
After forty minutes or so of walking in silence, of speeding single-file down footpaths and alleyways between houses in quiet streets, of hot-footing it along stone tracks that wind eventually down towards the centre of town, all the while seeing no one, we get to the much more public bit that we can’t avoid. Luckily, this Saturday is market day, and a whole group of pet-food stalls, bakers’ stalls and others will line most of the route to the police station on the other side of the town centre.
As we round the corner onto the normally quieter end of the high street, we join a throng of people. I feel relieved that we can blend in with the crowd and achieve a kind of anonymity. But Dana tenses. Her arm, which she has had slipped through mine for the last five minutes, is plunged back into her pocket. She puts her head down and charges forward through the sea of people. Following in the wake of angry heads and occasional ‘oi’s behind her, I know that we’ll be spotted soon if we carry on like this.
I grab her arm and pull her into a side alley, behind a pair of large bins. ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’
‘Let’s just get there, alright?’
‘OK. But you need to slow down a bit. You’re drawing a lot of attention to yourself.’
‘For God’s sake stop looking at me, Josh. It’s your problem. No one else’s.’
The glare she gives me could nail me to the brick wall we’re standing next to. I stare back at her, trying not to show how much it hurt.
‘Sorry.’ She softens a little. ‘I’m just nervous. I lash out sometimes.’
‘I’d noticed,’ I smile, trying to diffuse the atmosphere. ‘I’m nervous too. But we’ll get there. We’ve got another five minutes, and there’ll be crowds all the way. And then it’ll be done.’
‘Yeah, OK.’ We head back towards the street. ‘Josh?’
‘Yes?’