Mickey pulled his hood further over his face. ‘Don’t worry! Dad’s back on the bottle. He was drinking until three, and me mum’s buggered off until he sobers up, so everything’s cool.’

‘It better be. We can’t afford the slightest slip.’ Marcus lowered his voice. ‘Especially now the war has started.’

‘Mask Wars! Yeah!’ Mickey did a little skip and punched the air with his fist.

‘Shut up, you stupid little shit!’ He lifted his hand to his forehead and glowered at the younger boy. ‘I’ve had it up to here with you! You’re a fucking liability, you know that? Why the hell did I pick you, of all the kids on the ’Borough?’

‘’Cos no one gives a flying fuck about me. And I’ve got the face of an angel, which always helps.’

Marcus gave a hopeless sigh. ‘Yeah, I guess. But will you please keep your voice down. In fact, just shut it until we get there.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘I told you to shut up! You’ll know soon enough. And hurry up, we only have fifteen minutes to get there.’

They walked the next half mile in silence, then Marcus slowed his pace, and looked around. Ahead of them was a narrow walk down to the river bank. Not the popular bit, where joggers fought for breath and early-bird commuters took a shortcut to the station, but a dingy, shadowy track that ran beneath a railway bridge and stopped at the back of a disused bedding factory.

‘Neat,’ whispered Mickey. ‘No one goes down here, except for a piss.’

Marcus ignored him and strode off towards the dark tunnel. He had almost disappeared before Mickey chased after him.

‘Can you see anything?’

‘Yeah, they’re here. Shift your arse and come and help me.’ Marcus had pulled an Adidas sports bag from his shoulder and was ripping open a large cardboard box. He removed a fat plain envelope, then grabbed a handful of the familiar rubber masks. ‘Here, get these into your rucksack! We don’t have long.’

Mickey jammed the masks into his bag, then hoisted it over his back while Marcus zipped up his own, then returned to dispose of the box. He tore the cardboard into pieces and dunked it into the sluggish river water. When it was well soaked, he screwed it up some more, then stuffed it under some straggly brambly bushes on the edge of the river. ‘Let’s go.’

Pushing the smaller boy ahead of him, Marcus headed back up to the road. ‘Now, we have another change of plan, muppet-face. Come with me, and don’t ask any questions.’ He pulled Mickey roughly around by the shoulders, and glared at him. ‘Or this really will be your last job, understand?’

Mickey saw the cool stare and understood perfectly.