Cassie was bored. Leon and Bradley were having a conversation about the film they’d watched last night in the communal area, which she’d thought was crap. She didn’t enjoy action films, especially not something set in space. She liked romance, the sort of film with a gorgeous lead actor she could fall in love with. Leaving the rest of them in the common room, she went back to her bedroom to get her bag. Mr Wilkinson said they needed to be ready to leave at half past four.

Closing the door behind her, she flung herself down on her bed, then rolled over when she felt something hard against her back. Picking up the object, she examined it excitedly. Another gift!

She tore off the purple paper and opened the little box. It was a necklace, with a small silver pendant dangling from it. At first she thought it was a dog, but on closer inspection she realised it was actually a wolf. Turning the paper over, she looked for the note. There was always a note.

In the end she found it at the foot of her bed. It read:

Dear Cassie,

You have been such a good friend to me, I wanted to give you something special. The wolf represents loyalty – you have been loyal, always helping me when I needed it. Wear this and think of our friendship.

Beaming with pleasure, Cassie put the necklace on and looked at herself in the mirror. The little wolf’s head sat in the perfect position at the base of her throat. Nobody had ever given her jewellery before. She’d had other presents, but nothing as special as this.

When had it been left? She hadn’t been back to her room since this morning, so they could have left it at any time in the last few hours. Smiling to herself, she was sure she knew who her secret gift-giver was, whatever Leon said. He didn’t know what he was talking about, and she’d show him.

Cassie thought about going back out into the sitting room wearing the necklace, just to see if any of the others noticed. But she couldn’t – it had to be a secret, her friend had been very clear on that. If she started telling people about the gifts they would stop, and that was the last thing she wanted. She was special, and she would do anything for her friend to keep it that way.

Chapter 9

Monday 26th November

Why won’t they let us help?

There’s a kid missing, we need to find him.

What are the police doing?

I waved my hands firmly at the group of deaf people who had turned up unannounced at Normanby Hall an hour earlier. A couple of PCs flanked them, giving the group sideways looks as we communicated.