“I used to come shopping here on Saturdays,” said Blue.

“Me too,” said Jester.

“Topshop,” said Maxie.

“The Apple Store,” said Jester. “HMV.”

“Niketown,” said Blue.

Many of the storefronts had been smashed, but some still had their windows intact, and in one or two there were still a few items.

“It’s not all gone,” said Whitney, grinning. “Think of it, yeah, if we scavenge around here, the things we’ll find. And look—there’s no grown-ups.”

“I told you,” said Jester. “It’s peaceful here. There are still some Strangers lurking about the place, but it’s nothing like it is out your way.”

Whitney began to laugh. “We should go shopping,” she said.

Now Maxie laughed.

“I’m serious, yeah,” said Whitney. “Look at these rags we’re wearing.”

Maxie looked at Whitney. She looked immaculate as ever in her gleaming white tracksuit. Somehow she always managed to keep it clean.

“We’re like a bunch of bums,” Whitney went on. “Before everything kicked off I used to care about how I looked. We’re arriving at Buckingham Palace, we deserve to turn up in clean

clothes and new sneakers and stuff.”

“We’re not going to see the Queen,” said Maxie.

“We’re starting a new life,” said Whitney. “I want to make a good impression.”

“I can’t argue with that,” said Jester. “You guys are a mess.”

“So we couldn’t go back to look for lost friends,” said Maxie, “but we have time to go shopping?”

“It wasn’t safe back there in the park,” said Blue. “This is different.”

“How do you know? Just because we can’t see any grown-ups doesn’t mean there aren’t any around.”

“These streets are generally quiet,” said Jester.

“And how often have you come up here, exactly?” asked Maxie.

“Once or twice.”

“Once or twice?”

“Listen,” said Blue. “It’s no big deal. We’ll just go a little way along Oxford Street. It’s not out of our way none. We can come down to the palace from the north just as easy as coming in from the east. We can change our route.”

“Arran worked out the best route,” said Maxie.

“Arran’s dead.”

“Thanks for reminding me.”

“If you’re in charge,” said Blue, “then you can change the route if you want. You don’t need to stick to Arran’s plan.”

“It’ll be okay,” said Jester. “Going this way won’t make any real difference. We can cut down via Bond Street or Grosvenor Square. If we see anything in the shops and there are no grown-ups around, we can grab some of it. Oxford Street’s nice and wide, and I’ve learned from you lot that wide streets are good.”

“Come on,” said Blue, smiling at Maxie. “What harm can it do? It might lift everyone’s spirits. And you know you’d like some clean clothes. Brand new. Fresh out of the box.”