Except for this creature. This Scarface. And she had no idea what he wanted from her.

But she got up and followed him as he walked away.

Chapter 3

3

Ella didn’t know how far they walked that night, but it felt like miles. Sometimes they walked on the road, sometimes across fields, and for a little way through woods. Scarface obviously knew where he was going. Ella followed just behind him. Watching his back. Staring at the logo on the bag he carried. Nike. A grown-up with a Nike bag. She soon got tired. Her legs ached, her feet were sore, she wanted to sleep, and her throat was painful from holding in tears.

When she couldn’t stand it any more she stopped and flopped to the ground.

‘I can’t go on,’ she said. ‘I’m tired and I don’t know where we’re going and what you want from me. I’m not moving.’

Scarface stopped and turned to her, walked back to where she was sitting, squatted down, peered into her face.

She didn’t like to look at him and was glad that it was too dark to see him very well. His face was horrible, like he’d put it in a crocodile’s mouth for a bet. She wasn’t scared of him any more, though. Surely if he’d wanted to kill her he’d have done it by now …

Unless …

‘Why are you doing this?’ she asked. ‘Are you just leading me to your den, or something? So that you don’t have to carry my dead body all the way?’

Scarface tilted his head to one side, thinking.

‘Are you going to eat me?’ said Ella, and the creature’s face twisted a little, exposing his teeth, as if he was trying to smile. He shook his head, then pulled something out of his pocket and offered it to her.

It was a cold potato in its jacket. She sniffed it then bit into it greedily, only now realizing how hungry she was. She gobbled it down and swallowed it, feeling it nudge its way slowly down her dry throat. Afterwards Scarface offered her some water from a plastic bottle. She drank half of it and immediately felt a million times better. Scarface then took off his Nike bag and turned round, still squatting in front of her, and indicated with a jerk of his chin that she should climb on to his back. She hesitated a moment, then thought, What the hell, and clambered on. He gripped her legs with his elbows and straightened up, carrying his Nike bag in front of him. His body felt warm, but didn’t smell as bad as most grown-ups. Ella rested her head on his shoulder and as they jogged along she gradually drifted off to sleep.