‘I am a boy, all right? And I am never going to forget it again.’

There was silence for a moment; everyone was still. And then a girl threw down a doll, someone else threw a teddy, then a baseball cap came spinning down, and the air was filled with toys and clothes.

Ed was surprised to find tears running down his face. He was doing something he hadn’t done for almost a year.

He was crying.

He pulled his baggy white Ascot T-shirt off.

‘Put this on,’ he said to Malik, and Malik understood. He slipped the T-shirt over his head. Ed and Kyle hoisted Malik up on to their shoulders.

‘Ascot!’ Ed yelled. ‘Ascot win!’

CLOSING

Chapter 68

68

There were thirteen children gathered in Arno’s meeting room inside the stadium: Ed, Kyle, Malik, the Golden Twins, Josa and Kenton, the leaders from Sandhurst, Maidenhead and Bracknell, plus Arno Fletcher, the Mad King and his bodyguard, Henry.

On the way in Arno had taken Ed aside.

‘I’m letting you do this because we have a weird situation on our hands,’ he’d said. ‘You’ve seen what the races do. You’ve seen how important they are. If they fall apart we go back to the bad times. You turned it all upside down. The kids are still arguing out there.’

‘They’ll be talking about what happened here today for months,’ Ed protested. ‘For years. That’s a good thing, Arno. Your races will be legendary.’

‘I have rules, though, Ed. First among them was that Ascot was never, ever going to win. That way I could never be accused of cheating or fixing anything. If the King and I lose our authority the races won’t work.’

‘Let me say my piece,’ Ed had pleaded. ‘If I can pull this off nobody’s gonna worry about any of this. All the attention will be on me. The heat’ll be off you. OK? You trust me?’

‘Not really, no. Not after today.’

‘Christ’s sake, Arno. I had no idea any of that was going to happen.’

‘Whatever. We’ve got to clear the air. So I’ll let you say your piece. But it better be good.’

Ed waited for the other kids to settle down around a large conference table. He was reminded of the last time he’d tried to make a rousing speech back at the museum. He just hoped this wasn’t going to be a repeat of that embarrassment.

‘So what’s this all about?’ Golden Boy asked, his voice cold and businesslike.

Ed took a deep breath. ‘Ascot won the races,’ he said.

‘That’s debatable,’ said Golden Boy.

‘So we get to choose our prize.’

‘Go on then,’ said the Sandhurst leader, Dara. He at least knew Ed a little from their crazy get-together the other night. ‘Let’s hear it.’

‘It’s simple.’ Ed smiled at them. ‘I want you lot.’