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Back The Library
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. THE LIBRARY
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. Questions for your Book Club
  55. Acknowledgements
  56. About the Author
  57. Become an Aria Addict

‘Because it’s like a different language and I’m trying to learn it. So the kid you’ve got beef with, is he a bully by any chance?’ She gave me a look that said she already knew the answer.

‘Yeah. But it’s no—’

‘Biggie?’

‘Exactly.’ She was funny. I wished she was my gran. I’d love a cool grandmother like Maggie. But grans weren’t cool. They did knitting and watched TV soaps, not yoga and riding quad bikes.

‘You need to learn to block. Sharpen your reflexes. Learn some martial arts.’

‘Yeah.’ She was probably right but it was easier to keep out of Kemp’s way. I’d probably make it worse if I stood up to him again.

‘I know some moves.’ She gave a shrug and carried on drinking her lemonade.

‘Martial arts?’ A snort of a laugh escaped but Maggie looked serious. ‘What, like karate?’

‘Quite a variety actually. I practise jujitsu, judo and some elements of aikido. All to a reasonable level.’

A few things slotted into place. ‘That’s how you dodged Dad when he was about to punch you.’

A smile tweaked at her lips.

‘And the bag snatcher. Oh and when you thumped me.’

‘I’m not apologising again. It was only a short jab.’

‘But it was right on target. Bloody hell, you’re the geriatric version of Bruce Lee!’

‘Rude,’ she said but she started to laugh.

This was brilliant. I’ve always wanted to be able to do something cool like martial arts but Dad never had the money for me to join clubs. ‘Will you teach me some stuff?’ I asked.

‘I’d love to.’ She took my glass off me and my first martial arts lesson began.

24

MAGGIE

Tom had taken an armful of wood down to Colin’s gate in the hope of repairing it when the phone rang.

‘Hello,’ said Maggie, while juggling a tin of nails.

‘Oh, uh. Hi, is Tom there?’

She knew instinctively who it was. ‘Who’s calling?’ She sounded all prim even to herself.

‘It’s his dad.’

‘Ah, Mr Harris. I was hoping you’d call,’ said Maggie, pulling out a chair and getting herself comfortable. ‘How are you feeling?’

There was a long pause. ‘I’m fine, thanks. Can I just speak to Tom?’

‘He’s out at the moment but I wanted to assure you that he’s fine.’

‘I know he’s fine,’ said Paul, his words clipped.