Not five any more.

Una’s dad never sent anyone to camp. He lied to her. She believed him, but there never was an older brother, was there?

Deceitful.

And now I’ve gone and done it, haven’t I? Gone out of the boundary. Made contact with a dirty, dangerous wanderer. Maybe he’ll come after me. Or worse, maybe he’ll come after Mum or Dad or Trig.

Stupid, stupid Maggie middler.

Mayor Anderson’ll know what to do. She’ll keep us safe.

We sat in the kitchen. Me, Trig, Mum, Dad and a huge gaping space where Jed should’ve been.

“Aren’t you going to eat anything?” said Dad.

I stared at the cold meat, the tomato pastries, the goldie pie. My empty stomach pushed up at my throat. “I’m not hungry, Dad.”

“Me neither,” said Trig.

“Me neither,” said Mum.

Six o’clock in the evening. I left the house, the sheathed knife tucked into my shorts again. It pushed into my stomach with every step.

“Hello, Maggie.” It was Mr Gebby, heading home.

I didn’t answer. Kept my eyes on the ground. One foot in front of the other. Guilty step after guilty step after guilty step. The whole town at risk. Even Mr Gebby.

It should’ve been getting cooler this time of day, but it was only getting hotter. Mr Wetheral’s cat was spread out in the shade, just at the end of Frog Alley. A frog hopped past, safe in the heat.

Even the pigeons were lazy from the sun. They waddled off as I walked through the square, only one bothering to flap up on to Andrew Solsbury’s foot.

The mayor’s house towered over me. I knocked on the door.

No answer.

I sat down on the step and waited.

Huge, bruised clouds hung low, blocking the sun. Blankety air wrapped itself round me. My sweaty knees slid against each other and my T-shirt was damp under my arms.

Elsie was right. There was another storm coming and it was coming soon. Everything was going to change.

CHAPTER 19

The air grew even darker as Mayor Anderson’s jeep juddered into the square. A wind gusted in, whipping about the statue, scattering leaves. The skin on my arms gave a shiver, first time in months.

The jeep was piled up with boxes on the roof rack. But there was no Jed on the back seat any more. And no Lindi. They were gone. Properly gone.

The mayor peered at me and turned in beside the house. I followed round.

She got out, slammed the door and opened up the back. She had a green checked shirt on, different from the one she’d been wearing earlier. The wind caught her hair and threw it across her face. She pulled the straggles away from her mouth. “All right, Maggie?”