Neither of them had, but cautious now, Hannah was starting to question everything. The dead mouse that had ended up in Lauren’s shoe. Had it really been an accident like Mrs W claimed? Lauren had just before spoken about her phobia and Mrs W was the only one in the house where the shoes were at the time. Lauren had freaked out, screaming and crying. And Hannah had noticed Mrs W had seemed more amused than concerned.

Then there was the day they were all sick. Their parents had put it down to a bug, but Hannah remembered the lemonade Mrs W had given them hadn’t tasted quite right. She always made her own, but it seemed stronger than normal with a weird aftertaste, and she had been so insistent they all finish their glasses. Had she done something to it?

Mrs W was back to being all smiles, which had Hannah wondering if she was overreacting. As for Bill, on the odd occasion their paths crossed, she had caught him watching her. It made her uneasy. Yes, he was popular at school and he was good-looking too. Under different circumstances she would have been flattered. Ridiculously embarrassed too, because she hadn’t yet come close to having a boyfriend. He wasn’t looking at her in that way though. It was more like they shared a secret and he was trying to figure out how he felt about that.

She suspected, as he stared at her now, he was thinking about what she had witnessed.

‘You shouldn’t be in here. What do you want?’ he demanded; his voice gruff.

‘I… I was just looking for something to wipe down the swing.’

He seemed to consider that.

‘Is that why you really came in here?’ he asked eventually.

Hannah’s heart was thumping, her voice sounding so small when she answered him. ‘What do you mean?’

‘We both know what I mean.’ When she didn’t react to that, he frowned. ‘Come here.’

Hannah didn’t move. Her feet seeming as if they were glued to the floor.

‘I said come here.’

His tone was rough and demanding, and her legs were lead heavy and shaking a little as she did as he asked.

At least they were standing by the doorway of the garage, so she didn’t have to try to get past him.

Breathe, Hannah.

It was all okay. She was just panicking because of what she had seen.

She dared glance at him now, not liking the mean look on his face.

‘You’re a snoop.’ He said the words cruelly, glaring at her.

‘I’m not. Honestly, I just wanted a towel, but it’s okay, I can go without.’ The words were tripping over themselves in their haste to get out.

‘You’re a snoop and a liar. You were spying that day in the house.’