A silhouette suddenly appeared behind the glass. Amelia sank to the floor and sat with her legs pulled up to her chest. Who on earth could it be at this time? Nobody knew she was there. She heard the flap of the letterbox being lifted up with the slightest of movements and saw a pair of beady eyes searching through the darkness. She dropped out of sight as quietly as she could, her heart pounding. Had they seen her? Who the hell was it? She lay in terrified silence. The knocking had stopped and she could hear footsteps. She crawled to the window to see a large figure trudging away.

Amelia covered her mouth with her hand to try and quieten her breathing. Her whole body was shaking. Slowly she got to her feet and went back to bed, cowering under the covers. This was bad. Someone knew she was there. She was meant to be safe in the flat but her refuge had become her prison.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Donny stood outside the school having his usual smoke before the kids arrived and started banging on about ‘one rule for them …’. Tony the postman was heading his way; his pace quickened when he spotted the headteacher.

‘Morning, guvnor,’ he grinned.

Donny nodded his head and smiled as he stretched his arms above his head and yawned. ‘You’re early this morning, pal, you’re not usually around at this time.’

‘Yeah I got an early start, mate. Got a few things to do later.’ Tony’s voice dropped to a whisper. ‘Did you bring my little treat along? I could do with it. I’m proper on my arse and need to pay a few bills.’

Donny checked that no one else was around before dipping his hand in his jacket pocket and pulling out a brown envelope which he passed surreptitiously to Tony. ‘I can’t thank you enough, mate, for sorting my little problem out. I never thought we would pull it off if I’m being honest.’

Tony nodded. ‘It wasn’t easy, I don’t mind telling you. I had to wait for the letter to arrive in Dispatch and get to it without anybody seeing. It was tricky. Had to shove it down the front of my keks till I could get it here for you to sort out. But aye, hats off to you, Donny. A smart idea that was. You don’t need the stress of a kid in your life, do you? You’ve rescued enough kids in this place – you’ve done your bit, I reckon. Like I said, Donny, I’ll never breathe a word, my lips are sealed. It could have fucked your life right up let me tell you. If it was my wife she would have left my sorry arse and I would never have seen her again for dust.’