Sure Fire. Justin Richards

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СКАЧАТЬ to say goodbye to Mrs Gilpin,” Jade said. “We didn’t really get a chance at the church.”

      Mr Gilpin turned away. “She’s not here. Gone out. Shut the door behind you.”

      Chance lifted one of the boxes. “I think we’d best be going,” he said.

      As they drove away, Jade watched the net curtains of the front room twitch.

      Rich sat in the front and Jade sat in the back of the car.

      Jade could see that Chance had angled the mirror so he could watch her. Was he keeping an eye on her? she wondered. Or did he just want to look at the children he hadn’t known he had for the past fifteen and a half years? What did he think? What did he see beyond two fair-haired teenagers with similar features, similar slim build? Only their hair distinguished them – Jade’s was long over her shoulders while Rich’s was short, off his collar and slightly spiky.

      “So, tell me about yourselves,” Chance said, trying to be cheerful. “What do you like to do with your time?”

      “Get driven about in cars that go too fast,” Jade said.

      Chance’s laugh sounded strained, but he eased off the speed slightly. “Right. Anything else?”

      Jade slumped back in the seat, looking out of the window as they passed most of the other vehicles on the road.

      “I like reading,” Rich said. “I read anything, but mostly I like to find out about stuff. How things work. That sort of thing. Telly’s good too. Hey,” he thought suddenly, “do you have a PlayStation?”

      “Sorry. Got a DVD player and a laptop. That’s about it. What about you, Jade?”

      She continued to stare out of the window. “I like doing things, not reading about them. Is there a gym near you?”

      “I’ve no idea.”

      “Figures.”

      Chance laughed again, only this time it sounded more genuine. “I keep pretty fit, you know.”

      “You think,” Jade muttered.

      “And my hearing’s fine,” he said. “You into that fitness stuff then?”

      “A bit.”

      “And then some,” Rich said. “She works out. Runs. She eats loads of fruit and vegetables. Drinks loads of bottled water.”

      “It’s good for you,” Jade protested. “You have to look after yourself. Healthy body, healthy mind.”

      “Quite right,” Chance agreed.

      “Don’t patronise me,” she told him.

      “I was agreeing with you.”

      “Well, don’t.”

      “You’d rather I disagreed with you?” he asked.

      “I’d rather you stopped pretending,” Jade replied.

      They lapsed into silence.

      Jade stared out of the window and Rich turned his head to whisper to her over his shoulder.

      “It’ll be OK,” he told her. “We’ll get through this; it won’t be so bad. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? Apart from boarding school?”

      “I just want Mum back,” Jade said, her eyes filling with tears once again.

      Chance was fumbling in his pockets as he drove fast and confident down the outside lane. He pulled something out and Jade’s expression changed at once – first to surprise and then anger.

      Chance was trying to shake a cigarette out of a packet. He caught a glimpse of Jade’s face in the rearview mirror.

      “I’m gasping,” he told her.

      Jade wiped her eyes and glared at him.

      Chance put the packet back into his pocket.

       2

      It was dark by the time they reached Chance’s flat. It was on the second floor of a Victorian terraced house. The outside looked grim and dilapidated. Paint was peeling from the window frames by the door, and the stone steps were chipped and stained.

      But once inside it was very different. There was a small lift at the end of a wide hallway and a staircase wound up round the lift shaft. Chance heaved open the heavy metal grille door across the lift.

      “Leave that open and the lift won’t move,” he explained. “Gives us time to put all your luggage inside.”

      They piled the boxes and bags inside, almost filling the floor space in the small lift. Chance reached in through the door to press the button for the second floor, then he heaved the grill across again – leaving the three of them outside. The lift started to move.

      “We could have squeezed inside,” Rich protested.

      “But Jade wants us to keep fit,” Chance said. “Come on – we have to get there before the lift.” He took the stairs two at a time with practised ease.

      “He’ll be wheezing before he gets there,” Jade said, running up the stairs. Rich sighed and followed at a more leisurely pace.

      They dumped the last load of stuff into the hallway of Chance’s flat. Chance himself had disappeared inside already. “Was he wheezing?” Rich asked.

      “Expect so,” Jade said. “Didn’t notice.”

      “That’s a ‘no’ then,” Rich said.

      There were three doors from the hallway. The first door led into the kitchen, the next into a living room. At the end of the hall was a toilet. Chance appeared from the kitchen and led the twins through to the living room. It looked like a show home – hardly any furniture, just a sofa and a low coffee table. A television and DVD player stood against one wall, beside an old fireplace, but there were no magazines or books or ornaments. The room was painted a uniform white that made it seem even more impersonal. The only sign of life was the ashtray on the coffee table – full of butt ends of smoked cigarettes. It gave the room a stale, unpleasant smell. A single picture hung on the wall opposite the door. It showed a steam train speeding through the countryside – a sleek, blue engine with a sloping front. In the foreground was a pond with ducks swimming on it.

      “That’s clever,” Rich told Jade, pointing at the picture.

      “Why?”

      “Because the engine is called Mallard.”

      She shook her head, none the wiser.

      “Mallard is a sort of duck,” Chance said, joining them.

      “Where’s my room?” Jade asked.

      He СКАЧАТЬ