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Cat rang her at once ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I thought I’d better prepare you Hannah didn’t get the part – they rang half an hour ago Unfortunately she was still up, so things are a bit fraught’
‘Oh Lord, poor Hanny I’ now’
‘That isn’t quite all, but I’ll fill you in when you get home Hannah doesn’t know’
‘Knohat? Honestly, I don’t want any more bad news this week’
‘The trouble is, in one way this is great news’
‘But?’
‘There’s Felix, I’d better go See you soon, darling, drive safely’
She started the car just as her phone rang again
‘Si? How’s it going?’
‘Grihtroaned ‘Love to – can you just expect one quieter by then, we’re in the middle of all the immediate stuff, but if I know this sort of case we’ll be into needles and haystacks pretty soon’
‘No ideas then?’
‘Plenty of those It’s suspects I needGotta golove to the rabble By the way, has Judith said anything to you about her and Dad?’
‘No, but then I’ve hardly seen her She’s staying over tonight so ’s up’
Cat opened the front door onto total silence Wookie rushed to her giving tiny yelps of pleasure, but then returned to the sofa and his place curled up beside the cat Mephisto, from whom he was now inseparable Cat found no one else downstairs, but heard a faint murmur from Felix’s rooer should co-you-to-sleep voice said ‘"But he never did"’
Deep silence Cat pushed the door Judith was lying on Felix’s bed, the book she had just finished reading beside her, the little boy tucked into the crook of her arave a deep sigh
‘That’s unusual,’ Cat said in the kitchen
‘Yes, but there’s been a certain ao back, then couldn’t sleepit’s taken four readings of The Tiger Who Came to Tea I tried a move to The Gruffalo but for sone in the botto, Saht I’d wait for you’
‘Can you open this bottle of red? I’d better go up to Hannah’
‘She’s asleepthe sort of deep sleep into which you escape when life has beco the part was bad but then Sam came home’ Judith sat down at the kitchen table and closed her eyes
‘You look exhausted Here, drink this, and tell lass ‘Sam came hoo –’
‘He didn’t say anything’
‘No They didn’t do any auditions or see anyone in particular He said they just "hung about the place watching" They went onto the sports field, into the recreation ground, some classesnobody was told much about who they were or why they were there so Saht they were school inspectors One of his friends said he’d been told they were there to assess the teachers not the pupils’
Cat had put the food into the top oven Now, she sat doith her oine
‘But they were film people?’
‘Filet the Christain Meanwhile, they want about twenty boys for Lord of the Flies and they found a good few of the Sa in a crowd isn’t exactly acting How does he feel about it?’
‘Cock-a-hoop And he isn’t one in the crowd, he would be one of the leads and the Head told Sam today they hope to talk to you this week’
‘Sa the piss’
‘Apparently not’
Cat took a long drink ‘And he ca to be the lead, while Hannah came home’
‘Precisely’
‘Wonderful God, I should have been here, I shouldn’t have gone to choir’
‘How do you work that one out? You’re hardly out every night and I think I‘m perfectly able to hold the coats by now But poor Hannah really does ive a toss’
‘He’s not playing it like that In fact, I gave hi her up so much And I don’t think I have ever had to do that before’
‘Forget everything’ That’s what they said ‘Forget everything’
So I did
Alet how it feels All these years, I reht maybe I didn’t Not actually reht
Reot my little reminders Just in case
They never knew about those Nobody’s ever known
My little reminders
And now there’s another one
Happy with that
Happy
Twenty-six
‘I’VE BOOKED’
‘Siood at them but this is differentRachel?’
He knehat the silence was about and it was not because she didn’t want to have the dinner, didn’t want to be with him, didn’t want to remember It was Kenneth Always
‘He had an awful attack last night – I had to give hien, he was in such a panic’
‘How is he today?’
‘Better He’s slept a lot Andto eat and he’s watching the Test match God bless satellite television or he wouldn’t have half the pleasure he can still get’
‘And we’re winning’
‘Are we? Oh yes, he said soet the carer who likes cricket to come and sit with him’
‘Tim I can try’
‘Otherwise, when do we see each other, hoe see each other?’
‘How’s the inquiry?’