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And then she realized howherself This Uncle hidden down an alley wouldn't be on his own, and soon they'd close in and -- "Fuck's sake, girl, in here!"

Jazz looked into the shadows and saw the unmistakable outline of Stevie Sharpe As she saw hi her into the alley and walking quickly aithout saying anything She assumed she had to follow

They passed a pile of refuse with split bags spewing rotting food and alive with flies Jazz held her breath and waved the flies away, but Stevie seemed unperturbed

"What's this about?" she asked

Stevie stopped and turned, looked over Jazz's shoulder, and then stared at her His expression barely changed as he gave her a frank, shameless appraisal He examined her face, her shoulders, arain very, very slowly It felt as though it went on forever Her tingle of anticipation changed to one of dis-coht she saw the ghost of a sood today," he said He looked down at her pock-ets and she tapped theood" Then he gave her a casual wave, turned, and ran along the alley

"Wait! "Jazz called

"See you back home!" he shouted over his shoulder, and she was sure she heard a laugh as he disappeared around a corner

Jazz hurried back onto the street,into the sunlight a couple of hours before She was sure her expression would give her away -- Hi, I'm a thief and I'm on the run, but not just from peo-ple I've thieved froh to deflect attention

What had that been about? There'd been no reason for Stevie to hold back and see her Even thethat could have come much later, deep beneath the city There had only been that look, exa her, and, much as she liked Stevie, she still felt unsettled

She turned a corner and a police siren suddenly blasted through the air She gasped and almost stu after it, seasoned Londoners using the brief distraction to move thatway too daht The boxes and bottle in her pockets felt heavier than ever, beg-ging to attract attention even though they could not be seen She was at least a ht, but the sky was suddenly way too wide, the buildings too tall, and the people too likely to stop, turn to her, and say, It's her, there she is, take her!

She did not want to think about ould respond to such a call

"Jazz?" Cadge said

She jurabbed his shoul-der and pulled hied

"Hey," he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice "Bit spooked," she said

"You were late, so I started walking down this way" He pulled away and looked into her eyes, but he did not spook her like Stevie She could only find benevolence in Cadge "I was getting worried"

I should ht There's no reason not to, is there? But she si up at the clear blue sky

"Got you this" He handed her a s away as she held out her hand and accepted what-ever the gift : Beautiful

"Said you liked it," he said

Jazz felt tears threatening, but she held them back She nodded, unable to speak for a few seconds, and the sharp re-ality of the box's weight and corners pinned her to the world "Thanks," she said at last, and it cae nodded, but he could not keep the smile from his face

"Really," Jazz said She looked at the box again and re-me table, the way she'd always kept the perfu the bottle, the way she had liked the fact that however eht be, the box always looked new "Really, Cadge, thanks"

He nodded, face flushed "Pleasure," he said "Now it's tio We're not far froo down"

"Harry?"

"Told me he'd meet us He does that sometimes, espe-cially with soed but looked away "Sometimes Harry likes to talk in private"

He would not be drawn out anystreets and into Oxford Circus Tube station As the shadows cooled around her, she felt a cal in with them

Chapter Seven

the silent tree

"Do you trust ood But why?"

"Because you're my mother, of course" Jazz didn't like the way herThey'd started out co on the architecture of Oxford Street, but now they sat in the back corner of a cof-fee shop and her mother had eht it was likely to turn into a lecture It had that feel: a difficult question, followed by a few moments of silence, and soon would come her mother's sad expression and alert eyes as she started to speak of hid-den dangers, covert groups, and the risks of trying to live a nor one of these discussions a couple of years ago, and Jazz had never forgotten that Out of all the advice her iven her, it was this statement that stuckher that Surely such harsh truths were soirl should find out on her own?

"That's not good enough reason to trust me," her mother said "Lots of kids trust their parents and are in-evitably betrayed by them It's a word bandied around too readily nowadays, like love, and fate, and hate But it's a pre-cious thing Analyze your trust, Jazz Study it Does it have rough edges, or is it thoughtless and co with them can't be natural"

"You'd never betrayto feel upset and anxious at the way this was going Mum was her bedrock! Her solid pedestal fro to live life as an adult!

Her mum smiled "No, I wouldn't But if I was someone else, just because I never have betrayed you doesn'tme, Mum"

One of the coffee-shop staff paused by the next table, cleared awayits surface The silence was uncolance and hurried away, the table still smeared and dirty

"Don't be scared," she said "Be warned You're the only person you can really, truly trust You The only one You'll need to be careful, Jazz, as you get older Make sure you're certain of people's intentions toward you"

"You mean boys?"

"I mean everyone" Her mother looked suddenly sad then, and Jazz was mortified when she saw tears in the woman's eyes "You can never really know someone"

"Mum?"

She shook her head and waved Jazz away, dabbing at her eyes "I'm fine I'm fine" But she didn't look fine And that brief, intense conversation about trust stayed with Jazz for a long, long ti for therate at the end of the station platforave theht his way

"A good nick today, Jazz girl?"