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When I got to the now-open , I realised with dis inside was going to be tough I grabbed hold of the sill, whispered, ‘Coventastic,’ and started to wiggle through

To begin with it was fairly straightforward but I was only pushing ainst the frah, it didn’t seeto ed to squash in just enough to squeak them past Now the only worry was ing into Clare’s house andout It bloody hurt Matters didn’t improve when there was a sudden loud shout from outside

‘Oy! What are you doing? I’ the polis!’

‘It’s Pete fro surprised ‘Aw, bless He was never interested in joining the neighbourhood watch before and now he’s looking out for me That’s really sweet At least someone cares’ She paused ‘Even if he is a scary bastard with facial tattoos and a vicious Chihuahua called Bruiser’

I wasn’t sure whether she was referring to the fact that having a Chihuahua meant he was a scary bastard, or whether it was the Chihuahua’s name that created that effect Either way, this wasn’t the ti out of herIt wasn’t like I could back out now; the only as forward, whatever Pete fro

I continuedmore andcommentary on the events outside ‘Oooh Winter has approached Pete and he’s looking tough But I think Pete is tougher Winter’s not acting scared, he’s doing that glowery thing that I’ve seen hi back at hi’

If she weren’t already dead, I’d probably wring her neck ‘Tell Winter,’ I said through gritted teeth, ‘to get Pete to back off We don’t have time for this’

‘But Winter can’t hear me’

Da that part ‘Rafe!’ I shouted ‘Get Pete to leave! We’ve got Clare’s permission to be here!’

‘That was good,’ she said

I wiggled a bit further forward If I could just shie this ‘So it worked?’ I asked her

Clare laughed ‘Oh no! They can’t hear you Probably because your botto out all the sound But if they could hear you, I’ difference’

I cursed tohold of the curtains I started to pull, hoping I could yank h before I ripped them off the rail I pushed and I pulled Come on, Ivy

‘Oh!’ Clare said ‘Pete says that one off for an extended holiday He asked him to keep an eye on the house for me and to call him if there were any problems’

I grunted loudly I’d never experienced labour pains but they couldn’t be a millionI had into one final effort and h, landing on the floor of Clare’s upstairs hallith a loud sigh of relief and what felt like some extensive scrapes and bruises

As I tried to disentangle my limbs from each other, Clare pursed her lips ‘Of course, I don’t actually have a brother so either Pete is lying or Blackbeard spoke to him’

I staggered upwards and back to the , peering out Winter and Tattooed Pete were still facing each other as if squaring off It looked to ood – at least until Pete said so and Winter smashed his fist into his nose

‘Rafe!’ I yelled What the hell was he doing? It wasn’t like hi in his power to calm the situation down, not escalate it There was no way I was clah It had taken far too long to get inside and I didn’t think I could do it again

‘We’re friends of Clare’s,’ I shouted

Pete’s fists were tightly bunched He ignoreda hefty punch into his jaw