School Run Read Online Free Page B

difficult but it’s bloody hard work being a step-mother too.’
    Mrs Foster nodded. ‘Leave it to me, Mrs Brookes. I know what girls are like. I’ve got three of my own. Now, Leonora, why don’t you show your mother – I mean step-mother – the way out?’ She smiled again. ‘This place is like a rabbit warren if you don’t know it.’
    Wordlessly, Leonora led the way, her face red with the embarrassment of having an external adult next to her while her classmates walked past.
    ‘Don’t worry,’ whispered Evie.
    ‘I’m not,’ retorted Leonora.
    Evie’s heart sank and her new confidence evaporated. The brief intimacy had passed and she felt punctured. Why should it bother her that Leonora no longer needed her protection? But it did. How pathetic was that?
    She put on her sunglasses (easier to observe the world than allow it to observe her) and walked briskly out of the school towards the car, checking the expensive watch that Robin shouldn’t – in view of his redundancy – have bought her last Christmas. Blast. That Mrs Foster hiccup had made her late for Jack’s nursery, and if the traffic was bad she’d be late for the meeting with Bulmer about circulation figures. Of all the appointments in her day, that was the one she couldn’t be late for. Over the last three months, Gareth Bulmer had been unfairly critical of her circulation figures, which were improving at a time when magazines were grappling with production costs and readers who were defecting from the glossies to affordable weeklies. Evie had to be on the ball for this morning’s meeting. She had to -
    Christ! What was that noise? It sounded like the car alarm. Evie ran towards the Discovery, and saw, with a stab of fear, that the back seat was empty.
    Calm down. Jack must have unstrapped himself again and would be playing in the front. She zapped the car door and turned the handle. Locked! She must have left it open so Jack had let himself out . . .
    ‘Jack!’ she screamed. She unlocked the door and looked under the seats in case he was hiding. Then she opened her mouth to scream again but nothing came out. Even worse, she felt wet between her legs; wet with fear because she must have (oh, God, no!) peed herself just as she had at school when things went wrong. Her legs paralysed, she looked wildly up and down the street. No one, apart from a few straggling mums, chatting outside their cars.
    Jack had gone. Jack had gone .
    Then the scream came, louder and shriller than any car alarm. So loud that Evie didn’t know she was doing it until the other mothers turned and looked at her, eyes wide, mouths open.
    ‘Jack! Jack! Where are you? ’
     
     

 
     
    3
     
    NICK
     
    ‘This is Capital Radio and it’s nearly seven a.m. on a lovely bright summer morning. I’m Sarah Smith with an update on the traffic . . .’
     
    Juliana, Juliana? God, I can almost reach out and touch your face. No, don’t go. I need to ask you something. Come back. Please .
    ‘Dad, wake up! It’s seven o’clock. Your alarm’s been going for ages! I’ve put the washing machine on and walked Mutley. You said I could drive if we were ready on time. Please? Dad, you’re talking in your sleep again. Come on! I can’t be late! It’s Monday, prefect duty. Look, I’ve brought you some coffee. Careful, it’s hot . . . Yes, I know it’s nearly ten past seven. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. You’re not a morning person, are you, Dad? Remember how Mum used to say that? . . . Yes, Dad, you did say I could drive. I’ve got the L-plates out. I’m seventeen now, Dad. You’ve got to let me grow up some time. Besides, I like driving Mum’s car. It makes me feel she’s still here . . . I can? Thanks, Dad. I’ll go slower today. Promise.’
     
    ‘. . . coming up to eight twenty-five and first it’s the sports news. Arsenal’s revving up for the big match tonight and . . .’
     
    Nick froze with terror as Julie squeezed through a narrow space