The Great Ice-Cream Heist (9 page)

Eva nodded.

She was alone. Before going to the bathroom, she went to her own room. She didn't get too close to the window – she didn't want to be spotted – but she got close enough to peep out.

He was there.

Jamie was waiting on top of the shed, on his back, staring up at the sky.

She felt a twinge in her chest.

How long would he wait? Hoping she'd come? Would he give up and go back to his stinking rotten family? Or would he come and call for her and make her tell him why she hadn't showed up?

She wasn't sure which would be worse.

She went to wash her face.

Tonight she was going to sit, safe and sound with her dad, drinking hot chocolate and watching telly. Things would be just exactly the same as they were before stupid Jamie arrived.

They had to be.

Dad was waiting downstairs. He took in her scrubbed cheeks and her best attempt at a smile. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

‘It's horrible when you find out that people can let you down,' he said. ‘But it isn't the first time and it won't be the last. I'll always be here for you though – you know that, don't you?'

She did.

And she didn't need anyone else.

Chapter 15

‘I don't care where he is,' Eva said the next morning.

‘Me either,' Heidi said, slipping her arm through Eva's.

‘Well, you should care,' Shanika said. ‘Jamie should be here to make amends. Everyone else has turned up, ready to get to work. But not him. He hasn't spoken to anyone since this happened. It's obvious whose side he's on.'

Eva thought about saying that she'd spoken to him, but she didn't. After all, they hadn't really spoken – he'd just shouted out of a window and then she hadn't gone to the shed. That didn't count.

She had slept badly and felt tired and grumpy this morning. She was still cross with Jamie, of course she was, but she also kept seeing him laying on the shed, waiting for her, like an abandoned dog waiting for his master. How long did he lay there before giving up?

‘Well, there's too much to do here to waste time worrying about him,' Shanika said. ‘Has anyone been inside yet?'

Heidi and Eva both shook their heads. Dad had only just dropped Eva off when Shanika and Dilan turned up. There was no way Dad was letting her walk in by herself after what had happened. Other people were arriving in ones and twos. Not just children either. A white van, decorated with pictures of cones and lollies, was backing up the drive.

‘Hey, Eva, give me a hand with this,' Brian, the ice-cream-van driver yelled.

She could see that there was something big inside his van, squished up against the fridges.

Brian opened the door and pushed the seat forward. ‘It was awkward to get in here, but should be easy to get out if you lot help,' he said.

Eva moved forward. With Heidi and Dilan clambering in beside Brian, and Shanika supervising, they were able to lift it down.

‘Our old sofa,' Brian said. ‘Nothing wrong with it, really, but the missus wanted one of those where the seat tilts back. We were going to throw this out, but then we heard about the lodge being vandalised. So, now you lot can have it.'

‘Publicity,' someone squealed.

Eva threw a stray cushion down from the van and looked to see who had spoken.

‘PR!' Shanika said. ‘Of course! People were already getting interested, but the vandalism has just made the story hot. Everyone's going to want to know. I wonder if Sally has thought about the angles. We should get in touch with the papers, local news – they'd love this sort of story. We'd get loads of support. Ice-cream-van man –'

‘His name is Brian,' Eva interrupted.

‘Brian, please wait here while I go and get my phone. This is a perfect photo opportunity.'

Shanika rushed towards the pile of coats and bags that had formed outside the lodge while people waited to see if they could go inside.

By the time she got back with her phone, there was more commotion on the drive. Three men in camouflage gear were trotting up carrying a stepladder and pots of paint. The boot-camp boys. Eva recognised the shouty one, Gary.

‘Painting is excellent exercise,' Gary said. ‘It really works the triceps. Can we help?'

Shanika clicked away, posing the boot-camp boys on Brian's sofa and sticking Brian up the ladder. ‘Say “cheese”,' she said.

As more children and parents arrived, the groups in the photos got bigger and bigger until there was no room in the frame for anyone else.

Shanika's face was alight. ‘This story is going to be huge,' she said.

It was only when Sally arrived with the front-door keys that the atmosphere got serious again. She pulled down the yellow ‘crime scene' tape and unlocked the door.

‘Right,' she said, a bit too brightly, as though
she was presenting children's telly. ‘I'd better see the
damage.'

Everyone was quiet as Sally stepped inside. In the silence, Eva could hear Sally's footsteps crunching over broken glass. She was gone for a few seconds, then she reappeared by the door. ‘Has everyone got decent shoes on? No flip-flops, or sandals? Just give me a minute to sweep and then I think you can come in, but be careful, OK?'

Shanika put her phone away. As she passed Eva, she stopped. ‘You're better off without him. We all are.'

Eva had a feeling that Shan might be right. She followed everyone inside.

The damage was worse than Eva had feared. The chairs had been slashed and their stuffing oozed out like frothing bubble bath. Tins of paint had been poured on the walls and floor, shiny puddles of white and red and black were drying to a tacky finish. Shelves had been pulled down and the objects on them smashed and trampled.

‘Why would anyone do this?' Eva whispered. Why would
Jamie's brothers
do this?

She felt Heidi take her hand and squeeze it gently.

Shan righted a fallen chair. ‘Because they're scum. That's what my dad says,' she said. ‘They see that we've made something good, something to be proud of, and they can't stand it. Because it isn't theirs, they want to ruin it for everyone.'

Eva wondered if she should say something about what she knew, about what Jamie had said. She didn't know for certain that Jamie's brothers had been involved. She didn't have any proof. Other than Jamie looking all het up and saying they'd have to help the police with their enquiries. But maybe that was all it was? Helping the police. Maybe they didn't do it, but knew who had? Could that be it?

Not for the first time, Eva felt queasy with it all.

‘But we won't let them win,' Shanika said. There was a brightness in her eyes. They were marble-shiny with tears, Eva realised. ‘We're going to make it even better than it was. Starting right now.'

Shan marched to the store cupboard where mops and buckets and cloths and big bags were stored, and started pulling things out and handing them to anyone who was close by. Eva found herself holding a broom.

Soon the room was full of people tidying and cleaning and moving all the broken things out. She swept up the splinters of wood and balls of couch stuffing, and wondered about trying to stuff the fluff back into the furniture, but the splinters probably meant that was a bad plan.

All around her, people worked. As the pile of debris got bigger, she got sweatier. Someone started singing some pop tune from the radio. Slowly, everyone joined in, until they were shouting the chorus. Eva suddenly realised that she was smiling. She hadn't thought about Jamie or Dad, she'd just been thinking about getting the lodge back in one piece. The same as everyone else. These were her friends: Heidi, Dilan, Sally, even Shanika. Even Shan, she corrected. She might be bossy and rude, but it was only because she cared so much.

If Jamie's brothers were half as nice as Shan, then they would never have done this.

Eva realised that she had made the right choice not to go and see Jamie yesterday. This was where she belonged.

Everyone worked hard that morning. Adults stopped by as the news spread, some brought cleaning equipment, others brought old pieces of furniture that they didn't need any more. One person even brought a computer that he said still worked fine, but he hardly used any more. Another family arrived with a whole box full of sandwiches that they'd made for the workers.

Shan moved through the crowd taking photos on her phone.

‘Don't you think the police did that already?' Heidi asked her.

‘This isn't for the police – it's for the papers. We've been given an opportunity here. Smile!' Shan held her phone up and Eva heard the shutter-click of a shot being taken. She was pretty sure that she didn't want to be in the paper. She deliberately went cross-eyed for Shan's next shot. Heidi giggled at Shan's outraged look.

When they all stopped to eat, the lodge was looking better already. All the broken objects had been cleared and the worst of the paint had been scrubbed away. The place looked like it had been scoured in the bath and now just needed clean clothes.

Eva chewed the cheese sandwich she'd been given. It was amazing that so many people had come out to help, she thought. But none of Jamie's family was here. Of course they weren't. She looked down at the bread and rolled pieces of the crust into tiny balls.

After break, the rest of the morning passed quickly. The lodge was busier than it had ever been before with well-wishers and workers piling in through the door. More than Sally knew what to do with, really. And Shan continued to click her way through the crowd, taking publicity shots of everyone.

Eva was waiting outside the lodge, ready to go home after a hard morning's work when Heidi slipped her arm through Eva's.

‘You live a street over from me, you know. I've seen you walking in sometimes. Do you want to walk home together?' Heidi's blue eyes shone like gemstones.

‘I can't,' Eva said. Her answer was automatic. Ever since Mum, she'd said no to invites. It was just easier on Dad. But Heidi's doll face looked crushed.

‘My gran is meeting me,' Eva explained. ‘She's on her way. But we could all go together? If you don't mind.'

Heidi grinned and her face was sunshine again. ‘I don't mind. I love grans. What's yours like?'

‘She's nice. You'll like her.'

‘It was good today, wasn't it?' Heidi asked. ‘It felt like it will be OK?'

Eva nodded. It did.

But that was before she saw what was happening on their street.

Chapter 16

Three police cars were parked outside Jamie's house, angled crookedly like toy cars on a rug. Shouts came from inside the building. An officer called out and another reached for her radio. Eva stood stock still. She felt Heidi's grip tighten on her wrist. Gran put a hand on each of their shoulders.

Someone was bundled out of the front door. He had the hood of his jacket up, so she couldn't see who it was. Officers on either side held him by the shoulders.

‘It wasn't me. This is an unfair arrest,' the man shouted. Eva recognised his voice – Michael.

Another figure appeared. Mrs McIntyre. Her face was twisted in fury. She spat words as though they were a bad taste in her mouth. ‘Let him go. He's done nothing. He was here the whole time. This is discrimination.'

The officers kept walking. They paid her no attention. It was as though she was invisible.

Then Mrs McIntyre grabbed one of the officers and pulled him backwards. Eva gasped. The officer stumbled and fell. In the confusion, Michael wrenched his other arm free and set off down the path. He ran with an awkward sway, like a moored boat on a sudden current.

‘Go on, son,' Mrs McIntyre yelled.

Michael leapt over a small wall, heading for the street.

Three more officers appeared from their cars. Michael ran straight into them. They grabbed him tight and dropped him into the back of a police car. His break for freedom had lasted about six seconds and now he was trussed up like a Christmas turkey.

Then Mrs McIntyre was swept into the back of another.

Eva felt sick. Jamie's brother was being arrested.

His mum was being arrested.

Was he here or had they
all
been arrested? Even if Jamie thought Michael was cool, he hadn't had anything to do with the break-in at the club. It wasn't anything to do with Jamie.

She didn't know whether to run towards the house or run away – she wanted to do both at once.

And then another vehicle pulled up. Eva recognised Melanie sitting behind the wheel of the battered-looking car; it was small and squashed full of file boxes. Melanie got out and strode over to one of the officers. Eva was too far away to hear what they said, but the officer nodded, then spoke into his radio. Melanie went inside the house. She was gone for a few minutes, then she reappeared. She wasn't alone. She guided Jamie in front of her, with one hand on his shoulder. His head was down. He didn't even look up when the police car drove away with his mum in the back.