just turning into – there’s a truck...”
The next thing he heard was a lot of hideous static. He sat up in bed.
“What’s going on? I can’t take much more of this.”
The ringtone. The woman's voice.
“I told you the last time. Don’t...”
“Will you shut up?” said Ben.
“It’s happening again!”
Ben thumped his pillow. “Why won’t you just be quiet?”
He heard his mother's voice on the landing. “Are you OK, Ben?”
“It’s nothing, Mum.”
The woman’s voice again. “The turning – the truck – no!” followed by a horrible crashing sound.
“Just shut up!” yelled Ben. He was getting fed up with this.
“Go to sleep, Ben! You’ve got school in the morning!” called Linda.
“No, I haven’t! It’s half-term.”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” she grumbled, her voice receding as she walked away from his bedroom door.
The mobile phone rang again. The voice said, “This is going to have to stop.”
Ben decided it was time to get tough.
“If you don’t shut up I’ll throw you out the window,” he said.
“Why won’t it stop?” complained the voice. “Driving along – turning into the street – the truck –”
“I’ll throw you under a truck,” he muttered.
“It’s one o’clock in the morning! Settle down!” called Linda.
“All right. I’ve settled down. Go back to sleep.”
Ben put the phone under a cushion. It made funny chirping, grumbling noises under there, but at least he couldn’t hear the voices properly.
He didn’t think about it again until Logan came into the café the following day.
His mother had been in a funny mood all morning. She started off muttering to herself about not needing a man, and then she said she had thought of a way of re-branding the café to attract a different clientele.
“What do you think of fish and chips?” she asked him during a lull.
“Eugh!” said Ben. “Everything would get all greasy.”
“All right then, not chips, ice cream. That wee girl who came in yesterday sounded interested.”
“She won’t be back anyway,” said Ben.
“Why not?”
“She’s too posh. She’s not from round here and she only came in because it was pouring with rain.”
“How do you know all that?” said Linda, hanging up the tea-towel.
“That was Erin.” Ben paused for effect, though he wasn’t sure his mother had noticed. “She’s in my class. She just started at our school this year. She knows everything and she hangs out with the posh kids.”
“She might still come back,” said Linda. “She seemed to like it in here.”
“Probably just being polite,” said Ben.
“Can you pop round to the shops for me? I could be putting the scones in the oven while you’re fetching the milk.”
“You’ve got it!” said Ben, feeling suddenly more cheerful.
He went to the kitchen with his mother to get some money, and when he came back Logan was standing in the middle of the café looking lost.
“What do you want?” Ben’s good mood started to fade.
“Good morning to you too.”
“Morning,” said Ben, fidgeting. “My Mum’s in the kitchen. I’m just going out for milk.”
“It’s you I want to see.”
Ben didn’t like the look in the man’s eyes. “Me?”
“Yes, you, pal.” Logan walked towards him and he began to back away.
“It’ll have to be quick – I need to get back with the milk.”
“It’s nothing heavy,” said Logan. “You know that mobile your Gran gave you?”
“Yes., what about it?”
“She was a wee bit upset with you yesterday when she saw you didn’t have it on you. She’s sent me to ask for it back.”
“Ask for it back?”
“Yes,” said Logan. “She thinks maybe she was wrong to give you such an expensive phone –it might make you a target for being mugged – you know. She’s planning to replace it with a different one – less obvious, you know.”
“Yes... Well, she should have thought of all that earlier.”
Logan’s hand shot out and grabbed Ben by the collar so suddenly that he didn’t have time to get out of the way. “What do you mean by that?”
“What do you think I mean?”
“You haven’t – lost it have you? Given it away?”
“You’d better let go of me. My Mum’ll be in here in a minute.”
“You’re right.” Logan let go with apparent reluctance. “It wouldn’t do for me to be caught roughing up her wee pet, would it?”
“My Gran wouldn’t like it either,” said Ben, managing a bit of bravado once he had skipped out of Logan’s reach.
Logan laughed. “Oh, you’d be surprised, son!”
Linda came back in. “What are you doing here, Logan? Is Senga all right?”
“She’s fine,” muttered Logan. “I just popped in to have a word with young Ben.”
“Oh, yes? What about?”
Logan shuffled his feet. “Um – nothing important. I’ll sort it out later. See you then.”
Ben and Linda watched him suspiciously as he left.
“What’s going on?” said Linda. “Is there something I don’t know about?”
“Better that you don’t know,” Ben assured her. “It’s meant to be a surprise.”
“A surprise? Is it something to do with my birthday? Don’t spend any money on me. You know I’ll be happy with some little thing.”
“Good.”
“That’s the scones in the oven now. Have you not been for the milk yet?”
“Sorry,” said Ben. “On my way.”
As he left the café, he heard her muttering as she straightened the table-cloths, “Who needs a man? That’s not in my plan,” and then giggling to herself.
Oddly enough, a man caught hold of the open door just as Ben was going to let it swing shut, and went inside.
When he got back from the shops, the man was still there. Ben had expected Linda to tell him the café wasn’t open yet, but they were both sitting at a table with cups of coffee in front of them, deep in conversation.
“It had red poppies on it,” the man was saying. “I don’t suppose it’s worth anything, but her Mum gave it to her.”
“I didn’t think we were open yet,” said Ben, putting down the milk and some post he had picked up from behind the door.
“We’re not,” said Linda. “This is Erin’s father. He’s looking for her scarf.” She added, speaking to the man, “This is my son Ben. I think he might be in your daughter’s class at school.”
The man held out a hand for Ben to shake. “I’m Tim Fitzgerald. Nice to meet you.” He glanced at his watch. “Look at the time – I’d better be getting on. Erin’s expecting me to take her shopping, heaven help us both!”
Ben held the door open for him as he left.
Linda picked up the post and scanned the envelopes quickly. She opened one of them and read it. Her hand went to her mouth to stifle a gasp.
“What’s the matter, Mum?”
“I thought I’d paid it this month. Oh, dear.”
“What’s wrong?”
Linda gave a short laugh that sounded forced to Ben’s ears. “Just a bill I wasn’t expecting. But don’t worry about it.”
“Do we need more money? Will I leave school and get a job?”
“Nice try but no. That won’t be necessary.”
Ben thought she still looked worried. He sniffed the air. “Is that the scones burning?”
“No, it can’t be!” wailed Linda, rushing to the kitchen.
Ben was on his own when Senga and Logan came in together. Senga wore a scarf with poppies on it. Was it the one Erin’s Dad had been looking for?
“M
rs McDonald tells me you’re thinking of changing the place a bit,” said Senga accusingly as Linda returned. “They won’t like it, you know. They don’t like change at all.”
Ben knew she was referring to the pensioners who frequented the Home Sweet Café for its scones and general cosiness.
“Stop getting at my Mum!” he said. “She’s got some good ideas. Things can’t stay the same for ever.”
Senga narrowed her eyes at him. “I think you’ll find they can, once you get to my age. And where’s that phone I gave you?”
“It’s in a safe place,” said Ben.
Senga folded her arms and tapped her foot. “I think you’re telling lies to me. And I don’t like people who tell lies to me. Go on, show me the phone. Prove me wrong.”
“All right, all right!” Ben ran up to the flat above the café, unearthed the phone from his sweatshirt drawer and ran back down. As he went back into the café he heard his Mum say, “What’s your problem with that phone, Senga? He’s just being careful with it, that’s all.”
“We’ll see about that,” said Senga.
Linda sniffed loudly. “I suppose I’d better get you some tea and scones, then.” She went out to the kitchen again.
Just after Ben arrived back downstairs Erin came in from outside. She gave him a nervous smile and glanced sideways at Senga, frowning.
Ben heard Logan whisper to Senga, “It’s her again!”
But Senga’s attention was focussed on Ben. “So you do still have it.”
“Hope you’re satisfied,” said Ben. “Or do you want it back?”
He held it up. It immediately started to ring and he got a fright and dropped it on the floor.
The voice Ben had heard from it in the night rang out in the half-empty café.
“I told you not to phone me.”
“What’s that?” said Senga.
Erin got to her feet and stared at the phone, an expression of terror slowly growing on her face.
The woman on the phone kept speaking. “I’m driving! I told you.”
“What’s that?” said Erin.
“I don’t