Simon was awake when I got back to the house, lying in bed, staring into space. I wasn’t even sure he’d seen me at first, as I crept around his bed to the chair near the window.
‘I miss her,’ he said, suddenly turning to me.
‘You’ll be together again soon.’
‘Maybe. But wherever we go, I’ll lose her again.’
‘How?’
‘Jess and me . . . I don’t know. Jess and me, we’re . . . different.’ He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. ‘Life in the cities, it’s hard. If you have a stable family, it can be ok, but there’s so much bad stuff. No one’s safe. Jess grew up alone, on the streets. I had a family. I left them by choice.’
‘Why?’
That shrug again. ‘Various reasons. We didn’t get along, I guess.’
I said nothing. I didn’t get along with my family sometimes, but I couldn’t leave them. Where would I go?
‘Jess and me, we’re together now, but it can’t last.’
‘Why not?’
‘We want different things. I want what I gave away. Peace, a safe life. A country life. Jess wants action and adventure. Excitement. It was only time before we left each other. Running from London kept us together, but it’s just delaying the inevitable.’
‘Maybe, I –’ A faint growling sound came from somewhere outside. I got to my feet, rushed out on to the landing, to the window that overlooked the front driveway. A large car bumped up the gravel lane to our house at speed, swerved and came to a stop by our front door. All of its doors opened and four men got out. I recognised one of them as my father.
Urgency took a moment to register, but then I was racing back to the bedroom, hauling Simon out of bed, pulling him down the corridor to the back stairs that led out into the garden. I heard doors opening and rapid footsteps coming from the front of the house.
‘They’ve come for you,’ I hissed, silencing the worst of his groans, his leg still too weak to put weight on. I don’t know what they’ll do, but I have to get you out, get you to Jess.’ I pushed the door wide and we stumbled out in to the garden.
Darkness had fallen; shadows stretched everywhere. I pulled Simon out across the lawn, in open view should anyone be looking for us. He was weak and hurt, but also slow; we had no time as it was, but if we hid I knew they would find us.
I could feel Simon’s body shaking as we moved; pain enveloped him, but he kept going, putting as much weight on his injured leg as he could. We got across the lawn and out of sight of the house, the shed where Jess was hiding coming up ahead.
‘Jess!’ I hissed. ‘Jess!’
Her body detached from the bushes behind us, and I felt her take Simon’s other arm, supporting his weight.
‘They’re coming,’ I said. ‘You have to get away.’
‘I heard the car,’ she said. Then, to Simon: ‘I missed you.’
Simon’s voice was strained. ‘You too.’
We reached the bottom of the garden. I stopped. ‘Get down to the old station,’ I said to Jess. ‘Can you find it in the dark?’
‘Of course. Will a train come soon?’
‘There’s usually one an hour or so after nightfall. You should be in time.’
‘Simon can’t ride like this. We have to stop the train somehow, create a diversion, and sneak on.’
‘The trains never stop! But don’t worry, I have a plan.’
‘What?’
‘Just get Simon to the station. I’ll meet you there.’
Without waiting for a response, I hurried off back towards the house, Jess’s protests and Simon’s grunts of pain lost in the dark behind me.