Page 63 of The Dead Ex

‘Did the other kids tease you about the colour of your skin?’

Scarlet was about to nod when Robert spoke again.

‘Don’t be daft, Dee. The teacher would have put a stop to that.’

‘I know you want to see your mum.’ Dee’s voice was softer. ‘I wasn’t able to live with my parents either when I was your age. It’s not that she doesn’t want to see you. She’s not allowedto at the moment for lots of different reasons. But she’s safe and well. I promise you.’

How did she know Dee wasn’t lying?

‘In fact, she’s sent you a present. It’s a CD which we can play when we get home. It’s got her voice on it.’

Really?

Robert, who was driving, made a noise in his throat. ‘I’m still not sure this is a good idea. It might upset her even more.’

‘Let me handle this, OK?You go back to taking your precious pictures.’

After that, no one said anything until they got home. When they asked if she was hungry, Scarlet shook her head. But Dee put a bowl of pasta in front of her with a cheesy tomato sauce that she’d made herself on something called an Ah Ger.

‘Shall we hear your mum now?’

They went up to her bedroom. Dee plugged in a CD player.

‘Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Scarlet.’

Dee had been right. ItwasMum’s voice!

‘She recorded this specially for you! Isn’t that nice? The people in the prison helped her.’

‘Scarlet lived in a pretty house far away from her mum. But her mum still loved her very much.’

‘See?’ Dee was cuddling up to her. ‘I told you she was all right.’

They listened to the story right to the end. When it finished,Scarlet wanted Dee to play it again, but the words wouldn’t come out. Then Dee said goodnight. ‘Won’t you use your bed now? I think your mother would want you to.’

So she did, but she hid under the duvet all night, listening carefully in case the door opened and Robert came in.

They made her go to school the next day. ‘It will be good for you,’ Dee had said when she’d walked with her down thelane. ‘Watch out for that puddle.’

Too late. There was so much mud here! It stuck to the green tights Dee had bought her to go with her uniform. Her blazer was second-hand. Dee had told her this as though she was sorry. But Scarlet liked it, even though it itched a bit and had someone else’s name on the label. Dee had writtenScarlet Darlingover it in black pen, but you could still see the otherwriting below.

‘It would help you settle in if you could talk,’ said Dee as they got closer. ‘Your social worker thinks you should see the educational psychologist.’

What was that? But once more, the words were too scared to come out of her mouth.

When she got to the classroom, everyone stared again.

‘Heard you tried to run away,’ said the girl with the pony next to her.

Scarlet ignored her.Instead, she lifted her desk lid to say hello to Mum.

‘I’m sorry I left you here,’ she said silently. ‘But I just wanted to find you.’

Mum smiled back at her. But something was different. She had something black above her mouth. A moustache. Like the uncle who rode the motorbike.

‘It wasn’t me that drew on it,’ said the girl. ‘It was him.’ She pointed a finger at the boy on the left.

‘It wasonly a joke. GET OFF ME. YOU’RE HURTING.’