Page 71 of Break Out the Girl

I’m about to go over the basics again when a rusted, pale-blue water tower cuts through the mist, signaling the start of another town. As we get closer, it’s just possible to read the faded, poorly painted letters on the side: Waddington.

Tally pulls over next to a closed-down store, which is almost engulfed by overgrown brambles. He turns off the vehicle and the sudden silence is deafening, punctuated only by the rhythmic ticking of the cooling engine. Swivelling around in the seat, he looks at me, then beyond to the two girls in the back. “Hey, ladies. Do you recognize where we are?”

Sheena keeps her head ducked low, but Pepper peeks around. “Oh yeah, this is where we pick berries.”

“Excellent. So, um, when you picked berries, would you walk from your house?”

My heart does a little skip. Tally is so fucking clever and resourceful. I had no idea how we’d get the girl's address.

“Um, yeah.”

“So do you think you’d know the way home from here?”

Pepper frowns and we all wait anxiously until she gives a small, proud smile. “Yeah, cos we’d always play in the spaceship, then go up the hill.”

“Spaceship?”

Tally and I exchange a glance, but London nods excitedly. “That sounds banger. Did it have controls? And rockets?”

She shakes her head. “Nah, but it had a phone and a glass door. We could press all the buttons if we stood on tiptoes.”

“Phone box,” Basil announces. “I’ll walk the kids down the road, find the phone box, then Pepper can point out which way to go.”

“No,” Tally and I say in unison.

This kid seems to have no clue that he’s twelve, and we are the adults in this system.

“I have to agree with young Fuckwad,” London says, shaking his head. “He’s the only one of us without a price on our lovely heads.”

I want to tell London that Basil is not one of ‘us’, but I’ve a feeling it would hurt the kid’s feelings, not that he’d let it show. Probably just call us morons or something.

Then I realize the perfect excuse to keep him out of trouble. “Your ankle is still swollen. Tally should go.”

“Don’t be a moron?” Basil sneers, waving a hand dismissively. “If a local cop cruises by, we’re all completely fucked. No one will pay attention to a gang of kids just wandering around, happens all the time. What else are kids to do if you’re not welcome at home?”

My stomach twists.

“Anyway, my foot is fucking fine now it’s wrapped.”

Tally sighs then begrudgingly nods. “He’s right, Princess. It’s the safest play for the drop.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to just stay with Pepper and Sheena’s parents?” I ask the boy. “It would be safer not to be with us.”

He scowls. “If you don’t want me around, just fucking say so. I’ll fuck off on my own like normal. Doesn’t bother me.” He may say that, but I detect a small tremor in his voice.

Fuck. As much as Sky is my priority, I’m not going to abandon this kid. Seems like he doesn’t have a person in the world who cares for him. “We want you, Basil. You’re amazing, but I’m scared that we’re putting you in danger.”

Before Basil can reply, London rolls his eyes at me. “Much as I love your clucky-hen bit, Kitten, I’ve got to side with Fuckwad on this. Age is just a number and our Basil is as old as the hills. And most hills are really old. I’d bet all my pennies on him in a scrape.”

The boy in question rolls his eyes. “Let’s go.” Basil opens the door, easing his wrapped foot onto the gravel. Tally, London and I follow suit, helping Ricky, Lil’ Hare, and the sisters onto the lot.

“I’ll shift and follow in wolf form,” Tally suggests.

“Yeah, good idea.” That puts my mind at ease.

I lean my head against London’s shoulder as the small posse disappears down the foggy street.

The moment they turn a corner, London slides his arms around me, pulling me close. “I know it’s hard to see our ducklings swim off on their own, Kitten, but we haven’t got a nest big enough for them all.”