Page 108

‘Lie down.’ Max did as she said and she picked up the base. ‘I’m going to put this in place,’ she said. ‘It’ll be dark, but don’t worry. And then you stay quiet. Whatever I say, you have to be silent, OK?’

Max nodded. Maggie lay the base on top of him. A cursory glance would have shown it to be out of place, but it was something. The man would have to walk over to the bath to look and maybe that would be an opportunity for her. For what, she didn’t know. But for something.

‘Are you OK?’ she said.

There was no reply. Good. He knew to be quiet. It was ironic, but one of the results of living in the room was that Max was not scared of the dark. As a small girl she’d been terrified of sleeping without a light on in her room. If she ever woke up in darkness she would scream until her mum or dad came to her room and turned on a light.

Max had no such luxury. If the man switched off the light, the room was pitch-black until he switched it on again.

‘Max?’ She put on a deep voice, imitating the man. ‘This is the man speaking. Are you there?’

Max did not reply.

She stomped around the room. ‘Where are you, Max? I need to talk to you.’

Still no reply.

‘Max.’ She spoke louder, putting a threatening tone into her voice. ‘You’d better come out now or there’ll be big trouble. Do you hear me?’

There was a long silence. After a few minutes had passed, she walked to the bath and lifted out the base.

Max grinned up at her. ‘Was I good?’

She lifted him out and hugged him. A phrase her dad used to say when she was very young came to her.

‘Good as gold,’ she said. ‘You were good as gold.’

3

Maggie clicked a square red Duplo into place.

‘There,’ she said. ‘A Duplo birthday cake. Let’s sing you a song.’

She sang ‘Happy Birthday’. Max watched her, grinning, and she forced herself to smile back, but it was nearly impossible. She was too on edge, waiting for the scrape that would announce the man’s arrival.

Tears came to her eyes and she reached for her son. He laughed and jumped away, but she beckoned, both hands outstretched.

‘I need a cuddle, Max.’

She was sitting cross-legged and she got to her knees to reach for him. There was a sudden, sharp pain in her calf.

‘Ow!’ she said. ‘What is that?’

She felt under her leg and pulled out a yellow Duplo. It was upside down and the edge had dug into her flesh.

‘Mummy? Are you OK?’

‘I’m fine. These things are really hard, Max.’ She ran her finger along the plastic. ‘It’s a good job it’s not sharper.’

And then she looked at him.

‘Max,’ she said. ‘Max, my beautiful, beautiful boy. I think I may have an idea.’

Saturday, 23 June 2018

James

1