Ready or Not
Page 32
‘Who’s Katy?’ she asked.
‘She’s my sister.’
The lady nodded knowingly. ‘Hide and seek?’ she said. ‘I used to love that too. I always used to hide though. Looking is the boring bit, don’t you think?’
Daniel nodded. He very rarely got to be the one doing the hiding; Kate always wanted to do it, and because she was older than him she always seemed to get her own way. If he argued with her she would not play at all and then he would be bored, left on his own while Kate sulked in a corner somewhere.
‘What’s your name?’ the lady asked, taking a step closer.
‘Daniel.’ He held his hands together in front of him and watched her with curiosity.
‘I had a boy like you once,’ she told him, looking straight through him. ‘He was a little bit taller than you, but he had blond hair just like yours.’
Daniel didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing.
‘Well, Daniel,’ the woman said, her voice changing and becoming brighter. She looked right at him now, as though her mind had just returned to her body. ‘Would you like to hide with me? How about we find a good hiding place and then your sister can come and look for you?’
Daniel thought about it. His mother had always told them not to talk to strangers, but those strangers always seemed to be men and this was a lady. Anyway, she had been really nice to him. She just wanted to join in with the game. His mother had also told him not to be rude to other people, and to share, so it seemed the right thing to do to let her play.
‘OK,’ he said.
For a moment the woman paused and her smile faded, as if she had suddenly doubted that she really wanted to play at all. She looked up at the sky and watched the dark clouds rolling overhead. Then she reached a hand out to Daniel, opening her palm for him to take.
When Daniel took her hand he noticed how cold her skin was. She wrapped his small fingers in hers and gave him a reassuring smile.
‘Come on then, Daniel,’ she said, his name sounding unfamiliar when spoken with her voice. ‘Let’s go and hide somewhere no one will find us.’