‘I hope your dad won’t mind my suggesting it,’ she said, ‘but perhaps your brother would do better with this one.’ And she passed across a lighter ball.
It took a moment for Tom to realize that the woman thought they were a family, and he was surprised at how strongly he disliked the idea of anyone thinking that, even for a moment.
‘We are not a family,’ he told her firmly. ‘These are just … people I know. We’ve never been a family.’
CHAPTER SIX
Geoff’s extra reading lesson at the end of school on Monday was cancelled because Miss Stevenson was away on a course. Tom, however, still had extra science with Mr Bampford.
Geoff offered to wait, but Tom told him not to bother. He knew his friend would much rather be hurtling around the countryside somewhere in Aquila.
‘I’ll walk home,’ he said. ‘I’ve got all those new rocks to sort out, remember? I’ll be OK.’
The day before, while Tom had been bowling, Geoff had picked up some odd-looking rocks, on a flight somewhere in the north, that he thought might cheer up his friend after an afternoon with Alan. Tom was almost certain that one of the rocks was a chunk of molybdenite ore – extremely rare in Europe – and he was rather looking forward to checking this in one of his reference books.
‘You’re sure you don’t want me to hang around?’ Geoff asked. ‘You don’t need Aquila to do your maths or anything?’
‘All done yesterday,’ said Tom. ‘I’ll be fine. You have a good flight.’
So Geoff went off in Aquila, and Tom walked over to the physics lab for his lesson with Mr Bampford.
In the lab, however, there was no sign of the science teacher. Instead, he found Miss Taylor sitting at the teacher’s desk, waiting for him.
‘Slight change of plan,’ she said, motioning Tom to a chair in front of her. ‘I’ve told Mr Bampford to go home, because I think you and I need to have a talk. About these.’ She held up some sheets of paper, and Tom recognized the top one as the maths homework he had handed in that morning.
‘Oh?’ There was a slight twitch in Tom’s left eye as he spoke.
‘Mr Duncan showed them to me this morning. He said you’d got a hundred per cent on all your last three exercises, and he could hardly believe how quickly you picked things up.’ Miss Taylor looked carefully at Tom. ‘I found it quite hard to believe myself.’
The twitch in Tom’s eye became stronger.
‘In fact I thought there was a strong possibility that you hadn’t picked up anything, and that, instead, you’d got someone to do the maths for you and copied out their answers. Would that be what really happened?’
Tom hesitated, but even hardened criminals in Year 10 knew that there was never any point lying to Miss Taylor. He nodded.
‘I thought so.’
Miss Taylor’s voice was calm, but Tom gulped nervously as he wondered what she would do next. The Deputy Head had a legendary reputation for fierceness. There was a rumour that, if she shouted at you, the sound of her voice alone was enough to make clumps of your hair fall out.
But Miss Taylor did not shout. Instead, she gave a little sniff and said, simply, ‘I suppose it’s not entirely your fault.’
‘Isn’t it?’ Tom looked up hopefully.
‘I’m guessing,’ said Miss Taylor, ‘and correct me if I’m wrong, that your life at the moment is very full – full of the things you want to do and the things you want to find out about – and that there’s not a lot of time left at the end of the day for extra maths homework. I’m guessing that’s why you decided to get some help. Is that right?’
Tom agreed that, yes, it was, pretty much.
‘I think Mr Duncan may have been pushing you too hard,’ said Miss Taylor regretfully. ‘It’s a mistake young teachers often make, I’m afraid. They get so excited when they find a student who actually wants to learn that they go a bit overboard and … anyway, I’ve had a word with him and Mr Duncan promises in future not to set work beyond your ability.’
There was something in the way she said this that almost made Tom feel rather sorry for the maths teacher.
‘But let’s get one thing clear …’ Miss Taylor leaned forward and looked directly at Tom. ‘If ever you are unable to complete an assignment, for whatever reason, you will tell the person concerned, truthfully and honestly, why you couldn’t do it and work out a new timetable. You understand? Because if I see any more of this –’ she waved at Tom’s maths homework as she spoke – ‘I will have you hauled up on stage in school assembly and publicly flogged. Do I make myself clear?’
His eye twitching violently, Tom agreed that she had made herself very clear. He knew the Deputy Head probably wasn’t serious about the public flogging, but that was the thing about Miss Taylor.
You were never entirely sure.
Halfway home, Tom decided to go up to the water tower. He was still shaking from his encounter with the Deputy Head and, if Geoff was back, it would help to talk to him about what had happened.
The path through the woods that led up the tower was quite often used by dog walkers so Tom checked carefully that he was alone before blowing the three short blasts and two long on his dog whistle that would bring Aquila down from the tower – if it was there.
What happened next was a bit of a shock. He heard a voice with a strong American accent coming from somewhere to his right.
‘Whoa!’ said the voice. ‘How did you do that?’
‘Geoff?’ said Tom. ‘Is that you?’
‘Tom!’ The voice that answered was definitely Geoff. ‘I thought you said you were going home.’
Tom put his hand out. Aquila was there, he could feel it.
‘Geoff? Have you got someone in there?’
‘He surely has!’ It was the other voice again. ‘He’s got me!’
‘Hang on …’ That was Geoff’s voice again and suddenly Aquila blinked into view. Geoff was inside, looking distinctly embarrassed, his finger on the button that had just turned off the invisibility, and beside him in the other seat was a girl.
She was about the same age as the boys, very pretty, and dressed almost entirely in white. She had a white skirt, a white top with pale blue flowers embroidered round the neck, a white band in her hair, white shoes and a white bag attached to one wrist. She smiled cheerfully at Tom.
‘Hi there!’ She gave a little wave.
‘I … we … I wasn’t expecting you,’ said Geoff.
Tom was too astonished to speak.
‘I’m Paige!’ The girl gave another wave. ‘Paige Legrand. You must be Tom. I have heard so much about you!’
Tom opened his mouth … then closed it again.
‘You’re probably wondering where I’ve come from,’ said Paige. ‘Well, Geoff picked me up in Norway, just half an hour ago. I mean! How cool is that!’
‘Norway?’ Tom finally managed to speak.
‘My mom’s in the oil business,’ said the girl happily, ‘but I’m not Norwegian. I’m American. Though you probably guessed that from the accent!’
‘Look …’ Geoff gazed nervously around the woods. ‘We can’t hang around down here. Why don’t you get in and we’ll talk about it in the tower.’
Tom hesitated a moment, then climbed into Aquila.
‘Hey!’ Paige gave a little giggle. ‘This is cosy, huh?’
Tom did not answer. As they flew up to the tower, his mind was racing. Geoff had told someone else about Aquila. Rule Number One was that they would never, ever, tell anyone else, and Geoff had broken it. He had told someone.
He had told a girl.
At the top of the tower, almost before Aquila had stopped, Tom climbed out and Geoff followed him t
o the far side of the room.
‘Well?’ demanded Tom. ‘Were you planning to tell me about this? Eventually?’
‘Um, no … not really …’ Geoff blushed. ‘I thought you’d rather not know.’
‘Rule Number One, Geoff! We both agreed! Never to tell anyone about Aquila. That was Rule Number One!’
‘I know,’ said Geoff, ‘but it’s all right, really it is! She won’t tell anyone. She promised.’
‘Oh, she’s promised, has she?’ said Tom bitterly. ‘Well, that’s all right then, isn’t it? I mean, as long as she’s promised not to tell anyone, there’s no need to worry, is there?’
‘I know how it looks but if you –’
‘Oh, noooooo!’
Both boys turned. Paige had climbed out of Aquila and was studying a smudge of dirt on the hem of her skirt.
‘Look at this!’ She stared accusingly at the boys. ‘How long is it since you guys cleaned in there?’
‘That does it,’ muttered Tom. ‘You can sort this out on your own …’
He strode back to Aquila, stepped in and pushed the button that would take him forward out of the window. A second later, he had landed on the ground at the base of the tower, climbed out and started walking away.
Behind him, he could hear Geoff calling to him to come back, and Paige’s voice asking, ‘Is he upset about something?’ but he ignored them both. A part of his brain wondered if he should at least send Aquila back up to the tower so that they could get down, but decided in the same instant not to bother.
If Geoff wanted Aquila, he could whistle for it.
Walking home, as fast as he could, Tom found several thoughts suddenly fitting together in his head like pieces from a jigsaw. Almost the only place that molybdenite was found anywhere in Europe was Norway, and if Geoff had picked up a piece of it there yesterday, that probably meant he had met Paige then.
And then he remembered Miss Taylor had said Geoff had been asking about Norway the week before and that meant … that meant Geoff had probably met Paige days ago. Then met her several times since but said nothing about it. Tom wasn’t sure which was worse. That his friend had broken Rule Number One and told someone else about Aquila, or that he had done it and kept it a secret. Geoff was supposed to be his friend. They told each other everything … At least they used to …
Arriving home, Tom saw Alan’s silver Lexus parked in the driveway. That was all he needed, he thought, a cheery conversation with his mother and Alan, asking how his day had been. He let himself in the back door and got himself a glass of water from the tap in the kitchen and it was while he was standing there that he saw, out of the window, his mother and Alan in the garden.
They were kissing.
Some days, thought Tom, you couldn’t help wishing you’d never got out of bed.
When Mrs Baxter answered the knock at the back door, she found Geoff standing outside. She was a little surprised – he didn’t usually call round this late on a school night – but on this occasion at least she was very glad to see him.
‘You’re just the person I need,’ she said, pulling him inside. ‘Tom’s very upset.’
‘Is he?’ asked Geoff.
‘Yes.’ Mrs Baxter’s face had a worried look as she closed the door. ‘But we don’t know why. When he got home from school, we could see something was wrong but he wouldn’t say what it was.’
‘Ah …’ said Geoff.
‘He just went straight up to his room and said he didn’t want to talk to anyone.’ She lowered her voice. ‘He’s cataloguing his rocks again, and he hasn’t done that for ages. You can hear him muttering to himself up there, marching up and down his room. He sounds really angry about something.’
‘Does he …?’ said Geoff.
‘Do you think you could try to talk to him?’ asked Mrs Baxter. ‘Get him to tell you what the trouble is?’
Geoff agreed that he would try.
‘I’m sure, whatever it is, he’ll tell you about it,’ said Mrs Baxter. ‘You two don’t have any secrets from each other, do you? You never have.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
Up in his bedroom, Tom tried to sort his collection of rocks by their weight in the table of elements rather than simple geological age. Sorting his rocks was something that usually helped when he was upset, but at the moment it didn’t seem to be working. He’d pick up a piece of marcasite and, instead of looking up its mineral content, he’d see a picture in his head of Miss Taylor waving his homework, or Paige sitting in Aquila, or his mother in the garden with Alan …
He glanced up briefly when Geoff came in, but then went back to studying the piece of marcasite.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Geoff. ‘I know I should have told you, but … well, I’m sorry.’
Tom did not answer.
‘Maybe, if I explain what happened,’ said Geoff, ‘and how I met her and …’
‘I don’t want to know!’ Tom interrupted. ‘I don’t want to know anything about her. In fact I’d prefer it if you never mentioned her ever again.’
‘No,’ said Geoff. ‘Right.’
There was a long pause.
‘So how did you meet her?’ asked Tom.
‘It was in France,’ said Geoff.
‘France?’ Tom stared at him.
‘You remember the Sunday I went swimming and got the sunburn? It was then. She was on holiday there and saw me getting out of Aquila.’ Geoff sighed. ‘I thought I’d checked everywhere. I thought there was no one around. But when I was walking down to the water, there she suddenly was, asking how I could step out of thin air like that.’
‘And you told her?’
‘I thought if I explained things, she might understand how important it was not to tell anyone else.’ Geoff took a deep breath and sat down on the end of Tom’s bed. ‘So we chatted for a bit, went for a swim, she bought me lunch … and then when I had to go, she gave me her address in Norway and said if I was ever flying that way, I should call in.’
‘So you did,’ said Tom.
‘You were out bowling.’ Geoff looked rather sheepish. ‘I didn’t think it’d do any harm.’
He had in fact been rather proud of the navigation that took him to Paige’s house in Stavanger. It was quite an achievement for someone who had problems reading signs in English, let alone Norwegian, and when he had found Paige she had been so excited to see him, so impressed that he had flown on his own across the North Sea, so amazed at the sight of Aquila – and had pleaded for a chance to fly in it herself.
Geoff had agreed to take her up for a quick flight around the town and Paige had loved every second of it. She had shrieked with pleasure as they buzzed the tops of the houses on their way across town. She had laughed out loud as they swooped down to the sea and along the coast a few miles to the north, and she had gone quiet in stunned amazement as Geoff paused Aquila a few metres above the waves as the huge dorsal fin of an orca whale made its way through the water.
One way and another it had been a very pleasant afternoon and Paige had begged him to come back another time. Geoff agreed, and then she had begged to be allowed to see the Eyrie …
‘Is that where you left her?’ asked Tom. ‘At the Eyrie?’
‘No, no, I took her home.’ Geoff stood up and walked to the window. ‘And I’ve told her it’d be best if I didn’t see her again. After Saturday.’
Tom looked at him. ‘Saturday?’
‘I’d already promised to take her to London on Saturday before you turned up,’ Geoff explained. ‘She wants to go shopping.’
‘Shopping,’ muttered Tom. ‘Of course.’
‘It’s while your mum’s having her party,’ said Geoff. ‘I didn’t think
you’d mind.’
Tom said nothing.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Geoff eventually. ‘I don’t know what else to say. I’m sorry.’
The days that followed were not easy. Geoff had said he was sorry, and Tom had said it was all right, but things between them were not the same. The fact was Tom thought Geoff should not have told Paige about Aquila and, deep down, Geoff knew that Tom was right.
When they were together, however, they tried to behave as if nothing had changed. They flew to school together in the mornings, and then back at the end of the day – but things had changed, and perhaps it was as well that, for most of the week, Tom had to go straight home after school to help his mother prepare for her party.
Throughout the week, Mrs Baxter was busy with a long list of things that needed to be done, including shopping, cooking food, cleaning the house, tidying the garden and borrowing huge quantities of china and glass from Mrs Murphy next door – and Tom was required to help.
His main job was looking after Dunstan, because the person who was really helping Mrs Baxter was Alan. Every evening, the silver Lexus would glide into the driveway and Alan would step out and immediately set about building a barbecue, or setting up a large tent at the bottom of the garden in case it rained, or going to the shops and coming back with crates of drink and bread rolls that Mrs Baxter stacked in the dining room and round the kitchen – leaving Tom to look after his son.
It was not a demanding job – all you had to do with Dunstan was sit him in front of a computer and occasionally feed him a different game – but it was not what Tom wanted to be doing. Being with someone who was four years younger and hardly ever spoke was not like being with Geoff at the Eyrie. Nothing was.
Tom’s mother kept saying how kind it was of Alan to come and help and how she would never have managed without him, but that was not how Tom saw the situation. As the days passed, Alan seemed to be moving more and more into their lives and Tom was increasingly convinced that he was planning, one day, to move in for good.
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