But nothing.
Another thread of annoyance curled in my stomach as I battled to stay in my room and out of trouble, but I wanted to know where he was. I wanted to know what he was playing at.
“Mum!” I yelled down the stairs. “Is Oliver home?”
“No. He’s still out. I’m surprised you aren’t with him. Dinner will be in fifteen minutes. You can go and fetch him from Grace’s.”
Like hell. My footfalls thundered downstairs. “He’s not at Grace's,” I protested to Mum in the kitchen doorway.
“Okay, then he’s somewhere between there and here. Go and find him please.”
“He should have been back ages ago. She said she was busy tonight before I came back.”
“Oh, I see. Is that why you’re walking around with a storm cloud over your head?”
“No. I am not.”
“Go and get your brother and stop arguing.” Her tone changed, and I knew my choices were to comply or risk being grounded for the rest of the week.
When I reached the spot I’d left him in, Oliver was nowhere in sight. We didn’t know anyone else on the road, not enough to go to their house, anyway, which left only one answer to where he’d gone.
“Hello, Charlie, is Oliver here? It’s dinner time.” I asked politely when Grace’s mum opened the front door.
“Yes, he is. Hold on a minute. Oliver? Time for tea. Grace, you can see the boys tomorrow.”
Oliver bounded down the stairs from Grace’s bedroom—no sign of tears anywhere. He did have a secret smile that made me want to shove him to the ground all over again. I held the urge in and let him walk past me. Before leaving, I glanced back up the stairs. Grace was sitting on the top step with Bob on her lap. She didn’t look very happy, and all of a sudden, I was worried that Oliver had run to Grace for help and told her what happened.
The thought that she might take Oliver’s side over mine only added another layer to the anger bubbling away. By the time I stepped out of the house, Oliver was already crossing the bridge and out of danger.
The rage was so close to the surface; it overcame me, forcing the heat of tears into my eyes. I wanted to scream, to see if that would empty what I was feeling inside, but I swallowed it all back. I was stronger than this. I would beat this. And I would beat Oliver.
He’d played me and showed me up in front of Grace, getting what I wanted in the first place.
Well, I wouldn’t let that happen again.
Chapter 5
Grace Ten Years Old
Summer arrived. Finally. Although this time, the uninterrupted weeks had a more daunting prospect at the end of them. Although, I’d promised myself not to let the nerves start already because I didn’t want to let them douse my fun before it had started.
As each year passed and I got older, Mum relaxed and knew I’d be safe with the boys. Sometimes, Oliver and I played in his room with the dragons he still collected while Maddison bashed the controller on his computer and yelled at his friends through the screen. The rain pushed us indoors, and for the first week of the holiday, it did nothing but pour.
“It better not rain all holiday,” Maddison grumped as we grabbed a juice from the kitchen. He’d been on the computer all morning, and his mood was always awful after he’d been shooting and fighting on that stupid game.
“Relax, it’s only been a few days.” Oliver tried to be positive, but as I stared out into their back garden, the water racing down the window in tracks, it was hard to see the end of all the cold and damp.
“I’m going to head home,” I said, my eyes didn’t meet either Oliver or Maddison’s, and I made my way to the door. Without the sun, and our usual methods of escape, it was hard to play with both of the boys. They didn’t want to do the same thing, and I’d got sick of being in the middle. The summer was supposed to be when we spent time all together.
I grabbed my coat from the hook and pulled up the hood. A cold gust whipped around me as I opened the door and peered out. It wasn’t far to my house, but it seemed a vast distance with the pelting rain in my path.
My fingers pinched the edge of my hood to keep it up as I dashed from the porch and raced back. I skipped over puddles to stop my Converse from getting too muddy, but by the time I hit the green, it was impossible. The rain had soaked into the canvas, my jeans were dark blue, and icy droplets blanketed my face. I kept my eyes screwed up against the rain and finally made it to the house.
After stripping off my sopping clothes and letting my coat drip-dry in the kitchen, I snuggled under the covers in my bedroom, relegated to the latest wizard book that Mum had ordered for the start of the summer. It was good, but it didn’t beat spending time playing outside. This year, the weather had seemed to forget about delivering a summer.
Two days later and I’d finished the book. The boys hadn’t come to call, and I didn’t venture out. But as I put the book down, I looked out of the window and saw blue skies for the first time in what felt like weeks. My eyes blinked, clearing any trace of sleep and checking they weren’t a figment of my imagination.
My legs raced as fast as they could go downstairs, and I burst into the living room. “Can I go out to the boys’?”
“Sure, sweetheart. But don’t go far, okay. The weather forecast doesn’t look good.”
She had to call the last part as I ran back upstairs to get dressed. I didn’t care how long it lasted, but I knew we had a window to play. Before I reached the front door, drumming echoed in the hall.
I opened the door to find both Maddison and Oliver looking at me with huge grins.
“Ready?” They both asked at once.
“Bye, Mum!” I called back, and as I closed the door behind me, I heard her warning of not going too far, but it was too late.
“So, what are we going to do?” I looked at both of them and noticed they didn’t have their bikes.
“The oak tree. I want to show Grace how to climb it properly, this time,” Maddison announced.
“Great, let’s go.” I’d only managed the first branch so far, and although it was higher than I’d ever climbed before, Maddison’s confidence pushed me to aim higher. We all ran off but soon calmed our pace. It would be a little walk without pedal power, and I didn’t want to be worn out before we got there.
The grass and trees all looked a richer shade of green from all the rain. Muddy water filled the dents and holes in the track road, and a stream of water trickled down one gully, running off into the fields. I couldn’t remember when it had last rained so much.
We arrived at the tree and jumped over the gate, ignoring the sign. So far, nobody had come to tell us off, and enthusiasm had replaced the worry that we were doing something wrong.
“Come on, Grace. I’ll show you where to put your grip.” Maddison pulled me over to the side of the tree where the funny knot provided the first ladder step up to the first branch.
Maddison shot up first, stopped two branches up and turned to look down. “Your turn,” he called.
The bark was damp as I found my grip, and I made sure my toe was secure, bouncing a couple of times before I reached up and pulled myself to standing.
“Great. Next level.”