and pointed towards a cream beanbag on the floor near the window. ‘Have a seat.’
‘Cool,’ Elliot said, glad of an alternative to standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. ‘So you didn’t tell your mum about yesterday?’
Lisa shook her head, reaching into a pocket of her shorts, pulling out a bobble and tying back her long hair. ‘I thought it best not to say anything, since you said you didn’t want to tell your parents.’
‘Yeah, there’s only my mum, actually. My dad died when I was little.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry.’
‘That’s okay.’
‘What was his name?’
‘Gary.’
She nodded. ‘How old were you when it happened?’
‘Four.’ Elliot was impressed. Most kids got embarrassed when they found out and changed the subject.
‘No way. What happened?’
‘He was killed in a motorbike crash.’
‘How awful. Do you remember it?’
‘A bit. But it’s more what happened afterwards: people visiting a lot; Mum crying all the time. Suddenly everything was so different.’
‘Sorry, do you mind me asking this stuff? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I’m so nosey sometimes – and we barely know each other. Mum reckons I’ll be a journalist when I grow up.’
Elliot laughed. ‘I don’t mind. It’s nice to talk about him sometimes. It makes him seem more real. The truth is I don’t have many memories, because I was so young. Most of what I know about him is stuff Mum’s told me.’
‘Do you have any brothers and sisters?’
‘No, it’s just the two of us. That’s probably the reason she worries about me a lot, which is why I don’t tell her everything.’
‘Did she believe you about losing your glasses?’
Elliot wrinkled his nose. ‘Yes, but she was mad. She made me turn my bedroom upside down, looking for them.’
‘Your old ones don’t look so bad.’
‘Well, apart from the paperclip holding the right arm in place and the fact that they’re always slipping down my nose. So you have a brother?’
‘Yes, Jamie.’ She sighed, shaking her head. ‘He’s eight – and incredibly annoying. He’s not here at the moment. Dad’s off work today; they’ve gone to the DIY shop.’
‘Your dad the fake policeman?’
Lisa blushed. ‘That’s him.’
‘What does he really do?’
‘He sells BMWs. He’s been promoted to manage his own dealership. That’s why we moved here.’
‘Cool. What about your mum?’
‘She’s a primary school teacher.’
Elliot nodded. ‘Mine’s a nurse. So you didn’t want to move?’
‘No, it’s a nightmare.’
Lisa explained how they came from Nottingham, where she’d lived in the same house right through primary school. Her parents had sprung this on her during her final year and, before she knew it, the move to Aldham was upon them. She hadn’t wanted to leave her friends behind; now she was dreading starting secondary school not knowing anyone. ‘To make matters worse, it’s a private girls’ school,’ she said. ‘Mum and Dad made me do this entrance exam. It’s not even that close. I’ll have to get a bus.’
Elliot sat up on the beanbag. ‘Hang on. It’s not Queen Anne’s, is it?’
‘That’s right.’ Lisa said, raising an eyebrow. ‘In Westwich. How did you guess?’
‘Because I’m going to King George’s, the boys’ school next door. We’ll be on the same bus.’
A little later, Elliot grinned down at Lisa from the treetop. ‘I told you it would be fun.’
She was perched a few branches lower down the ancient oak. He could tell she was enjoying herself from the exhilarated look on her face whenever she stared up at him, but she seemed like she was concentrating too hard to say much.
‘You’ve really never done this before?’ he asked.
‘Nope.’
‘Well, I think you might be a natural tree climber, in that case. Don’t stop there, though. There’s room for both of us up here. Come on, the view is excellent.’
Elliot loved climbing this tree. It was in a large field behind his house. He’d been doing so for years and could scale the branches in no time. He so enjoyed being up here among the leaves, watching the world below. It rarely failed to put into perspective whatever troubles he had in his day-to-day life. Even the biggest, meanest bullies looked tiny from such a height.
Earlier, when the two of them were chatting in Lisa’s bedroom, she’d complained that there was nothing to do in Aldham compared to the urban life she used to lead. Elliot, who’d hardly spent any time in the city apart from the odd boring shopping trip with his mum, had only ever known life in this quiet village surrounded by hills and countryside. And he’d always found plenty to keep himself occupied. He and Christopher had never been bored, thanks to their bicycles, two overactive imaginations and more nature-packed open spaces than they knew what to do with. So when he looked at Lisa like she was crazy and she challenged him to prove his point, bringing her to this huge tree had been the obvious next step.
‘Are you sure that branch is strong enough to hold us both?’ Lisa asked as she edged her way upwards.
‘Definitely. I’ve been up here loads of times with Christopher and he’s taller than you. We used to call it the crow’s nest when we were younger, like the lookout point on a boat. We’d pretend to be out at sea, checking to make sure there were no pirates on the horizon.’
‘Okay, here goes.’ She took a deep breath and then, arms quivering, she climbed the final few metres, following her new friend’s instructions on the best route to take. Her left foot slipped at one point, causing her to let out a little scream, but Elliot reached down to steady her, offering calming words. Soon she sat down next to him, one leg on either side of the branch, and let out a long sigh of relief. ‘Done it. Wow. That was a bit scary.’
Elliot winked. ‘You did brilliantly, especially considering the lack of trees in Nottingham. Did they cut them all down after Robin Hood, then?’
This made Lisa giggle.
‘Now you know what you were missing out on. Look, you can see both of our houses from here.’ Elliot pointed to give Lisa her bearings.
‘Oh yeah. Hey, look: you can see my mum in the kitchen. Gosh, I hope she doesn’t spot us. She’d
