Alarm Girl Read Online Free Page B

dog didn’t have a name. He laughed and asked me if that was what was keeping me awake and I could think of a name for him if I liked. I said How about Jack and Dad said that was a nice name, it suits him because he is a rough and tough kind of dog. Dad said Are there any boys in your class called Jack and I said No. Then I went back to bed. Robin was pretending to be asleep when I went past his room but he knew I was standing there and when he started talking it made me jump. He said he hoped I wasn’t going to be like this the whole time. Like what, I said. All weird, Robin said, and I said I hoped
he
wasn’t going to be like
this
the whole time and when he asked Like what I said All mean.
    Then I went into my own room and I fell asleep with lions and mosquitoes and muggers all around.
     
    VALERIE WAS AT HER BEDROOM window when she saw Ian’s car draw up. It wasn’t the blue saloon he normally drove, it was a big shiny grey thing. She moved away from the window.
    There was no answer when she knocked on Robin’s door. He was lying on his bed with his eyes closed. He was so tall now that his feet hung off its end. He hadheadphones on, so she had to tap him on the leg to tell him his dad had arrived.
    Downstairs, a dining chair lay upturned on a sheet of newspaper in the middle of the room.
    ‘Almost there,’ Doug said.
    She opened the front door to her son-in-law, who kissed her hello. Sometimes there was no kiss. During the worst times there was none.
    ‘Bit of DIY, Doug?’ Ian asked by way of a greeting.
    ‘You could say that,’ Doug replied. ‘I’ve already had a go at the table.’
    Ian complimented him on the good job he was doing but she could tell he thought the old man had gone gaga. He probably imagined Doug was so bored in retirement that this was how he filled his days.
    She made a pot of tea and, together with the children, they sat around the table. Ian rarely chose to sit on the sofa when he was at theirs, as if he was on business. In fact there was often some kind of business to attend to – school permission slips and money the children needed for something or other.
    ‘How’s it all going?’ she asked, and he told them about paying guests he took golfing and on vineyard tours.
    ‘Well, you’re looking good on it, Ian,’ she said.
    He thanked her and seemed a little embarrassed. The bangle he wore slid down his arm as he pushed his hair back. It used to be Karen’s. His hair was mostly grey now, but longer than before and curly like it waswhen they first knew him. It was true he looked well. Everyone looked better with a tan.
    ‘And the lifestyle out there – you like it?’ she asked.
    ‘It’s wonderful, Val. The climate, the landscape, being in the open. You’ll have to come and see for yourself, won’t she, Indy?’ He stroked his daughter’s cheek with his own and Indy complained that his felt prickly. She was too old, really, Valerie thought, to sit on her father’s lap. She caught herself feeling bad that she hadn’t been touchy-feely like that with Karen.
    Ian said he wouldn’t stop for dinner. She knew he preferred to get straight off so she had made sure the children were ready. He was always in a rush, as if he couldn’t stand to be in their company.
    ‘How d’you like the new car?’ he asked as they stood all together on the pavement.
    ‘Very swish,’ she said. ‘Is it a people-carrier?’
    ‘Yes, for carrying the peeps.’
    He was certainly in an upbeat mood – the most upbeat she had seen him lately. Robin asked if it was a hire car and Ian told him that no, he had bought it. He showed them the drinks-holder and the stereo. She wondered how he managed to afford a new car on top of all the travel backwards and forwards to South Africa. His business must be doing as well as he said it was.
    ‘What do you say, babies?’ he asked.
    She wished he wouldn’t make them thank her for having them. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate good manners, but it made