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now that it was difficult to ignore it. There was a lot of rubbish being blown around, and as we walked past a long fence covered in graffiti and small posters, one of them came unstuck and blew right in my face. As I caught it and absent-mindedly thrust it into my pocket, I remembered something Bull had said to us when we were in his study.
    â€œHey, Donna, we ought to ask Dad about the time he nearly blew up the Science lab. Have you heard that story before?”
    â€œI have. I think he was trying to make a rocket, only it went off too soon. He was in his last year, and the Pitbull had just become Head.”
    â€œYou never told me.”
    â€œYou never asked.” She grinned at me, and I heaved a sigh of relief. The old, cheerful Donna was back, the one who had disappeared recently. Then I thought of something else the Head had said.
    â€œWhat d’you think Bull meant about us not taking after our mother? Surely he never knew her?”
    Donna frowned. “I suppose she could have been at Lea Green the same time as Dad. Maybe they were childhood sweethearts. We just don’t know, do we?”
    And we weren’t going to find out either, if the past was anything to go by. Neither Nan nor Dad would ever talk about our mother, but Nan once told me that Dad was a changed man after losing Annie. Now I began to wonder what our mother had been like for her death to have had such an effect on him. Bull seemed to be trying to make out that she was some sort of saint, while Donna, Dad, Nan and I were lazy, good-for-nothing troublemakers. It was wrong that he knew more about her than we did. I decided there and then that somehow I’d find a way to learn more about our mother.

Chapter Four: EYE SPY
    By the time we reached home, my tummy was rumbling. I was cold, hungry and apprehensive. We tried to sneak in quietly, but Nan was waiting for us in the hall. She started on us even before we’d shut the front door.
    â€œMr Bull’s been on the phone. Gambling! For shame! It nearly killed me, having to apologise to That Man for your behaviour! What
did
you think you were doing?”
    Donna hung her head. “I’m sorry, Nan. I promise I won’t do it again.”
    â€œI should think not! Alex?”
    â€œI won’t either, I promise.”
    She sat down heavily on the chair by the phone and sighed. “No pocket money, either of you, for a month. That should teach you not to waste money. Now make yourselves scarce. I don’t want to see you again until supper.”
    We went upstairs to my bedroom and sat down on the bed. Donna was fuming all over again. “First Mr Bull takes my winnings, then I lose my pocket money. I’m being punished twice. It’s not fair!”
    â€œI thought Em said we were going to come into money, not lose it,” I said, teasing her.
    â€œOh, ha ha. You’d like her to be wrong, wouldn’t you?”
    I wasn’t going to get into another argument with Donna, so I changed the subject.
    â€œMaybe we don’t have to wait for the hand of fate,” I suggested. “Maybe we could think of a way to earn some money ourselves?”
    â€œLike what?”
    My stomach rumbled noisily again. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and I was so hungry it was difficult to think straight. I scrabbled in my pockets to see if there was anything edible there, like a chocolate bar or a packet of crisps, but all I found was the crumpled piece of paper I’d picked up in the street. As I straightened it out, I saw the words ‘£100 reward’.
    â€œLook!” I showed the paper to Donna and together we read:

    Â£100 REWARD
    For the safe return of Kiki, a long-haired
    Sichuan Pekinese, lost on Saturday,
    February 16th. Contact Mademoiselle
    Boudet, Flat 6, 49 Castleview, Holcombe Bay.
    â€œA hundred pounds?” Donna said. “She must be desperate. She’s probably one of those old ladies who absolutely dotes on her