The Other Child Read Online Free

have been stupid to decide otherwise. The bitter truth was that she had no clique to go in with. No one had ever asked her if she would like to share this or that flat with this or that group. Without the old aunt’s empty guest-room things would have looked bleak, and not only from the financial point of view. But Amy did not want to think about that.
    From the end of the bridge it was only a few more steps to the park. As usual, Amy turned right, towards the steps. There was a new building in the bend; it was in the last stages of construction. It was not clear whether it would be residential or used by Scarborough council for some other purpose.
    Amy walked quickly past it and then stopped short. Two of the tall metal mesh fences that surrounded the house were now blocking the steps and the nearby meandering path, which would normally have offered an alternative. The usual entrance was barred. You could squeeze through sideways, but Amy dithered. That afternoon, when she walked to the pedestrian precinct in the stifling heat to run an errand or two before she started babysitting for Mrs Gardner, the way had still been open. In the meantime there had been a violent storm and an almost apocalyptic flood of rain. Possibly the steps and the meandering path had been damaged. The earthworks and gravel had been washed away. It might be dangerous to take either route up.
    Added to that, it was obviously prohibited.
    Amy was not the kind of girl to just ignore a law. She had always been taught to obey the authorities, whether she understood their rules or not. They had their reasons; that was enough. In this case she was even able to understand the reason.
    Undecidedly, she turned around.
    There were other paths that led up into the labyrinthine Esplanade Gardens, but none of them led quickly and directly up to the road and to where people lived. The lowest path led in the opposite direction: down to the beach and the Spa Complex, a collection of Victorian buildings right by the sea, which the town used for all kinds of cultural events. At night, however, they were completely closed off, and not even a nightwatchman was around. Running up the cliff behind the Spa Complex there was a funicular railway, mainly to transport elderly ladies and gentlemen who were no longer willing to struggle up the steep gardens cut out of the rock. But about half an hour before midnight the cars stopped, and now there was no longer anyone on duty in the ticket office. Of course you could also go up on foot, but it was a long and difficult climb. The advantage of this lower path, though, was that it was lit. Large curving lamps, also modelled on the Victorian style, gave off a warm orange light.
    There was also a middle way – the narrowest of all three. For a good stretch, halfway up the steep slope, it ran almost alongside the drop before starting to rise so gently that even walkers who were not in the peak of physical fitness were able to proceed with some degree of ease. Amy knew that this path came out right in front of the Crown Spa Hotel on the Esplanade. She would get to the top more quickly if she took the middle way than if she went along the beach, but the disadvantage was that there were no street lamps there. The path lost itself between bushes and trees in blackest darkness.
    She took a few steps back, and looked towards the bridge. The man had almost crossed it now. Was she imagining things, or was he really walking more slowly than he had before? More hesitantly? What was he doing here at this time of night?
    Keep calm, Mills, you’re here at this time of night too, she said to herself, although it did not make her heart beat any little bit less fast.
    He could be on his way home, just like you!
    But tell me, who was just going home now? It was twenty to twelve. Not the time when people normally return home from work, unless they were babysitting for an inconsiderate mum who always came in too late.
    I’m going to quit. I