Ctrl‐Z, and if he couldn’t run there fast enough, then… He looked thoughtfully
through the shop doorway to where two girls were talking on the pavement outside. One of them, he noticed, had a bicycle.
It took several tries before Alex could get hold of the bike. He began by asking the girl if he could borrow it, but she said
no. Next, he tried offering her money, but she still said no, so then he tried
snatching it from her, but that didn’t work either. The little girl was only eight years old, but she clung ferociously to
her bicycle, her fingers wrapped tightly round the handlebars. With her friend screaming for help, Alex could never quite
wrench the bike free before the girl’s mother came out of the shop, grabbed him by the collar and shouted for someone to call
the police.
In the end, he found a simpler way. When Mrs Bellini asked for her two pounds twenty‐seven, he left the ten‐pound note on
the counter, walked out of the shop, went straight over to the girls and told them their mother wanted them inside to choose
which sweets they wanted. The girl left her bike leaning up against a pillar box and, as she walked towards the shop, Alex
grabbed it and pedalled off.
It wasn’t an easy bike to ride – it was smaller than he was used to and had no gears – but it was still faster than running.
Pedalling as fast as he could, and with the cries of the girls and their mother fading behind him as he rode, Alex dashed
along the Causeway, turned left into Roseby Crescent, raced up the hill along Derby Road and
… and he very nearly made it.
Turning into the close he could actually see Callum running past the side of the house towards the back door and his mother
standing by her car
in the driveway. He opened his mouth to shout to Callum not to go indoors when –
‘Two pounds twenty‐seven, please,’ said Mrs Bellini.
He tried the bicycle trick twice more, but it made no difference and, handing over the money for the seventeenth time, it
dawned on Alex that he was in serious trouble. Unless he could get home before Callum pressed Ctrl‐Z, he was going to be stuck
in the same four minutes of time… forever.
In desperation, he considered stealing a car and was actually working out how he could snatch the keys from the woman behind
him in the queue at the shop when he realized he didn’t have to steal a car at all. There was a much simpler solution to his
problem and he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t thought of it before.
‘Two pounds twenty‐seven, please,’ said Mrs Bellini.
Alex gave her the ten‐pound note. ‘Could I use your phone to call my mum?’ he said. ‘I can pay you for it. Only it’s quite
urgent.’
‘Yes, of course, dear.’ Mrs Bellini pushed the phone across the counter towards him. ‘And don’t worry about paying.’
‘Thanks.’ Alex was already tapping in the number.
The phone rang for some time and he remembered his mother had been outside doing something to her car.
‘Hello?’ His mother’s voice finally answered the call.
‘Mum? It’s me.’
‘Alex? What are you –’
‘Just listen, will you, Mum? You mustn’t let Callum into the house, all right? When he calls round, don’t let him in and don’t
let him up to my bedroom. It’s really important, OK?’
‘OK,’ said his mother. ‘Look, are you all right? Why are you –’
‘I’m fine. I’ll explain when I get home,’ said Alex, and hung up.
When Alex turned into the drive of number 17 Oakwood Close, his mother swung herself out from under the back axle of the TR4.
‘You were right,’ she said. ‘Callum came round just after you phoned. He told me to tell you he’d had an accident. Just after
ten o’clock. He said it was very important you knew the time.’
‘What sort of accident?’ asked Alex.
‘As far as I could tell, he was playing darts and one of them landed in his father’s foot,’ said Mrs Howard. ‘But I couldn’t
get
through the shop doorway to where two girls were talking on the pavement outside. One of them, he noticed, had a bicycle.
It took several tries before Alex could get hold of the bike. He began by asking the girl if he could borrow it, but she said
no. Next, he tried offering her money, but she still said no, so then he tried
snatching it from her, but that didn’t work either. The little girl was only eight years old, but she clung ferociously to
her bicycle, her fingers wrapped tightly round the handlebars. With her friend screaming for help, Alex could never quite
wrench the bike free before the girl’s mother came out of the shop, grabbed him by the collar and shouted for someone to call
the police.
In the end, he found a simpler way. When Mrs Bellini asked for her two pounds twenty‐seven, he left the ten‐pound note on
the counter, walked out of the shop, went straight over to the girls and told them their mother wanted them inside to choose
which sweets they wanted. The girl left her bike leaning up against a pillar box and, as she walked towards the shop, Alex
grabbed it and pedalled off.
It wasn’t an easy bike to ride – it was smaller than he was used to and had no gears – but it was still faster than running.
Pedalling as fast as he could, and with the cries of the girls and their mother fading behind him as he rode, Alex dashed
along the Causeway, turned left into Roseby Crescent, raced up the hill along Derby Road and
… and he very nearly made it.
Turning into the close he could actually see Callum running past the side of the house towards the back door and his mother
standing by her car
in the driveway. He opened his mouth to shout to Callum not to go indoors when –
‘Two pounds twenty‐seven, please,’ said Mrs Bellini.
He tried the bicycle trick twice more, but it made no difference and, handing over the money for the seventeenth time, it
dawned on Alex that he was in serious trouble. Unless he could get home before Callum pressed Ctrl‐Z, he was going to be stuck
in the same four minutes of time… forever.
In desperation, he considered stealing a car and was actually working out how he could snatch the keys from the woman behind
him in the queue at the shop when he realized he didn’t have to steal a car at all. There was a much simpler solution to his
problem and he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t thought of it before.
‘Two pounds twenty‐seven, please,’ said Mrs Bellini.
Alex gave her the ten‐pound note. ‘Could I use your phone to call my mum?’ he said. ‘I can pay you for it. Only it’s quite
urgent.’
‘Yes, of course, dear.’ Mrs Bellini pushed the phone across the counter towards him. ‘And don’t worry about paying.’
‘Thanks.’ Alex was already tapping in the number.
The phone rang for some time and he remembered his mother had been outside doing something to her car.
‘Hello?’ His mother’s voice finally answered the call.
‘Mum? It’s me.’
‘Alex? What are you –’
‘Just listen, will you, Mum? You mustn’t let Callum into the house, all right? When he calls round, don’t let him in and don’t
let him up to my bedroom. It’s really important, OK?’
‘OK,’ said his mother. ‘Look, are you all right? Why are you –’
‘I’m fine. I’ll explain when I get home,’ said Alex, and hung up.
When Alex turned into the drive of number 17 Oakwood Close, his mother swung herself out from under the back axle of the TR4.
‘You were right,’ she said. ‘Callum came round just after you phoned. He told me to tell you he’d had an accident. Just after
ten o’clock. He said it was very important you knew the time.’
‘What sort of accident?’ asked Alex.
‘As far as I could tell, he was playing darts and one of them landed in his father’s foot,’ said Mrs Howard. ‘But I couldn’t
get
Similar Books
