away. No one
helps.’
‘So then you have to swim to the shore?’
‘Yes’ but our boat is going very fast in circles. Carlos can’t escape. The boat crashes into him and he is killed.’ Galina shuddered at the memory.
‘And they never found out who was in the other boat?’
‘No. The police in Monaco – they say that maybe it was accident, that boat engine was faulty to make it go round and round that way and Papa should blame guy he bought it from.
Isabella says no because other boat, it drove straight at us – bang! And then it went away. Papa agrees. After this, he tells Mikhail and Sergei, never let Galina out of your sight. And
that’s what happens – I’m in prison in this horrible place, never alone.’
‘Were you very scared?’ I pictured a blue bay lined with palatial villas, a hot sun, a speedboat cutting through the water.
‘Very,’ Galina admitted, her eyes clouding. ‘But I don’t show this fear and you must not tell anyone. Promise.’
‘OK,’ I agreed, rearranging things on my bedside cabinet – mobile phone, hairbrush, iPad, small framed picture of Jack, all in order. That’s the OCD me coming out.
‘Time to turn out the lights?’
‘Tell Molly Wilson that someone dumped a dead bird in your room,’ Eugenie suggested before breakfast next morning.
Galina had drifted off down the girls’ corridor to scrounge some chewing gum. She’d gone into Eugenie and Charlie’s room and told them about the robin. They’d all gasped
then laughed about it and come back to Galina’s and my room. Charlie, still in her PJs, sat down on the spare bed while Eugenie examined the remains of the dried patch of blood on the
sill.
‘What’s the point? Galina thinks it flew into the window and killed itself,’ I explained.
‘You’ll still have to tell the bursar, though. She’ll need to get a guy to come and fix the panes of glass.’ Charlie came through with the same advice as Eugenie.
‘Good point,’ I conceded.
‘Anyway, if it was a suicide robin, why would there be two panes broken and not just one?’ Eugenie said as she checked the damage.
‘Yeah, another good point.’
Energetically Charlie took up the argument again. ‘I agree with Eugenie – it can’t have been a kamikaze robin. I think somebody climbed up and broke the window, reached through
and dumped it there.’
‘Yeah, poor you.’ Eugenie had turned her attention to the waste bin and was poking around amongst the screwed up paper. ‘It’s another practical joke, like those fake
pictures.’
‘You heard about that?’ I groaned.
‘The whole school heard. Lots of people went on Facebook to look before you had a chance to take them off. All the boys drooled over them.’
There was more groaning from me and a Slavic toss of the head from Galina. ‘Big deal,’ she muttered.
‘No, hold it, Galina. If someone’s using Alyssa’s password and faking pictures and now dumping dead birds on her windowsill, it kind of suggests she’s being
targeted.’ As she spoke, Charlie gathered her fair hair into a knot at the nape of her neck. ‘Can I borrow some cleanser, please?’
Galina nodded. ‘Help yourself. Maybe I get Mikhail to check it out, find bully,’ she told me with a stage wink.
‘Funny!’ Really, actually. So we all laughed at the idea that macho Mikhail should investigate the case of the expired robin and then we borrowed Galina’s expensive
lotions’ rubbed them over our faces and legs and went on gossiping.
Galina developed the picture for us. ‘My bodyguards find bird killer and get confession. He leaves school in disgrace.’
‘Or she,’ Eugenie pointed out. ‘Maybe a girl set up the whole thing. She climbs up the drainpipe in the dark and breaks the glass, deposits the dead robin. Why the hell
not?’
‘You have enemies here in school, Alyssa?’ Galina wanted to know. The idea seemed to perk her up no end.
‘Not that I know of.’
‘So maybe it’s someone with a
helps.’
‘So then you have to swim to the shore?’
‘Yes’ but our boat is going very fast in circles. Carlos can’t escape. The boat crashes into him and he is killed.’ Galina shuddered at the memory.
‘And they never found out who was in the other boat?’
‘No. The police in Monaco – they say that maybe it was accident, that boat engine was faulty to make it go round and round that way and Papa should blame guy he bought it from.
Isabella says no because other boat, it drove straight at us – bang! And then it went away. Papa agrees. After this, he tells Mikhail and Sergei, never let Galina out of your sight. And
that’s what happens – I’m in prison in this horrible place, never alone.’
‘Were you very scared?’ I pictured a blue bay lined with palatial villas, a hot sun, a speedboat cutting through the water.
‘Very,’ Galina admitted, her eyes clouding. ‘But I don’t show this fear and you must not tell anyone. Promise.’
‘OK,’ I agreed, rearranging things on my bedside cabinet – mobile phone, hairbrush, iPad, small framed picture of Jack, all in order. That’s the OCD me coming out.
‘Time to turn out the lights?’
‘Tell Molly Wilson that someone dumped a dead bird in your room,’ Eugenie suggested before breakfast next morning.
Galina had drifted off down the girls’ corridor to scrounge some chewing gum. She’d gone into Eugenie and Charlie’s room and told them about the robin. They’d all gasped
then laughed about it and come back to Galina’s and my room. Charlie, still in her PJs, sat down on the spare bed while Eugenie examined the remains of the dried patch of blood on the
sill.
‘What’s the point? Galina thinks it flew into the window and killed itself,’ I explained.
‘You’ll still have to tell the bursar, though. She’ll need to get a guy to come and fix the panes of glass.’ Charlie came through with the same advice as Eugenie.
‘Good point,’ I conceded.
‘Anyway, if it was a suicide robin, why would there be two panes broken and not just one?’ Eugenie said as she checked the damage.
‘Yeah, another good point.’
Energetically Charlie took up the argument again. ‘I agree with Eugenie – it can’t have been a kamikaze robin. I think somebody climbed up and broke the window, reached through
and dumped it there.’
‘Yeah, poor you.’ Eugenie had turned her attention to the waste bin and was poking around amongst the screwed up paper. ‘It’s another practical joke, like those fake
pictures.’
‘You heard about that?’ I groaned.
‘The whole school heard. Lots of people went on Facebook to look before you had a chance to take them off. All the boys drooled over them.’
There was more groaning from me and a Slavic toss of the head from Galina. ‘Big deal,’ she muttered.
‘No, hold it, Galina. If someone’s using Alyssa’s password and faking pictures and now dumping dead birds on her windowsill, it kind of suggests she’s being
targeted.’ As she spoke, Charlie gathered her fair hair into a knot at the nape of her neck. ‘Can I borrow some cleanser, please?’
Galina nodded. ‘Help yourself. Maybe I get Mikhail to check it out, find bully,’ she told me with a stage wink.
‘Funny!’ Really, actually. So we all laughed at the idea that macho Mikhail should investigate the case of the expired robin and then we borrowed Galina’s expensive
lotions’ rubbed them over our faces and legs and went on gossiping.
Galina developed the picture for us. ‘My bodyguards find bird killer and get confession. He leaves school in disgrace.’
‘Or she,’ Eugenie pointed out. ‘Maybe a girl set up the whole thing. She climbs up the drainpipe in the dark and breaks the glass, deposits the dead robin. Why the hell
not?’
‘You have enemies here in school, Alyssa?’ Galina wanted to know. The idea seemed to perk her up no end.
‘Not that I know of.’
‘So maybe it’s someone with a
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