Waiting in the Shadows by Trish Moran

a … useful … book,’ he said hesitantly.
    â€˜Useful?’ the girl repeated. ‘I’m not quite sure what you mean.’
    Leon looked as if he were making a mammoth effort. ‘Useful … You know … What’s it called? Oh, DIY!’
    The girl smiled. ‘Right. Well, come with me, we have lots of home improvements books over here.’
    Leon followed her to a shelf. He, too, glanced over at Ruby with a triumphant smile.
    â€˜You did very well today!’ Ruby told them as they made their way home again. ‘Three shops, and you told that old gentleman the time, Leon! And you dealt with those giggling girls in the park by the river very well, Johnny!’
    â€˜Why did they keep laughing?’ Johnny asked.
    Ruby shrugged, ‘I suppose they thought you were handsome!’
    Leon and Johnny looked at each other with bemused expressions.
    As they reached their front door, Keith opened it.
    â€˜Hi,’ he said. He looked at the bags they were carrying, ‘I see you have made several purchases.’
    Johnny hurried into the lounge and pulled his book out of the bag.
    â€˜Look!’ he said. ‘Next time we change IDs, I’ll have the longest name! Ab-sol-om, that’s only three syllables. Ah! De-me-tri-us, four syllables!’
    Celia rolled her eyes and flicked through Leon’s book, ‘This will be very useful! Well done for thinking of it, Leon.’
    â€˜Yes, I thought it would!’ he nodded, giving his brother a glance, but Johnny was frowning over the pronunciation of another boy’s name.
    Ruby pulled out the street map book, ‘There are a few colleges around here. We could go and see what courses they have to offer.’
    â€˜Good. We’ll need a car, so we’ve ordered one which will be dropped off here tomorrow morning. It’s in your name, Ruby,’ Celia said.
    Ruby’s mouth dropped open, ‘I can’t drive! I’ve never even had one lesson! I wasn’t planning on driving for another few years!’
    â€˜It can’t be that hard! Most Non-Labs do it!’ Celia continued. She pulled the laptop over to her, ‘I’ve downloaded a series of simulated driving lessons, used by many driving schools. Practise a few and you should be ready to drive by tomorrow.’
    â€˜But …’ Ruby began.
    â€˜It’s not that difficult. Keith and I have already completed the first set. Here, practise while the twins prepare the evening meal,’ Celia clicked a button and pushed the laptop towards her, ‘We can’t waste time, Ruby. Concentrate!’
    For the next few hours, Ruby tried out different simulated trips and looked at numerous images of car dashboards.
    Celia sat down beside her making encouraging noises, ‘See. It isn’t that hard, is it? We’ll go for a trial run out of town when the car arrives tomorrow, so you’re ready to drive!’
    As soon as they had finished eating that evening, Celia set up the laptop to project the simulated drives onto the lounge wall. Ruby, who had offered to do the washing up, could hear the whoops of delight as Johnny and Leon quickly worked their way up through the different levels of lessons. She took a deep breath as she put the last plate away and went back to join the others.
    Celia was testing Keith on road signs when the doorbell sounded. Everyone froze as Ruby went to open it. Celia switched off the laptop when Mr Robinson, their landlord, was led in by Ruby. He put a large plastic container on the table.
    â€˜Mr Robinson has brought us some homemade cakes,’ Ruby told them.
    â€˜Just called round to make sure everything is OK,’ the old man said. ‘My wife made you some cakes to welcome you to your new home. Mmm, that’s a fancy looking computer!’ He pointed at the laptop.
    â€˜Isn’t it! One of the new American models. The boys were playing one of those