Bad Company by Cathy MacPhail Read Free Book Online Page B

Magnus Pierce turned slowly round.
    ‘Ah, it’s the lovely Lissa.’ He beamed a big white smile at me. I almost expected to see his teeth flash like in a cartoon. ‘And I’m just leaving. What a pity.’ As he stepped past me he touched my shoulder and turned back to J.B. ‘Just think about what I said, Jonathan. You’ll see I’m right.’ Then he paused and added very slowly, ‘You have a family to look after you know.’
    At that very moment Mum burst into the house with Jonny in tow. She’d known she was going to find Magnus Pierce here, must have seen his car. I certainly hadn’t but then I had been too busy thinking about Ralph Aird.
    ‘I’m just going, Mrs Blythe,’ he said pleasantly, as if Mum had already asked him to do just that.
    And in two long strides he was out of the house and moving down the path. Mum ran to J.B. and he held her close. Jonny looked baffled, didn’t know what was going on. And Margo with her nose running was biting obliviously into her new bear.
    Mum was crying. I could hear it in her voice though I couldn’t see her face crushed against J.B.’s chest.
    ‘I’m so afraid of that man, Jonny,’ she said.
    And do you know what J.B. said? ‘So am I.’

Chapter Nine
    April 3rd
    I’ve been to Diane’s house for dinner tonight. We went straight after school, running through streets and alleys and on to the broad tree-lined avenue where Diane lives. Our house had been in a street just like hers. Our house had been so much like hers. No wonder I love going there .
    Dinner was served at a long, mahogany table and the dinner set was white china with dainty lines of gold around the edges. Tall crystal glasses were on the table for mineral water and stemmed glasses for the wine. In the middle was a bowl of glorious chrysanthemums. It took me back to the dinner parties Mum and Dad used to have for J.B.’s business partners. Magnus Pierce was always there. He seemed to dominate the table with his loud voice and his larger than life frame. Even then, he fascinated me .
    And for the first time I have actually met Diane’s dad. He has grey hair, but a young face and he looks so much like Diane, it’s uncanny .
    ‘Terrible thing about what happened to that boy’s artwork,’ he said while we were having dessert. (Banoffee pie, my favourite.) I almost choked on it. I glanced at Diane but she didn’t even look up at me .
    ‘They’ve locked the school up now, Daddy,’ she said, sounding sorry for herself. ‘It’s like a prison in there. Isn’t it, Lissa?’
    My mouth was too dry to answer. Just as well I didn’t have to. Diane’s mum crashed into the conversation angrily. ‘Locking up schools! Vandalism!’ Her thin voice was shaking. ‘I hate using clichés but I don’t know what this world is coming to.’
    Mr Connell was calmer. ‘Yes, dear. But it won’t be for long. We should hear from Adler Academy soon.’
    Adler Academy, the private school in the countryside nearby. The one I had once hoped to attend .
    Now Diane is going to Adler Academy. Leaving me alone again? I can’t bear the thought of it. It was only just before I was leaving for home that I had the chance to ask her about it .
    ‘Well, you didn’t think I’d be staying in that dump, did you?’ And of course, I shouldn’t have. Diane was never meant to be in a school like mine. But the thought of losing her just makes me feel sick .
    ‘Couldn’t J.B. send you to Adler Academy with me?’
    Sure, I almost said. He’ll be able to afford it with his tips from Burgers A GoGo. He has a night job now too, stacking shelves. It gets worse and worse .
    But he has an interview coming up, for a ‘good position’. I heard him discussing it with Mum. And if he gets that job, then why shouldn’t I ask him to let me go to Adler Academy with Diane?
    How sure I was when I wrote that. Sure I was safe. Sure Diane was my friend. Sure everything was going to be all right. Diane was the only thing that made school