Leave it to Eva by Judi Curtin Read Free Book Online Page B

was such a bad idea, surely the kindest thing was not to help her at all?
    Kate shrugged, almost like she didn’t care any more.
    ‘I’ll leave it up to you,’ she said. ‘You do whatever you think is best. Bye, Eva.’
    I followed her as she tiptoed downstairs and into the kitchen.
    ‘Wait,’ I whispered. ‘Don’t leave like this. Let’s talk about it for a minute.’
    But Kate ignored me as she grabbed a few apples from the table and stuffed them into her rucksack.
    I put my head down, and covered my face with my fingers. This was all much too mad and crazy for me.
    If Kate escaped out the back door, she could end up in a lot of trouble.
    I had a horrible picture of my friend, cold and hungry, sleeping rough in a field, or under a bridge somewhere.
    How could I let her go?
    How could I prevent her from going?
    Did I dare to let Nicola in, before Kate had a chance to escape, or ……?
    While I was still making up my mind, I heard Kate pulling open the back door. Seconds flew past. If this whole thing turned out badly, it was going to be my fault.
    But my throat was dry and scratchy, and my feet felt like they were glued to the floor.
    I felt sick as I waited for the sound of the door closing. Once the door closed, I knew I had only seconds to act.
    I waited for the sound of Kate’s running footsteps on the gravel outside.
    But all I heard was silence.
    I looked up to see Kate still standing in the doorway, and I breathed a big sigh of relief. She wasn’t going to run away at all. At last she’d managed to see sense.
    ‘Oh, Kate,’ I said. ‘I’m so glad—’
    As I spoke, I took a step forwards and then I realised that it wasn’t good sense that hadmade Kate stay. Because, on the back doorstep, blocking Kate’s escape route, stood a very tall, very serious-looking man. He was youngish, and he was wearing jeans and a cool striped shirt. His hair was gelled up, and he had lovely blue eyes. He looked a bit like he should be on stage playing a guitar, rather than standing outside the back door of a cottage in Seacove.
    For a minute no one said anything, as everyone stared at everyone else.
    At last Kate found her voice.
    ‘Who are you?’ she asked rudely. ‘And what are you doing in my back garden? Don’t you know that trespassing is a crime?’
    The man smiled, making his eyes go all crinkly and kind-looking, ‘I’m guessing you’re Kate?’ he said. He paused for a moment to allow her to answer, but when she said nothing, he continued, ‘Sorry if I gave you a fright,’ he said. ‘My name’s Tom and I’m a trainee social worker. Nicola sent me around here to the back of thehouse. For some strange reason she seemed to think that you might try to run away.’ I could see the muscles in Kate’s neck tense up, and then he went on. ‘But I can see already that you’re a smart girl, and would never do anything stupid like that.’
    Ha, someone ought to do him a favour and tell him that while the first part of that sentence was right, the second part was very, very wrong. Kate is very smart, but I feared that she’d do pretty much anything to get away from Nicola.
    I stepped closer to Kate, and saw that her face was grim and perfectly focused. She was gazing past Tom’s shoulder, towards the lane at the back of the house. She was tensed up like a cat getting ready to pounce. I’m not a mind-reader, but I’ve known Kate for a long time, and I knew for sure what she was thinking. I knew she was wondering if she could make a dash for the lane and outrun Tom.
    Luckily he seemed to know that too. Hesmiled again.
    ‘There’s something you should know, Kate,’ he said.
    ‘What?’ she asked in a dull voice, like she already knew that nothing this man could say would ever, ever interest her. I could see the muscles in her legs tensing, like she was waiting for a whistle to signal that it was time for her to run.
    Tom took a step closer to her, making her angle of escape even narrower than