The Summer We All Ran Away by Cassandra Parkin Read Free Book Online

shape. When she put a hand on his forehead, Davey recognised the cool comfort that had brought him back to life.
    â€œI’m Kate,” she told him. “Are you feeling better?”
    His tongue leapt free of the stammer. “I’m Davey.”
    â€œNice to meet you. This is Priss.” Priss subjected him to a carefully blank stare. “And this is Tom.”
    Tom was wiry and tanned, grey hair just brushing his collar. Davey held out an awkward hand.
    â€œHow are you?” Tom asked.
    â€œI’m
really
sorry about last night,” Davey began.
    â€œNo,” said Tom, “how are you? We were worried.”
    â€œ
I
bloody wasn’t,” said Priss.
    â€œAnd I’ll leave today, of course I will, and - ”
    â€œDavey,” said Tom patiently. “Stop it. Alright? How
are
you?”
    â€œI - ” Davey was speechless.
    â€œHungry, I should think,” said Kate. She dipped into an orange saucepan and put a bowl of porridge in his hands. “There’s cream and sugar on the table.”
    Davey sat down, feeling breathless. Priss closed her notebook and gave him a hard stare.
    â€œYou’d just better not be a psycho junkie,” she said. “Alright?”
    The porridge was marvellous. Davey spooned brown sugar into it, then added a generous slop of cream.
    â€œI’m not.”
    â€œâ€™Cos you were absolutely fuckin’ out of it last night.”
    Davey had just discovered what was meant by
inhaling
food. It was hard to stop eating for long enough to answer her.
    â€œI’m sorry.”
    â€œWe had to carry you inside. And undress you. Your clothes were absolutely fuckin’ disgusting.” Davey blushed scarlet. “I wanted to put you in the outhouse.”
    In spite of how uncomfortable Priss made him, Davey found he was fascinated by the cadence of her voice, by the pace and the lilt and the soft Germanic consonants. He didn’t like hearing girls swear – girls, he felt, were meant to be soft and pretty – but the word ‘fucking’, pronounced by Priss, became almost poetic.
    â€œPriss,” said Kate warningly. Priss rolled her eyes, licked the tip of her finger and began to eat sugar from the bowl. Davey reached the bottom of his porridge bowl, and stood up.
    â€œThank you,” he said. “And I’m sorry. I mean, really, I simply can’t, I don’t, and I’ll go today, of course I will - ”
    Kate looked at him in surprise. “Well, you can if you like, but you don’t have to,” she said. “You can stay as long as you want. There’s plenty of room. We’re not a hotel or anything, you don’t have to pay,” she added, seeing his expression. “But if you fancy it, you’re welcome.”
    It was like being offered a million pounds by a stranger in the street.
    â€œOh, but, but I c-c-c-couldn’t.” Could he? “I mean you d-d-d-don’t know anything about me, it’s so nice of you to offer but really, I c-c-c-couldn’t - ”
    â€œYou’re obviously running away,” Kate said. “Hey, that’s okay, most people do in the end. But why not stay here while you decide what you’re going to do next? Priss, if you must draw on the table, draw us something pretty, hmm?” Priss rolled her eyes, and opened her notebook instead. “I liked your choice of book, by the way. But was there a reason you only brought socks?”
    Completely off-balance, Davey was forced to resort to simple honesty. “I don’t know. I wasn’t really thinking when I packed.”
    â€œNot to worry. I’ll find some stuff you can borrow. If you don’t like your room, there are a couple more you could have instead.”
    â€œUm - ”
    â€œYou don’t have to explain anything if you don’t want to.” Kate was carefully not looking at him, stirring the ladle in the porridge. “We won’t ask