Sabrina Fludde Read Online Free PDF Page B

she noticed a tall, thin boy in a flapping coat methodically combing through the rubbish bins, looking for food. She hid in the shadows until he’d gone, then tried the same trick. But he’d left nothing edible in any of them, just a pile of empty boxes, some old newspapers and a bunch of dog-eared roses.
    The girl hauled these out. Some were dead, but some weren’t too bad. She straightened the cellophane around them, fished out their plastic bow and stuck it back on. Then she took the flowers round to Dogpole Alley and left them poking through the Bytheway’s letter box. The house lights were out and the alley was dark. She hurried away, hoping that the flowers would thank them for their kindness and for the sweater. Hoping, too, that they wouldn’t mind about her running off. That they’d have forgotten her already, and were out somewhere having fun.
    She reached the end of the alley and suddenly it felt lonely, imagining other people having fun. A bitter wind blew across Old St Chad’s Square, rattling the windows of the tall town houses, their curtains drawn against the night. Abren turned her face away from them and their little bits of light, and started round the square, following the old wall which held up the mound.
    Halfway round she came upon an iron-grilled gate, leading to a dark place which could have been an old church crypt, or maybe a store attached to one of the houses. It looked warm down there out of the wind, and perhaps it could be a shelter for the night. Abren decided to investigate. She slipped through the grill and stumbled down a flight of steps. The darkness rose to greet her like an old friend. Overcome with weariness, she edged her way forwards, looking for a place to lay down her head until finally she struck a far wall.
    She started working along it, feeling her way into some sort of niche, thinking that she’d found her shelter for the night. But then she sensed something in front of her.
Something warm
. She couldn’t see what it was, but suddenly she caught a whiff of something pungent and unpleasant.
    Abren turned away, trying not to gag. She put out a hand – and
touched something clammy!
She spun around with a cry, hit the wall on one side of her, bounced off it and stumbled backwards through a darkness which seemed to last for ever. Finally she fell against the steps. She scrambled up them and squeezed through the iron-grilled gate. And never had a night in a lonely square in an empty town felt so good! Thewind was fresh, not cold. It wasn’t bitter any more. It just felt good and alive.
    Abren crossed the square, scarcely knowing where she was going – until she bumped into someone coming the other way.
    â€˜It
was
you! Mum and Dad thought that kids were mucking about. But the moment I saw the flowers, I just knew!’
    The someone was Bentley, clutching the roses. He hugged Abren with relief, and she burst into tears. She felt a fool, but couldn’t stop.
    â€˜It’s all right,’ Bentley said, letting her go as if he felt a fool too. ‘
It’s all right
. We’ve found you again – that’s what matters. We never thought we would. We’d almost given up. But now we can go home.’
    He turned towards Dogpole Alley, but Abren hung back. Home, she thought? What home? The wind blew at her, but she couldn’t move.
    Bentley turned back. ‘We can’t just stay here,’ he said.
    â€˜I can’t go with you. Not unless you promise,’ Abren said.
    â€˜Promise what?’
    â€˜No looking for my family. No police.
And no questions asked!’

No questions asked
    They kept their promise, but what they thought about it, Abren could only guess. She became a member of the family, and none of them asked her anything. She moved into the boxroom next to Bentley. Fee emptied it out, and they all helped do it up, providing everything a proper bedroom needed, from pictures on the walls to