Taking Flight Read Online Free PDF Page A

horse. Well, at a livery stable nearby. Maybe she’ll take you up to see him.’
    What the hell’s a livery stable? When she mentions Vicky she drums her fingers against her cup. I want to see Flight but not Vicky.
    â€˜Do you want to take your things upstairs? Maybe you should try to get a bit of a sleep. You look shattered. The guest – your room’s the second on the left. Bathroom’s just opposite. I’ve left clean towels on the bed.’
    I force my legs upstairs. Step by step. All the doors on the landing are closed. The bathroom is so shiny I’m nearly scared to take a piss. The guest room is yellow, everything matching, a girl’s room. I collapse on the fleecy bedspread and bury my head in a pillow. It’s cool and smells like fresh air. I should take my trainers off, I think. But it’s too much effort.

Chapter 4
    VICKY
    â€˜It’ll be fine, Vicky,’ Fiona said when she hugged me goodbye, a bit awkwardly as she was trying to calm down a grizzling Molly at the same time. ‘You might even enjoy having someone your own age in the house for a change.’ She sounded exactly like Mum.
    But Dad should know better.
    â€˜Come on, darling,’ he said when the Merc purred to a smooth stop at the end of our driveway and I made no move to get out. I sighed and leaned back in my seat. He ruffled my hair. ‘I don’t suppose it will be for more than a few days. And who knows, maybe the charming Declan will have improved with age.’
    Yeah, I thought, turning round to haul my rucksack out of the back seat. I bet! I wasn’t sure exactly how much Mum had told Dad about Declan’s little run-in with the law last year.
    â€˜And if he hasn’t gone by next weekend at least you can escape to us,’ Dad went on.
    â€˜ You’ll be in Paris,’ I reminded him. I grumped out ofthe car and up the drive. I didn’t look back. Usually I waved until the car was out of sight. I hitched my rucksack higher on my shoulder, made sure Tigger was squashed down out of sight and let myself in through the back door.
    The kitchen was warm and herby with the smell of Mum’s special homemade pizza. She and The Hood were at the table.
    â€˜Hello, love.’ Mum turned to smile at me. ‘Here’s Declan. I told you he was here for a few days.’ She made it sound like he was on his holidays.
    â€˜Oh yes,’ I said, as if I had just remembered. I hadn’t planned how my voice should be and I was glad it came out cool and distant.
    He nodded at me. ‘Hiya,’ he mumbled. I’d forgotten how rough his accent was.
    I plonked my rucksack down.
    â€˜Good weekend?’ Mum asked.
    â€˜So-so. Can you take me to the stables on Wednesday for a lesson? Oh, and Dad’s going to Paris. So can you take me to the show as well?’
    â€˜Yes, I suppose so.’ Usually she moaned at having to take me to the stables midweek, and she hated pulling the horsebox.
    Declan had had his ear pierced since I’d last seen him. The thing that hadn’t changed was how much he looked like Mum. Other than that, he just looked exactly like those steeky boys hanging round the bus stops, all shaved hair and shiny tracksuit bottoms.
    Mum kept giving me a haven’t-you-forgotten-something ? look. I guessed what she was after – she wanted me to ask how Theresa was. But I didn’t care . I hadn’t even seen her since Gran’s funeral. Before that, when Gran usedto mind me sometimes, Theresa was always out. And I suspected Mum wasn’t that keen on her either, even if she did have this thing about them being old friends and sisters-in-law and all that.
    Declan kept his eyes on his plate. I noticed how little he’d eaten. Would you feel like eating if your mum was lying in hospital ? asked a cool little voice in my head, but I didn’t want to listen.
    * * *
    Monday morning, usual scramble. Except it was so weird, trying