The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die Read Online Free PDF Page B

odds. Start a thing in the street and attract attention to bags full of hooky gear? No. She was smarter than that.
    Ella listened to the hiss of the kettle while she watched Letitia in the reflection of the cooker splashback. Bags were scattered all around. Counting. Five, ten, fifteen, twenty …
    ‘I reckon there’s a couple of hundred quid’s worth here. Maybe more,’ Letitia said. ‘I am so going dancing on New Year’s Eve.’
    Going out. Leaving Ella alone.
Oh, Danny Boy …
    ‘Can I stay at Aunty Sharon’s?’ Ella asked.
    Letitia sat up. ‘Who’s going to look after the fucking house?’ She looked indignant. Hurt even.
    Ella felt anger seething beneath the surface – raw, negative energy. ‘If they come back and you’re out, how the hell am I going to cope on my own?’ she asked.
    Letitia was on her feet now, gesticulating wildly, horrible words rattling out of her mouth like carriages on a runaway train.
    ‘I ain’t asking you much, you ungrateful little cow. I’ve got to flog these down the pub. How else am I supposed to put food on the table? Cleaning? You think that pays enough? You thought of getting a bit of cash in hand yourself instead of keeping on at me with this bullshit about school and scholarships?’
    Ella turned her back on Letitia. She squeezed the tea bags out of the cup and opened the fridge.
    ‘We’re out of milk,’ she said, sighing.
    Letitia fell silent. And as though her bitter words had never been spoken, she reached into the back pocket of her jeans. ‘I got two quid here. Get a pint of semi-skimmed at the shop and some chocolate for yourself.’ She smiled at Ella.
    Mad cow.
    Ella walked quickly through the back streets. She scanned the streets for Them. Daylight didn’t guarantee anything. There was an older guy up ahead dressed in expensive designer gear. He was being taken for a walk by a Doberman and a Staffordshire bull terrier. Instinctively, Ella folded her arms and quickened her pace. Don’t make eye contact. Keep away from the dogs.
    As she neared the man, she allowed herself quick scrutiny of his face. Nobody she knew but almost certainly a dealer. Gold teeth. Diamond studded watch. Patterns shaved into his hair. The dogs started to bark and rear up on their stubby hind legs.
    ‘Get down!’ the man shouted. He looked her up and down. He winked. ‘Don’t worry, love. They’re harmless.’
    Shying away from the trio, Ella broke into a run. The shop was near. The shutters were down over the window. A cock and balls spray-painted on them. But the open sign hung in the shatterproof glass of the door. Through bulletproof Perspex, she exchanged cash for milk and a Mars bar.
    Voices outside. She peered nervously over to the seating area. Tonya and Jez: two of Danny’s ‘boys’.
    ‘There she is,’ she heard the girl say.
    ‘Oi, sweetheart!’ the boy shouted to her.
    Ella looked round. Jez held a flaming branch in his hand. He threw it towards her like the devil’s javelin. It landed a few feet away, still burning. ‘See you later, gorgeous!’
    Ella sprinted back to the house. Her hands shook as she fumbled with the key in the lock. She flung the boarded door wide and slammed it shut. Lock. Bolts. Safe. For now.
    In the lounge she heard a man’s voice. Older by the sounds. She walked through to the kitchen, still shaking and put down the milk.
    ‘Miss Williams-May, Letitia, can I call you that? We’ve been watching you for weeks. We’ve got it all on camera.’
    Another voice spoke. Younger this time. ‘You’re going down, love.’
    Then the first one again. ‘Unless …’
    There was muffled, clandestine conversation between the three that smacked of tacit agreement.
    Ella walked into the lounge. Two large men in plain clothes sat on the sagging sofa. She could tell instantly that they were some kind of police. You just knew, didn’t you? They seemed to fill the room, and her mother seemed to have shrunk.
    Letitia looked over at Ella. Tears were