Princess Phoebe by Scilla James Page B

charges them loads more when they pay it back. Dad got badly into debt. When Granddad found out what he’d done, and ’specially since he hadn’t wanted him to move anyway, he was furious and they had a big row. Then, a few months later and without telling Dad, Granddad went to see Frank and paid him off out of his own savings, to get Dad out of trouble. Granddad’s known Frank since he was a kid and he’s probably one of the few people in the world who isn’t scared of him.
    â€˜Then Dad got in a rage because he said he could have managed the debt himself, and that Granddad shouldn’t have interfered. Things got even worse when someone toldGranddad that Dad was breeding greyhounds for Frank and that, in spite of all Granddad had done, our Dad was still involved in Frank’s business, even though he knew what kind of man he was. So that made the quarrel go on and on, and they eventually stopped speaking to each other.’
    â€˜So why are they speaking now?’
    â€˜Because Pearl and I have both been on at Dad,’ says Nick, ‘and also, we’re behind with the rent.’
    â€˜Oh,’ I say. Rent again. I jump in quick.
    â€˜Nick, I’ve got something to tell you.’
    â€˜Go on,’ he says.
    It comes out all in a rush. I start with the mobile phone that he’d found in his van and end by asking him to drive by Mrs Henderson’s on the way to Granddad, to see Princess. ‘Mrs Henderson says she can’t keep her any longer. She thinks Frank might come and break in. But he wouldn’t, would he?’
    There’s no response from Nick for a long time, but he loses his cheerful going-out-for-the-day look.
    â€˜Ellie, I can’t believe what you’re telling me,’ he says at last, pulling the van over into a lay-by and turning off the engine. He turns and looks at me seriously. ‘So that’s what your phone was doing amongst my blankets. You told me a lie then, didn’t you?’
    â€˜I just wanted to see Princess,’ I say, as my confidence fades and my voice comes out all weak and pathetic. I can feel my cheeks burning. I shouldn’t have told him anything. It all sounds different when my words are out floating round the van for him to hear, instead of being safe inside my brain.
    â€˜Have you any idea what Frank does to people who upset him?’ asks Nick. He keeps shaking his head as if he can’t believe what I’ve been telling him. ‘What on earth were you thinking of? The likes of Frank and Lennie aren’t just playing at being nasty violent men you know, they actually are! And you had no right to put this Mrs Henderson in danger like that. A woman you don’t even know!’
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ I say. It comes out as more of a squeak.
    Nick shakes his head again and starts the van, driving on in silence. I can feel tears rolling down my face but I don’t want to cry out loud. I let them drip down on to my t-shirt and then I know that Nick has noticed as he keeps glancing at me. I feel like such a baby, but the worst thing is that my brother, my friend and rescuer for as long as I can remember, is furious with me.
    At last he gives a big sigh and says, ‘OK. Let’s see what we can do to sort out this mess.’
    When I don’t reply he leans over and ruffles my hair. Cheer up little sis,’ he says, in a kinder voice. ‘I suppose you’ve been brave, even if you’ve also been totally stupid.’
    â€˜Can we go and see Mrs Henderson then?’ I ask at once. If Nick has relented only a little, he might agree to go there.
    â€˜The problem is time Ellie,’ he says. ‘I promised Mum we’d go and talk to Granddad, and he wants us to go early because he’s going out. I can’t let Mum down. But if your lady might be in later we could maybe go on the way back. We’ve certainly got to try and do something. Poor woman, she must be