Grace

Chapter 47

Chi slept through until the morning and no one had the heart to make Kit wake her up or carry her over to Walpole. He wasn't allowed to stay with her though. Oh no. Eton was too conservative for that. He slept across the hall in a friend's room. She ate breakfast over there as well and was pretty quiet all day.

It was my turn to get bananas for our triple dance lesson. Glad to get away from the high emotions in the room – it seemed everyone was dancing for Josh – I took my time getting there. It was cooler than yesterday, blustery too. There were a lot of people about from school and the town. I was less of a commodity than I had been so no one gave me a second look and since Richard got hit with the bike, no one came to take photos of me. I hated what had happened to him, but I was glad I wasn't being harassed anymore for having a boyfriend.

I was about to cross the road to go into the shop when I saw her. Blonde. Green eyes. My height. The lady who had been watching me at the park.

I froze in place for a moment. Then I turned and ran, my heart beating as fast as a hummingbird's, my legs moving quickly, feet pounding on the pavement. I ran straight up the road, not caring about what I passed or who I bumped into. I just knew that I had to get away. I had to get somewhere safe.

I ran all the way back to my dance class and slammed the door behind myself.

"Grace?" Master Bezukladnikov asked and strode over.

"I need a phone," I said. "Now."

Without question he passed me his. I dialled Ricky's number from memory. He'd made me memorise it in the Christmas holiday. I thought I'd never need it, but now I was glad I'd done as he'd asked.

"Hello?" he asked, sounding half asleep.

"She's here," I gabbled out. "She's here by the shop where I get bananas. She's just waiting and –"

"Grace, slow down," he said firmly. Calmly. "Who is here?"

"The lady from the park!" I cried. "She was watching us. Me. On Saturday. I thought she was just looking at us like everyone else. She's here, Ricky. And she was waiting for me and –"

"Where are you?"

"Dance."

"Did she follow you?"

I shook my head. "She didn't see me."

"Stay there. I'll check this out. What does she look like?"

"Blonde, my height, green eyes. In green again. Green converse."

He hung up. Master Bezukladnikov took his phone back and then made me sit on the floor by the wall. He knelt in front of me. He held both of my hands to stop them trembling.

"Breathe," he said, his accent much thicker than usual. "Slowly."

I nodded, squeezed my eyes closed and –

"Grace?" Chi asked and I heard her run over. "Grace, are you ok? What happened?"

"Give her a minute," Sir said. "She's not hurt."

I took a few slow, deep breaths in and slowly let them out. I took my own sweet time over it. I felt the presence of many people, my whole class probably, and it didn't help much. When I did finally open my eyes it was only Chi and Master Bezukladnikov who were with me. Everyone else was in a different room.

"Grace?" Chi asked.

"At the park there was this lady looking at me," I said slowly. "I thought she was just staring like everyone else. But I saw her again. Outside the shop where I get bananas."