Forget Me Never

off.
    ‘I was drawing.’ Neve didn’t seem remotely upset. ‘Lady was nice.’
    ‘Good job someone had their eyes peeled!’ I didn’t have the heart to be angry with her. ‘Never ever do that again!’
    ‘Look at my picture,’ Neve said, pushing her notebook at me.
    ‘Not now. I need to ring Mum,’ I said, and at that moment I spotted her coming up the escalator, looking in a hell of a state. When she saw me with Neve she froze. Feeling sheepish, I called, ‘It’s OK.’
    The expression on Mum’s face said it was very far from OK. She thanked Ann and her team, apologizing for the trouble we’d caused. It was only in the car park that she let rip.
    ‘How many times have I told you?’ she cried. ‘It only takes a moment for something to happen. I can’t believe you were so careless!’
    ‘It only was a moment,’ I protested, opening the passenger door. ‘Some girls from Broom Hill were taking the mick out of Soph —’
    Too late I realized that this was totally the wrong thing to say. Mum stared at Sophie. In a glacial voice she said, ‘I think you can find your own way home, Sophie. And if you don’t mind, I’d rather you didn’t come to the house in future. You’ve done enough damage. If you and Reece still wish to see each other, that’s your business, but not under my roof.’
    Sophie flinched, but she turned and left without a word. Incredulous, I looked at Mum.
    ‘You can’t do that! This had nothing to do with Soph!’
    ‘I think it did,’ Mum said, helping Neve into her car seat. ‘If you hadn’t been distracted by her, Neve would never have wandered off. I’m not harsh enough to forbid you to be friends, but I can at least control who comes into my home. That girl is a bad influence. I’ve never liked the amount of time you spend together, and enough is enough!’
    I argued, but Mum was adamant. When we got home she took Neve upstairs to have a bath, making a big fuss of her. She didn’t say anything more, but it was clear I was in for it later. Feeling wretched, I sank down at the kitchen table. Neve’s bag was hanging over the back of the chair. My sister and her bloody crayons!
    I must have been sat there a while, because Neve appeared, hair wet and in her pyjamas. She went to her bag and opened the notebook.
    ‘Look at my drawing.’
    ‘Aren’t you going to bed?’ I said, but Neve just pushed the book at me.
    ‘Lady said show you. Look.’
    I sighed and took the notebook – and stared, unable to believe what I was seeing. Neve had drawn what was clearly meant to be a lady wearing a dress with very big high-heeled shoes. The shoes were red – and so was her hair.
    ‘No way,’ I whispered.
    ‘Good picture?’ Neve asked, sounding hopeful. ‘Lady liked it. She said draw her. She said show you and Sophie.’
    The childish drawing stared back at me. The crude lines suddenly looked very sinister.
    Neve hadn’t wandered off at all. Lady was nice , she’d said. She wasn’t talking about some woman who’d found her.
    She’d been talking about Cherie.
    Cherie must have been watching us all afternoon. When we got caught up with Zoe she saw her opportunity. She took Neve off, sat her down and kept her amused. When the announcement came through, she just handed Neve over and walked away, cool as you like. She’d made Neve draw her and told her to show us the picture. She knew we’d know what she was trying to tell us. It was a threat, a warning that she really did mean business . . .

SOPHIE
    I wasn’t surprised Effie had banned me from the house. She hated me already – it figured she’d hold me to blame. What did surprise me was Reece appearing at my house later that evening. We went up into my room and closed the door. Reece perched on the edge of my bed, clutching one of my pillows to his chest. He handed me a notepad.
    ‘Look.’
    I took in Neve’s drawing, realizing at once what it meant. In a low voice I said, ‘Crap. This is serious.’
    ‘You said it. Good job Mum doesn’t know – she’d do worse than chuck you out of the house!’
    I winced. ‘D’you believe me now – about Danielle being murdered?’
    Reece let out an exasperated sigh. ‘I just know this is fricking dangerous!’
    ‘What happened today proves they think we know enough to worry them. Today was a warning – they were trying to scare us.’
    ‘Know something? It worked!’
    I sat on the computer chair and spun to and fro, waiting for Reece to say something else. When he