Like This, for Ever

possession and on the attack. A slick back-row move saw Chiswick’s number 8 slip the ball to one of the two flankers, who threw a long pass to the other. The second flanker, Barney realized, was Huck’s dad. Joesbury Senior accelerated forward from the touchline, sidestepped a tackle, reached the try line and dived over. The Chiswick supporters cheered and Huck jumped in the air, both fists raised above his head.
    Jorge, Hatty and Harvey were making their way towards Barney. Both Sam and Lloyd slipped away from the adults too.
    ‘Won’t be a sec,’ Barney announced, stepping away from his dad. Together the boys and Hatty walked down the touchline until they knew they couldn’t be overheard.
    ‘Anybody have any trouble?’ asked Jorge. One by one the children shook their heads.
    ‘Our mum nearly rang yours, Lloyd, to thank her this morning,’ said Harvey, ‘but Jorge told her the whole family would be at church.’
    ‘What’s church?’ said Lloyd.
    ‘I still think we should say something,’ said Sam. ‘They’re bound to find out we were at the Creek.’
    ‘They won’t,’ said Barney. ‘No one saw us, and even if they did, they just saw a bunch of kids. There are thousands of kids in London. And we left it over an hour before sending that text.’
    ‘Barney’s right,’ said Jorge. ‘There’s no reason for anyone to connect a bunch of kids in the yard with the body.’
    ‘Is it definitely Tyler?’ asked Hatty.
    ‘They haven’t said for certain yet,’ said Barney. ‘They need to do the post-mortem first, but everyone’s assuming it is.’
    ‘I still think we should say something,’ said Sam. ‘What do you call it? Withholding evidence?’
    ‘We’re not withholding anything,’ said Jorge. ‘We saw the body and we reported it. What else could we tell them?’
    ‘We could tell them it leaped out of the water. That Harvey saw somebody swimming,’ said Sam.
    ‘Oh, like they’re going to believe that,’ said Barney. ‘If we start talking about people swimming in the river at night, and dead bodies moving around by themselves, they’re going to assume we’re lying and we know more than we do.’
    ‘He’s right,’ said Jorge. ‘They can arrest kids our age, you know, keep us all locked up for days. I don’t like it much either, but I think Barney’s right. We say nothing.’
    ‘What about that bloke on Barney’s boat? He could have been the murderer.’
    ‘Don’t be stupid,’ snapped Barney. ‘Tyler was killed weeks ago.’
    ‘He could have been keeping the body on the boat, and gone there on Saturday to dump him.’
    Why had Barney never realized before how stupid Sam could be?
    ‘That body had been in the river for weeks,’ said Jorge. ‘The bloke on the boat was probably just some tramp who fancied a dry bed for the night. Next time you go down there, Barney, suggest to your dad that you might need to change the locks again.’
    ‘I will,’ said Barney.
    Shouts from the spectators near by distracted them for a second. Three of the players had gone for the ball at the same time and fallen into a ruck, with each player trying to kick the ball away.
    ‘He’s gouging, dirty bastard!’
    ‘Come on, ref! Sin bin!’
    One player scrambled up, then the other two. Huck’s dad had possession.
    ‘Guys, did anyone check Facebook this morning?’ said Harvey. ‘Dead freaky. That Peter Sweep bloke was on at midnight, while the police were probably still there, saying Tyler had been found. How would he know that if he isn’t the killer?’
    ‘Knowing the body had been found doesn’t make him the killer,’ said Barney. ‘There’s no reason why the killer would have been anywhere near the Creek last night.’
    ‘Peter Sweep must have been there, though.’
    ‘Probably just got contacts in the police, or the morgue,’ said Jorge.
    ‘Morning, lads.’
    ‘Since when am I a lad, Sir?’
    ‘I beg your pardon, Hatty. Good morning to you, too.’
    Mr Green, the games teacher, wearing the blue and white hooped strip of Lambeth Lions, had approached without their noticing. They really had to be more careful. He could have heard anything.
    ‘You not playing, Sir?’ asked Harvey.
    ‘I’m going on at half-time.’ Mr Green looked from one pale face to the next. ‘You lot look a bit bleary-eyed. Bit of a late night, was it?’
    ‘Study sleepover, Sir,’ said Jorge. ‘We were up quite late discussing
War and Peace.
’
    Mr Green raised his right foot behind him,