Free Without Looking Back by Tabitha Suzuma Page A

disappointing result. ‘Pfff.’
    â€˜Nearly,’ Max said. ‘Try again. But turn your hand inwards when you throw, like this.’ He demonstrated.
    Louis tried again. A sort of half-skim, before the stone disappeared again.
    â€˜Better,’ Max said encouragingly.
    Louis bent down to look for some more flat stones as Max skimmed another across the ripples.
    Louis had another go. This time there was a definite skim. ‘Whoa!’ he exclaimed.
    Max threw another stone and said, ‘So what d’you think about the farmhouse?’
    Louis glanced at him. ‘It’s a bit run down but I like it.’
    There was a pause. Then Max suddenly said, ‘Dad’s not coming back to France – you know that, don’t you.’
    Louis felt his heart judder. He looked sharply at Max. ‘How d’you know?’
    â€˜It’s obvious,’ Max said, sounding as if he didn’t really care. ‘Dad might have savings but he’s not that rich. He wouldn’t be going to all this trouble to furnish the house if he was only going to use it for the holidays.’
    â€˜You mean you think he’s going to live here?’
    â€˜Of course,’ Max said.
    Louis felt his eyes narrow. ‘You don’t know that,’ he tried.
    Max shot him an exasperated look. ‘Oh, come
on
.’
    â€˜OK,’ Louis reluctantly agreed. ‘So maybe he is planning to stay here for a bit. That doesn’t mean he’ll never come back to France. And it’ll mean
we
get to spend all our holidays
here
. Heaps better than horrid summer camp, if you ask me.’
    Max looked at him darkly, his hands dug deep in his pockets. ‘You really think Maman’s going to let us fly out to England and spend the holidays with Dad?’
    Louis could feel his chin jutting out defensively. ‘She might—’
    â€˜Oh,
come on
!’ Max exclaimed angrily. ‘She doesn’t even want us to spend a weekend with him once a month in Paris!’
    Louis threw a stone as hard as he could. It skimmed the water three times. He didn’t want to look at Max. ‘So what are you saying?’
    â€˜What I’m saying is – Dad must have lost the court case.’
    A sliver of shock shot through Louis’ stomach. He threw another stone.
    There was a long silence. Max stared at Louis’ face. Then, ‘Oh my God, you knew,’ he breathed.
    Louis scrabbled around for more stones. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about—’
    â€˜Oh my God, you
knew
!’ Suddenly Louis felt himself shoved backwards and slammed down against the hard ground, Max’s fingers twisting the collar of his T-shirt, his fist against Louis’ throat.
    â€˜Tell me everything, right now, or I’ll swear I’ll punch you—’
    â€˜OK, OK!’ Louis held up his hands. He had never seen Max so angry. For the first time in his life, Louis actually felt afraid of his older brother.
    With a furious shove, Max let go of Louis’ collar and Louis sat up, breathing hard. ‘Jesus, Max, there’s no need to—’
    â€˜You tell me everything, right now, or I swear to God . . .’ Max’s eyes were flashing, the colour high in his cheeks.
    â€˜You’ve got to promise not to tell Millie. Dad made me promise not to tell either of you, and—’
    â€˜OK, OK!’
    Louis took a deep, shuddering breath. The sun had disappeared behind a cloud. ‘You guessed right,’ he said in a rush. ‘Dad lost the court case and Mum won. He’s only allowed supervised visits with us from now on. But he’s going to—’
    Max had grabbed him by the collar again. ‘How do you know? Who told you?’
    â€˜I overheard Dad on the phone!’
    â€˜When?’
    â€˜The night before we left!’
    Max whistled under his breath, slowly remembering. ‘So that’s when you . . . when we were playing