Free Fighting for Survival (The Estate, Book 3) by Mel Sherratt Page A

that they couldn’t reach. Many a time, Rachel and Claire had been questioned about some crime or other that they’d been seen nearby, before or after. They were the queens of keeping quiet and, so far, age had been on their side. Claire had been concerned about this once they’d turned sixteen but Rachel said they would continue to get away with things if they kept their mouths shut. No one would crack the Bradley girls, she was fond of saying.   
    Just like clockwork, Archie Meredith turned up as he did every night at nine. He parked his car, scowled at them all as he walked past, and headed into Shop&Save. The moment he was out of sight, Rachel pulled up her hood and nudged Leanne.
    ‘Now!’ she cried.
    Leanne picked up a large brick from the side of the car park and ran over to Archie’s car. First, she smashed it into the right headlight and then the left. Next she twisted back both of the windscreen wipers. Then she took out her front door key and ran it along the whole length of the nearside, across the boot lid and right along the passenger side. When she saw another car pulling in, she legged it back to the gang who then split up in a regimented manner. Louise went with Rachel and Claire and ran across Davy Road, down the steps into Roland Avenue. Leanne, Shell and Hayley headed for the site where the White Lion pub had been until it was burned down the previous year. Charlie and Ashley stayed near the shops as advised.
    ‘I wish we’d stayed at the shops now,’ sighed Rachel as she bent over to catch her breath. ‘It would have been fun to watch Archie when he sees his car trashed.’
    After twenty minutes, they sauntered back. Archie was standing by his car, a policeman taking down his details.
    ‘What’s up, Archie?’ Rachel shouted as she walked past them. ‘Someone do you over?’
    ‘Mind your own business!’ Archie shouted back.
    ‘Looks like you’ve upset someone. I wonder who that could be.’
    Archie frowned then his face began to contort. ‘Why, you little bitch! It was you!’ He turned to the policeman standing next to him. ‘It was her and that bloody gang of girls she hangs around with.’
    ‘Why would you think that?’ PC Mark Smith asked as he took down the names of the girls he could see.
    ‘She,’ he pointed to Rachel, ‘had a go at me on the bus this morning. Said she’d seen me somewhere I wasn’t… with –’
    ‘You want to watch yourself, Archie,’ Rachel said as she drew level with him. ‘Rumours have a nasty way of flaring up on this estate.’
    ‘I never –’ Archie moved forward but Mark put out his arm to stop him. He stared at the three girls. ‘Move along now. I’ll be over to talk to you soon anyway.’
    ‘Why?’ asked Rachel. ‘We weren’t even here!’
    ‘That’s what I aim to find out. Because I saw you here no less than half an hour ago when I drove past.’
    ‘So?’
    ‘So… I’ll be over in a minute.’
    Rachel strutted off to join the others. As she got to them, she turned and gave Archie Meredith the bird.
    ‘You should have seen his face when he saw what had happened,’ Charlie laughed.
    ‘I don’t want to know about it,’ snapped Rachel.
    Claire turned to her with a frown. ‘What’s up with you?’
    ‘Nothing!’
    Rachel perched on the railing and glared at PC Smith. Tonight hadn’t gone to plan because of him. Why did he have to turn up so quickly? Most of the time, people complained about the lack of policing. Oh, he just happened to drive past half an hour ago? Yeah, right. And now she’d missed her fun with Archie. She’d wanted to laugh and laugh in his stupid podgy face and let him know who had done the damage and him to be unable to prove it. Now, because the law had turned up quickly for a change, she hadn’t been able to do that. And it irked her.
    ‘I did what you said, Rach,’ said Leanne. ‘Am I part of the gang now?’
    Rachel glared at her, until Leanne lowered her eyes. ‘There won’t be a fucking