Free Dear Scarlett by Sarah J; Fleur; Coleman Hitchcock Page A

say.
    â€œTheft, you see, is always wrong.”
    I slide my eyes as far to the right as they’ll go. All I can see is a grey sleeve. I take a step to my left, towards a family at the other end.
    â€œYes, big theft, little theft,” he says. “It’s all the same to me.”
    I take another step to my left, but there’s this fur coat in my way, and a set of scary red fingernails holding on to it. I follow the fingernails to the hand, and the hand to the arm. But I already know what I’m going to find at the top.
    â€œS’funny really, how thieving runs in families,” says the man in the grey suit. “Used to know this bloke, clever fella, always sneakin’ about. In and out of windows, palaces, offices, high-security places. Took a lot of stuff, he did. ’E was a thief.”
    I step back from the rail. My heartbeat’s gone mad, and I can hardly breathe. He’s wearing the chauffeur’s cap, as if he’s on official duty. He steps back with me, following me over to the butterfly house. He touches my arm and I look up into his face.
    He’s got a yellowed grey moustache, coffee-stained teeth and his breath smells of fish and chips.
    â€œIt’s just that bloke I was telling you about, he got paid in diamonds. I’d love to know what he did with them. I’ve been wondering for years, but a little bird told me that his younger relation has recently received a gift, and blow me down if I didn’t see that younger relation on the telly the other day, surrounded by penguins.”
    He’s got piggy little bloodshot eyes. Tired eyes.
    â€œOh,” I say, pulling away and walking quickly towards the gift shop.
    â€œA present, I believe, for her eleventh birthday.” He falls into step beside me. “One that might contain a message? Perhaps?”
    â€œI don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say breathlessly.
    â€œI believe that that younger relation, his daughter, perhaps, might now know the location of those diamonds.”
    The woman closes in on my other side.
    â€œI’ve been waiting, see?” she says. “I’ve been waiting for years, and now I want my diamonds.”
    â€œHave you?” The gift shop’s only five or six metres away. “And why would his daughter giveyou the present from her father? Why wouldn’t she tell the police?”
    The man tugs on my arm, and although I don’t want to, I have to turn and face him. “I’ve reason to believe his daughter might have taken one or two things in her time. Things she shouldn’t ’ave.” He pats his pocket. “I’ve a little CCTV footage from the mayoral office, shows a narky little sneak thief half-inching a load of sweeties.”
    CCTV?
    Of course, Uncle Derek said it, the whole town’s covered by CCTV from the council offices.
    Stupid, stupid, me. But I manage to say: “Oh?” really casually.
    â€œYes – and I believe I could help her avoid the long arm of the law, if she’d only give me a certain box.” He catches my sleeve again, but only gently. “It’s just a question of right and wrong, you see, Scarlett, just a question of right and wrong.”

I Wish I Was Someone Else
    I run all the way home. And when I get there, I lock all the windows, even the tiny one in the bathroom that only Syd can get through.
    When Mum comes home from work with Syd, I try really hard to tell her about the lady mayoress and her chauffeur, but I can’t. If she knew I’d broken into the sweet shop on top of yesterday’s penguin fiasco, she’d put me up for adoption, and anyway she’d never believe that the lady mayoress would do anything wrong.
    So I watch baby TV with Syd and let him draw on my face. I wouldn’t normally let him draw onmy face, I’d rather let a slug crawl over me, but I need to do “good” things.
    I build Syd a long and complicated train track. He destroys it, and