Free Our Father Who Are Out There...Somewhere by AJ Taft Page B

you get its registration?”
    Lily doesn’t answer. Ten minutes later the schoolgirl steps out of the side gate. They watch as she almost skips down the street.
    Lily nods towards a tree spreading its branches above them. “We need a better view. We need to be higher up. Drive under that tree there.”
    Jo moves the car a few feet forwards and Lily winds down the passenger window. Lily bends her body out of the window and climbs onto the roof. From here she can reach the lowest branch. She pulls herself up and stands in the tree. Its last few leaves are clinging on, but for the moment its canopy is enough to obscure her from view. Lily wedges herself between two branches and trains the binoculars on the house across the road. She can see the dark leather of the settees through the front room window. Satisfied, she drops back into the car. “It’s perfect.”
    It’s another two hours before the window cleaner shows up, just before lunchtime, and keys the number into the security pad. Lily stays in the car, training the binoculars on him, but she can’t make out which numbers he pressed. The last one may have been an eight.
    An elderly woman walks past the entrance to the side street at 11:00 hours. She glances up the side street and frowns at them. Lily holds up the Skipton A-Z in front of her face. The old woman pauses for a moment, as if deciding whether to approach them or not. Jo smiles at her and the woman nods and walks on. “Shit,” says Jo. “We don’t look like we fit in. Let’s go somewhere else for a bit.”
    They park up a couple of streets away, opposite a petrol station. Jo drums her fingers on the steering wheel. After a couple of minutes she asks, “Did you ever want to learn to drive, Lil?”
    “No.”
    “Want to give it a go now?”
    “What?”
    “It’d be a cool disguise. All we’d need is L plates.” Jo climbs out of the car and hurries across to the shop inside the petrol station. A few moments later, she sashays back across the forecourt, holding a red letter L above her head.
    Lily winds down the passenger window as Jo starts to peel the backing of the red and white squares. “Are you crazy?” asks Lily, as Jo sticks the first one onto the bonnet.
    “It’ll give us something to do. And stop people getting suspicious. Think about it. We’ve seen at least three learners since we’ve been here.” Jo sticks another one on the right hand side of the bonnet before walking around to the rear of the car. She sticks another two above the back bumper before getting back into the driving seat.
    That afternoon, Lily has her first driving lesson. She manages to get up to second gear and turns a corner. Her cheeks are flushed pink by the time they are back in the side street, to witness ‘Teenage Female’ returning home. Jo logs the time in the notebook; 15:35 hours. It’s not much later before the dark green four-by-four swings into the drive. The house lights up against the encroaching gloom. Through her binoculars Lily watches ‘Teenage Female’ close the front room curtains. Jealousy as strong as acid burns in her stomach.
     
     
    DAY TWO (Tuesday)
    07:20 Knackered. All quiet. Coffee.
    07:25 LA in tree.
    07:39 AF leaves Newlands.
     
     
     
    From her vantage point in the tree, Lily watches the older woman, ‘Adult Female’, stride around to the rear of the sleek, black car and toss her briefcase in the boot. She slams the boot lid shut with one hand, before ducking into the driver’s seat and adjusting the rear-view mirror. Fumes start to billow from the exhaust as the iron gates sweep open. Once the car has disappeared from view, Lily drops back down onto the roof of the Mini, and jumps in the car again. “She’s not even good looking,” says Lily to Jo. “And she’s fat. Well, overweight.”
    Jo picks up the pen and writes ‘AF-fat’. She turns to face Lily. “Are we talking specialist dress shops?”
    “Well, no, but she’s short.”
    “How short?”
    Lily reaches