Free Brightling by Rebecca Lisle Page B

my friend at the Home. She always wanted a hot bath  …  So this isn’t a school any longer?’ Sparrow asked her.
    â€˜No, hasn’t been for yonks. No one knows we’re here. It’s behind everything, you see, hidden, and we’ve been forgotten. Miss Minter’s helper, he keeps up a furnace somewhere that makes the hot water. Will you need a toothbrush?’ She waved one in front of Sparrow. ‘We’ve got some spare.’
    Sparrow shook her head. She brought her toothbrush out from her bag. Glori felt the bristles.
    â€˜That must be like brushing your teeth with a yard broom!’ she cried. ‘Blimey, Sparrow, it’s even got your name scratched on it.’
    â€˜We only got one toothbrush every two years,’ Sparrow told her, ‘so you can imagine  … ’
    â€˜Poor you!’ Hettie said, creeping up beside her again. ‘We have everything we want here. Miss Minter gives us all we need.’
    â€˜She’s a dear, is Miss Minter,’ Glori said. ‘A bit contrary, but a dear.’
    â€˜There’s an empty bed for you,’ Hettie told her, ‘next to mine. It was –’
    â€˜Leave her, Hettie. She’s tired.’ Glori turned back to Sparrow. ‘Bet you sleep good tonight.’
    Sparrow yawned. Just the mention of the word ‘bed’ made her legs go weak.
    â€˜You can have a bath. I’ll give you clothes. It’s all sorted now, Sparrow. You’ll see.’
    She was shown to a narrow bed next to Hettie. Sparrow put Scaramouch down on it and he turned round three or four times, kneading the bedding, then curled up and closed his eyes again.
    â€˜There,
he
thinks it’s comfortable and quite perfect for the night,’ Sparrow said, which made Hettie giggle.
    The sheets were grubby and there even seemed to be the impression of someone’s small head left on the pillow, but Sparrow lay down on it gratefully. After hedges and haystacks, this was bliss.
    It’s just for one night, she told herself. I’ll be off tomorrow. I’ll find Sampson’s  … 
    Through the massive window, past the gable ends, pointed roofs and tiny attic windows, she could just make out the silhouette of the castle on Dragon Mountain, the spitfyre Academy. She was thrilled thinking such lovely creatures were so near. She hoped she would see one come swooping down over the rooftops.
    Her final wish as she drifted off to sleep was that Scaramouch, who all evening had been so flat and quiet, would be better tomorrow. His nose was hot and his breathing loud and grumbly; he seemed exhausted.
    She woke once in the night and looked around the dormitory. Each bed glowed faintly. She sat up and stared. Each girl was gleaming as if they had washed in moonlight.

11
Off
    Leaving Miss Knip and his mother sitting by the fire sipping tea, Tapper went upstairs to prepare. He pressed his quivering hands together tightly.
Stollenback!
How much more fun it was there than out here in the sticks! He hardly ever got a chance to be in town for more than a night. Now he’d stay there and go see his girlfriend. Well, she wasn’t really a girlfriend  …  They’d met in the park in the summer, both sitting for a quick breather in the sunshine, and had got talking. Now they had this little thing going. Every time he went up to town to sell the toy spitfyres, they met up and shared a drink in one of the coffee houses or a pie in the tavern. She was a great girl, clever – cleverer than him, though he never let her know that. Pretty too, in a wild sort of way. She knew a lot of folk who lived there. She’d find Sparrow for him – and wouldn’t he like to get his hands on that little minx, he thought. Slipping out of his fingers like that! Mustn’t damage the goods, though. He had to keep her clean and tidy so they got a good price when they ransomed her. We wouldn’t need much