“Very wise,” said Mel. “I’m not even sure the stuff they serve in there is technically food.”
They walked on in silence past three or four more classrooms. Drake considered telling Mel about the disappearing shed, but he had no idea how to bring the subject up without sounding like a maniac, so he didn’t bother.
Dr Black’s door was swinging closed as they strolled by. Drake caught a glimpse of Bingo, Dim and Spud being led through another door at the back of the room, then the classroom door shut all the way over, blocking them from view. Drake wondered what was going to happen to them as he and Mel made for the stairs.
When they reached the ground floor, Mel stopped in her tracks.
“Euw,” she winced, holding her nose. “What’s that smell?”
Drake’s mind raced. How could he tell her he had half a pint of urine all over his trousers? She’d laugh at him, or maybe never speak to him again. He’d only known her for a few hours, but for some reason he found that last possibility particularly disturbing. He was about to make up some excuse when a sour stench filled his nostrils and made his head go light.
“That’s disgusting!” he gasped, pulling the neck of his polo shirt up over his mouth and nose. “What is that?”
He suddenly became aware of movement on the floor behind him. Drake turned and looked down. A messy ball of hair and legs looked back up at him, its scruffy head tilted quizzically to one side. Flies buzzed round its flea-bitten ears, no doubt attracted by the overpowering stench that surrounded the animal’s body like a cloud of toxic gas. It was a cat. An unpleasant one.
“Hey, look, what a little cutie!” exclaimed Mel, apparently ignoring the evidence being presented by her own two eyes.
“A cutie?” Drake said. “It looks like a big scabby rat.”
The cat bared a dozen rotting teeth and let out a growl. The deep, rumbling sound didn’t fit the animal, and Drake found himself glancing around to see if a big dog was standing nearby, throwing its voice.
“I think you hurt his feelings,” Mel scolded. Holding her breath she reached down and felt round the cat’s neck. Below the matted fur she found a collar. Attached to the collar was a small metal tag shaped like a fish. “Toxie,” she read. “His name’s Toxie.”
“How appropriate,” said Drake, his shirt still pulled up over his face. “Now let’s go before we catch rabies or something.”
“See ya, smelly,” Mel said, standing up and saluting the animal. “You be good now.”
Toxie padded round in a circle and watched Drake and Mel continue along the corridor. His green eyes remained fixed on them until they had disappeared through a set of double doors.
“Woof,” he said at last, then he stretched, sniffed the air, and sloped off out into the afternoon sun.
“WELL?” ASKED MUM, bobbing eagerly into the kitchen. She was wearing a different coloured tabard now – green, instead of blue. “How did it go?”
“OK,” Drake said with a shrug. “Got lost a few times, but it was OK.”
“Come across any magic sheds?”
Drake pinned his smile in place. Better to let his mum go on believing he’d made the encounter up than to be sent back to therapy.
“No interesting ones.”
Mum laughed. “Make any friends?” She lifted her jacket from the back of a chair and draped it over her arm.
“Yeah, one.”
“Well done! He got a name?”
Drake felt his cheeks flush red. He knew what was coming next. “She,” he said. “Her name’s Mel.”
“She? Good grief, that was fast work!” Mum laughed. She threw her arms round Drake and pulled him in close. “First day there and he gets himself a girlfriend!”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Drake insisted when his mum let him go again. “She’s just... Actually, she’s a bit... odd.”
“Odd’s good!” Mum beamed. “Is she pretty?”
“Mum!”
“Sorry,” she laughed. “Now, listen, I have to get going. I’m on until half-nine, but the way these buses are it’ll be after ten before I get home, so get yourself something from the freezer.”
“Will do,” he said.
“In fact, do you know what?” Mum began. She fished in her bag until she found her purse, then handed him over a tightly folded ten-pound note. “Get yourself a pizza or something.”
Drake’s eyes went as wide as two six-inch-deep pans. His stomach rumbled at the mention of the word. Those Frosties were just a hazy memory.
“Pizza? Can we afford that?”
“It’s my boy’s first day at his new school,” smiled Mum. “We can’t let something like that pass without celebration. The phone’s still not on yet, so you’ll have to go out for it.”
“Not a problem,” said Drake, tightening his grip round the money. “Can I go now?”
“You can go whenever you like,” Mum said. “I’m just getting ready and I’m off, so I’ll be out when you get back.”
“OK. Thanks, Mum. See you later.”
“See you later,” Mum said. She kissed him on the cheek, and then he was out of the kitchen, through the hall, and pulling open the front door.
As he stepped outside, his foot caught on something on the front step. He tripped, stumbled and fell with a clatter on to the path. Holding the money tight, he rolled on to his back and lifted his head until he could see what he’d fallen over. His eyes met the eyes of a small, mangy cat.
Toxie sat on the step, wagging his tail in a very un-cat-like way.
“Oh, great,” sighed Drake, “it’s you.”
Jumping up, Drake pulled the front door closed to stop the cat wandering inside and stinking the place out. He stared down at the cat. The cat stared up at him.
“Right, come on, get out,” Drake said, pointing to the front gate. “You can’t stay in here.”
The cat didn’t move.
“Out!” Drake barked, striding along the path and throwing the gate wide open. “Go chase a mouse or something!” He looked down at the cat’s stubby legs and fragile body. “Or an ant, or whatever it is you little guys chase.”
Toxie sniffed, crossed his front paws on the ground, and rested his head on them. His eyes peered up through a matted fringe of browny-black hair. Every line of his body suggested he had no intention of going anywhere.
“Right, then,” Drake sighed. He took two large paces forward, then bent down and scooped the cat up. He held it at arm’s length, his face turned away. The stench was almost unbearable. “I didn’t want to do this, but you’ve forced my— Hey!”
With a sudden jerk of its head, the cat’s rotten teeth clamped round the ten-pound note in Drake’s hand. The animal’s frail body twisted in Drake’s grip, and then it was on the ground, the money still held in its mouth.
“Give that back!” Drake cried, as the cat scampered off round the side of