Gramps and Hannah looked at each other, then at the chair Theo should have been sitting in, then back to Ben.

'Tell me more,' growled Gramps, making a pretend fierce face.

'Well.' Ben put on his goody-goody expression. 'I was on the swings, but they were wet from the snow so it was yuk, and I asked Theo to wipe the seat with his scarf and he wouldn't because he was too busy kicking his ball at the goal, and this man got out of a big . . .' He paused for breath, and we all watched him. It takes Ben ages to tell a story. 'Um, he got out of a big, um, big black car and sat on the wall.' Another breath. Chewed-up pizza flying everywhere. 'He was watching us for hours and hours.'

'Liar! We weren't even there for hours!' came a muffled voice from under the table.

'Maybe the poor fellow was minding his own business,' suggested Gramps. 'He could have been waiting for somebody.'

Ben scowled. 'He might have been waiting for somebody, but he was watching us. When Theo dribbled the ball near the wall, he said hello to Theo and then, then . . .'

'Shut up, Ben!' yelped Theo.

'Then Theo said hi back.'

'I did not!'

Gramps lifted up the tablecloth and peered under the table. 'It's all right, Theo,' he said. 'It's not a crime to say hi to someone.'

'Yes, because it is a crime to say hi to a stranger.' Ben was looking very pleased with himself. 'Anyway, that wasn't all. The man said, "That's some pretty fancy footwork you've got there." And Theo said . . .'

'I'm going to kill you, Ben Scott!'

'Theo said, "Thanks, I've been practising." And he showed off some of his tricky moves. And then they both started going on and on about football. Which is definitely talking to a stranger! Then I went over there and I said . . .' Ben puffed out his chest. 'I said, we're not allowed to talk to strangers, we're not allowed at all, and you are a stranger, and if you don't stop talking to us and go away right this minute I'm going to go home and get my grandma, she lives in that house there, and she will come running out here and tell you off, and she will call the police. Then the man looked a bit scared and he said, "Well we wouldn't want that, would we?" And he drove away in the black car.'

'Well done, Ben,' said Hannah, mussing his curls. 'You did the right thing.'

Ben hadn't finished yet, though. 'But I don't know if the man was a stranger, really. Maybe he was a . . . a not stranger person.'

'Why?' asked Hannah. 'Have you seen him before?'

'No, but I think he'd seed us before.'

'Why do you think that?'

'Because he said, "Bye, Ben! Bye, Theo!" Then he got in his car. Then he started up the engine. And then he still didn't go, he opened the window and leaned out, and then he said. . .' Ben stopped for another breath. He had his audience spellbound. 'Then he said, "How's Scarlet?"'

'Did he?' I was rather chuffed. 'I expect it was someone from the theatre, then.'

'Theo asked him how he knew Scarlet, but he just smiled and drove away.'

'Oh my God,' whispered Hannah. She looked angry, but somehow I didn't think she was angry. I'd seen that look before, when Theo didn't come home from school one time. She almost called the police, but it turned out Theo had been invited to a friend's house and had forgotten to tell her, so it's lucky she didn't.

'Don't worry, Hannah,' I said, trying to cheer her up. 'It was just someone from the theatre, or school, or . . . I dunno. Could have been lots of people.'

'What did this man look like, Ben?' she asked.

Ben couldn't answer because his mouth was bulging with pizza.

'You're a greedy little pig, Ben,' I said. His face fell, and I felt guilty. I don't like to hurt his feelings even though he is a spoiled brat. We three have to stick together.

Gramps leaned under the table again. 'Come on out, young man. It's all right. You're not in hot water.' Once Theo was back in his chair, Gramps turned to face him. 'Now tell me. Did you know this man?'

'No,' mumbled Theo. 'I dunno. Anyway, shut up, Ben. I didn't do anything. I didn't get in his car or take any sweets. He said I had fancy footwork and it would have been rude not to say something back, wouldn't it? You do want us to have good manners, don't you, Gramps?'

Gramps blinked. 'Er, we don't want you to be rude. That's quite right.'

'What if he was a talent scout? 'Cos if he was, Bigmouth Ben ruined my big chance.'

'You're our champ,' said Gramps, putting his arm around Theo's shoulders. 'But perhaps you could describe this talent scout for me?'

Theo looked even more shifty. 'Oh, I dunno. I think I've seen him around somewhere. He looked a bit like, um, like that man over there, cooking the pizzas.'

We all looked. Antonio's chef was slaving away by the big oven. He looked about as old as Hannah-sixty-something-and he was completely bald under a chef's hat. He never stopped smiling, as though he loved playing with pizza dough. Actually, he looked as though he was made of pizza dough.

'No, he didn't! He wasn't at all like that!' scoffed Ben. 'He was much much much thinner and much younger. That over there is an old fat man!'

'Shush,' I muttered. I could feel myself blushing.

'He was thinner,' screeched Ben. 'And he had lots of black hair. And he had round glasses like Harry Potter.'

Hannah stared at Gramps. Gramps stared at Hannah. Then Gramps did something really strange. Without a word he got up out of his chair, made his way around the table with his old man's walk and knelt on the floor beside Hannah. He took her hands in both of his and pressed them to his cheek.

'I think we should call the police,' whispered Hannah. I wasn't supposed to hear, so I pretended I hadn't.

'Less aggressive to write to his solicitor,' said Gramps. 'Warn him off.'

'I hardly think he's in a position to accuse us of aggression.'

She added something about someone having to go back and finish their sentence. I wondered if she meant Ben, who's always stopping halfway through his sentences, but that didn't seem to fit the conversation.

Suddenly, Gramps leaned forward and wrapped his arms right around Hannah's chest, which was seriously humiliating because a waitress arrived at that moment to take our plates. I hadn't seen her before, but like all Antonio's waitresses she was (a) very pretty and (b) totally dressed in black.

'Gramps!' I hissed. I was totally mortified, but the waitress didn't seem bothered at all.

'Gran and Grandad taking you out are they?' she asked.

'Birthday treat?'

'Er, no,' I said. 'I was in a play and-' Ben was fluttering his long eyelashes at her. 'I'm four and a half,' he squeaked. 'Four years and a . . . half one!'

'Four and a half!' She pretended to be flabbergasted, the way adults always do, which is feeble because there's nothing clever about it. We've all been four and a half. If Ben had been a hundred and four and a half, that would have been worth bragging about. 'Wow, what a grown-up boy! You'll be at school soon, then.'

'In January,' I said. 'And I hope they teach him some manners.'

She took my plate. 'Nice, though, your grandparents taking you kids out for dinner. Giving Mum and Dad a night off, are they?'

'Mm,' I said.

'Yeah,' agreed Theo, nodding furiously. 'Night off.'

'We don't have a mum,' declared Ben. 'She's in heaven. And my dad's a very, very bad man. He's been locked up for years and years because he killeded her.'

Theo and I were cringing. We never, ever tell the truth about our parents. People don't want to know. They can't handle it. Ben will learn that.

Sure enough, the waitress looked as though she wished the earth would swallow her up. 'Oh dear,' she gabbled. 'That's a shame isn't it? Um. Well, lovely. Any desserts?'

That night, Theo wet his bed. He'd started doing it after Mum died, but it hadn't happened for over a year. We truly thought he had grown out of it. Well, obviously not.

Five.

Joseph 'Mate, I told you it was a really dumb idea.' Akash slapped a packet of cornflakes in front of his guest. 'That's the last time I lend you my wheels. You've only been out three days and it's fuckin' lucky you've not been locked up again already.'

'Sorry,' muttered Joseph, pouring himself a mug of black coffee. It was Monday morning. He felt ropey and dishevelled. Akash and he had shared a few pints last night, after his vigil in Faith Lane. Even a drunken haze hadn't given him peace, though. He didn't deserve peace. Zoe haunted him, dying again and again, her eyes like green fire in a drawn face.

'I've found you a car,' said Akash, changing the subject.

'Fiesta, a million miles on the clock. They want five hundred for it.'

'Is it legal?'

'Is it legal?' Akash radiated injured dignity. 'I'm wounded, mate. Wounded!'

'With your track record it's probably ten different cars all welded together, given new plates and a beautiful paint job.'

'No, it really is legit actually.' Akash looked vaguely surprised at himself. 'They've got all the documents. One of my cleaning girls says her sister's selling it because she's having twins and they need something bigger. We can go and have a look tonight, if you're interested.'

'I'm keen,' said Joseph. 'Thanks.'

Akash began to eat cereal with one hand while opening his post with the other. Joseph had heard him leaping blithely out of bed and heading off to work at three that morning, and gathered he'd had spent the next six hours directing an army of employees while wielding a vacuum cleaner himself. Every movement was effective; his clothes were ironed, black hair immaculate. He was on the short side-five foot six, he'd once told Joseph-but indefatigable.

'Daylight robbery,' he complained. 'Look at this-electricity companies take the piss, don't they? Best thing about being inside is never having to open a bill. So what did your probation fella say on the phone?'

Joseph shrugged. 'Warned me to stay away from their house. Wants me to go through the proper channels when it comes to seeing the children. I told him I am going through the proper channels, painfully bloody slow channels, but I had to check they're okay in the meantime.'

'Which involved hanging around a kids' playground like a nonce.'

'I wanted to catch a glimpse, that's all. Just a glimpse.' Joseph shook his head. 'I've waited so long, and it was like a miracle. Theo I'd know anywhere, with his hair sticking straight up like he's had a fright. Genius with a football. Well, I taught him to kick a ball before he could walk. He had a little guy with him, a little blondie, had to be Ben. My boys, Akash. My boys!'

'Your in-laws will be bricking it. They probably think you're planning to abduct the kids.'

Which might be true, thought Joseph as he scanned the jobs column in a newspaper. Young Akash had a knack for getting straight to the nub of things. His acuity had taken him to the top of his profession-handling stolen cars-at the tender age of twenty-one. He came from a family of high-flying doctors, and nobody had ever doubted that he would follow suit. At first he obliged, and was a star pupil at his grammar school; a prefect and cricketing legend. Then he fell out with his father, fell in with a new crowd and rebelled spectacularly. He had a few run-ins with the police and his offending escalated until he was the mastermind of a team of car ringers. Then a tip-off landed him in Armley.

'What are they like?' Akash asked now. 'Your in-laws?'

'Zoe had 'em wrapped around her little finger-can't blame them, I was wrapped around it too. Hannah's a scary intellectual, lectures in physics at the university. What she doesn't know about quantum theory isn't worth knowing. She never liked me. We got off on the wrong foot.'

'Why?'

'Nobody could be good enough for her daughter, but I must have been her worst nightmare-a butcher's son from Tyneside. I was young, I was nervous, I was way out of my depth, and I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder. She got my hackles up.'

Akash raised an eyebrow. 'You were rude to her, weren't you, Scottie?'

'Mm.' Joseph looked embarrassed at the memory. 'It was all unspoken; she was polite on the surface. She asked me about myself, but in this pained sort of way. It brought out the worst in me. I acted a bit yobbish, talked big about a fight I'd been in. I still had a massive shiner of a black eye, so I must have looked like a low-life.'

Akash smacked his palm across his forehead. 'Doh!'

'Freddie did his best, though.' Joseph smiled. 'He'd just directed some play in Leeds. It was a sell-out. Hannah and Zoe were gloating over the reviews, but old Freddie didn't give a toss. He spent the afternoon digging away in his garden, covered in mud, waffling on about insects.'

'Insects.'

Joseph chuckled into his coffee. 'He fixed me with his glittering eye like the ancient bloody mariner and spent ten minutes going on about how a teaspoon of soil contains millions of organisms.'

'That's true!' exclaimed Akash delightedly. 'Teeming with 'em.'

'Well . . .' Joseph closed the paper. 'Unless I want to be a pole dancer, there's nothing for me in here.'

'You're pretty enough to be a pole dancer.' Akash's mobile phone rang. 'Bit of lippy, you'll be a real pouting beauty. You do pout a lot. Hello? . . . Yes, mate. Yes, not a problem, I can sort that out . . .'

While his friend talked, Joseph tried to consider his future and got nowhere. His mind seemed to be locked on a set of rails that inexorably led back to Zoe. Her eyes haunted him, bright with wild energy even in death. From her his thoughts led to the children; and when he was thinking about them, nothing else seemed relevant.

Akash flipped his phone shut. 'So what are you planning to live on?' he asked bluntly.

'I've got a bit of cash in the bank. I'll be okay for a while.'

'Did you own a house before you got sent away?'

'Signed everything over to the in-laws, including responsibility for my children. I didn't have any choice, nobody else volunteered. They sold the house and put the money into some kind of trust for the kids. Didn't fetch very much.' Joseph gave a bitter half-smile. 'Apparently buyers were put off by what had happened in the living room.'

'What about all your stuff?'

'Got rid of everything. I knew I was going away for a long time.'

'Mate.' Akash looked slightly embarrassed, rubbing his nose.

'Um, if you need work while you get back on your feet, I can give you some hours, no problem.'

Joseph stood up and clapped his friend on the back. 'Thanks. I might just take you up on that.'

'Where are you off to this morning? Got a date?'