Bone by Bone (21 page)

AUTUMN

A
utumn had had many bad days at school since she moved to Bristol, but this one, this one was the worst.

She walked into the classroom and found that she no longer existed. No one looked up. No one spoke to her. She felt as if a chill wind had blown through her and made her all shimmery and invisible. She tried to speak but all the words had been taken away.

‘Maths homework was really tricky. Could you do the partitions?' she finally managed to say to Molly and Olive.

Her voice was croaky, as if it had not been used before.

Both girls looked at their notebooks. Olive lined her pencils up in a row. Autumn pulled out the empty chair next to Olive but the girl smacked her hand on the table.

‘This seat is taken,' she said.

Autumn moved to the next chair, but another girl, Katie, pulled it away from her. She tried one more time, moving towards the only spare place left next to the other pupils, but Tilly dropped her bag on the chair, just as she was about to sit down. She was forced to sit at a table on her own.

In Literacy Mrs Sibson put them into groups of three. They were supposed to discuss friendship and write a story together on what the best part of being friends was. Mrs Sibson placed her with Olive and Tilly. Tilly asked if she could move to a new group because everyone knew that Autumn copied people's work. Mrs Sibson said no, it was
a collaborative venture
. Autumn felt her cheeks glow. Mrs Sibson had not said,
Autumn did not copy you, Tilly
.

Tilly made a face and some of the other girls looked sympathetic. She and Olive whispered to each other, glancing back at Autumn, cupping their hands around their mouths so she couldn't hear what they were saying. They half turned so she couldn't speak to them or see what they were writing either.

At break-time she went to sit next to Molly. As she sat down, Molly walked over to the other girls. There was no more room on the log they were perched on, but they all budged up and Molly squeezed on the end. They looked at her and tossed their hair and sat forward and whispered.

Autumn was acutely aware of the space that had opened up around her. She was alone. No one spoke to her. It was difficult to breathe. She stared down at her shoes on the cracked Tarmac of the playground, a tree root visible beneath the asphalt.

She hoped no one noticed how alone she was. Levi was leaning against the climbing frame with his friends. He looked up, an egg sandwich, part of it still in its corner shop wrapper, spilling in creamy clots from his mouth. He gave a wolfish grin.

LAURA

A
t lunchtime, Laura went to sit in her car to eat the leftovers from last night's meal and shelter from the rain. She turned the engine on and the heat as high as it would go to try and warm herself up. Ted and Barney were in Barney's Land Rover but there wasn't enough room for all three of them in the front, even if she had wanted to join them.

As she was eating, she noticed a flash of bright pink. She reached forward to see what it was. Tucked in the pocket in the passenger side of the door was Autumn's mobile.

She must have forgotten to take it to school, Laura thought.

She wiped her hands on her army trousers and reached over to retrieve it. There was a spiderweb of cracks on the screen. Autumn had dropped or thrown it. Before she could stop herself, Laura turned on the phone. She felt dreadful, as if she was spying on her daughter. Immediately five texts appeared on the home screen. Laura pressed the Message button to look at them properly.

They were all from the same person. The caller's number was blocked and there was no name, only the messages, each worse than the previous one. She read them over and over again. She couldn't believe how vicious they were, how foul the language.

She was going to kill the person who had done this to her daughter.

At least now she had proof. She could take the mobile to the police and show them. Surely they could unbar the number? She clicked on the first text to see if there was any more information, any way to trace the call, but it said,
Caller ID withheld
.

She remembered the article she'd read in
The Washington Post
about the father who'd hired a teenager to beat up his son's bully. The journalist had described how bullying had become more Internet-based – cyber-stalking and trolls posting hateful comments on social networking sites.

Surely that's too advanced for Autumn's age group?

And then she thought of Levi's father.

She touched the Facebook icon. The screen opened and slowly loaded. She jabbed at the phone, to scroll through the newsfeed. She stared at it in disbelief. She sat, stunned, the phone in her hand, its blank screen slowly dimming. She threw the mobile on the seat and put the car into gear. She pulled out and slowed next to the Land Rover and wound the window down. Ted started to lower his window but, without waiting for it to fully open, she shouted at the two of them, ‘Got to go. It's an emergency,' and drove off before they could respond.

Within a few seconds, her phone started to ring. It was Barney. She dropped her phone on the seat next to Autumn's and pushed the car into third gear.

AUTUMN

S
he told Mrs Sibson she wasn't feeling well and she didn't want anything to eat. She said maybe she was coming down with flu. She could tell Mrs Sibson didn't believe her because she had that sceptical expression her dad used to have when he said,
Pull the other one
. But she must have felt sorry for her because she said she could stay inside during lunchtime.

At first she was relieved. She watched the other children playing outside, as if they were dangerous animals in a giant enclosure and she was safely on the other side of the thick glass walls. She didn't turn the lights on. She took out a pad and a fine-tipped black pen but she couldn't think of anything she wanted to draw. She opened
The Amber Spyglass
, the book that Granny had been reading to her – but Lyra's dreams of the Land of the Dead made her frightened and she closed it again.

And so, with nothing to occupy her, and her thoughts skittish as the pond skaters in their garden back home, in their
real
home, she started to think about the Facebook page. She wondered if it was still there. If the children in her class were still posting messages. She'd have a quick look, she thought, just to check. Then she'd know who she could trust. She turned on one of the computers and clicked on Facebook. It opened at the We Hate Autumn page. There were so many new messages. A kind of panic seized her. She couldn't read them properly. The sentences and names were jumbled up, the words black and rotting, like decaying liquorice allsorts. She backed away.

It was the noise that caught her attention. A strange kind of panting and moaning, like an animal in distress. She turned around slowly. It was a video posted on the Facebook page. Autumn didn't understand it but she knew straight away that it was shameful and disgusting and she could never tell anyone about it, not even her mum.

The video was of a naked man and woman. He was doing something to her and it looked as if he was hurting her. She was a proper lady, with boobs that wobbled every time he pushed her, although she didn't get up and run away. But the terrible, terrible thing that she would never be able to tell anyone about ever, was that this grown woman had
her
face.

LAURA

A
s she drove back through Frenchay, she noticed that there were more flowers for the dead girl and, stuck between the railings was a teddy, limp with damp. The rain grew heavier. She slowed down as a cyclist wobbled in front of her. Laura couldn't risk overtaking her; the streets in Bristol were so narrow and the girl was almost in the middle of the road. She was dressed entirely in black, with a short skirt and lace tights. Her hair had turned into fat, wet ropes. She wasn't wearing a helmet and with one hand she shielded her face to see through the rain. Laura felt worried and annoyed at the delay; at the same time, she couldn't help but admire her insouciance, the attitude that allowed a young woman to ride fast and dangerously in inappropriate attire in inclement weather and trust the world to keep her safe.

She overtook the girl as the road widened and drove as fast as she could to the school. She parked illegally at the edge of the road on double yellow lines and ran across the playground, clutching Autumn's phone. For a moment she thought she glimpsed Autumn in an empty classroom, but it couldn't have been her because all the children in her year were in the canteen finishing their lunch. Some were beginning to leave the cafeteria, noisily filtering down the corridors and bursting into the playground in a multi-coloured jumble of waterproofs and wellingtons.

Laura raced past the school secretary, who called out to her, and ran down the corridor towards Dileep George's office. She knocked once on his door and then walked in. He looked up, startled. She strode across the room and threw the pink mobile on his desk.

‘It's Autumn's,' she said, when he made no move to pick it up.

‘We don't allow children to have…'

‘There were five nasty texts on her phone, from a barred number. And then this.'

She swiped the splintered screen and handed it back to him, open at the Facebook page. ‘I haven't been able to refresh it. Either there's no signal or the phone isn't working properly – it looks like Autumn tried to smash it – but you can see what was written up until yesterday.'

Dileep George swallowed uncomfortably, his Adam's apple pushing out the grizzled skin of his neck. ‘Do you have any idea who created this? Or is writing these messages? This is a primary school, Mrs Baron-Cohen. The pupils here would simply not have the kind of skills…'

‘To create a Facebook page and then post status updates from fake accounts? I'm sure some of them do. Particularly the son of your IT consultant. Who happens to be twelve. A year too old to be attending a primary school. A little fact that seems to have slipped your mind when I first reported his bullying of my daughter to you. But you're right, it does seem a bit advanced for a kid. I assume Aaron is behind it – he could even be helping Levi.'

‘This website
is
shocking but it's a matter for the police. It is not—'

‘I can't believe that, even with this proof, you're unwillingly to believe what is taking place in your own school.'

‘These posts could be from anyone,' said Mr George.

‘I've had enough,' said Laura, snatching the phone out of his hands. ‘I'm taking Autumn out of this school right now. She's not safe here.'

He sat back in his chair and looked up at her. His unease seemed to have dissipated. ‘I very much doubt that Social Services will look on such an action favourably.'

Laura turned and walked out, almost knocking over the secretary, who had come, presumably, to say she should have made an appointment, tell her off for running in school or to remonstrate with her about the mud she had tracked into the headmaster's room. Laura marched down the corridor. She could hear the secretary asking Mr George if everything was okay. She angrily shoved Autumn's phone in her pocket and wondered where to start looking for her daughter.

Autumn would probably be outside with the other children, but it wouldn't hurt to check the classroom, just in case. She had an after-image of her pale face, as if she were underwater.

‘Wait.'

She turned to see Mr George hurrying after her, his blazer flapping, his brogues so worn that his steps were almost soundless.

‘I can understand your concern, Mrs Baron-Cohen. Let me speak to Mr Jablonski about this. I can't accept your accusation that he would be behind it, and I don't believe Levi is either, but if –
if
Levi knows anything about this site, Aaron would know.'

‘How?'

‘He told me once that he monitors Levi's Internet usage. Something to do with—'

‘Being able to hack into his laptop or computer remotely?' Laura interrupted.

Mr George nodded. ‘I don't understand the technology – he has a mirror of Levi's hard drive on his own computer. I don't think he looks at it much – he says it's more of a precautionary measure. I'm sure you'll find that Levi is not implicated, but Aaron will be able to help us trace who could have set up this Facebook account and is posting those awful messages.'

Laura stared at him silently. His sallow skin looked greasy under the strip-lighting in the corridor. She assumed that Aaron was ultimately behind the troll page and had either set it up himself or shown Levi how to. Either way, he would naturally deny all knowledge and would have covered his traces effectively. And, if he hadn't, why would he help her? The woman who'd pushed his child so hard he'd fallen and cut his cheek open on a rock. The woman he'd been cyber-bullying for the past ten days. She started walking away from Mr George.

To her surprise, the headmaster followed her.

‘Mrs Baron-Cohen.' He held out his arm as if to touch hers, but withdrew his hand awkwardly. ‘Let me accompany you.'

‘I
am
taking Autumn out of this school,' she said, quickening her stride.

‘I understand. I think it's the right thing to do.'

‘What?' She swung around to face him. ‘A minute ago you…'

He bowed his head in acknowledgement and held out his hands towards her palms up, as if in supplication.

‘I can see you and Autumn are both upset. I don't want to lose her as a pupil. Take her home today. You have had quite a shock. Keep Autumn at home tomorrow too. I'll mark it down as sick leave. In the meantime, I'll speak to Mr Jablonski. But please, think about what you're doing. This isn't a long-term solution. Bring Autumn back to school on Monday. It won't do you any favours when you have to appear in court if you have hindered your daughter's education. After all, you do not have another school ready and willing to take her. I know, for a fact, that there are no places in any of the schools you are in the catchment area for. Your only other option would be to send her to a fee-paying school.'

‘How do you know that I'm not going to do that?' She wondered if his sole concern was still only for the school's reputation.

‘That is entirely up to you, Mrs Baron-Cohen, if you should chose to do so… and can afford it. But it is not why you're removing Autumn at this point in time. She has, in many ways, settled in well here and I can see that she is an asset to the school. As I say, I do not want to lose her, nor do I wish her education to be jeopardized.'

He half-smiled at her, although his eyes remained cold. She could see the glint of his bridge-work. How on earth had he come to be in charge of a primary school, she wondered? She couldn't imagine him making a child feel at ease.

They were standing a few steps away from Autumn's classroom now. The noise from the playground seemed to boom and echo in the confined space.

‘She'll be outside. It's still lunch break,' said Mr George.

Laura opened the door and stepped inside.

Autumn was in the classroom on her own, bending over one of the monitors. There was a faint flash of light, as if she'd just switched it off. The other monitor screens were dark. When she looked up at them, her expression was guilty.

‘What are you doing in here?' asked Mr George, turning on the light.

‘Mrs Sibson said I could stay inside,' Autumn whispered. ‘I don't feel well.'

Laura held out her arms. ‘Autumn, we're going home.'

The girl flew across the room and hugged her.

‘Is there anything you need to get?'

Autumn shook her head, still buried in her mother's embrace. Laura disentangled herself and strode across the room to pick up Autumn's satchel.

‘I'll call you when I know more,' said Mr George, opening the front door of the school for them.

Autumn grabbed her coat and ran after her, bowing her head so she wouldn't have to make eye contact with anyone.

In the car she looked almost cheerful again.

‘What were you watching on those computers?' asked Laura, putting the key in the ignition.

Her daughter's expression clouded and she turned to stare out of the window.

‘Are we going home?'

‘I have to go to work,' said Laura. ‘I saw your phone, Autumn. I'm so sorry, sweetheart.'

‘You looked at my phone?' She was suddenly furious.

‘I thought you'd forgotten it. I was going to give it back to you but then I saw… I wish you'd told me, love. I couldn't leave you there for another minute.'

‘But what will I do while you're working?' She had her arms crossed and was resolutely turned as far away from Laura as she could within the confines of her seat belt and booster seat.

‘Do you want to talk about it? Some of those texts were awful. Did they frighten you?'

Autumn said nothing and refused to meet Laura's eye in the rear-view mirror.

‘Are they from Levi? Do you think he's behind the Facebook page too?'

‘You saw the Facebook page?' Autumn snapped her attention back to Laura.

‘Yes. I'm sorry, love. I just wish I'd been able to stop this earlier. Or that you'd told me. How long has it been going on for?'

‘Facebook is private. You shouldn't be looking at my stuff – spying on me like this.'

‘I wasn't spying! I saw the Facebook icon on your phone, when I was looking at the texts. I guess it was logged in as you already. All those awful messages.'

‘Messages? Just messages?'

‘Yes, messages. Written on your wall.' Laura looked at her in confusion. She must have seen them. She knew they were there – so why was her reaction so odd?

‘They're obscene. You must never think any of that stuff those kids have written is true. Not for a minute. You are beautiful and kind and smart.'

Autumn sat back in her booster seat. ‘You still haven't told me what I'm going to do when you're working.'

‘I'm not sure,' said Laura, pulling out into the main road. ‘I hadn't thought that far. Maybe you'll be able to sit in a café. You could do some drawing. Or read a book.'

‘I didn't bring my pad with me. And I don't like my book,' said Autumn sulkily.

She resumed looking out of the window and didn't say another word until they arrived at the garden in Frenchay. Laura pulled over behind Barney's Land Rover, his Bronze Beech logo emblazoned on the side.

Barney and Ted looked up and then did a double-take as Autumn climbed out of the car.

‘What's going on?' asked Barney, walking over and looking from her to Autumn.

‘There was an emergency. I had to take her out of school.'

‘What kind of emergency? Doesn't look as if she's bleeding to me,' said Ted.

‘Look, I'm sorry about this, Barney, but—'

‘She can't stay here,' said Barney quickly. ‘Health and Safety would have a field day. We're working, in case you haven't noticed. Laying tiles. It's no place for a child.'

‘I know that. It's far too cold for her to hang about here anyway. I thought she could maybe go to a nearby café – there must be something around the corner – and I'd check up on her every hour. Maybe every half hour. Just for the rest of the day.'

‘Laura.' Barney rubbed his face with his hand. He wasn't wearing gloves and hardly seemed to feel the cold. ‘It's Frenchay. There are no chi-chi cafés. The nearest place to grab an instant coffee is the Texaco garage.'

‘Then I'm sorry, Barney, but I'll have to go home. I wanted you to know it was serious. I wouldn't have left otherwise.'

‘Frankly, you've been having a lot of “emergencies” recently. And when you have been here, you haven't been pulling your weight. Your mind has been elsewhere. I don't know what is going on with you, but I'm afraid this is your last chance. You'll have to go home now, you can't stay here with the kid, and I'm not paying you for today. At all. But you need to sort yourself out. If you don't turn up tomorrow, or you show up with the kid, then you're fired.'

Over Barney's shoulder Laura could see Ted smirking. She was about to argue – she had, after all, put in a morning's work – but then she thought Barney might fire her on the spot. Instead, she held the car door open for Autumn and got in the other side.

‘Are you going to make me go back to school tomorrow?' asked Autumn as they drove off.

‘No.'

‘Are you going to leave me at home?'

‘No, of course not,' said Laura, thinking that there really was no one Autumn could stay with.

‘But you'll lose your job. That's what Barney said.'

‘We'll see. He's feeling cross right now. By tomorrow he'll have calmed down. Anyway, I'll have my own garden company soon. And I'll be the boss. I'll be the one hiring and firing people.'

At home, Autumn raced up the stairs to change out of her uniform, running faster than Laura had seen her move all week. Laura was about to make herself a cup of tea when she realized that there was no milk, not even a spare pint tucked in the freezer for emergencies. In fact, the cupboards and the fridge were almost empty. She still hadn't been able to reinstate her debit card. Tomorrow, she promised herself, she'd go to the bank and sort it out.