Fortune Cookie (10 page)

At lunch time we were so scared that we hid in the toilets, hunched up together in one cubicle. We learnt afterwards that the police had come about a boy in Year 10 who was always getting into trouble; it was nothing whatsoever to do with me and Cupcake being on their Wanted list. It was a great relief, though, as Cupcake said, it was only a matter of time. We couldn't
keep
hiding in the toilets.

As soon as school let out we raced like the wind back to Cupcake's place, partly cos we didn't feel safe out on the streets where people might recognise us, but mostly cos we wanted to make sure Cookie was all right after his operation. We found him curled up on the sofa, next to a beaming Joey. His poor leg was all shaved and had a big row of stitches, but he managed
to give us a little wag and a lick. Cupcake's mum said that he was still a bit sleepy from the anaesthetic. “But it's been done, and the vet said he's going to be fine. So good work, girls! It's all thanks to you, and I think Joey would like to give you both a
big kiss
.”

In that moment I knew that it had all been worth it. What did it matter if me and Cupcake got arrested? Who cared if we didn't last five minutes in an institution? We'd made one sick little boy very happy, and nothing could change that! I said this to Cupcake as she came to the gate with me. She agreed. She said that seeing Joey and Cookie together had convinced her that what we had done was right, even if it did mean we were criminals. She said, “I don't care what they do to us!”

“Me neither,” I said; and I went off home feeling really brave. Unfortunately, it all crumbled the minute I got through the door, when Mum announced that we were going to go into town on Thursday after school and get me a new pair of shoes. “You can't go on wearing trainers any more. You know you're not
supposed to.”

I thought,
Go into town? I can't go into town!
“Mum, it's all right,” I said, “it doesn't matter. Honestly! Nobody notices. Loads of people wear trainers. People wear trainers all the time. More people wear trainers than almost anything else. Mum, you can't
afford
to get me new shoes!”

Mum seemed to think this was quite funny. She said, “Since when have you not wanted to go out and have money spent on you?”

Piously I said, “It's Rosie's birthday next month. I'd sooner you spent it on her.”

“That's a very sweet thought,” said Mum, “but I think we can just about manage a birthday present for Rosie as well as a new pair of shoes for you. We're not that broke.”

I felt like saying in that case I'd rather have the cash; at least it would go
some
way to paying Shane his money back. In desperation, I suggested that Mum could go by herself. “You don't need me there! You
know what size I take.”

“We are not buying shoes,” said Mum, “without you trying them on. What's the matter, all of a sudden? You usually love going shopping!”

“I'm bored,” I said. “Why can't we go somewhere else, for a change?”

“Like jumping in the car and driving all the way into London?”

“Mum,
could
we?” I said. But of course she'd only been joking. She was determined to drag me into the shopping centre. It was the last place I wanted to go! If the man from the jeweller's shop saw me, he'd have me arrested on the spot. Somehow, I wasn't feeling quite so brave any more.

There was only one thing for it, we had to get rid of the evidence. Not just get rid of it.
Hand it in
. Go to the nearest police station, and say—

What? What could we say?
Here is this ring that we
thought you ought to have
? They'd want to know where it had come from and why we'd tried to sell it, cos by
now the man in the jeweller's shop would have told them about us. “Said it belonged to one of their grandmothers.”

Even if we told them the truth, and even if they believed us, they'd still want to know why we'd told lies about it. “So why did you say it belonged to your grandmother? You knew all along, didn't you, that it wasn't yours to sell? You knew you should have come to us!”

I suppose we
had
known; sort of. Anyway, going to the police wouldn't solve the problem of Shane and his money. He wouldn't rest until he'd had his revenge.

We had to get him his money back! Somehow, we just had to, it was the only way to be safe. And there was only one way I could think of doing it…

I told Cupcake my plan as we walked into school together next morning. “We'll get the ring, and we'll take it back to Lady Neverpoop, and—”

Cupcake said, “
Who
?”

“Lady Neverpoop!” It does make me so mad when she interrupts. “The old woman!”

“She's a
lady
?”

“Well—” Suddenly doubtful, I said, “It's what Mum calls her.”

“Lady Neverpoop!” Cupcake giggled. “It's funny!”

Now it was my turn to lecture
her
about giggling. I said, “There's nothing funny about it. We've got to get Shane his money back, and we've got to get rid of the ring. If we don't get Shane his money he could do something really mean. He could do something to Cookie! And if we don't get rid of the ring and the police come and search the flat, they'll be bound to find it – they always find everything. They know all the places where people put things, like under the mattress, and in vases, and under the floorboards. They'd turn the place upside down; you can't hide anything from them! So what I'm saying—”

“We've got to give her ring back.”

“Yes! We'll tell her truth… Cookie sicked it up. We'll say we're sorry we didn't bring it sooner but we didn't know that it was hers. It was only when we
stopped and thought about it that we realised.”

“Mm.” Cupcake nodded, though not very enthusiastically.

“That way, we can't be accused of stealing.”

“But what about the money? We still won't have the money!”

“We'll ask
her
for it. We'll tell her she owes it to us. For all we know, there might even be a reward!”

“You reckon?”

“I dunno. There might be. People usually give rewards.”

“Mm.” Cupcake nodded again, even less enthusiastic than before.

“We've got to do
something
,” I said. “And unless you can think of anything better—” Which of course she couldn't.

Glumly she said, “So when d'you want to do it?”

I told her, as soon as possible. “I can't stand all the tension!”

Cupcake said she was surprised that criminals didn't all have nervous breakdowns, waiting for the police to
come battering at their door and drag them away in handcuffs. I said that after a while they probably got used to it. “Everyone has to start somewhere.”

“I never wanted to start at all!”

I said, “Neither did I, and it's worse for me – I'm the one with the incriminating evidence.”

There was a pause, then Cupcake said: “You mean, the ring?”

“Yes, I've hidden it in my—”

“Don't tell me, don't tell me!” She stuffed her fingers in her ears. “I don't want to know!” And then she looked ashamed and said, “In case they question me… I might break under pressure.”

We both would. I might last out a
little
while longer, as I am not quite so easily intimidated, but I knew they would break even me in the end. They always break everybody. They shine bright lights in your face and won't let you sleep. Urgently I said, “We'll do it immediately after school. We'll go back to my place and get it –
the thing
– and take it straight round to her.”

Cupcake sighed. “All right. If you think that's best.”

I knew she wasn't happy about it so I wasn't surprised, when the time came, that she started to waver. “Maybe we ought to take Cookie out first? Maybe we should wait till after tea? Maybe it doesn't need to be both of us? Cos I was a bit rude to her, you know? It'd probably be better if it was just you.”

“I'm not doing it by myself,” I said.

“Maybe we shouldn't do it at all!”

I fixed her with this cold, hard stare. “You'd rather run the risk of Cookie being hurt?”

That got to her. She said she was sorry for being such a wimp, and of
course
she would come with me. We went into my bedroom and Cupcake screwed her eyes tight shut while I fished the ring out of my old teddy and stuffed it back in my shoe for safekeeping. Just in case; I mean, you never know. People get mugged all the time. It would be a total disaster if we lost the ring.

We told Mum we were going to collect Cookie and
take him for a walk. Mum seemed surprised. She said, “Is he ready for walks?” I assured Mum that we would only go just a little way – gentle exercise, the vet had said – and whispered to Cupcake that we would pick him up afterwards.”

On our way round the block, we bumped into Shane. I'm sure he'd been waiting for us. He didn't say anything; just looked at us. Me and Cupcake did our best to ignore him, but the minute we were round the corner we ran.

I'd been rehearsing all day what I was going to say to the old woman – whose name, I now realised, was
not
Lady Neverpoop. I felt really stupid for ever thinking it was. But I'd worked out what to say, and I said it! All in a rush. “Excuse us for not bringing this back before but our dog that you gave us cos of not wanting to be bothered with him any more, well, he sicked it up and we didn't realise that it was yours, but now that we do we've come to give it back and we wondered, please, if there was a reward?”

Well! You'd have thought she'd be so pleased to have the thing back, and so impressed with our honesty, that she would have been only too eager to give us a reward. Instead, quite crossly, she said, “You expect a
reward
for doing your civic duty? People who
expect
do not
deserve
. Had you not been quite so brazen I might perhaps have considered the possibility. As it is, most certainly not!”

Just for a moment I didn't know what to say. That was when Cupcake jumped in. “Most people give rewards,” she said. It wasn't the most
helpful
of remarks, but I felt grateful to her for trying.

“We didn't have to bring it back,” I said.

“If you hadn't brought it back it would be stealing, and you could get into a great deal of trouble.”

“Like my mum's friend who used to clean for you,” I said. “She was ever so upset when you accused her of stealing.”

“Yes – well! That was unfortunate. If you had come to me sooner—”

“We couldn't,” I said. “It was still inside our dog.”

“Our dog that you gave us,” prompted Cupcake.

The old woman raised an eyebrow. Just one. I wish I could do that! “What exactly,” she demanded in this really icy voice, “are you trying to say? Are you daring to suggest that in some way my ring belongs to you? I hardly think that would hold up in a court of law!”

“What we're trying to say…” It came bursting out of Cupcake in a great torrent. “My mum had to pay the vet almost £300 for an operation and she didn't have £300 so we had to borrow some of it from someone cos Cookie was really
sick
, and now the person that we borrowed it from is threatening us!”

By now the tears were streaming down Cup's face. I would have been too proud to cry, but Cup is someone who cries quite easily. Just as well, as it happens! For the first time
ever
, the old woman stopped looking grim and disagreeable. “Now, why didn't you tell me this right at the start?” she said. “It would have been so much better than simply trying to
blackmail me into giving you a reward. How much did your mother have to borrow?”

“It wasn't her mum,” I said, “it was us. We borrowed £225 from this boy who lives on the Estate and he's given us till Friday to pay it back. He's a really horrible sort of person! He'd mug you soon as look at you.”

The old woman frowned. “Have you told your parents?”

“No!” I shook my head wildly. “They think we got the money from people at school. We did this thing where we didn't speak for a whole day and people sponsored us.”

“But it wasn't enough,” sobbed Cupcake, “and Cookie had to have his operation otherwise Mum said we'd have to find him another home with someone who could afford it, and my little brother's got muscular dystrophy and he loves Cookie
so much
—”

“Enough!” The old woman raised her hand. “I have heard enough. You're starting to make my head ache.
You had better tell this person, whoever he is, that if he wants his money he can call round here, with you – both of you! – at four o'clock on Friday. Not a minute earlier, not a minute later. Four o'clock
on the dot
. Can you be trusted to arrange that?”

I gulped and nodded. Cupcake abruptly stopped crying and stood, open-mouthed. And then we both remembered our manners and went, “
Thank you
!
” “Honesty brings its own rewards,” said the old woman. “Not everyone would have returned my property. I'm very glad that you did. It's an heirloom, you know. It means a lot to me.”

“It's very pretty,” said Cupcake shyly.

The old woman smiled. “It is,” she said, “isn't it? It used to belong to my mother.” And then she got all grim again and said, “Very well, then. Friday at four o'clock. Please be sure that you get here on time. And thank you again for being so honest.”

“We weren't really,” whispered Cupcake, as we made our way home.

“We were
in the end
,” I said. “That's all that matters.”

Shane was still hanging around, leaning against a wall at the entrance to the Estate. He mouthed one word:
Friday
.

“You can stop threatening us,” I said. “We've arranged for you to get your money back.”

He looked at me, eyes narrowed. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Just meet us here at 4 o'clock, Friday,” I said. “And make sure you're on time.”

Shane said, “Why? Where you gettin' the cash from?”

“What's it to you?” said Cupcake. And then she immediately turned bright scarlet and went scurrying off in a panic, alarmed by her own daring.

Shane ignored her. He didn't deal with Cupcake, he dealt with me. I was the one that talked the talk.

“Just be here,” I said. “OK?”

His eyes had gone almost to slits. “How do I know
it's not a set-up?” Talk about suspicious! But I suppose, if you're a criminal, you have to be. You just never know when someone's going to rat you out. “Come on!” he said. “How are you getting your hands on £225?”

I told him it was being given to us by someone we knew. “We've got to go and pick it up from her, and you've got to come with us. And you'd just better watch your manners,” I said, “cos she's a
lady
.”

Shane sneered, curling his top lip into a hoop. “Think I'm bothered?”

I said, “You'd better be!” and went scooting off after Cupcake. Just knowing that Lady Neverpoop was going to repay him his rotten money was such a
huge weight
off my mind it made me feel quite bold. Shane Mackie didn't frighten me! And I bet he wouldn't frighten old Lady Neverpoop, either, even if she wasn't an actual real lady.

I was right: he didn't! He stood there on her doorstep looking all sullen and aggressive, and she just kind of
froze
him. She said, “Here is your money, young man. Take it, and be gone! And we'll have no more threats, if you please.”

Cupcake said afterwards that she almost felt sorry for him. “Cos, I mean, it
was
his money. It did belong to him.”

“You've got to be joking!” I said.

Cupcake thought about it and said yes, perhaps she was. “Probably didn't come by it honestly.”

“Most likely mugged someone.”

“Maybe he'll get put in prison?” said Cupcake.

I said that we could always hope.

That was ages ago, and we're still hoping! Well, I am; Cupcake is too soft. She changed her mind when we discovered, just the other day, that he is working in the local supermarket. I'd gone in to get something for Mum. I couldn't believe it when I saw Shane there, stacking shelves. He caught my eye and then looked away. I think secretly he was a bit ashamed, being
caught doing an ordinary job the same as anyone else. When I told Cupcake she said maybe he wasn't a criminal any more. I went “Huh!” but Cupcake said you have to give people the benefit of the doubt. “I hope you didn't say anything mean to him?”

I said, “
Me
?
”

“Like laughing at him, or something. Not if he's trying to sort himself out.”

I sometimes think that Cupcake is far too
nice
. But it's good that one of us is. She is the softie, I am the hard nut! I guess that is why we work so well together. Every time we look at Cookie, we congratulate ourselves. He is racing around on all four legs now, just as Mr Wendell promised he would. Joey is so proud of him, he introduces him to everyone he meets as “My dog, Cookie, who's had a big operation.” They're still the best of friends, just like me and Cupcake. They can't bear to be separated. The very first thing Cookie does when we bring him back from a walk is jump on to Joey's lap and lick him all over, barking and wagging
his tail like they haven't seen each other for weeks. But he is always very gentle. With me and Cupcake he behaves like a normal rough and tumble puppy who tugs and wrestles and even, occasionally, gives us a nip when he gets a bit over-excited. He's never, ever like that with Joey. He seems to know that Joey is different, and special.