in minute detail, down to the cut of her blond hair and the pattern of the cable stitch on her pink woollen jumper. She also got a sense of Hazel’s kindness and concern, which Magpie had obviously picked up. The image of the paints wasn’t quite so vivid as Magpie’s knowledge and experience of these was smaller, but she saw a framed picture very close up with oil paint daubed thickly and guessed that was what he meant.
‘Hazel’s promised you oil paints?’
Magpie nodded happily and squeezed her hand. More than anything she sensed his exhilaration and joy at being free from daily fear and physical abuse. They sat together for a while, Leveret still marvelling at how he’d changed so quickly. She’d always known he was a sweet person from when they’d first met in the Nursery as tiny toddlers. She’d sensed the goodness in his soul even then, seen beyond the revolting, mute boy who could manage very little and made such a fool of himself all the time. Now maybe others would see it too and he’d have a proper place in Stonewylde’s society. Just as long as she could keep Jay away from him, but she had plans to protect Magpie.
While he continued drawing rooks, Leveret took a small pair of scissors from her pocket and showed them to him.
‘You know about scissors, Magpie. I want to cut a little tiny piece of your hair. See? I’ll do it to myself first and it doesn’t hurt. Now a piece of Maggy’s hair.’
To her relief he allowed her to snip off a lock of his golden brown hair, which she carefully wrapped and put in her pocket. That was the first part – but there was lots more to be done. She was just about to leave when Swift came in, looking as surprised to see her as she was to see him. They stared at each other.
‘What do you want?’ she asked finally.
He raised his eyebrows at this, looking down at her and enjoying the sensation. As he was a fairly small youth, looking down on someone else was quite rare.
‘That’s not very friendly, Leveret,’ he said smoothly. ‘I just came to visit Magpie and see how he’s getting on.’
‘He’s fine, no thanks to your mate Jay.’
‘Nor to you! Jay may have been hard on him but I gather you actually tried to kill him.’
She flushed at this and looked away. Swift took the sketch pad from Magpie, who’d stopped drawing and was gazing up at them both in consternation.
‘Very good, Magpie! Clever boy!’
‘Don’t talk to him like a dog – he’s not stupid.’
‘Really? Sorry, I didn’t realise.’
‘Why are you here? Did Jay send you?’
She knew Hazel had forbidden Jay to come anywhere near the hospital wing. But she also knew Swift was in league with Jay and her brothers, although she didn’t realise the true extent of it for Swift was very careful to be seen with the right people at the right time. He smiled sweetly at her and flicked his fringe aside.
‘I don’t get sent anywhere by anybody, Leveret. I only wanted to see how Magpie was doing. We are related, you know – our grannies are sisters and we’re old mates, aren’t we, Magpie?’
He put a hand on the boy’s shoulder but his body blocked her view so she didn’t see how Magpie flinched at his touch and curled into himself. Swift turned and gave her another charming smile.
‘Don’t make an enemy of me as well, will you, Leveret? You’ve got enough to contend with surely, with your brothers and Jay. I know what they’re planning and it’s not pleasant. You know, I could be a good friend to you if you’re nice to me.’
‘What are they planning?’ she asked, her mouth dry. This was exactly what she’d been trying to escape from when she swallowed the mushrooms. Leveret couldn’t face more bullying – she’d have to get her mother to put a stop to this and hoped she’d be more prepared to listen now.
‘I don’t know if I want to share that information with you, Leveret. You’ve only ever been hostile towards me so let’s see how it goes, shall we? Anyway, good to see Magpie’s on the mend. He’ll be living next door to my father, I hear, so I expect I’ll be seeing a lot more of him.’
‘I thought you were a boarder.’
‘Of course I am. But with my family’s cottage so close I’m always popping in. Father likes to