and it was Owen who came sprinting over to retrieve it. He was coming for the ball but glaring at Jake the whole time, which made Jake think the kick might have been deliberate. Unless Owen was just really bad at soccer.
“Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.”
“Yeah. I know it’s okay.”
Owen pulled the ball roughly out of the branches, still glaring at Jake as though it were all his fault, and then stalked away. Which didn’t make sense. Perhaps Owen was just really stupid. Even so, it might be better to move.
“Hello, Jake.”
He looked to one side, and saw the little girl kneeling in the bushes. His heart leaped with relief, and he started to get up.
“Shhh.” She put a finger to her lips. “Don’t.”
He sat down again. But it was hard. He wanted to bounce on the bench! She looked exactly the same as she always did, wearing the same blue-and-white dress, with that graze on her knee and her hair swept oddly out to one side.
“Just sit as you were,” she said. “I don’t want the other children to see you talking to me.”
“Why not?”
“Because I shouldn’t be here.”
“Yes, you’re not wearing the right uniform, for one thing.”
“That is one thing, yes.” She thought about it. “It’s good to see you again, Jake. I’ve missed you. Have you missed me?”
He nodded vigorously, but then forced himself to calm down. The other children were there, and the ball was still thudding around. He didn’t want to give the little girl away. But it was so good to see her! The truth was that he’d been very lonely in the new house. Daddy had tried to play with him a few times, but you could tell his heart wasn’t really in it. He’d play for ten minutes and then get up and say his legs were hurting from kneeling on the floor, even though it was obvious he really just wanted to do something else instead. Whereas the little girl would always play with him for as long as he wanted her to. He’d been expecting to see her all the time after moving to the new house, but she hadn’t been around at all.
Until now.
“Have you made any new friends yet?” she said.
“Not really. Adam, Josh, and Hasan seem okay. Owen isn’t very nice.”
“Owen is a little shit,” she said.
Jake stared at her.
“But a lot of people are, aren’t they?” she said quickly. “And not everybody who acts like your friend really is.”
“But you are?”
“Of course I am.”
“Will you come to my new house and play?”
“I’d like to. But it’s not as simple as that, is it?”
Jake’s heart sank, because no, he knew that it wasn’t. He wanted to see her all the time, but Daddy didn’t want him talking to her.
I’m here. We’re here. New house, new start.
Or, at least, Jake wanted to see her all the time when she wasn’t looking as serious as she was right now.
“Tell me,” she said. “Tell me the rhyme.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Say it.”
“If you leave a door half open, soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken.”
“And the rest.”
Jake closed his eyes.
“If you play outside alone, soon you won’t be going home.”
“Keep going.”
She sounded barely there now.
“If your window’s left unlatched, you’ll hear him tapping at the glass.”
“And?”
The word was so quiet that it might have been nothing more than air. Jake swallowed. He didn’t want to say it, but he forced himself to, speaking as quietly as the little girl just had.
“If you’re lonely, sad, and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you.”
The bell rang.
Jake opened his eyes to see the children in the playground in front of him. Owen was there with a couple of older boys Jake didn’t recognize. They were watching him. George was there too, a concerned expression on his face. After a second the children started laughing, and then headed away toward the main doors, glancing over their shoulders at him.
Jake looked to his side.
The little girl was gone.
* * *
“Who were you talking to at lunchtime?”
Jake wanted to ignore Owen. They were supposed to be writing neatly on the lines in their books, and he wanted to concentrate on that, because it was what they’d been told to do. Obviously, Owen didn’t care; he was leaning over the table and staring at Jake. It was clear to Jake that Owen was one of those boys who didn’t care about being told off. He also knew that telling Owen about the little girl would be a very bad