Chapter 19 #2
George poked Stan roughly between the shoulder blades.
‘Go on, I won’t blab…’
‘Well… OK then, if you’re sure you can keep a secret,’ George nodded fiercely, ‘it’s just that Leo, nice bloke as he is…
I don’t know why this should be, but he’s rubbish at anything to do with pets.
He even says Mab can’t keep Maurice in the shop now, in case he eats the fish. ’ George looked outraged.
‘But I could take care of the fish, and keep an eye on Maurice… you can get covers for the tanks. Sorted.’
‘Hmmm, it’s not just that, mate. Leo hasn’t even got time to go and choose the fish and set up the tank, he’s so busy. And I’d do it, but I don’t know anything about it.’
‘But I do! I did a project on tropical creatures at school. DH wouldn’t let me have any though.’
‘Oh, George, it was just that they cost so much, and I…’ Stan silenced Jess with a look and she subsided into her seat, light dawning. George sat up, looking better than he’d been for a long time.
‘Stan, I can help you buy the fish, I know what to do, I’ve still got a book.’
‘Really? Would you, mate?’ said Stan. ‘Well, that’d make all the difference. But… no, it wouldn’t work…’ He tailed off, trying to look disappointed.
‘It would! It would work! Why shouldn’t it?’ George shouted, bouncing up and down. Jess stretched out a restraining arm and raised her eyebrows at Stan.
Stan said, rather sadly, ‘It’s just that whoever’s in charge of the fish, and of protecting them from Maurice, of course, will need to be living on the premises, and you’ve just said you don’t want to do that, George.
I don’t see how we can get round that one.
Leo will never get it sorted on his own and no one else has got the expertise to take charge.
It’s a shame, but we’ll just have to drop the idea. ’
There was silence as George thought about this problem. After a moment, he sighed, and said, ‘I’ll do a deal with you, Dickhead.’
Jess smiled hopefully, but Stan, on a roll, said, ‘Look, George, your mum doesn’t like it when you call her that. It’s not respectful. If you’re prepared to do a deal, that’s excellent, but it’s got to be on a proper, grown-up level. So, no name-calling, OK, mate?’
Another pause lengthened until Stan was sure they’d lost him, but then George said, ‘OK then. I’ll do a deal with you…
Mum…’ Jess’s eyes filled with tears but luckily George didn’t notice, and carried on, ‘If you let me sleep in that little room with the bars, and if I don’t have to go to school, I’ll take over Maurice and the fish. ’
Stan hadn’t realised that he’d been holding his breath, but suddenly felt light-headed with relief.
He ruffled George’s hair as Jess said, shakily, ‘Right, that sounds like a great deal to me. The school thing’s a bit up in the air anyway, and you’re not fit for that yet.
We’ll have to talk about it again later, though.
There are rules, Georgie, they’ll send me to prison if I refuse to educate you. ’
George considered this. He felt the van slow down, and sat up straighter.
‘Look, D… Mum, we’re here already. I’m starving. Hurry up, I want to talk to Leo about fish.’
Jess’s eyes met Stan’s and he felt a warm glow spread through his body at her obvious approval, even though George’s future equilibrium was so uncertain. A battle had been won, but Stan was aware that the real war had only just started.
* * *
Kev pulled the van up onto the pavement outside the shop, and everyone piled out. Leo had heard the engine, and had the door open in seconds and Mab flung her arms around Jess before her friend had even had a chance to get through the door properly.
‘Oh, I’ve missed you so much, Jess, don’t go away again, will you? It’s horrible!’
‘Now you know why I made so much fuss about all that time you spent in Portugal,’ said Jess, disentangling herself and turning to make sure that George was following her.
He was, propped up by Stan and Kev, but he was a delicate shade of green, and Stan could see that the journey had been almost too much for him.
Nina moved forward to put a protective arm around both mother and son.
‘Right, straight to bed for you, Georgie Boy, and I’ll bring you some hot chocolate in five minutes. You know where your room is, don’t you?’ George grinned weakly at Stan, and picked up his backpack.
‘Yep, Grum… I mean Grandma. Are there any Jammy Dodgers? Where’s Maurice?’
‘On the bed waiting for you,’ said Mab. ‘I told him you were coming and he said he’d warm the quilt up ready.’
‘Good. I need to talk to you, Leo, can you come into my room in ten minutes? Erm… please?’ George added, catching Stan’s eye. Leo raised an eyebrow.
‘Sure thing, Boss. Can I do anything else for Your Lordship?’
‘Nope, but you’d better bring a pen and paper. This is gonna take a long time,’ said George, with a huge yawn, as he left the room.
‘Don’t worry, Leo,’ said Stan, ‘he’ll be asleep before you get there, and anyway, I need to prime you on a few things before you go and visit He Who Must Be Obeyed.
Oh, are you off, Kev? Thanks for everything, mate.
’ There was a brief skirmish as Stan tried to slip an envelope into Kev’s pocket without Jess seeing him, and then all was peaceful.
The rest of the evening began to drag, with too many tired and preoccupied people all trying to pretend that everything was normal.
Eventually, Stan put his favourite and most relaxing Spotify playlist on, opened some Chianti and ordered in a couple of pizzas in desperation because no one could seem to think about cooking.
While they ate, Leo brought the newcomers up to speed with recent events, and they were suitably horrified.
Stan said that he was certain that Edward was behind the rat report but nobody could see how or why the orders had been cancelled.
The suppliers were both adamant that the emails had come from Leo, and when it occurred to him to check his sent mail, he found that this was true.
Everyone sat in silence as they thought this new development through. There were two simple options. Either someone out of the immediate area seriously had it in for Leo, knew his password or had the expertise to hack into his account, or worse still, it had been done from inside the flat.
‘If I thought Old Crabby had had access to this place, I’d be sure that it was him on all counts,’ said Leo. ‘Have you got anything a bit more upbeat than this, Stan? I’m losing the will to live here.’
Stan pulled a face, but set about swapping the previous playlist for something more cheerful before they all jumped out of a window. The sound of Motown filled the room, and Jess laughed suddenly.
‘I just had the most overwhelming urge to leap up and dance to “Needle in a Haystack”, Mab. It was always the one that got us on the floor, d’you remember?
’ Jess turned the music down before they could embarrass themselves, but when she looked across at Mab to share the joke, her friend was leaning back in her chair, apparently exhausted.
‘But, getting back to the point, how would he know your password, or be able to sign into your email address, Leo?’ asked Stan. Leo looked embarrassed and Harry raised his eyebrows.
‘That wouldn’t be too tricky. His email address is a really obvious Gmail one and his password is Leolamb1, hardly a challenge to hack into. I’ve told him many times that he should at least add some extra numbers to it. Even I’m techier than Leo when it comes to security.’
‘But you never think anyone would want to get into your emails, do you?’ said Leo, draining his glass and pouring everyone some more Chianti. He, Harry, Mab and Nina had not been drinking since George’s accident, but now he felt that they all needed it. He leaned over the table.
‘You haven’t got any wine, Mab. Here, pass your glass, pet.’
‘Oh, um… no, it’s OK, I’ll get some ginger beer in a minute, thanks,’ said Mab, quickly covering her glass with her hand.
‘Are you feeling poorly, love?’ asked Jess. ‘I thought you looked a bit peaky when I came in.’ Stan saw Mab and Nina exchange swift glances.
‘No, no… just dieting, as usual.’ Mab laughed rather mirthlessly.
‘Well, it’s definitely working, you look fabulous, apart from being so pale,’ said Jess, admiringly.
‘Are those new jeans? And I haven’t seen that top before either.
Mab… you’ve been shopping without me!’ She sounded so horrified that everyone laughed.
‘Well, it’s OK for you lot. I never get to go shopping.
And when I do want to go, Mab’s always busy with her book. ’
Before Mab could reply, the sound of the telephone silenced them all, and Leo jumped up to answer it.
‘Yes… who is this? What? What? Is this some sort of sick joke? Hey, don’t hang up…’
He turned to face the others, now as pale as Mab, who stared back at him.
‘Leo, who was it? Why are you looking like that?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know who it was. They didn’t give a name. But what they did say was pretty bad.’
‘Quick, ring 1471,’ said Stan. ‘We need to know who that was, and fast, before someone else phones. Then you’d better tell us what it was all about.’
Jess snatched the telephone and dialled, listened carefully and then pressed the ‘end call’ button, putting the handset on the table thoughtfully.
‘Well?’ asked Leo.
‘The caller withheld their number,’ she said, ‘so now, tell us why you look as if you’ve seen a ghost.’
‘It was probably just one of those crank calls. Nothing to make a big deal about.’
‘Leo, just tell us what they said, lad, and let us all decide if it’s serious, eh?’ said Harry, turning off the music abruptly.
There was a pause, while Leo appeared to be thinking how to word his answer. After a moment, he sighed and said, ‘I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman, they were all muffled.’
‘Like on the old films, where they used to crumple a handkerchief and talk through it?’ said Stan excitedly.