‘Hello, Mrs Byers, – sorry to call by so early,’ the girl replied. ‘This is my friend, Millie. We were wondering if Ellie’s home. There’s something we need to talk to her about. And this is for you – from Mrs Oliver. She said she met you at the store and she’s been doing so much baking, our house looks like a cake shop – she needs to pass some on.’

  Alice-Miranda handed her the bag.

  ‘Oh, that’s terribly kind,’ the woman replied. ‘Ellie’s in the shower. She won’t be long. Myles is still asleep. I think the light ceremony was a little overwhelming. He was so excited. Shiny things are his favourite. I was just about to head off to work in a few minutes, but please, come in.’

  Late last night, when Juliette had reminded Ellie that she needed her to look after Myles today, she’d expected a war. Surprisingly, though, the girl said she was happy to stay home.

  ‘Would you like something to drink? I’ve not long boiled the kettle and there’s tea in the pot. It’s cold out there,’ the woman said.

  Millie couldn’t help thinking it was about the same temperature inside too. The load of firewood Mrs Oliver suggested would be welcome, for sure. But she wasn’t about to mention it and neither did Alice-Miranda.

  ‘That would be lovely, thank you,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘But please don’t let us hold you up.’

  ‘It’s fine. I promise you won’t make me late,’ the woman replied.

  Juliette busied herself pouring two cups of tea. She offered the girls sugar and milk though both declined, noticing she didn’t seem to have much of either.

  ‘Weren’t the lights beautiful last night?’ Juliette said as she ushered the girls to the kitchen table and the three of them sat down.

  ‘Gorgeous,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘It’s always such a festive evening. And the food was delicious too.’

  ‘Yes, it was wonderful,’ the woman replied. ‘I’m growing fond of this community.’

  Alice-Miranda bit her lip. ‘Daddy gave Ellie a lift from our place into the village, but I didn’t get to catch up with her properly last night.’

  ‘And someone stole the Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones family’s Christmas display while we were out,’ Millie added.

  Juliette Byers frowned. ‘What was Ellie doing at your house?’ Knowing her daughter’s attitude towards Alice-Miranda and her family, she was more than a little surprised to hear it.

  ‘I’m not sure. That’s why I wanted to talk to her. See if I can help with anything. I spotted her at the light ceremony, but then I was talking with Mr Turner and, when I turned around, Ellie was gone. And Mr Turner’s face was the colour of a sheet. Do you know him at all? He’s a lovely man – lives at Hoxton Manor just a mile or so from our place.’

  ‘Hoxton Manor?’ Juliette said. ‘My aunt Delia worked there – before I was born. But my mother said she died when I was a child. I don’t remember her at all.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ the child said. ‘Mr Turner was very taken with Ellie. He said that she reminded him of his wife.’

  ‘She died too,’ Millie said. Alice-Miranda had filled her in on all the details of Mr Turner’s tragic history before the pair had fallen asleep last night.

  ‘Goodness – that’s sad and odd about Ellie. They say we all have doppelgangers out there somewhere – it’s funny, but I think Ellie’s mine. I’m afraid I’ve never met the man,’ Juliette said.

  ‘He was talking to your son last night too,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘I spotted them when I first arrived. It looked like Mr Turner gave Myles something shiny then Myles ran off.’

  ‘Oh – he came charging back to me with a gorgeous little silver bauble in his hand. I thought he might have taken it from somewhere he shouldn’t, but then he said that a man called Mr Turner found it in his pocket and gave it to him. I didn’t realise he was Mr Turner from Hoxton Manor,’ Juliette said. ‘It’s not a particularly unusual name.’

  Millie looked around the kitchen. There was the small round table where the three of them were sitting, a row of cupboards with an ancient cooker and a dresser with crockery for four. A framed photograph was the only personal item. In it was Ellie, her mother, Myles and a man.

  ‘Is that your husband?’ Millie asked, motioning at the picture.

  ‘Yes, Bronson. He’s away a lot.’

  Alice-Miranda stood up to take a closer look.

  ‘He looks kind,’ she said. ‘What does he do – that takes him away?’

  Juliette chewed her lip. ‘He is – kind, I mean. He works in transport.’

  At least, that was the last job he’d told her about before he disappeared this time. She just wished he’d come home. Prove to Ellie that he wasn’t the deadbeat dad and stepdad she thought he was. He still loved them – she knew that from the money he deposited into her account each week. She used it for Myles and to keep a roof over their heads.

  ‘Do you know who he works for?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

  Juliette shook her head. ‘He’s changed companies a bit – I’m afraid I can’t keep up.’ She actually had no idea – Bronson could have been training to be an astronaut for all she knew.

  There was the sound of a door closing and footsteps in the hall.

  ‘Ellie, darling, you have some visitors,’ Juliette called out.

  The girl stopped in her tracks. If it was Hazel, she’d die – or worse – that greasy little slimeball, Liam. When he was talking about where she lived last night, she felt sick.

  ‘It’s Alice-Miranda and Millie,’ Juliette said.

  That was potentially worse.

  Ellie wondered if she could sneak off out the back without anyone noticing, but that probably wasn’t a good idea. It took her another couple of minutes to muster the courage to walk into the kitchen.

  ‘Good morning,’ Alice-Miranda said brightly. ‘Sorry to call so early but I was hoping we could talk. We didn’t get a chance last night.’

  Ellie cleared her throat but didn’t say a word.

  ‘Ellie,’ her mother prompted.

  ‘Sorry, yes, hello,’ the girl said.

  ‘Oh, and I found this in your jeans pocket when I put them in the wash this morning,’ Juliette said, holding up a silver teaspoon. Ellie snatched it from her hand and quickly put it in a drawer.

  ‘I was just wondering where it had come from, darling. It’s not one of ours. I thought you might have accidentally taken it from Hazel’s,’ her mother said.

  Ellie shrugged.

  Juliette glanced at her watch and said that she’d better be going. ‘Myles is still asleep. You’d probably do well to leave him until he wakes up on his own,’ the woman said.

  Juliette stood up to leave.

  ‘It’s been lovely to chat, girls. Ellie, there’s some bread for toast and your brother’s breakfast is in the cupboard. Please make sure that if you take him out anywhere, he’s got at least four layers on. You know how he loves to underdress,’ the woman said.

  She blew her daughter a kiss from the doorway then disappeared. Ellie walked to the toaster and put a single slice of bread into the slot. ‘Have you had breakfast?’

  ‘Yes, thank you,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘We came to see why you were at Highton Hall last night.’

  Ellie bit her lip. She couldn’t tell them the truth. What if her mother got the sack because of her?

  There was an awkward silence. Millie tapped her foot and jiggled her leg.

  ‘Fine – I’ll say something then – did you take the decorations from the Highton Hall garden?’ Millie asked, an accusatory tone in her voice.

  Alice-Miranda looked across at her and frowned. ‘Millie!’

  ‘No,’ Ellie rebuffed. ‘Why would I?’

  ‘But you were there,’ Millie said. ‘And there’s something missing from Alice-Miranda’s room.’ Millie stood up and walked to the drawer where Ellie had put the teaspoon. It wasn’t hard to locate given there were only a couple. She pulled it out and held it up.

  ‘This is from the Highton-Smith-Kennington-Joneses’ kitchen. See that,’ she pointed at a mark on the underside. ‘Their cutlery is monogrammed,’ Millie said.

  Alice-Miranda frowned. Ellie swallowed hard and nursed her head in her hands.

  She’d hardly slept a wink last night wondering how she was going to tell Hazel that she no longer wanted to be involved with the gang and their activities – no matter how much they thought they were doing people a favour. Besides, so far no one had benefited from the thefts. And there weren’t that many more days until Christmas.

  ‘I didn’t want to do any of it,’ Ellie said. Tears welled in her eyes. ‘You have to believe me.’

  Alice-Miranda reached out across the table and gave the girl’s hand a squeeze while Millie pulled some clean tissues from her pocket and offered them to her. The two girls exchanged concerned glances.

  ‘It’s okay. We’d just like to know what happened and why?’ Alice-Miranda said gently.

  Ellie squeezed her eyes shut tightly and two fat tears spilled onto the top of her cheeks.

  ‘You don’t know what it’s like – always moving around, never having any friends. She made me feel special. I knew what they were asking me to do was wrong – but I couldn’t stop myself,’ Ellie said with a sniff.

  Alice-Miranda looked at Millie who shrugged.

  ‘So can you tell us what happened?’ Millie asked.

  ‘I don’t want to get into trouble,’ Ellie said.

  ‘But you know who’s stealing the Christmas decorations?’ Alice-Miranda said.

  Ellie nodded. ‘I promise I didn’t take them, but I did borrow the spoon from your kitchen. No, I stole it. I wasn’t intending to give it back.’

  ‘And the donations box from the counter at Kennington’s?’ Millie said.

  Ellie nodded. ‘It was a test – to see whether they could trust me. It was so stupid, but they said the money would get to the people who needed it most. I started to have doubts about that almost straight away, but I was already in too deep. Liam said that if I didn’t do as they asked then they’d set me up to take the fall. I can’t get into trouble. Mum would kill me and besides, I want to go to university one day and be a lawyer – I don’t think having a criminal record would help with that.’

  Alice-Miranda bit her lip. ‘Do you want to stay friends with these kids?’

  Ellie shook her head. ‘Not if the only reason Hazel likes me is because I do bad things with them.’

  ‘Do you know where they’re hiding all the stuff they’ve taken? I mean there must be quite a bit. Those baubles aren’t exactly small,’ Millie said.

  ‘I think in a shed at Hazel’s house, but it might be at Liam’s, and I don’t know where he lives,’ the girl said, shaking her head. ‘Actually, they just said a shed so it could be anywhere.’

  ‘Without any evidence, it’s your word against theirs,’ Alice-Miranda said.

  Ellie nodded. ‘They’re planning another raid.’

  ‘When?’ Millie asked, her eyes widening.

  ‘Tonight, at Hoxton Manor,’ Ellie said.

  ‘But Mr Turner’s having his Christmas party tonight. There’ll be people everywhere,’ Alice-Miranda said.

  ‘They’re planning to take those giant wreaths from the front gate and some things from the garden. I think they have this idea that everyone will be busy inside and no one will notice, but it sounds risky to me,’ Ellie said.

  ‘What are they going to do with it all?’ Millie asked.

  Ellie explained about the plan to decorate the houses that didn’t have any obvious Christmas cheer.

  ‘Some people might not want that,’ Millie said.

  ‘Like me,’ Ellie said with a nod. ‘It’s embarrassing enough living in this dump without someone lighting it all up.’

  Millie took a sip of her tea. ‘We should set them up tonight – the gang,’ she said.

  ‘But I’ll go down too,’ Ellie said, horrified by the thought. ‘Or they’ll know I dobbed them in. Either way I’m dead.’

  Millie and Alice-Miranda thought for a moment.

  ‘I’ve got an idea,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘If you’re willing to run with it.’

  Ellie took a deep breath. Two days ago, she couldn’t stand Alice-Miranda – even though she didn’t know her at all – and now she was about to make plans with her. Could she trust the kid? Probably more than she could trust Hazel and her brothers and that slimy weasel, Liam. Ellie hated what she’d allowed herself to become. If there was some way she could make things right, then she really had no other choice.

  Bronson Byers knew full well that there were larger forces at play. He just didn’t think they’d twigged to anything. Clearly, he was wrong.

  The throbbing above his left eye felt like someone was using his skull as a timpani drum. It was a wonder the tyre lever hadn’t punched a hole straight through – obviously there were some benefits of having a thick head. Or at least that’s what his father had always told him. Now, strapped to a chair, his arms and legs tethered with rope, he wondered how long it would be until they’d be back. It had been a long drive to get here. The voices had been eastern European – no one that he recognised – and now the thing that worried him the most was the silence. It was deathly. He thought he was being held in some sort of bunker, but where, he had no clue.

  None of this was what he’d had in mind when he took this job. And all the others. Juliette had no idea. He hated that he’d been lying to her all these years, but it came with the territory. The fact that he had to keep up the pretence in every aspect of their lives was beyond tricky – she deserved more. So did Myles and Ellie. This was supposed to be his last job. He’d told his boss that was it. No more undercover work. His plan was to retire, buy a house and live a quiet life. Maybe he’d become a postman or a greenkeeper. Office work wasn’t ever going to cut it – not after the life he’d led.

  Everything had almost fallen apart when he and Juliette got together. He’d not long gone into undercover operations, and it was only because she was a woman who asked few questions that he had been able to continue. She had no idea how much money he’d saved over the years – he was going to tell them he won the lottery and that’s how they could afford to start again. He sent her as much as he could without attracting attention, but it was never enough. Especially not with all the bills she had to pay for Myles and his care. That was something he felt guilty about every single day.

  No one had expected this job to last as long as it had – and now they were so close to the head of the snake. If they’d wanted to wrap it up six months ago and take down the middlemen, they could have. But not now. His bosses were going for the big guns, which is why if they killed Bronson at this point no one would ever know. He’d be involved in a horrible accident. That’s what his family would be told. Juliette and the children would be none the wiser.

  He had to get out of here before they realised that Bobby Lambert and Bronson Byers were actually the same person, or he was a dead man.

  Alice-Miranda and Millie hurried home, leaving their footprints in the snow.

  ‘Do you think she’ll do it?’ Millie asked.

  ‘She hasn’t really got a choice,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘Not if she wants to come clean and avoid too much trouble. I’m sorry Ellie’s been caught up in all of this.’

  ‘Do you think we should tell the others what’s going on?’ Millie said.

  ‘I have a feeling the less people who know, the better,’ the girl said. ‘Imagine yourself in Ellie’s situation. She doesn’t need everyone’s judgement. Her life’s been hard enough – constantly moving, never being able to make a proper friend. I can see why she was taken in by Hazel. It’s only natural, really. We all want to feel as if we belong.’

  The two friends linked arms. ‘Like the way you and I belong together,’ Millie said with a smile. ‘You do know we’re going to be best friends until one of us kicks the bucket, even if you decide to move to the other side of the world for some reason.’

  ‘I’m not going to do that, Millie – not unless you come with me,’ Alice-Miranda said.

  They squeezed arms and gently knocked their heads together.

  The girls walked down the tree-lined driveway towards the house where curls of wispy smoke rose into the sky from at least half a dozen of the chimneys.

  Mr Greening drove past in the pick-up truck with Betsy sitting beside him and a load of firewood in the back. He gave the pair a wave.

  Alice-Miranda and Millie raced up the stairs to the side porch and into the kitchen only to find it empty.

  ‘Mummy!’ Alice-Miranda called as they ventured into the hallway where the sounds of laughter and clapping filled the air.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Millie asked as they headed towards the noise that seemed to be coming from the front hall.

  ‘Hello!’ Alice-Miranda called in a singsong voice.

  ‘Where have you been?’ Sloane asked, as she spun around and struck a pose with one hand on her hip.

  Millie giggled.

  ‘Are you the new cook?’

  ‘Oui,’ the girl replied in a French accent, ‘I will be whipping up some crepes for your lunch.’

  ‘Crap for lunch – well, that doesn’t sound appetising,’ Millie teased.

  ‘You know what I meant! I can’t help it if my accent is appalling – anyway, you didn’t answer my question. Where have you been? We’ve had breakfast and chosen our outfits for tonight. Sorry, Millie – you’re getting last pick.’

  ‘That’s okay,’ the girl replied.

  ‘We went for a walk and took some of Mrs Oliver’s baking to the neighbours,’ Alice-Miranda said. It wasn’t technically a lie – but she and Millie had decided that it was better for Ellie if they didn’t mention anything about having seen her or what she and the others had been up to.

  ‘Hello, darling,’ Cecelia said, gliding across the room. ‘I thought we’d get started with the outfits for tonight – which we did and everyone is going to look gorgeous – and then I remembered the old dress-up boxes in the attic. Your father and Mr Greening have kindly brought them down and we’ve been having the most wonderful time seeing who can put together the most outrageous ensembles.’