1.
Iâve never told anyone how it started. It was last autumn, two weeks before Halloween. I and my best friend Alice were discussing what we should wear to school that year. We could dress up as anyone or anything we wanted â âwithin reasonâ, our teacher, Mrs Davidson, said. Iâm Elizabeth. Alice and I had known each other since we were five, when we started at primary school, and next year we would be in secondary. There, things are a bit different on Halloween. Instead of dressing up in the daytime, all the kids go to a big party at school in the evening wearing their costumes. We knew that because we both had brothers in their second year there â St. Markâs Academy. My brother Douglas was best friends with Aliceâs brother Donald, which should have meant we could all go round together, but of course, being boys and a couple of years older than us, they preferred to pretend we were aliens with some horrid disease! So we did our bit to annoy them when we could, too.
This day we were at Aliceâs house. The boys were in the garden fighting with cricket stumps. Not really fighting, of course. Just showing off how dangerous they were â and how childish. They had a lair in the cellar where we werenât allowed, so we decided, while they were occupied outside, weâd take it over for a while. Aliceâs mum was busy in the kitchen, and her big sister Margaret was out, so we opened the door as softly as we could and crept down the steps. It wasnât very light â there were two dirty oblong windows high up, which looked out on the garden at ground level. One half of the room as piled high with old furniture, carpets, and stuff. The other was the boysâ sort of private clubhouse. There was a table, two old armchairs, a table lamp, a candle in a bottle, a few boxes, and Donaldâs laptop. There were posters stuck all over the walls, most connected with computer games â which weâre not interested in â and featuring a suspiciously large number of super heroines with large breasts. Alice shook her head in disgust.
âBoys! What is their problem? Is that all they think about?â
She picked up a black felt-tip and drew a moustache on one.
âThere. That should cool their interest a bit.â
But it was a great lair. We did a bit of snooping. The laptop was passworded, but at the bottom of one of the boxes I found some âadultâ magazines.
âOoh, look Alice,â I said, âI bet your mum doesnât know heâs got these stashed away here.â
âShe probably suspects,â she replied, âbut sheâs too discreet to go searching through his stuff. Not like us,â she added, with a giggle.
We were just about to search the other boxes, when to our alarm we heard the boysâ voices outside the door. We had to hide, and quick. We dived behind the furniture. There was an old desk with a carpet laid on top of it, hanging down the front. We got under it, and behind the carpet, just in time. They came clattering down the stairs.
âWhere is it?â Douglas was saying.
âRight here.â Donald delved into one of the boxes and pulled out a magazine. We peeped round the edge of the carpet, expecting to see something naughty, but it was only a computer magazine.
âBoring!â Alice whispered in my ear. But it wasnât that simple.
âGood hiding place,â said Douglas. âSo much for their parental controls. Did you use all the money?â
âYeah. He wanted the ten quid. But itâll be worth it. Did your mum notice youâd nicked a fiver?â
âNah. Yours?â
âCourse not. Sheâs not that careful.â
âCool. So we can always get a bit more if we want.â
âSure. Anyway, look at this.â He held up a silver dvd. âItâs lesbos, just like we asked for.â
âYeah? Thatâs nang! Did you lock the door?â
âCourse.â
Donald opened his laptop, connected something to it, and slid in the dvd. The boys stood back. It started to play. I could just get a sidelong view. There were two ladies. They were talking and laughing in a language I didnât recognise, over some cheesy background music. I could see bodies moving about, and hear heavy breathing, but not much else. But the boys were clearly impressed. Douglas's eyes were popping out.
âCor! Iâm gonna borrow it tonight, right?â
âNo. Itâs me first, cos I went anâ got it, innit?â
âLook at âer titsâŚâ
I wanted to see what developed. But Alice was furious, and before I could stop her she had burst out of our hiding place.
âDonald! You disgusting thief! Iâm telling mummy, right now! Oh, are you in big trouble! You too, Douglas.â
âAlice! Wait a minute!â I shouted. âDouglas is my brother. You canât tell on him too.â
âI have to. Theyâre both in it. You heard what they said. They stole money from our mums! And bought a horrible video.â
I looked at the boys. They were horrified and frightened. Donald started stammering.
âAlice. Please! Wait a minute. We didnât mean⌠I-I mean, we just borrowed the money. W-we were going to pay in b-back. And if you tell mummyâŚ.â
âYes? What? Youâll be grounded forever. Serve you right. Maybe sheâll report you to the police and youâll go to jail. How would you like that?â
âLiz,â pleaded Douglas, âif you tell on us weâll be finished. They may not allow us to see each other again. And mumâŚthe videoâŚâ
âYou should have thought of that before,â said Alice, determinedly. But I was thinking fast.
âWait a bit, Alice,â I said.
âWhy?â
âLetâs have a talk. Come over here. Boys, take that video out and put it back in the box.â
âLizâŚâ Douglas whined.
âDonât say anything till I speak to you. Right?â
They nodded, glumly. I took Alice over to the foot of the stairs.
âListen. If we tell on them, and theyâre not allowed to see each other any more, whatâs going to happen to us? Itâs going to make our lives more difficult too.â
âMaybeâŚâ
âIt will! We definitely wonât get to go to each otherâs houses so often. Plus, our mums are going to be really angry about the money, and everyoneâs going to be really pissed off. My dad⌠I donât know what he might say.â
âBut they stoleâŚâ
âYeah, but I think they were just trying to impress each other how daring they were. Letâs give them a break.â
âWhat, do nothing?â
âNo. Not do nothing. Donât you see? This way, weâve got them in our power. Theyâll do anything for us not to tell. We can use thisâŚ.â
Alice frowned. âDo you reckon?â
âWatch this.â I turned to the boys. âBoys? We may be prepared to keep your secret. May⌠So donât look so relieved. Thereâll be conditions. First, youâll have to return the money. Second, we get custody of the dvd. ThirdâŚand this is the most important thingâŚyouâll have to promise to do exactly what we say. Without argument.â I looked from one to the other. âWell?â
They were pathetically grateful and eager to please.
âSure, Liz, anything, anything at all,â burbled my brother. Donald put on his saddest, most repentant face.
âThank you, thank you, weâll be really good, and Iâll pay my mum back out of my pocket moneyâŚâ
âMe too,â added Douglas. âWe were going to anyway, werenât we, Don?â
âYeah, course.â
I looked at Alice. Her frown had faded. She nodded. âGood thinking, Liz.â
âAll right, enough,â I said to the boys. âNow, to make sure, youâre each going to write a full confession. How you planned it, where you got it, how you stole the money, everything. So get started.â
We gave them pens and pads. We made sure they incriminated themselves fully. Our plan was developing. Alice went upstairs.
âWhereâs she going?â asked Donald, tremulously.
âYouâll see. Nothing to worry about.â
She came back with Margaret, who had just got home. She had also got a big envelope. The boys looked scared.
âWhatâs going on?â said Margaret, puzzled.
âNothing. The boys have just written statements. We want you to witness their signatures, thatâs all. You donât have to read the statements.â
âOkayâŚif you say so.â
âYes please, Margaret.â
âAll right,â she grinned. âI wonât ask any questions. Where do I sign?â
We gave her the statements â each two pages long â and folded them so she couldnât see what they were about. Then the boys, Donald first and then Douglas, signed them, and Margaret countersigned and dated them. Then we put them in the envelope with the dvd, and asked Margaret to keep it safe. She laughed.
âI donât know whatâs going onâŚsome sort of game?â But when she looked at the boysâ faces, she knew it was more serious than that. I thought Iâd better explain.
âMargaret, the boys have agreed to do everything we tell them. Everything.â
âReally?â She looked astonished. âIs that true, boys?â
They nodded shamefacedly.
âWell thatâll make a change,â she laughed. But I could see she knew they had done something bad.
âIf they donât,â said Alice, âthen I will tell you, and you must straight away give the envelope to mummy.â
âOkay⌠I think I can manage that. But donât hurt them, will you?â
âOh, donât worry about that, Mags. Weâre going to look after them just like our little pets, arenât we, Liz?â
âYes. Like our little puppiesâŚâ I replied.