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CHAPTER TEN

Louisa

Then

‘Get off him, he’s mine!’

I snatch Timmy out of Paula’s hands and hold him tightly against my chest. His brown hair has something sticky in it like toffee and somebody has scribbled on his tummy in pink felt-tip.

‘Louisa, you know it’s not nice to snatch. I was only going to show you how to dress him properly.’ Paula smiles at me but there’s a bit of red lipstick on her top tooth which reminds me of blood. She’s still holding Timmy’s dungarees and I want to snatch them too because I’m worried he might be getting cold.

I don’t know why Bill and Bernie keep bringing me to see Paula. She looks like a clown and her room always smells of ginger biscuits, which is what Sam Butterworth says I am. The toys here are pretty cool though, especially Timmy. When I first became his mummy, Paula gave me a little bottle and asked if I’d like to feed him. I was really excited at first but then he started to cry which made me sad. I think the water was too hot for him, like the water which melted Esther. I stuffed the bottle into my coat pocket when Paula wasn’t looking and hid it under my bed at home. Well, it’s not my real home, not the one I lived in with Mummy. It’s another home with people called Bill and Bernie and their big fat cat, Arthur. Bill says he’s a greedy little blighter but he still gives him bits of chicken when Bernie isn’t looking. He winks at me when he does it and says it’s our little secret.

Sometimes, when Timmy is having a sleep, I play with the kitchen in the corner. The food isn’t real but I still like to pretend it is. My favourite is the beans, which all stick together, and the tomato sauce bottle. I don’t like the toaster or the white piece of bread which goes in it though. It makes me feel all sick inside my tummy so I hide it in the oven.