AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A rucksack?
Jennie feels a rush of emotions. Questions too.
Was the rucksack Hannah’s luggage for their move to London? Was Hannah killed before she could meet her at the bus stop?
Hassan, undeterred by Jennie’s silence, continues, ‘I’ve got a theory about what happened to her if you’re interested.’
Jennie nods, but doesn’t look at him as he moves alongside her at the trench.
‘Well, you’ll see the hyoid bone is broken,’ says Hassan, gesturing down towards the skeleton’s neck. ‘My initial view is she was strangled.’
‘So it’s murder?’ says Zuri as she scribbles down what Hassan’s telling them into her notebook.
‘I need more time with her back in the lab to be sure,’ says Hassan. ‘But, as a preliminary hypothesis, yes, I’d say there was definitely foul play involved.’
As Hassan and Zuri continue to talk about the details, Jennie finds it increasingly hard to focus on what they’re saying. She finds it difficult to envision someone enacting that kind of brutality against Hannah, especially here, in what was meant to be her safe space.
Jennie, on the other hand, was no stranger to violence at school. Lorraine and Becky made her familiar with it. Quickly, too. The worst of it came only three weeks into her time at White Cross. Jennie had always hated PE. It wasn’t that she was particularly unfit, but cross-country running wasn’t her thing. She was slow, always falling behind the group and finishing as one of the final stragglers. Lorraine and Becky knew that.
On that day they hung back with Jennie, constantly mocking her with comments about her being a hippo, a tank, a sumo wrestler. She tried to run faster and catch up with the others, but she was soon breathless and exhausted.
Lorraine and Becky bided their time, waiting until everyone else was out of sight before they tripped her. As Jennie lay on the ground, fighting back tears and clutching her injured ankle, they laughed and taunted her.
‘Ugly bitch. You pissed up like your mum?’
Becky joyfully told the story of how she’d seen Jennie’s ‘deadbeat’ mum vomiting in the alcohol aisle of the local Tesco at the weekend. ‘OMG, you should have seen it, your mum yelled at a shop assistant who was trying to help her and hit the security guard who escorted her from the store. It was so embarrassing. Who wants a shit mum like that?’
‘Or a wife like that,’ sneered Lorraine. ‘Your dad probably got himself blown up on purpose so he didn’t have to see you or your crap mum again.’
Struggling to her feet, Jennie lunged towards Becky and Lorraine, but that only made things worse. Becky pulled Jennie’s arms behind her back while Lorraine whacked Jennie in the face. With blood pouring from her nose and a split lip, Jennie tried to fight them off. Eventually she managed to wrestle free from Becky’s grasp, but Becky quickly grabbed for Jennie’s cheap sports top and clung on tight. As Jennie twisted away Lorraine snatched at her top too and pulled hard. Seconds later there was a loud tearing sound as the side seam ripped, exposing Jennie’s ancient grey bra. Becky and Lorraine had screamed with laughter. Tears pricked Jennie’s eyes as she clutched the tattered fabric to her chest.
‘Leave her alone.’
The shout came from behind them. Jennie didn’t recognise the voice, but she saw fear flicker across Becky and Lorraine’s faces. As she turned around, Jennie smelt the heady scent of Opium perfume, and then there was Hannah. She was wearing PE kit, but she’d added her own flare to it: a red plaid shirt over the regulation sports top and shorts, and long over-the-knee socks rather than the usual ankle length.
As Hannah came closer, Lorraine and Becky seemed to shrink back, away from Jennie. Hannah tilted her head to one side, seemingly amused by this. She was so vital and alive with this wild energy that just seemed to emanate from her; it was mesmerising. To Jennie she seemed like a kick-ass guardian angel.
Hannah had put her arm around Jennie and said to Becky and Lorraine, ‘Touch her again and you’re dead.’
As the bullies legged it through the gate and off across the playing field towards the school building, Hannah gave Jennie a dazzling smile. ‘They tried to bully me when I started here. It didn’t go well for them.’
Following Hannah, Jennie limped back to school and down into the basement. Hannah opened the first door off the hallway and told her to come inside. Jennie had never been in that room before. She didn’t know what she’d expected but it wasn’t what she found. The soft red light. The not-unpleasant smell of chemicals. A rickety old external door. A cosy space: dark wood-panelled walls, an old burgundy sofa, a long, thin table up against one wall with a stack of shallow trays and plastic bottles of chemicals at one end, and a washing line with what looked like photographs pegged along it.
A darkroom.
‘This is Jennie,’ said Hannah. ‘I’ve said it’s cool for her to hang out.’
The four people in the room all stared at her. Jennie looked down, feeling awkward. She hated to be the centre of attention.
‘Welcome to the darkroom crew,’ said Hannah. She gestured towards a long-haired, hippie-looking guy, who was wearing a long grey coat even though they were indoors and it wasn’t cold. ‘That’s Rob, and over on the sofa are Simon and Lottie.’
‘Hi,’ said Jennie, smiling at them, even though it hurt her split lip.
Rob raised an eyebrow and then lifted his hand in a small wave. Simon, a broad, blond jock who she recognised as captain of the football team, gave her a casual nod. Lottie, her blonde curly hair perfectly styled and wearing an expensive-looking pink shift dress and black platform sandals, just stared back, unsmiling.
‘And that’s Elliott over there,’ said Hannah, turning towards the tall, nerdy-looking boy with a mop of black hair, wearing jeans, a blue T-shirt and John Lennon glasses.
Elliott smiled a broad, generous smile. ‘Hey, Jennie. Are you into photography?’
