Page 19 - My Home on the Earth

clearing the table. Kay, her sister Emily, and mum, Alice, agreed to share a rota for the daily school runs. Occasionally, Steve, Emily’s husband, slipped in to cover, depending on his shift at Rauston Police Station. Cara’s dad, Pete Maitland, worked for an engineering company six miles away but was always on hand to do evening or weekend chauffeuring for either girl.
Before she went to sleep that night, Cara couldn’t get the boy out of her head. Who was he and why did he look familiar? She went over what had happened earlier. We got off at the bus terminal, walked to the centre and arrived at the barrier. If he’d followed us from the terminal, there was no way he could be behind the opposite barrier. Unless ... he passed us and crossed the tracks before the barriers came down. Or ... he was on the same bus that stopped outside our school and got off two stops before the terminal. Then he could have entered the centre on the far side. But why follow us to Annetta’s?
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In the morning, Cara laughed at herself for making a drama out of nothing and got ready for school. After breakfast she and her mum left the house, got into the car and drove off to collect Elise. She always walked to the end of Southcliff Drive, unless it was raining, and waited with people at the bus stop. On seeing her aunt’s car coming towards her she left the queue and stood in her usual spot. Her grandma believed it was safer to stand
with a crowd than to stand alone.
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