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them,’ Val said quietly, catching her by the arm and steering her over the threshold. ‘They talk tough, but they’re nice once you get to know them.’
    Skye glanced back and shuddered when she saw the girls staring in at her. It was the same way that Janet Hampson and her mates stared at the younger kids at school: designed to scare the shit out of them, whilst leaving no doubt that they were perfectly capable of carrying out their unspoken threat if challenged.
    As Skye and Val entered the hallway, a door opened at the far end and a tall, thin man walked out. He stopped when he saw them, and drew his head back. ‘Have I missed something?’
    ‘I spoke to Ann this morning,’ Val told him. ‘She said you had a room for me.’
    ‘Nice of her to tell me ,’ he complained. Then, winking at Skye to let her know that he wasn’t blaming her, he held out his hand and walked up to her, saying, ‘I’m Col. Welcome to Maddison House. Or, as we like to call it, the madhouse.’
    ‘She’s a bit upset,’ Val explained when Skye shoved her hands into her pockets and stared down at her feet. ‘Is Lucy around?’ she asked then, glancing at her watch. ‘I’ve got a meeting I need to get to, so I’m going to have to sign Skye over and run.’
    ‘I think she’s in the kitchen,’ said Col. ‘Go and wait in the office while I fetch her.’ He turned to Skye now, and smiled. ‘Don’t look so nervous, Chuck; we run a friendly ship around here.’
    In light of the decidedly un friendly looks those girls had just given her, Skye doubted that very much, and she struggled not to burst into tears as she followed Val into the office. Everything was spiralling out of control and it was all her fault because, if she hadn’t panicked and made that 999 call last night, none of this would be happening. If she’d only taken a bit of time to calm down after she’d found her dad, she was sure she could have patched him up without getting the authorities involved. It happened all the time in films: someone got stabbed, or shot, and their friends poured alcohol over the wounds and bandaged them up, then mopped their brow until the fever broke. Skye could have done that, so why oh why had she made that call?
    When Col and Lucy joined them a few minutes later, Skye slouched down in her seat and watched as they filled out a pile of paperwork. Itching to get out of there, Val was on her feet as soon as the last form was signed.
    ‘Right, I’ll leave you to settle in, Skye. I’ll come and see you sometime next week, but if you need to talk to me before that, let Col or Lucy know and they’ll get hold of me. And they’ll sort you out with some clothes until I’ve had a chance to collect some of your own things.’
    Skye had been staring at the floor the whole time Val had been talking, but she snapped her head up when she heard this. ‘You’re going to my house? Can I come with you?’
    ‘Sorry.’ Val shook her head.
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘Because it would unsettle you,’ said Lucy.
    A shiver ran down Skye’s spine when she caught the coldness in the woman’s voice. In contrast to the overweight social worker, Lucy was quite slim and petite, but there was nothing remotely feminine about her, and Skye just knew that she was going to be an absolute bitch.
    ‘Right, I really need to get moving,’ Val said, shifting her handbag onto her other shoulder as she headed for the door. She paused there, and looked back at Skye one last time. ‘See you next week, and please try to be good.’
    As Col went to show Val out, Lucy walked over to a closet in the corner of the room and opened the door, revealing shelves stacked with folded clothes and rows of shoes.
    ‘What size are you?’ she asked over her shoulder. When Skye didn’t answer, she glanced back and looked her up and down. ‘I’d guess a ten, and a five in shoes. If I’m wrong, it’s your own fault for not speaking up when you had the chance.’
    She selected a pair of