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boot.
    â€˜Thelma’s at home,’ she went on. ‘Grant told me. And I checked the phone book, so now I know where she lives…’
    She was beginning to sound like one of those scary stalkers you read about.
    â€˜Fantastic,’ I said sarcastically. ‘Well, as soon as I’ve had my shower, I’ll go round there and tell her I’m her guardian angel, ready to save the day – and stop her killing her ex-boyfriend.’
    Gaby scowled. ‘You can’t do that!’ she snapped. ‘But maybe we could go round there together and sort of keep a lookout. Make sure she isn’t up to anything.’
    â€˜
We
?’ I said.
    â€˜Well, two of us won’t look so suspicious. No offence, Billy, but if I saw you hanging around outside my house, I think I’d call someone.’
    She sort of had a point. I sighed. I wished I had an excuse not to go. But I didn’t. Dad had been called out on an emergency plumbing job in the early hours and was now snoozing it off. I was surplus to requirements.
    â€˜I suppose you’d better come in,’ I said.
    While I got dressed, Gaby scribbled her aunt’s number on a piece of (pink) paper, which I gave to my mum, along with a cock-and-bull story about going around to Gaby’s with a gang of kids from school to watch a DVD.
    Mum smirked a strange smirk that I hadn’t seen before. And, annoyingly, I felt my face turn red. I grabbed my coat and escaped.
    â€˜Have you got your tool bag?’ asked Gaby.
    â€˜Why?’
    â€˜Because it might come in handy – you know, a cover for why we might be in Thelma’s neighbourhood. You could pretend you’re doing a plumbing job.’
    I stared at her. My tool bag weighed a ton. There was no way I wanted to lug it around. But then again, I might actually feel safer around Thelma if I had several heavy tools within reach. A few moments later, I reappeared with my bag. And we were off.
    Gaby was smaller than me (which is saying something), but she was much faster. It was like going for a walk with a whippet. She powered alongside me, every so often getting so far ahead she’d have to stop and wait. It was actually quite annoying. Then, suddenly, she stopped.
    â€˜This is it,’ she said, peering at a bit of (pink) paper. ‘Number four – the big house over there.’
    There’s obviously a lot of dosh in pies, because we’d arrived at a pretty posh neighbourhood. The cars were all shiny and new, and the gardens were stuffed full of those adventure play centres that only truly rich kids own. Some of them were bigger than my house.
    â€˜Let’s take a closer look,’ whispered Gaby. She grabbed my arm and we went towards the house.
    But a moment later, she suddenly shoved me sideways, really hard. (For someone so small she had iron-man arms.) We landed in a thorny bush.
    â€˜OWWWWWWWWWW!’ I screamed, or I would have done, if Gaby hadn’t clamped her small, sweaty hand over my mouth.
    â€˜I think she’s coming,’ she whispered.
    I wriggled a bit. It was hard not to with a giant thorn stuck in my behind.
    Gaby pinched my arm. ‘Ssh!’
    And then I saw her. It was Thelma all right. She was walking briskly down the road, pulling one of those old-lady shopping trolleys behind her, and she had a determined look on her face.

Chapter 10
    I felt my heart pounding, and I wondered whether it was from fear of Thelma, or the fact that I was struggling to breathe with Gaby’s hand over my face.
    A few moments later, Gaby let go, and I collapsed back onto the pavement.
    â€˜Don’t ever do that again!’ I yowled.
    But Gaby wasn’t listening. ‘Come on, she’s getting on that bus.’
    Thelma had reached the end of the street, and as if by magic, a bus had just appeared.
    â€˜We can’t follow her,’ I gasped, as Gaby dragged me towards the bus stop. ‘She’ll recognise