The village clock had just chimed ten. Miss Fletcher would be wondering where I was, but I didn’t have time to stop at the school and explain. I didn’t have time for Will Potter neither. He was sweeping snow from the front steps, and though I tried to ignore him, he put down his broom and fell in beside me.‘You look different too.’‘Keep your beak out,’ I said.Though the sun was shining, the cold made the tips of my ears sting. What’s more, I was sick with nerves. And the last person on earth I wanted to see was Will.‘No need to be unfriendly.’I glared at him. ‘You snitched on me.’‘So I did.’‘It was a lousy thing to do.’‘I’m sorry.’‘Lost your bottle, did you?‘Maybe. But the Barringtons are our finest customers, see. If we lost that account, then . . .’ He trailed off, looking uneasy.‘So Mrs Jessop didn’t tell your pa, then?’‘No, luckily. But only after I’d cleaned those chickens out within an inch of my life.’ And he smiled at me then in that slow, lazy way of his that was meant to win me over but actually got right up my nose.‘Glad it worked out so well for you,’ I said, hitching up my skirts.
