She wiped her eyes and I wiped my wet shoulder, and we went to sit down at the kitchen table. ‘Martha knows I’m living here on my own,’ said Kate. ‘She doesn’t mind. She knows I’m sensible and she knows I’m perfectly safe. As long as no one else finds out I’m here, everything will be fine. I just need to hold out until Martha comes home again, and then we can get on with the rest of our lives.’‘But you can’t hide here on your own for weeks and weeks!’ I said.Kate gave me a defiant look. ‘Why not? I’ve managed fine for the past two weeks.’ A sudden picture rushed into my head – a picture of Kate all alone in the darkened house for day after day. But that picture was far too upsetting to me, so I pushed it away, and tried to concentrate on practical stuff.‘You’ll run out of food in the end,’ I said.Kate waved towards the kitchen cupboards. ‘No, I won’t. I’ve got heaps of stuff. Martha and I stocked up before she went to hospital.
