The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group Read Free

pool or the sea view or any of the other luxuries that Mum’s always talking about. But we’re doing okay. I guess we’d be doing even better if it wasn’t for my school fees. I keep telling Mum that I’d be just as happy at one of the local schools. (Happier, in fact, since I wouldn’t have to spend so long on the train every day.) My mum, however, has very firm views on education. So unless I get expelled, I’ll be switching schools over her dead body.
    Mind you, I nearly was expelled last year. And when it happened, I felt really bad – because no matter how often I told Mum that it was all my fault, she kept on blaming herself. She seemed to think that if my dad had been around, I wouldn’t have dropped a foil wrapper into hydrochloric acid during science class.
    She feels guilty that she can’t provide enough guidance and discipline.
    Maybe that’s why she sounded so apologetic when she greeted the two police officers who showed up at my bedside. She had this look on her face, as if she was bracing herself for a well-deserved putdown. But the police didn’t start laying into her. They didn’t get stuck into me, either. They were very polite.
    After he’d introduced himself as Tino, and his partner as Michelle (I can’t remember their last names), the policeman said, ‘So you’ve had a bit of a rough night, eh, Toby?’
    I grunted.
    ‘Dr Passlow tells me you don’t appear to have any major problems, which is good,’ Tino went on.
    I glanced at Mum, who immediately came to my rescue.
    ‘We – we haven’t really talked to any doctors yet,’ she stammered. ‘Is Dr Passlow the paediatrician? We haven’t talked to the paediatrician.’
    ‘Oh.’ Tino seemed surprised. ‘Okay. Well, I’m sure he’ll be heading over here in a minute. And before he does, I just want to see if we can clarify a few things.’ He turned back to me. ‘According to the doctor, you don’t remember what happened last night. Is that correct?’
    I nodded. Then Tino nodded. But his nod and my nod were very different. There was a resigned quality to his nod.
    ‘I see,’ he said with a sigh. ‘And do you know where you ended up this morning?’
    ‘Yeah,’ I rejoined. ‘Mum told me.’
    ‘And you’ve no idea how you got there? Who might have left you there?’
    ‘No.’ Suddenly I realised what he was getting at. ‘Hang on – are you saying someone actually did this to me?’
    ‘That’s what we’re trying to establish. Do you suspect someone of doing this to you?’
    Talk about a loaded question! I just stared at him, open-mouthed. I couldn’t believe he was serious.
    That was when Mum spoke up.
    ‘I’m not sure my son should be discussing this right now,’ she objected, sounding perfectly serene even though she wasn’t. (She had lots of crinkles on her forehead, and her mouth had gone stiff.) ‘He’s not in a fit state . . .’
    ‘We aren’t trying to pin anything on Toby, Mrs Vandevelde,’ Tino assured her. ‘Even if he was responsible for the damage at Featherdale, there’s no way of proving it. And quite frankly, we don’t believe he is to blame. We think other people were involved.’ He fixed me with a benign but penetrating look. ‘Have you been fighting with the kids at school, by any chance?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘What about the ones in your neighbourhood? I know a few of them can be pretty rough. Are they giving you trouble?’
    ‘Course not!’ What did he think I was, a geek? A nerd? A natural-born target? ‘Why would anybody want to pick on me?’
    ‘Listen.’ All at once Michelle took over. Even though she was smaller than Tino, she had a harder face and a gruffer voice. ‘You shouldn’t be afraid to tell us if some bully’s been giving you a hard time,’ she said flatly. ‘We’ve got zero tolerance for bullying. If you don’t nip it in the bud, it gets worse and worse. Someone might end up getting killed. That’s why we take these situations very seriously, and why we’ll make