Page 36 of Fireworks at Pennycress Inn
‘You too.’ The older man locked eyes with Zac. ‘And boyfriend or friend, you take care of that girl, okay? She’s been through a lot and she’s a special soul.’
Polly kept her eyes fixed on the stairs as she began to walk up slowly, desperate to eavesdrop on Zac’s response. Only he’d either ignored the old man or else spoken so softly Polly hadn’t heard a thing.
Rounding the stairwell, she paused, waiting for Zac to catch up. ‘See what I mean? I’m perfectly safe here and don’t need a chaperone.’
‘I know, but I’ve begun the journey now and, besides, if I abandon you at this point, I don’t fancy my chances of walking past dear old Mr Greene without being tripped up or else enticed into sharing his beer with him.’ Zac shuddered.
‘Haha, you’re scared of him!’ Leaning her hands on her knees, Polly laughed.
‘Shush, he’ll hear you,’ Zac whispered as he cupped Polly’s elbow and gently guided her further up the stairs.
‘Oh, he won’t. He’s been hard of hearing most of my life. Whenever me and my friends would play music in the stairwell, he’d never complain.’ Polly grimaced as she remembered the time Daphne from Flat 9 had appeared over her balcony railings shaking her fists at the group of three young teens when they’d been practising a dance for PE in the car park, even though Mr Greene, whose home was closer, had assured them he couldn’t hear a thing.
‘Well, he heard me perfectly well when I was talking to him, and I wasn’t very loud at all.’ Zac continued up the steps. ‘I’d suggest he may just have a soft spot for you and didn’t mind your music.’
‘Huh.’ Polly glanced behind her. That might be true. Her grandma had always said Mr Greene used to treat her like one of his own grandchildren. ‘Sorry, Daphne.’
‘Pardon?’ Looking back at her, Zac frowned.
‘Oh nothing. I just…’ Polly shrugged. The last thing he’d want to listen to was her reminiscing over her childhood.
‘It can’t be much further now, surely?’
‘Nope. Just one more flight.’ Polly walked on, her legs feeling heavier the closer she got to the flat, and that wasn’t due to climbing the stairs. She was used to that, but what she wasn’t used to and didn’t think she’d ever get used to was walking into an empty flat.
‘What number did you say it was?’ Zac called from above.
‘Number thirty-one.’
‘Oh, right.’ Zac’s tone was deep, different.
‘Why?’ Rounding the corner, Polly stopped short, her hand gripping tighter to the banister. This couldn’t be happening to her. The first thing she’d noticed was the cracked glass in the small window in the door, a hand-sized hole in the corner. It took her a moment to take it in, to realise what she was looking at. The smashed glass, the door sitting ajar. ‘I’ve only been gone a week.’
‘Polly, I’m so sorry.’ Zac walked towards her.
Coming to her senses, Polly pushed past Zac and made her way to the door. ‘I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t Mr Greene have told me? He knows everything that goes on here.’
‘Maybe he didn’t know. This is the top floor, isn’t it?’ Zac looked around before continuing. ‘And it doesn’t look as though anybody lives next door. He’d have no reason to come up here.’
She nodded. He was right. Her immediate neighbours had moved out four months ago. Gone to live with their children apparently and had just seemingly abandoned their flat, and the flat opposite was between tenants. Zac was right. Her flat had been an easy target. No one around and whoever had broken in had likely gone for hers because of the original door and the lack of security. They must have slipped into the block behind someone who had known the code, and punched a fist through the glass of her door before unlocking it from the inside. ‘What was I thinking?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I should have upgraded the door. I should have?—’
‘Hey, it’s not your fault. Good locks or not, no one should be breaking and entering into other people’s homes.’ Zac laid his hand on her forearm.
‘But I…’ She shrugged. It didn’t matter now, what was done was done and she couldn’t exactly go back in time and change the door, could she?
‘You were lucky you weren’t here.’ Zac met her gaze.
‘If I had been here, this wouldn’t have happened.’ Polly set her jaw before pulling her arm from Zac’s touch and making her way towards the front door. Careful not to touch the broken window, she pushed at the open door and stepped inside, shards of glass crunching beneath her trainers. She closed her eyes as the tears began to fall. She didn’t want to go any further. She didn’t want to see what had been taken, what damage had been done. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t. Her grandparents had poured their hard work and love into this place, and someone had just come along and barged their way inside, uninvited and unwanted. Why?
‘Careful. You probably shouldn’t go in. We should call the police.’ Zac followed her into the tiny hallway before pulling out his mobile.
Opening her eyes, Polly scratched the cuff of her coat sleeve across her face, drying her cheeks. ‘I need to see what’s been taken.’
‘But…’ Zac lowered his voice as he began speaking into his phone.
