He found a lost phone and returned it to its owner. But when the man saw the pendant around her neck, he froze in shock.
“Alice!” came the gruff shout of her stepfather from deep inside the flat.
“Wake up,” the girl thought sadly. “Here he goes again…”
Glancing around quickly, she grabbed a hoodie, threw it over her shoulders, and bolted out of the house into the yard.
“Ali, where are you going?” came the frail voice of her grandmother. “Not for long, Gran!”
At the entrance, two neighbours eyed the girl uneasily. “Is he giving her trouble again?”
Alice simply nodded without malice. Maybe she could wait out his morning temper somewhere on the street.
She walked slowly along the pavement towards the nearby shop, kicking pebbles as she went. The same thought circled in her head: *”If Mum were alive… he wouldnt treat me like this.”*
Alices mother, Anna, had died a year ago. A drunk driver had fallen asleep at the wheel, his car slamming into a bus stop at full speed. Alices mother and three others died instantly. Several passengers were seriously injured. The driver only woke when rescuers surrounded him.
After the funeral, the question arose: who would take care of the girl? Her grandparents flatly refused.
“We’re too old to raise a teenager,” her grandmother said. “Kids these days arent easy. And our health isnt what it was…” She turned to her husband. “Say something. We cant do it. Let her stay with Davehe adopted her anyway.”
David, Annas husband, had officially adopted Alice after she was born. But he never treated her as his own. He didnt hurt herhe just ignored her. At first, the little girl called him “Dad,” but one day, he said sharply:
“Im not your dad. Call me Uncle Dave, understand?”
Alice wanted to ask her mother who her real father was, but Anna only laughed it off. After her death, David started drinking more.
When Alice turned seven, school was unavoidable.
“More than half my wages go to you,” her stepfather grumbled, tossing a new backpack full of textbooks, notebooks, and stationery onto her bed. “Now its your turn to help. Youll cook for yourself, do the cleaningbasically, the house is your responsibility.”
*Well, obviously, who else?* Alice thought, but she nodded silently to avoid an argument.
Then David started sending her to the shop for groceries, having arranged with the cashier not to ask questions. At first, Alice was embarrassed, but she got used to it. She also got used to the cashier occasionally slipping her something sweet, just out of kindness.
Now, she was walking the familiar path again, crossing the car park when she spotted somethinga mobile phone.
She picked it up. “Wow!” she whispered. “Not even scratched!”
She pressed the power button. A miracleit turned on, still unlocked. She sat on a bench near the shop and scrolled through the contacts. Most were business names with “Ltd” or “Plc,” followed by surnames. Then she found: *”Wife.”* She dialled.
After a few rings, someone answered.
“Hello! I found your husbands phone,” Alice said calmly.
“How did you know who to call?”
“It wasnt locked. I saw your contact.”
“Right. Where are you? Ill come get it.”
“Fine, but dont go through anything else, alright?” Alice was slightly offended.
“Yeah, yeah. Im on my way.”
She gave the address and hung up. Just as the screen went dark, it buzzed. A name flashed: *”Snout.”* Alice laughedshe remembered a boy from nursery with a big nose, the one her stepfather called “Snout the Nose Bug.”
“Hello?” she answered.
“Thats my phone! Im calling from a friends.”
“Ah, Snouts?”
“Exactly! So, you said your wifes coming?”
“Shes almost here. Shes on her way.”
“Waitwhats your name?”
“Alice.”
“Right, Alice. Dont give the phone to her. Ill be there in a sec. Where can I find you?”
She started explaining but was cut off.
“I know where you are. I was there an hour agomustve dropped it getting in the car. Wait for me!”
The call ended. Alice tucked the phone under her hoodie and waited. Soon, a red foreign car pulled up, and a beautiful woman stepped out. Alice froze in awe. The woman glanced around and walked over.
“Hi, are you the one who called?”
“No, he stepped aside. Said hed be back in a minute.”
“How impatient!” the woman snapped. “Im in a hurry!”
“Wonder where Im going,” a mans mocking voice came from behind.
Alice turned. A tall man with dark hair stood there, his face serious but his eyes alive with amusement.
“Did you run here for my card details?” he said. “Rocketed over the second you heard it wasnt locked?”
The woman tried to laugh it off, but it was clear hed hit the mark.
He sat beside Alice.
“Hi. Thanks for finding my phone. Youre a very decent girl. Tell your mumshe should be proud.”
“I dont have a mum,” Alice whispered, looking down.
She unzipped her hoodie and handed over the phone. The man reached for itthen froze. His gaze locked onto the pendant around her neck: a small resin maple leaf with a ladybird at its base.
His face tensed, eyes squeezing shut as if fighting memories. When he opened them, every muscle seemed to protest what he saw.
“Where did you get this?” he asked coldly, lifting it carefully with two fingers. The touch seemed to pain him, and he let go quickly. Alice jumped back, startled.
“My mum gave it to me before she died… I have to go home.”
She leapt from the bench and ran. But the man called after her:
“Wait! My names Robert Maxwell. How can I thank you?”
“Dont need anything. Bye.”
Alice hurried off, thinking, *Why did he react so strangely to my pendant?*
She remembered her mother fastening it around her neck when she was five.
“Foxy, may it bring you the same happiness it brought me.”
“What kind of happiness did it bring you?”
“You, silly! Youre my happiness!”
Anna had spun her around the room, laughing and kissing her cheeks.
Alice kept walking, unaware that Robert was following at a distance. Hed sent his wife home, drawn to the girl inexplicably.
When Alice passed some elderly women on a bench and disappeared into the building, Robert approached them.
“Evening. Could you tell me which flat that girl lives in?”
“Who are you?” one asked suspiciously.
“Just returning some money. She dropped a twenty at the shop, and I couldnt catch her in time. Heres the receipt.”
“Oh! Poor Alice, with that stepfather of hers… Mustve upset her again. Go on up.”
They told him everything they knew. Just then, a crash of breaking dishes and a drunks shout came from above.
“Alice, you little brat! Whereve you been?” Davids slurred roar echoed down the hall. “Ill box your ears!”
Robert flew up the stairs in seconds and hammered on the door. It swung openDavid stood there, gaunt, red-eyed, reeking of alcohol.
“Whore you? What dyou want?”
Robert didnt answer. He pushed past and saw Alice curled in the corner of the sofa. She looked up, meeting his gazewarm, concerned. Without a word, she stood, took his hand, and walked toward the door.
David blocked their path.
“Where dyou think youre going?” His voice cracked into a cough.
Robert calmly pressed a palm to his forehead, pushing lightly. David wobbled, then slumped to the floor.
“Did you kill him?” Alice whispered, horrified.
“Dont be daft. A man doesnt die that easy,” Robert said gently. “Hell sleep it off. Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head. David wasnt eviljust a man drowning in grief.
Roberts home impressed Alice. It wasnt huge, but it was light, comfortable, magazine-perfect. Shed never seen anything like it.
His wife, Irene, greeted them in casual clothes but still looked unapproachably elegant. Her voice was sweet, but her eyes were cold.
“Thisll be your room for now,” she said.
*For now.* The words stabbed Alice. *Then what? Foster care?* She decided shed run at the first chance.
The room was bigger than her old flat. A bed, wardrobe, desk, computer, TV, full-length mirror. She sat on the windowsill, staring out, when a soft knock came.
“May I?” Robert asked.
