Chapter One

When May-Li got to Ashdene Ridge early for her shift, she noticed the door was unlocked.

Curiously, she walked in and noticed that someone was in the office. Opening the door, she saw a tall man with slightly long, grey hair. He was in his late fifties or early sixties and wore a red jumper, black coat and grey trousers. He smiled when he saw May-Li and introduced himself.

"Anthony Dunstan," he said with a crackly, hoarse voice, "I'm Mr Milligan's temp."

May-Li raised an eyebrow. "Mike didn't say anything about a temp."

He got a card out of his pocket and told her, "Sorry, Mr Milligan had an accident last night. Car accident. He'll be fine, but he'll be off his feet for a while. I'm here for a couple of weeks, nothing major."

Mr Dunstan gave a very weird smile to May-Li, who thought that he was really creepy. But, she thought, the card looked genuine and she could call the number on there, the district's number, to confirm this.

"Well," she told him, "I'll get the kids in the living room and we can all be introduced." She gave a weak smile, but he nodded, pleased.

But even as May-Li left, she still thought that Mr Dunstan was slightly weird.

When everyone was in the living room, Mr Dunstan came in as May-Li explained to them.

"Everybody," she told them, "this is Anthony Dunstan. Mike is in hospital at the moment, nothing serious, but for now, Anthony is here and will be helping me. Now, any questions?"

Johnny asked, "When will Mike come back?"

Mr Dunstan answered before May-Li could. "Couple of weeks. Nothing more."

May-Li turned back to the children, unnerved, and told them, "I phoned the district manager and she said that Mr Dunstan will be here while Mike's in hospital. I haven't spoken to him yet, but it's fine."

Kazima asked, "So why is he here?"

"Kazima!" May-Li frowned.

"No," Kazima answered, "this is not right."

Mr Dunstan didn't seem offended. Instead, he chuckled slightly and told them, "I know it's a bit strange and unsettling having someone new here, but I assure you, I am perfectly capable of handling a group of care children. I am qualified, after all."

But even as they walked out, the children all looked at Mr Dunstan and couldn't help thinking there was something unusual about him.

That night, Mr Dunstan was on night shift, but since it was his first night and May-Li didn't want the children unsettled, she stayed that night.

In the kitchen, she looked as Mr Dunstan seemed to make himself a coffee and sit down.

He was endlessly talking about all the places he'd been to when he worked, up and down the country, as well as when he was a student (May-Li didn't dare ask how long ago that was) and seemed to know a lot about places like Brazil and Italy and Arabia and China. However unusual he was, he seemed to be well-travelled.

Even so, she was really bored. Mr Dunstan only seemed to talk about himself.

In her room, Tee was staring at the ceiling, frustrated with the whole situation. Mr Dunstan seemed kind, but maybe it was just the way he smiled all the time that made her think there was something about him.

Earlier she'd noticed he was on his mobile quite a lot. She could barely hear what he said and besides, it seemed to be in Italian.

But as she rolled over in bed, she was unaware that something was happening outside.

The footsteps were silent as they went up to Mo's bedroom. In his bed, Mo snored as he turned over, not quite noticing when the door opened.

Maybe, if he had, this would have ended a lot quicker.

The next morning, when everyone came downstairs for breakfast, May-Li looked round at them all and asked, "Where's Mo?"

Mr Dunstan, who was drinking out of a beer can, which May-Li disagreed with, since she knew it was against the rules, answered, "He's a bit sick. He's upstairs. You can go and check on him if you want."

May-Li went upstairs and knocked on Mo's door. "Mo?" she asked, concerned.

There was a grunting noise from inside. Obviously, it seemed as if Mo wasn't feeling too good. "Mo, are you all right?" she asked. A groan came from inside his room. "No..." it didn't quite seem as if he was all right; his voice seemed rather thick.

"OK, Mo, Anthony will come if you're still feeling unwell by lunchtime, OK?"

"All right." There was another groan from in there. May-Li was puzzled. Mo probably had a cold or something, his voice was far too deep.

When Bailey was outside, after playing football with Tyler and Harry, who soon got bored, he looked over the fence.

There was a red van parked there. It didn't have windows and there was a padlock on the back doors. He didn't know if there was anyone parked in it, but it still seemed creepy all the same.

Meanwhile, Mr Dunstan was in the office, on the phone. He was listening to the idiot on the other end. He was gabbling in Italian, making Mr Dunstan furious. Soon, the client asked, "Stasera?"

Mr Dunstan replied, confidently, "Stasera."

That afternoon, May-Li stood outside Mo's room, holding a cup of coffee. "Mo?" she asked, knocking on the door, "Are you all right?"

"No." She heard a faint groan. Poor guy, she thought, he must be really sick. "Mo, I've got some coffee here, would you like me to leave it outside?"

She just heard grunting again and, raising an eyebrow, answered, "OK." She left it there and then walked downstairs.

Bailey was still in the garden when he saw Mr Dunstan come out. Curious, Bailey watched him as he went down to where the bins were. Mr Dunstan then opened the side gate and began talking to someone very quickly.

When Bailey had come round and noticed Mr Dunstan talking to a man in a blue safety suit, Mr Dunstan turned as fast as lightning, grabbing Bailey's hand.

"You should have stayed where you were, boy," he hissed in bailey's face.