Maggie put Hollie straight to bed when Scout and Mrs Diamond dropped her off after finding her in the park. On Saturday, all the brunette sixteen-year-old wanted to do was curl up under her duvet and hide from both the light and the rest of the world. The House Mistress was not having that and dragged Hollie out of bed at nine o'clock in the morning. After reading her the riot act, making sure the other teenagers in the house were able to hear the verbal torrent being sent in Hollie's direction, Maggie informed the teenager that she was under house arrest for the foreseeable future and her pocket money would be stopped for the same amount of time.

When that was done, she pulled Hollie into a tight hug and sent her back to bed to sleep off the worst of her hangover. Remembering the conversation she'd had with the girl days before and adding that to the possible reason Scout and Sian had given her for Hollie's state the afternoon before, Maggie decided that treading softly was possibly the best course of action in this situation.

She couldn't get her head around the teenager. Sometimes she thought that Hollie was a sweet kid, possibly too innocent for some of the children she was living and going to school with. The little Maggie knew of her past seemed to back this up; living with her elderly grandparents and taking care of them, running a house from goodness knows how young and still managing to do reasonably well at school. At other times the woman could believe that the complete opposite was true. Sometimes Hollie had a look on her face that was so intense, so broken, that it was frightening. Getting drunk had been completely out of character, or so she had thought. Perhaps it wasn't such unusual behaviour for the teenager after all.

"Morning, Pet." Maggie smiled on Sunday morning when Hollie appeared in the dining room. She was still in her pyjamas, yawning widely. In this state, the teenager who usually could pass for older than she actually was looked like a child. "How're you feeling, eh?"

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Hollie asked sitting in one of the chairs and leaning her elbows on the table. "Apart from the lecture yesterday, obviously."

The woman shrugged and set a mug of tea in front of her. It was too early for any of the others to make an appearance. "I guessed you were having a tough couple of days."

"You could say that."

"D'you want to talk about it?"

Hollie paused. "Not really."

"I think it might do you good." Maggie persisted, earning herself a scowl. "Look, love, you don't have to deal with everything on your own, you know? I've got a good pair of working ears."

"I just… I get really confused."

"Confused about what?"

Shrugging, the teenager took a sip of tea. She winced as the burning liquid scorched its way down her throat. "Stuff… my mum, I guess."

"What about your mum?"

"You ask a lot of questions. What are you, an undercover copper?" Hollie muttered, staring at her hands. Maggie smiled. "Sometimes I just wonder whether it's my fault that she never wants to see me. I get really upset wondering about stuff. But then at other times I get so angry at her."

"That's understandable." The woman told her, moving their chairs closer together and putting an arm around the teenager. "Of course you'd wonder if you don't have any answers. But it's not your fault; you were just a kid. You don't know what your mum's reasons were. They might not necessarily be what you think they are."

"What? She might have a reason other than not wanting a kid around?"

"Maybe."

"Like what?"

"Well… I don't know." Maggie admitted. "The only way you're going to get the answers you want is by talking to your mum. Do you know how to get hold of her?"

"I've got a phone number." Hollie admitted. She pulled her mobile out of her dressing gown pocket and set it on the table in front of her.

Realising that, if given the chance, the teenager would put it off until she talked herself out of it Maggie smiled. "There's no time like the present."

"Isn't it a bit early?"

"It's half past nine; it's fine. Now phone."

Sighing, Hollie realised that the woman wasn't going to give up until she did as she was told. Picking up her mobile, the teenager scrolled through the contacts until she found the number she was looking for and pressed the 'call' button. Holding it to her ear, she chewed her thumbnail as she waited for it to connect. Excitement and nerves caused her stomach to churn uncomfortably.

"What?" Maggie asked as the teenager's face fell.

"The number's dead." Hollie sighed, putting her phone down in frustration. "It worked two weeks ago. She's always changing her number."

"Bit suspicious?"

Hollie laughed bitterly. "I doubt it. She just moves around a lot I think."

"We could try and look her up?"

"No…" The teenager said. "Not yet; not now."

"Then when, pet. The longer you leave this, the harder it's going to be."

Standing up, Hollie shoved her phone roughly into her pockets and shrugged. "If she wants to find out where I am all she has to do is speak to my Nan."

"And she'd tell her where you are?"

"I dunno… maybe."