Have been ill so while lolling around house, decided to update! Hazzar!

Little Weirwold

"It's not what it used to be like," Aunt Tilly told the girl at her side as they walked through the village towards the corner shop come post office. "We have a little museum in the village, too. The whole village was made part of the National Trust in the 1960s, so it attracts a lot of tourists. There used to be a school up there-" the woman pointed down a narrowed road "-but there weren't enough children in the area for the council's liking, so they forced us to close it. You'll have to go up to the big school with the other children by bus."

Amy nodded, all too use to the thought of taking a bus to school to get excited. But she'd never been on a bus in the country before, so maybe this would be different. She looked around the village as they walked, feeling the eyes of the locals on her as they passed. It was as if they'd never seen a girl from the capital before – she felt like she'd sprouted another head!

Some of the boys who had jeered at the evacuees at the station the day before whizzed past on their bikes. The rat-faced boy sneered at Amy as he past, then lead his mates round a corner and towards a hill. The sandy haired bully was not amongst them.

"Ah, Alan! Alan!" Amy looked at Aunt Tilly, then towards the shop the old woman was looking at. A small boy had just walked out of it, carrying a bag of what looked like sweets. He grinned as he saw the vicar's wife, and ran over, waving. "Alan, do you know where your brother is today?"

"Studyin'. Mum said he weren't 'llowed out 'till he gets his DT revision in order like," the little boy answered, eyeing Amy with caution. "You one of them townies? I'm Alan."

"Nice to meet you," Amy said, shaking the boy's extended hand. "What's your brother studying for?"

"GCSEs," Alan muttered. "Mum's doin' her nut! Says he ents workin' like what he should be. Why d'ya wants to know, Mrs Mayne?"

"I was wondering if he would mind popping round to our house a little later," Aunt Tilly said, laying a hand on Amy's shoulder. "Amy doesn't know anyone around here, and she's about your brother's age. I thought it might be nice for her to get to know someone her own age."

Alan beamed. "Tha's fantastic! Mum's always sayin' Thomas needs to get a girlfriend." He thought for a moment, then asked politely. "Can I be your friend, too?"

"Yes, that would be nice," Amy replied, though inside she was panicking. A girlfriend! Oh no, what was going on? What was Aunt Tilly doing! She couldn't associate herself with boys – Andrew didn't even like Liam, and he was her brother!

"Ok, I'll talk to 'im for yer," Alan said, then ran off in the direction of the church. "See ya, Amy!"

"Such a sweet chap," Aunt Tilly sighed, then took Amy's arm, steering her towards the shop Alan had just come out of. "I'm sure you shall get on fine."

"I don't mean to be rude, Aunt Tilly," Amy gabbled, still panicking, "and I am grateful and all, but...I'm not sure I can..."

"Worried about meeting a strange young man?" Aunt Tilly asked jokily, then shook her head. "You have nothing to worry about, my dear – Thomas is a very nice young man. And he lives close by, so you can go to him for help or advice whenever you want. He won't mind. He knows more about this village than I do, and he knows all of the 'cool' new places to 'hang out'. Is that what you children say?"

"Something like that," Amy mumbled. Another girl in extremely baggy jeans passed in the opposite direction and waved cheerfully. Amy felt suddenly very out of place in her skinny fits and Bat Man logo t-shirt. "Where are we going?"

"Grociers," Aunt Tilly said, then pushed open the door. "Well hurry up, child! We don't have all day!"

Amy its me. Ive just heard about your mother and I cant tell you how sorry I am. Aunty Julie gave me your number and if you want to call me and talk you now have my number to do so. I leave the decision to you. I'm sorry. Jake

Amy read the old text message on the screen of her mobile once more. It was about the hundredth time she had done so, and every time she did it made her feel even more lost. So why not just delete the message? Amy didn't know. Her dad wanted to get back in contact with her – that was amazing! – but both Liam and Andrew would strictly appose such a thing.

He's just a phone call away, Amy thought to herself, as she on one Elizabeth Thatcher in the graveyard, overlooking the stone wall. Or I could phone the police. Report Andrew. But Amy knew she'd never have the courage to do that.

A shadow fell across her, startling the girl. Amy leapt to her feet, stuffing the mobile into her pocket as quickly as she could. She half expected to see an infuriated Andrew standing behind her, appearing to torment her just for the mere thought of reporting his wicked ways to the police. Instead Amy saw an old man standing there, his face surprised and just as startled as she. He obviously had not realised that he would give the girl such a fright.

"I'm sorry, child," the man said hurriedly, holding out a hand as though in surrender. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Tha's ok," Amy gasped, then laughed. Even to her, the laugh sounded false. "I was miles away."

"I just saw you sitting there on the stone, thought you looked a little lonely, and thought I'd say hello." The man frowned slightly. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes. Thanks." Amy's eyes caught sight of the time from the clock on the church tower, and she gasped, alarmed. "I'm sorry, sir, I've got to go. I'm supposed to be meeting someone!"

Even now, Aunt Tilly was appearing at the door of the house and was waving impatiently to Amy. When she saw the old man, the vicar's wife waved a little more cheerfully. The old man grinned and waved back. "Well, you just tell Mrs Mayne that it was all my fault. You'd better hurry up!"

Amy towards the house. There were two houses that backed onto the graveyard: one was the vicarage, and the other belonged to the family that tended the graveyard itself. Amy was up the path and threw the door in seconds, apologising profusely to her new guardian as she passed. Aunt Tilly was about to scold the child lightly for losing track of time when she saw the fear in Amy's eyes. The woman immediately decided to drop the matter, and instead picked up a brush from the counter and dragged it through Amy's hair.

"It doesn't matter, child. Now, come with me." Aunt Tilly lead Amy back into the living room, pushing her forwards towards the middle of the room as a young man stood up from his seat by the fire. "Thomas, this Amy Wilson, my new ward. Amy, this is Thomas Oakley."

The two teenagers stared at each other in alarm. The sandy-haired, grey-eyed Tom cursed himself inwardly as he saw the girl he had so spoked the day before; Amy couldn't believe her ears.

"Thomas Oakley?"

Tom nodded slightly. Not another Good Night Mr Tom fan! This ent what I need.

The vicar's wife beamed, and indicated the coffee table. Two mugs of coco and a plate cookies waited patiently to be eaten. The woman soon disappeared from the room, leaving Amy and Tom alone. Both kept on staring at one another.

"Why are you here?" Amy asked timidly, backing away slightly. "Are you going to have another go at me?"

Tom bit his lip. "Yeh, abou' that – sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like. Ian would've skinned yer if you'd kept on talking to him like that."

Ah, so that's rat-faced boy's name. "And yet you still stood there and mocked all of us evacuees?" Amy felt her anger harden. "We didn't chose to come here, you know? We don't want to cause any problems!"

"I didn't say any of that," Tom snapped. "Ian suggested ridin' down to the station to see the newcomers – I ent realised 'till after you guys got off the train tha' he was routin' for trouble like. I really am sorry."

Amy hung her head, feeling just as ashamed as Tom looked. What what Andrew say if he saw her being so rude to Tom – it looked like he was being sincere enough. Amy indicated a chair and sat herself. Tom followed suit. Feeling her cheeks redden, Amy turned her face from him and stared at the dirty hole where the fire should blaze.

"You ever bin in the country before?" Tom asked suddenly. A mug nudged at her hand, the scolding drink burning her skin momentarily as Tom tried to pass her the other mug.

She took it and nodded in gratitude. "No."

Tom very nearly dropped his drink. "What? You ent never bin? Ever?"

"No." Amy hesitated. "Not for holidays, school trips, or anything like that. I've seen stuff about the country on TV, and I've read some books set in the country, but this is the first time I've actually been in a rural area."

Tom grinned. "Then I'll have to give yer a tour! You ride a bike?"

Again Amy blushed. "No. I lived in a block of flats – no room to keep one."

Tom's jaw looked like it was about to fall off his face and into the mug. Wow, these townies are crazy! Imagine never havin' ridin' a bike... Tom couldn't bare thinking about it.

"Ok, so no bikes then." The young man frowned then said. "Well, Mrs Mayne wants me to show you around, like, so I'll guess we'll be goin' by foot. Ent right to be ridin' off and leavin' you trailin' behind." At the hopeless look on Amy's face, the youth cursed himself inwardly. "So, you seemed to have recognised my name."

"Yes. We have to read Good Night Mr Tom in English."

Tom grinned again and picked a cookie up from the plate before them. He leaned back in the arm chair, dunking the biscuit into the coco. "So, what did you think of it..."

Aunt Tilly insisted Amy show Tom to the door, where they said an awkward goodbye. He promised to come back round at some point in the morning or late afternoon, and also to pick Amy up on Monday so that she didn't miss the school bus. As soon as the door shut, Amy raced upstairs to her attic bedroom, peering out of the window and out onto the darkened street. She could see Tom walking through the village and wondered which way he would turn. A smile twitched at her lips – she'd never have thought she would be so interested in where a boy lived.

He walked on. He was... Amy blinked and rubbed her eyes. Yes! Tom had actually walked through the front door to the house that also backed onto the graveyard! In Good Night Mr Tom, that was where Willie Beech had lived.

"Blackouts, Amy," Aunt Tilly declared, walking in with a huge black fold of material. She handed a corner to the girl and nodded towards the window. "Wondering why the village was so dark were you?" Before Amy could blush, the woman said, "From tonight, blackouts at every window! Come on, dear, I'll show you how it's done."

There are two members in the chatroom: Liam/Amy

Liam: Thomas Oakley, eh? Got an evacuee called Willie staying with him, has he?

Amy: I'm not making this up. We swapped chatroom names, too.

Liam: I thought you just said he was the kid that was acting all well 'ard round you at the station.

Amy: He was.

Liam: Then why are you talking to him? The boy is obviously a bad piece of pie!

Amy: Aunt Tilly wants me to make friends.

Liam: No, "Aunt Tilly" wants to get you a shrink!

Amy: Can't you even be a little bit supportive of your sister?

Liam: I'm looking out for you from afar! Who else is going to? Not Andrew! Not Mum! Not even that no-good dad of ours! By the way, if you get any unwanted text messages, DELETE THEM!

Amy: Who are they from?

Liam: The scum bag's trying to wheedle his way back into our lives. I told him where he could shove his offer.

Amy: I haven't got a text message from him.

Tom has signed in.

Tom: Hey! None of my mates are on line – probably getting drunk at some party or other. How's you?

Amy: Ok. Just talking to my brother.

Liam: That would be ME!

Tom: Hi. :) Amy's told me a lot about you.

Liam: All good, I hope. It had better be good!

Tom: A man with a dark side, eh? There were no bad details, if that's what you mean. Your family secrets have remained secret.

Liam: Good. My life is P-R-I-V-A-T-E! I feel I must point out to you, Tommy, that if you say one more mean thing to my sister, I'll knock your teeth in! I'm not joking about this either!

Amy: Liam! Leave him alone! He said he was sorry.

Tom: Thanks. Amy, meet me by the church tomorrow at 12. Mum wants us to go blackberrying. I'm taking the weeds as well. Your brother's a right jerk.

Tom has signed off.

Amy: Liam! Now you've upset him.

Liam: Oh dear, I made Tommy cry.

Amy: Tom's right, Liam: you ARE a jerk!

Amy has signed off.

Eddie has signed in.

Eddie: Liam, you out of confinement yet?

Liam: No. Why?

Eddie: You still want out of Barrings Estate?

Liam: Hell yeh!

Eddie: As soon as Mr Barrings lets you loose on the world again, call me – you know my number. I have an idea that will keep you out of Barrings' forever.

Liam: Remembering your old plans, Ed, this will either be extremely dangerous or extremely illegal.

Eddie: Yes or no, Liam? Do you want to be locked up there forever? Remember, I'm the one that kept you from having to go back to your stepfather's after your mum's funeral.

Liam: Damn you, Eddie! Can you tell me what you're planning?

Eddie: Yes or no?

Liam: I must be a bloody fool to trust you, Eddie! Yes.

Coolio! Sorry this was such a long chapter!

Rocks-my-socks – Thanks for the reviews so far! Now you see that she is kind of on his doorstep, just not physically!

BeccyJose – Also thanks for the support! Hope this new chapter was ok!

Llamas, Ginger-Bizkit