Page 82 of To Hell With It
Is it an old van?
Yes, like a transit.
Does it have windows at the back? Sliding ones on the sides?
Yes.
OK, great. Do the windows have a rubber edge around them?
I scanned the windows.
Yes.
Have you still got the keyring I gave you?
Yes.
See if you can slip it under the rubber to catch the window edge, and then use your fingers to slide it back. Let me know if it works.
Thanks, Niall.
Good luck.
I’d attached the key ring to the side pocket of my bag because I liked the way it glinted in the sun. I was full of adrenaline at the thought of getting caught – not by Eve but someone else, someone who didn’t know my story or why I was doing what I was doing. I was trespassing, after all, and now I was breaking into a van.
I worked quickly; sliding the woodlouse’s bottom underneath the rubber edge until I could feel the resistance of the window. Then I lifted it as much as I could until I could get my fingertips in place to pull it with force. And that’s what I did. I yanked it so hard that I almost broke the entire window and then slid it open enough to get my hand inside so that I could pull the latch of the door open.
‘YES!’ I shouted but then recoiled straight after, checking that nobody had heard me.
I couldn’t waste any time. I put the keyring in my back pocket and climbed into the front of Eve’s van. I pulled the glove compartment open because that was the most obvious place to look for a wallet but of course it wasn’t in there and then I remembered Eve’s cupboard above the driver’s seat. I jerked it open.
There it was, my wallet, next to the stuffed cat and a Polaroid camera (that was probably stolen too).
‘Bloody cow,’ I said under my breath.
I grabbed my wallet, opened it and scanned the inside. The cash had gone but my cards were there. I shoved it into my back pocket, reached for the door handle but then stopped before I got out.
And do you know what I did? I turned around and opened the cupboard, pulled out the camera and Eve’s stuffed cat, lifted it to my cheek so that we were side by side and took a photo.
Then I left the photo in the cupboard and took the stuffed cat with me.
ChapterForty-Two
Ihadn’t thought ahead about how I would get back to Te Puke, but I didn’t care. I had my wallet and Eve’s stuffed cat (that I’d wiped three times) and the satisfaction that she would know it was me was enough to keep me going until the dirt track ended and the road began.
It had only taken Pip five minutes to drive to the orchards from Te Puke so it wasn’t like it would have taken me all day to get back. I remembered that I had to turn left, not right once I hit the road and then I pulled out my phone to text Niall.
It worked!
Great! Did you find your wallet?
Yes! And the stuffed cat – I’ve got it with me.
What stuffed cat?
She had a stuffed cat.
Why have you stolen a stuffed cat?
