Chapter 1

It was an appalling day, the rain absolutely sheeting down, the wind blowing my umbrella around dangerously.

I was almost home when I saw a girl sheltering under the bus stop.

“Oh hey,” I shouted over the wind and rain, “you’ll be waiting a long time for a bus, they stopped coming down this road a few years ago.”

“Ahh shit,” she cried, “I’m lost, I was hoping to get a bus to the train station.”

“Where are you heading?”

“Anywhere, I just need to get away from here.”

“Listen, I live up the road, only a couple of minutes away, why don’t you come with me. You can get warm and dry, a hot drink and I’ll get you to the station.”

“Ahh, I don’t know, I’ve no idea who you are.”

“That’s a good point, do you have any friends you can contact?”

“Well yes, I have a few friends back home.”

“Great, take a photo of my front door, message a friend with my address, tell them to call the police if they don’t hear from you tomorrow.”

She thought about this for a while, then nodded, “ahh, ok, anything to get out of this weather.”

“Brilliant,” I held my hand out, helping her up off the bus bench, “I’m Alex.”

“Thank you, I’m Poppy, and I’m really glad to see you actually, I’ve been sitting here for over an hour and not a single person passing was as kind as you.”

“Ahh well, most of my neighbours are complete bastards.”

As Poppy stood next to me I noticed her shivering, water dripping off her hair.

“Oh gosh, you look freezing, quick, let’s get you up to the house and a hot drink inside you.”

We were both absolutely soaking now, I collapsed my umbrella so we could move faster, and we ran up the road to my house.

I stopped at my gate and tapped the code into the security box, it rolled slowly back, I motioned Poppy round the gate as soon as it was open wide enough for us to fit, and stepped through behind her. I tapped the close button on the other side of the gate post and the gate immediately started rolling back.

“Wow, this is a nice house!” Poppy said.

In truth it was a nice house, a double fronted detached house, 4 bedrooms, 2 sitting rooms, a library and gym. All to myself. It was a lonely life, but I enjoyed my solitude, and as I do most of my work from home, it was good to have defined work and home spaces.

“Don’t forget to send a photo to your friends. I’ll stand by the door so they know who you’re with.”

“Errr, I don’t have a phone, and well, I don’t actually have any friends either.”

“Ok, so why did you just agree with me before about taking a photo and sending it to your friends.”

“Well, it sounded like a sensible idea, and if you thought I had friends you weren’t going to kidnap me or anything.”

“Fair enough, well, I’m not going to kidnap you whether you send a photo to friends or not, I just want to get you warm and dry for a little while.”

“Thank you Alex, I knew I could trust you, you look honest.”

I smiled to myself as I unlocked the front door, the warm air from inside greeted us like an old friend as I pushed the door open, Poppy gratefully stepped inside and I led her through to the kitchen, I popped my head round the door to the utility room and grabbed a couple of freshly dried towels for us both.

As we both started to feel human again I switched on the coffee grinder and started to make a pot of coffee.

A few minutes later we were sitting at my long farmhouse kitchen table with a mug of fresh, hot coffee to finish the process of making us human.

We sat in silence as we enjoyed the first mug of warming caffeine. I watched Poppy as she held the mug in both hands, absorbing the heat.

It was difficult to gauge her age, was she 18 but looked older, or was she early 20’s but looked younger. I don’t know, but she was pretty, fresh faced, clear of make-up, her cheeks naturally rosy from the heat of the coffee. Her hair was probably blonde, but it was quite frankly filthy. I’m guessing she’d been sleeping rough, in a squat maybe, and had managed to wash her face and hands today, but hadn’t washed her hair in weeks.

“So,” Poppy said as I refilled her mug, “you live here alone?”

“How did you guess?”

“One lot of crockery on the drainer, only one mug was out, you had to get my mug from the mug tree.”

“Very observant Ms Sherlock Holmes.”

“This is a big house for one person.”

“It is, but I have guests around sometimes, and I work from home a lot, so it’s good to have a separate room as an office instead of using the kitchen table.”

Poppy drank some more coffee, then she looked up, “can I be really cheeky Alex, I’m so hungry, I hadn’t noticed until I drank this coffee.”

“Oh wow, I should have offered you food, my bad. What would you like?”

“I’ve been looking at that loaf of bread, it looks so nice, do you have any cheese?”

So I fired up the grill as I cut a couple of thick slices of bread. I had a big block of strong cheddar in the fridge, I put a couple of hefty slices of cheese on the bread and popped them in the grill.

A few minutes later I watched Poppy eat the toast, she smiled with every mouthful.

“You were hungry,” I laughed as I put the empty plate in the sink, she’d actually licked it clean before handing it over.

“I’ve not eaten since yesterday,” she said.

“Really, that’s not good at all. I was going to order a curry later, you’re welcome to stay and have a good dinner with me.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t impose on you like that.”

“You won’t be imposing, you will be company.”

“Ok, I’d enjoy a curry, thank you.”

“Well, as you’re stopping for a few hours at least, why don’t we get your clothes washed and dried, so you’re not travelling in damp clothes. I have some of my sister’s clothes upstairs, she’s a little bigger than you, but they’ll hide your modesty while I get your clothes clean.”

I took Poppy upstairs and showed her into my sister Helen’s room.

“There’s so many clothes here, and they’re all so nice, why all these clothes if she doesn’t live here?”

“She has a lot of rows with her girlfriend,” I explained, “she’s here almost as much as she’s at home, so she keeps a second wardrobe here.”

Poppy opened drawers and the wardrobe, looking at all Helen’s t-shirts, blouses, underwear, dresses.

“Listen, why don’t you have a shower, there’s an en suite in here. I’ll step out of the room, you leave your clothes on the floor and I’ll pop back in a few minutes and take them down to the laundry room.”

“Oh don’t bother with all that modesty shit, stay there while I strip off, I don’t mind.”

I swallowed hard, I didn’t expect this, not that anything would happen, but it’s always nice to see a naked girl, especially one as pretty as Poppy.

She was still bundled up in an old coat, so that came off first. Under the coat was a man’s shirt, deep blue, it was well cut, probably expensive at one time, but it hadn’t been treated well, it joined the coat on the floor. Next was a t-shirt, dirty grey, maybe white originally, under that was a tired looking bra, and under the bra were very nice, shapely breasts, a C-cup, maybe even a D, as she turned I noticed bruises across her lower back, some old, some new.

Poppy heard me gasp, she turned back to face me, “yes, those are why I have to get away,’ she said as she unfastened her jeans, she kicked off her trainers and dropped her jeans. Now she was standing before me in just a pair of boy’s boxer shorts.

As much as I enjoyed looking at Poppy, I forced myself to look at the floor, and at the pile of old, tatty clothes.

“Look Poppy, is there any point in me washing these?”

“I can’t very well catch a train out of here naked, can I?’’

“Well, obviously,” I replied, “but look how many clothes my sister has, help yourself to anything you like, she probably won’t notice. In fact, there’s almost certainly a few bags in here, grab a few changes of clothes, if she complains I’ll replace anything you take.

“Seriously, just help yourself, you need clothes more than she does.”

Poppy stepped up close and stood on tiptoes to kiss me tenderly on the lips.

“You don’t even know me, and you’re being so kind, thank you Alex.”

“Don’t mention it.”

As I glanced in the mirror I could see myself blushing, I looked back down to the pile on the floor.

“So, is there anything here you want to keep?”

“Nothing, it’s all stuff I found around the squat anyway, none of it’s actually mine, we kind of shared stuff. Even the bra is someone else’s.”

As I heard the shower start to run, and Poppy starting to sing as she hosed herself down, I collected her clothes together and carried them down to the kitchen.

I thought I’d better check through the pockets before I threw the clothes away, so I grabbed a box of vinyl gloves from a kitchen drawer and checked the coat and jeans pockets, I found a book of matches, a little girl’s purse with £5 and a few coins, a small pocket torch and some tissues. I put the torch and purse to one side, the rest I put in a bin bag and left outside.

I heard the shower stop as I disposed of the gloves and pulled a couple of takeaway menus from the pinboard by the telephone.

My mind turned to the girl upstairs, what was her story, where was she running from, who was she running from. Would she tell me, and would I be ready for the story, because with the look of those bruises, it wasn’t a pretty story.

My mind wandered further, she was a really pretty girl, it’s been a long time since I’d shared my bed with anyone. Would she be willing, if I say there’s no trains tonight.

No, this would be taking advantage of a vulnerable person, I shouldn’t be thinking these things.

Footsteps on the stairs, I turned towards the doorway, and, well, she looked different.

For a start, Poppy’s hair was clean, it was blonde, and she’d wrapped it in buns on either side of her head.

She was wearing makeup, she’d applied foundation to bring colour to her face, she’d also applied eyeliner and lipstick, a deep red lipstick, it gave her mouth a wonderful shape, and she was smiling.

She’d picked out a green t-shirt, and over the top she was wearing a green silk blouse. She’d found a pair of Helen’s jeans that fit and a pair of converse pumps. Either Poppy’s bum was bigger than I imagined, or Helen was smaller than I remembered, because I didn’t expect her clothes to fit Poppy so well.

“You like?”

I involuntarily licked my lips, “I do, very much.”

“I’m glad, it took me a while to pick these, I was hoping you’d like them. All your sister’s bras were too big, so I’m not wearing one.”

“That’s ok, I’m hardly going to judge you for not wearing one.”

She sat across from me at the table, and we went through the menus, then I ordered on a delivery app, it said the food would be an hour.

“Would you like some wine while we wait?”

“Oh, yes please!”

“Red or white?”

“Err, whatever you want.”

“Don’t you have a preference?”

“I’ve not had much wine, and generally don’t have a choice, so whatever you have.”

“Oh, right. I think we’ll have white then.”

I pulled a bottle of Pinot Grigio from the wine fridge, a nice crisp, dry wine from New Zealand. It was Helen’s favourite so I always had plenty in the fridge. If Poppy liked Helen’s clothes, hopefully she’d like Helen’s wine. I pulled the cork and poured us both a generous glass and put the wine back in the fridge.

“Cheers” I said, raising my glass to Poppy’s.

“Cheers,” Poppy answered, as she tapped her glass to mine.

She took a sip and smiled again, she had simply the most wonderful smile.

“Mmm, I like this Alex, it’s very tasty.”

I took a long drink and put my glass down, I looked at Poppy and cleared my throat, “so, can you tell me about the bruises.”

“I can, and I will. You’ve been so kind to me, you didn’t need to bring me to your home and feed me, and give me clothing, so you deserve the truth, but first, you tell me a bit about yourself and this lovely house.”

“Ok, that’s a fair deal. Well I’m Alex, but you know that. I’m 32, I’m a writer, I write thrillers...”

“Really, are you famous?” Poppy asked, all excited.

“Kind of, but not under my real name, I write books under a couple of different names, depending on the market.” I told her the names I wrote Young Adult and Adult fiction under, sadly neither name registered, but she did recognise a couple of my Young Adult books that she’d read. “I’ve also been working on adapting my Danny Strong stories for TV.”

“Sorry I’ve never heard of you, really. You must be pretty famous to afford a house like this.”

“Strangely, it wasn’t the books that bought this house, I adapted someone else’s book into a film,” I named it and Poppy was suitably impressed, “I got a huge fee and moved out of a flat in Highbury to this big house, and my life improved almost immediately. A steady stream of book sales keeps the heating on and the lights working.”

“Ahh, so I guess it’s my turn,” she lifted her glass and noticed it was empty, so I walked over to the fridge to get her a refill as Poppy started her story.

“Well, I’m Poppy, although not really, that’s my street name, I’m really called Melanie, I’ve always hated that name, I was called Smellanie from my first day at school until I left for good when I was 14, I ran away from home and I’ve been living rough for the last few years.”

“So you’re how old?”

“17 probably, I’m not totally sure how long I’ve been living rough, I only know I left school in year 9.”

“So where’ve you been living?”

“Here and there, I was on the streets for a while, then this guy picked me up, not like you did, all nice and friendly. No, he literally picked me up and carried me to his squat. He hooked me on drugs and passed me around his friends, they used me and sent me on to someone else. It was like that for I don’t know how long.”

I felt my stomach lurch as she described her life in nauseating detail. I took a sip of wine and regretted it as it tried to force its way back, but I managed to hold it down.

“Then one day this man from the Salvation army found me, Jeremy was an angel, like you, he took me back to their church place, he gave me food and tea, it was wonderful, just soup and a cheese sandwich, but I’d not had any hot food for what seemed like months, he asked me my name, and for a while I couldn’t remember it, but he didn’t mind, it was him who called me Poppy, because it was remembrance week, and they had poppies for sale.

“He put me in touch with a drug charity, and they got me off the heroin, that was so fucking hard, oh sorry for swearing,” I waved away her apology, no need, “weeks of sweating and screaming, but I come off it cold turkey and I’ve not done any drugs since, not even cigarettes. This wine is the strongest thing I’ve had since then.”

“Oh shit, should you be drinking?”

“Oh gosh, this isn’t a problem, they just told me to keep off any kind of illegal drugs. So when I was clean they hooked me up with this other group who found me a flat, but then that flat burnt down, and there was nowhere for me, I was still under 16, the council couldn’t house me, they tried to send me back to my mum, no fucking way, oh sorry again, I need to watch my mouth in polite company.”

“Seriously Poppy, stop worrying about swearing in front of me.”

“It’s just the Salvation Army people, they were forever teaching us about acting all polite, and I try, but I keep slipping back. Anyway, so I was back on the streets, and one night I meet this girl, not much older than me, and she takes me to a cafe, we’re having a cup of tea.”

Poppy suddenly stops and puts her hand to her mouth.

“My stuff?”

“All I found is over there, a purse and a torch. There was a matchbook but it was all wet so I threw it away.”

“Nooo, I need that matchbook.”

“It’s fine, I’ll get it.”

I brought the bin bag back inside and unfastened the knot, I rummaged around inside and found the matchbook, Poppy took it off me and opened it, holding it to her chest with a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank you, I can’t lose this.” She slipped it into the purse and put it in her pocket.

“Thanks Alex, sorry for going mad just then, it’s just this matchbook is important, I’ll tell you about it one day I promise.”

I caught the ‘one day’ and it made me smile. Unconsciously Poppy is now counting me as her friend, I liked that.

“This is her purse, Joanie, she was the girl I met, she’s dead now,” a single tear ran down Poppy’s face, I wiped it away with my finger, Poppy stopped me pulling my hand away, she kissed my fingers then let me go, “thank you,” she whispered before continuing, “so we were having a cup of tea and she tells me about these ‘parties’” Poppy did air-quotes around ‘parties’, “ and said I could make some money if I went with her. I knew what she meant, and I thought that seeing as what that bastard Parker, that was the first guy who got me on heroin, well seeing as what he and his mates had done to me I thought this could be no worse, and I’d get paid.”

Poppy’s glass was empty again, mine was mostly untouched so I pushed it across and I poured myself a can of Guinness.

“It was bad, they were rough, never hitting us where it showed, but they paid us, I was now at rock bottom. And that’s pretty much where the story ends, I was being fucked and smacked around and being paid, and you kind of get used to it.

“Then I met Jeremy again, and with the patience of a saint he picked me up, literally, I was collapsed, in a heap, and he took me back to the hall, and started with the feeding and prayer again. And I was straight, I was fucking straight again Alex, I was, I thought it was all ok, then as I was out in town one morning and he found me, Kenzie, one of the guys who liked beating on us, he grabbed me by my hair, threw me in his van and, that was, I don’t know, three, four days ago. I escaped this morning and well, you found me.”

I had no words, I was sick to my stomach, and then the gate buzzer sounded, the takeaway, just what I didn’t need right then. I picked up my phone and swiped across to the gate entry app, saw the regular UberEats rider on his bike and tapped the icon to open the gate.

We walked together to the door to collect the curry. Opening the door, the delicious smell brought my appetite back. Poppy took the proffered brown paper bag and carried it back to the kitchen.

“New girlfriend Alex? Well done man,” the delivery lad said as he pocketed his usual £5 tip.

“Nah Neil, just a girl I rescued from the appalling rain earlier, she’d drying-off for a bit then she’s off to the train station.”

“Yeah right, I bet she’s still here next time I deliver,” he said as he kicked off my doorstep and rode out of the gate.

I closed the door slowly, thinking. I enjoyed living alone, I really did, but the times Helen was around, it was good to have someone to talk to, it’s just I never knew when Helen would be round, sometimes it was a few days a month, sometimes she stayed for a couple of weeks then I wouldn’t see her again for months.

Would I enjoy having someone here all the time? I think I would. There was a spare room she could have, she could live her own life. I thought how casually she’d taken the food off the driver and walked back to the kitchen, she seemed comfortable here, that was a good sign.

I decided to wait until after we’d eaten, see if she mentioned the train.

I walked back to the sound of cupboards and drawers being opened, ha, she’s looking for plates.

“Why do you need so many cupboards Alex, I can’t find anything useful to eat off.”

“Haha, well, it’s a big kitchen, they put in a lot of cupboards to fill the space, and I’ve got to use them for something. That one there,” I pointed, “that cupboard is full of printer paper and pads, because I’ve got nowhere in my office to fit it, so it’s handy I have that extra cupboard.”

“I guess, but where’s your frigging plates,” she said frustrated.

“See the sink? Well, next to the sink is the dishwasher, then next to the dishwasher is the plates cupboard, then next to that cupboard is the cutlery drawer. Another minute and you’d have found them.”

She gave me a quick peck on the cheek and skipped off for the plates, “I like you Alex, you’re the nicest person I’ve ever met, and that includes Jeremy. I never kissed Jeremy, it didn’t seem right.”

Poppy made me sit at the table as she plated up the many dishes we’d ordered. A mushroom biryani with a Madras sauce for her, a Lamb Imli for me, naan bread, samosas, dips, the table for 6 was full with food for two.

Before taking her seat Poppy poured herself the last of the wine and fetched me a fresh can of Guinness, then she toasted me and we tucked in.

As she ate, she talked more about the good people she’d met on the streets, a girl called Flower who’d shown her a women’s squat where she was safe. She lived there for a few months, Max, an older woman and the mother of the squat, Evie, who taught the younger girls how to read and write, some of the girls were so young, runaways or girls born on the streets, she kept everybody safe, none of the gangs dared enter the Orchid House, that’s what she called it.

“Why did you move away from there if you were so safe?”

“Shit, like we had a choice. We were out one day, collecting some clothes from a street clothing project, we’d heard they had some really nice fabrics, Evie wanted to make us all summer dresses, nothing makes you feel prettier than a nice dress, even when your hair is filthy a nice summer dress cheers you up no end.

“So unusually Max had us all leave the squat, which was an old warehouse on the edge of an industrial estate in Walthamstow. She normally left at least a couple of people in the place to guard our stuff, but she said we’d all be needed to carry the clothes, fabric and food back.

“She was right, we had so much stuff. That blue shirt I had on, it was part of the swag from that day. It was a happy day, we had such fun digging through the piles of clothes the charity had set aside for us.”

“I can get that shirt back if you like it, I’m sure it will come up clean in a full wash. The coat though, it’s a lost cause.”

“Would you please, I love that shirt.”

So while Poppy continued her tale between mouthfuls of curry and naan I put her shirt on a 90° wash with plenty of stain remover and fabric conditioner. It was a Ralph Lauren Oxford, she was right to like it, they’re well made shirts.

“Anyway, we got back to the squat, and, it wasn’t there, the bastards who owned the estate, they’d heard we were all leaving that day, I’ve no idea who tipped them off, I bet it was the snide cow who ran the charity clothing project, I never really trusted her, well, whatever, they’d waited for us to leave then moved in with a crane and demolished the place, it was just a pile of rubble.

“We just stood there in tears, we didn’t have much stuff, but it was all gone, everything buried under the bricks. We’d made that place really pretty, we even had flowers on the table Alex, and it was gone.”

Poppy was properly crying now. I was at a loss, I’m not used to this, all I could think to do was give her a hug, so I moved round to her chair, knelt beside her and hugged Poppy to my chest while her tears dried.

Eventually she pulled away, she absent mindedly wiped at my shirt, “awww, I’ve smudged makeup all over your shirt, sorry.”

“Doesn’t matter, it’ll wash off. Are you ok?”

“You know, for the first time since I lived in Max’s squat, I feel safe here, and I only just met you, I should be scared right now, but I’m not.”

Again, I smiled, I realised I should be scared about my stuff. I’d invited a street kid into my home, but I didn’t. I had a good feeling about Poppy, she was a nice kid who’d had a bad start in life.

We finished the food, where Poppy fit it all I’ve no idea, but she wolfed it all down. We cleared the table together, scraping the few remaining scraps into the bin and Poppy watched me load the dishwasher, taking notice of the settings and where the detergent pods fitted.

“So,” I said, not sure what I wanted to happen next, “err, what now.”

“I don’t know.”

“Ok, let’s go to the lounge, the seats are comfier, and we can have a think and a talk.”

Poppy got another can of Guinness and filled my glass, then she looked at her empty glass and bottle, “help yourself to another bottle if you want, or there’s soft drinks in the other fridge.”

“I like your wine...” she said shyly.

“Open another bottle then, I don’t mind.”

“Will Helen mind?”

“If she even notices I’d be surprised, and it’s not like I can’t pick up another case from Majestic tomorrow.”

Poppy giggled as she struggled to work out how to use my waiters’ friend, so I reached around and showed her how to use it. She pressed her body against mine as I popped her cork, it felt nice.

We adjourned to the lounge, Poppy marvelled at my TV, which took up most of one wall. If there’s one thing I like to do in my downtime, it’s watch a film on a big TV with cinema style surround sound. This means the lounge could be lit by ceiling lights for a bright room, or for a more intimate setting, I had wall lights, it was these I chose for this evening. I felt Poppy had more to tell me, and she’d open up more if the room wasn’t lit like an operating theatre.

“Do you want to watch a movie or listen to music?” I asked.

“Can we have music?” Poppy replied.

“Of course, you choose, it’s all on the iPad on the table.”

I took a seat in my favourite armchair as Poppy scrolled through my music library, I picked up the main AV remote and turned on the Cyrus Amps and network streamer, they warmed up while Poppy spent an age choosing what she wanted to listen to, eventually she chose a Loyle Carner album and soon the music was pumping out of the 20 speakers around the room, I turned it down so we could talk more.

Despite the numerous seats in the room Poppy chose to pull up a foot stool and sat by my knees. I reached forward and pulled the coffee table closer so we could keep our glasses off the floor.

We sat in silence for a while, listening to Isle of Arran, as it faded out I asked Poppy, “so, this morning, you said you escaped, I’m guessing it was somewhere round here.”

“You know, I don’t even know where here is.”

“Ahh right, we’re in Wimbledon.”

“Really, oh wow, are we near, you know, Wimbledon, the tennis place.”

“Oh yes, quite close, that park behind the bus stop, if it wasn’t such horrible weather and if you’d looked across the park you could have seen the Centre Court.”

“Can we go for a walk over there some time, when it’s not raining?”

“Of course we can, but I just need to get something straight first. When I met you at the bus stop you were heading for the train.”

“Yes, I was,” she replied, sadly.

“But you only have £5 and change in that purse, that’s not even going to get you across the river to North London.”

“There’s ways to get more money.”

“Ok, I guess, but my point is, you were running away.”

“Do you want me to leave!” Poppy cried, sounding alarmed.

“Oh gosh, no. I definitely don’t want you to leave, I’m enjoying your company. I just want to know what you want to do.”

“Ahh, right. I mostly want to stay somewhere warm and dry, then I want to get a job and go back to school.”

“Would you like to stay here Poppy, as long as you like.”

“Really, you want me to stay?”

“Of course, this is a big house, and I’ve enjoyed your company this evening. Get yourself settled here, and when you feel ready, we can sort you some work, and there’s a college not far from here, if you want to get some qualifications.”

“Oh man, this is so nice of you.”

“But this doesn’t answer my first question. You say you escaped from Kenzie, that was his name wasn’t it?”

“Yes, Kenzie, I’m sure it’s a girls name.”

“Where did you escape from, can you work it out from where I found you?”

“Why do you need to know?”

“Well, I really like you Poppy, you’re a lovely girl and even only knowing you a few hours I’d hate for Kenzie to find you again and take you away.”

Poppy went quiet and pale, “oh fuck, oh man, yes.”

“So I guess there’s a few things we need to think about, where were you first, and then where did he snatch you from the other day. I guess I’m trying to see if he moves around and found you by chance, or he was looking for you.”

“Oh shit, well, I was in Camden, that’s where I was with Joanie, where she got me into the parties and it was one of those where Kenzie first saw me. We moved around a lot, wherever people in the scene were, that’s where they took us. Kenzie wasn’t there all the time, but he was a lot.

“Now, where was I when Jeremy picked me up again, it was near Finsbury Park I think, Jeremy was based in Hackney, he must have been visiting someone in Finsbury Park, it was lucky he found me. So he’ll have taken me by bus back to Hackney, and that’s where Kenzie found me, I was on Broadway Market.”