BOOK 4

Debby gave her a timid, grateful smile. 'But then Col says it ain't fair to Jim, an' then Jim's 'urt, an' then Jill Gann next door . . .'

'Jill?' Amy had a brief vision of the lanky thirteen-year-old who last Monday in the drama room had eaten the crisps which were her entire lunch. 'How is she?' Amy asked, knowing now that the poor child had to eat for two.

Debby shrugged. 'All right.' As well as can be expected, she meant. 'She memorized your address from a envelope you threw away.'

'Why did she do that?'

'She thought she'd write to you if she got desperate.' Debby's forefinger drew sunwise patterns on the black shine of the table. 'Seeing you're a soft touch . . .'

'A what}' Outraged, Amy jerked upright in her chair. 'I am no such thing!' She turned on Paul. 'What are you smiling at?'

'Nothing. Maybe,' he told Debby, 'you could have put that a bit more tactfully.'

The girl stared back at him, out of her depth. 'Miss gave Jill a pound . . .'

'She was hungry,' Amy said.

'She spent it