12 Stone

12 Stone Mr Stone was dressed in his usual black suit, black shirt and black tie (with very, very, very dark grey polka dots). On his head was a dazzling white fedora, pulled down low over his brow. He stopped and turned towards the group. His eyes narrowed, then he smiled widely, revealing a set of perfectly even, white teeth. ' Milton, did you organise this?' said Mum, grinning. 'Oh, of course you did! It's because it's Leo's eighteenth birthday tomorrow, isn't it? How KIND of you! And to think, when I mentioned it last week, you pretended to ignore me. Oh, thank you! Thank you so much. What a lovely surprise. Children,

say "thank you" to Mr Stone for flying you over to Italy. Aren't we all lucky?' Mr Stone's smile slipped slightly, and Peanut thought she could see confusion in his eyes. Or maybe it was a flash of anger. Whatever the emotion, it was only there for a split second. His teeth soon reappeared and normal, slimy service was resumed. He turned to face the children. 'Hello, Tracey's offspring. It's delightful to see all, er, four of you,' he said, his voice positively dripping with smarm. 'Especially you, Pernilla. We are old friends, after all.' A wild fury was beginning to boil in the pit of Peanut's stomach, not least because he'd called her by her hated given name, Pernilla. 'I must say,' he continued, 'what a wonderful treat it is to see you here.' He looked directly at Peanut. ' As your mother said, it's just as I planned.'

A shiver ran down Peanut's spine as Stone's smile widened. She grabbed her mother's hand and pulled her to one side. 'Mum, are you OK?' she whispered. 'Has he hurt you?' 'Hurt me?' asked Mum with a perplexed expression on her face. 'Seriously, Peanut, I'm starting to get a bit worried about you. Why on earth would you think Mr Stone is trying to hurt me?' But before Peanut could answer, Nerys appeared at Mum's shoulder. ' Hello, my lovelies. So sorry to interrupt. Er, Peanut, do you think I could have a quick word with you?' She opened her eyes wide and flicked her head to one side in a come-with-me- right-now kind of way. Peanut smiled at Mum, let go of her hand and followed Nerys to the far side of the room. Once there, the woman began speaking very quickly. 'I don't know how you got here so fast,' said Nerys, her voice urgent and shaky, 'but thank goodness you did. Now, I know this will sound silly, but you have to believe me. I think that Mr Stone...' she swallowed loudly, 'has taken us HOSTAGE.' She glanced anxiously over to where the man in the white fedora was standing. And I don't even know why! Please, please will you help us? I'm so scared that something awful is going to happen.'