john_amend_all

It was pure chance that Ace passed the entrance of Tinkers' Alley at the right time. Five minutes before, and there wouldn't have been anything to see. Five minutes after, and it would probably all have been over. As it was, though, she was there just at the right time, and happened to glance into the alley. There was a little knot of people at the far end, and she recognised one of them as Gav. Gav the Scumbag, as she inevitably thought of him. It was clear that he'd found another victim — a tall, gawky, blonde girl wearing the plum-coloured blazer of St Ethelfrida's — and was just starting on his usual schedule of tormenting her. He was pushing her against the alley wall with one hand and gripping her tie with the other, while one of his sidekicks tipped her satchel out on the ground.

While Ace had no time for posh girls from St Ethel's, she had even less time for Scumbag Gav. "Oi!" she hollered, running down the alley. "Drop it!"

Gav looked round, startled. "You keep out of this, Dorothy," he sneered. Then, seeing that had no effect, he added. "Razzer. Smig. Deal with her."

Razzer and Smig advanced on Ace with grim purpose. But as they did so, the girl in Gav's clutches took advantage of his momentary distraction to deliver a precisely-aimed knee to a sensitive part of his anatomy, followed by a punch to the solar plexus. As he collapsed, swearing, the girl broke from his grasp and made a run for the mouth of the alley. Smig heard the footsteps, turned, and swung a hasty punch. More by luck than judgement, it connected with her head; the girl was knocked backwards, stumbled into the alley wall, and ended up on the ground. At the same moment, Razzer grabbed Ace from behind; she struggled in his grasp, trying to bring an elbow to bear.

"You shouldn't have come here, Ace," Razzer said. "This wasn't your fight."

"Oh yeah?" Ace kicked out with all her force, connecting with Smig's leg. He looked round, his attention momentarily diverted from the other girl as she pulled herself upright. Then, as he turned back, he was sent reeling by a right cross to the jaw, followed by an uppercut. Ace took advantage of Razzer's momentary distraction to elbow him in the guts, break free, and deliver a few well-aimed kicks to both ruffians. Limping, Razzer decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and made a run for it. Smig looked from Ace to the unknown girl, made up his mind that he didn't like those odds, and followed suit.

That just left Gav. He was still on the ground; though he managed to deliver a hate-filled glare at Ace, he showed no sign of getting up.

"You try anything, scumbag, and I'll kick your teeth out the back of your head," Ace told him. "And you know I would."

Gav swore at Ace, but he nodded, which she supposed was the best she could hope for from him.

"Hey, Beaky," she said. "Get your books together before those two toerags come back."

'Beaky' — looking somewhat the worse for wear, with one sleeve of her shirt ripped and a rapidly-swelling black eye — hastily complied. Ace recognised some of the textbooks that the other girl was loading into her satchel. She must be in the same school year as Ace; or rather, the school year that Ace would have been in, if she hadn't been excluded.

"Got them," she said.

"Right. Let's go." Ace led her out of the alley, keeping a sharp eye out in case Razzer or Smig had come back with reinforcements. But it seemed not.

"I ought to thank you," the girl said. "Who are you?"

"Ace."

"That's it? Just 'Ace?'"

"That's it," Ace said firmly. "You're a bit out of your way, aren't you? Don't get a lot of St Ethel's girls round here."

The girl blushed. "Gav tricked me. He got talking to me on the Tube and invited me... well, you can guess."

"Yeah, he does that." Ace gave her a look that was almost sympathetic. "Suppose all the girls round here know about him now, so he's going further out."

"Won't he come after you? For helping me?"

Ace shook her head. "He's scared of me. Last time he tried to do anything to me I set fire to him."

"You set fire to him?"

"Can of deodorant and a lighter. Easy." Ace laughed. "You should have seen him rolling around trying to put his anorak out. Where are you going now?"

"The Tube station." She dug in her recovered satchel and pulled out a scuffed wallet. "Still got my travel card, thanks to you."

Ace gestured. "That's this way. We'll stop off at Mr Patel's and get some frozen peas for your eye."

"That's very kind of you."

"Yeah, well, make the most of me while you've got me, Beaky."

"Do you have to call me that?"

"What d'you want me to call you, then?"

The girl paused in thought. "Lou."

"What, like the thing you piss in? OK, if that's what you want. Just 'Lou?'"

"That's right." Lou managed a smile. "One syllable. Just like 'Ace.'"

"Yeah, I should be able to manage that." They walked on for some way before Ace spoke again. "Where d'you learn to fight like that? Didn't think they taught boxing at St Ethel's."

"That was my mum's idea. She said I ought to learn self defence, in case I got into trouble. Dad didn't like it: he said I shouldn't get into trouble in the first place. But Mum said that isn't always for me to decide."

"Like today."

Lou shook her head. "Today was my fault. Messing round with a boy. Dad'll hit the roof. I'll probably be grounded for a month."

"It wasn't your fault," Ace said firmly. "It was Gav's."

"Yes, but they'll still say I should have taken more care."

"D'you get on with your parents?" Ace asked.

"Suppose so. But, you know, parents."

"I know," Ace said darkly.

⁂

Ace walked with Lou to the tube station. At the ticket barrier Lou turned and held out her left hand, her right being fully occupied holding the frozen peas over her eye.

"Thanks again, Ace," she said.

Ace took the proferred hand in her own, and managed an awkward handshake. "See you round?" she asked.

Lou shook her head. "Probably not. As I said, I'll most likely be grounded. And Dad wouldn't like me mixing with... well, boys like Gav."

"Or girls like me," Ace said.

"You?"

"I'm not one of your nice St Ethel's girls, Lou. Got a police record and everything."

"Don't talk yourself down, Ace. You're good. You didn't have to go into that alley and save me."

"If you needed saving. You were doing all right on your own."

"I don't think 'all right' was good enough, just then. Hang on." Lou produced her wallet again, and extracted a small piece of pasteboard. "Come round for tea some time. Only you'd better ring first in case it clashes with my after-school classes. If you get my parents or the butler just ask for me."

"Butler?" Ace repeated. "Thanks, but it doesn't seem like my scene."

Lou squeezed her hand again. "Please, Ace. I'd really appreciate it."

"OK," Ace said. "Maybe. But no promises."

Lou's train chose this moment to put in its appearance. With a hasty 'Goodbye', Lou flourished her ticket at the inspector, and made for the platform at a run. Left to herself, Ace turned the piece of card over in her hands, and learned the name of her new friend.

Louise de Vere Adamant.

As Ace walked home, Louise de Vere Adamant was sitting in a Central Line train with the bag of peas still pressed to her swollen eye. Of all the thoughts that could have been in her mind after the events of the preceding hour, one remained uppermost: My parents are going to kill me.