Watching You: A Novel

‘Mum, what the hell are you doing?’

‘What does it look like I’m doing?’

‘Acting like a crazy person is what it looks like you’re doing.’

‘Did you not see him?’

‘Who?’

‘Up there, in the yellow house. He’s taking pictures again.’

Jenna looked up at the painted houses above and found the yellow one. ‘Where?’

‘Up there in the top window. He’s always at it.’

Jenna narrowed her eyes at the top window. She couldn’t see anything. But then she hadn’t expected to. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘whoever it was has gone now.’ She knew better than to try to disabuse her mother of her outlandish observations. She’d tried that approach for ages. It hadn’t worked. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Let’s go in.’

Her mother narrowed her pretty blue eyes at her; then her gaze passed over Jenna’s shoulder towards something behind. She said, ‘Look at this. Look.’

Jenna sighed. The sweat from netball had dried on her skin in the cold evening air and she was shivering and desperate to get indoors.

Her mother crouched down next to her red Vauxhall Corsa and indicated a point just above the back-wheel arch. ‘Look,’ she said. ‘That scratch. That was not there yesterday. And that’s been done deliberately, you can tell. Someone’s done that with a key. Look, you can see the teeth marks.’

Jenna leaned down and examined the scratch. Her mum’s car was so old that she could remember being driven to her first day at nursery school in it. The scratch certainly looked newer than some of the other damage, but that meant nothing.

‘Why?’ said her mum. ‘Why us? Why me? I don’t understand.’

‘Come on.’ Jenna offered her mum her hand. ‘Let’s go in. I’m freezing.’

Her mum got to her feet. ‘I think I need to call the police again. For all the good that it’ll do me. But honestly. It’s getting ridiculous. And now your school seems to be involved too.’

Jenna pushed the latched door open and went indoors. ‘What do you mean, my school?’

‘Your head teacher. That superhead. It’s him up there taking photos. I’m sure it is. And you know who else seems to be living up there now? That woman I told you about, the one who was on that tour with us in the Lake District? Remember? It’s all connected. The whole thing is connected, Jen. And it’s just getting bigger and bigger and bigger.’

Jenna dropped her PE bag in the hallway and hung her blazer off the banister. ‘I’m going to run myself a bath, Mum,’ she said. ‘Do you want me to leave the water in for you?’

‘Yes please, love. Thank you. Remember to rinse it out first though!’ she called up after her. ‘In case there’s any broken glass!’

‘Yup,’ Jenna called back. ‘Sure.’