She was out of bed and away by 8 o’clock. She walked to the community center where the bus was stored. The battery was tired and she had to use jumper cables to get it running. Her mission was to collect a group of kids with learning problems from all over the area and take them to a day center. She scraped ice from the windscreen as the motor warmed up. Her mind turned to the obnoxious Max Muswell. His Rolls-Royce would be worth about a quarter of a million pounds. She’d settle for a couple of new batteries. Her first stop was at the Lomond Grove High Rise to collect Irene, her escort helper.
Her round followed the usual pattern of kids not ready, with mums begging her to wait. Others stood pinch-faced and shivering, holding their child at cold bus stops. Irene scolded and cuddled kids e
