“Just . . . clubbing friends. Mitch. And . . . Lise and—I can’t remember.”
I ran for the door, bolted down the hallway and hurled myself down the four flights of stairs. But by the time I reached the front door, the corridor and the street beyond it were empty, but for the late bus to Waterloo sailing gently, illuminated, down the middle of the dark road.
I stood in the doorway, panting. Then I closed my eyes, fighting back tears, dropping my hands to my knees as I realized what I had lost: my grandmother’s ring, the fine gold chain with the little pendant she had worn from when I was a child. I knew already I would never see them again. There were so few things to pass down in my family, and now even these were gone.
I walked slowly back up the stairs.
Jane was standing in the hallway
