Escape from Home (Chapter 3)

Thomas stopped and looked round at the face of this policeman.  He had chubby cheeks, which were rosy and red.  He looked a bit flustered.  ‘I really need to get going!’  Thomas protested. 

‘But where are you going lad?’

‘To find my mum, she’s just down here somewhere…’

‘Oh, I see.  So you want to find your mum.  You want to go back home do you?’

‘Er, yes…’ said Thomas, knowing that wasn’t the truth because he had actually run away from home.

The policeman sneezed ‘Achoo!!’

‘Are you okay sir?’  Thomas asked.

‘Yes I’m fine.  Now, you don’t want to go back home do you.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Thomas.

‘You’ve run away haven’t you.’

‘Er… er…’  How did he know that? Thomas thought to himself.

‘Yes, yes I have.’

‘Well we can’t have you running away now – we need to get you back home.  Come along with me now and I’ll drive you back.’

Thomas was told never to go somewhere with a stranger, but this was different of course, it was a policeman.  But there was something odd about him.  His policeman badge had a crack in it.  And under the crack the badge looked thin.  Not thick and heavy like the police badges Thomas had seen on his school trip to the police station.  All the officers there had solid metal badges on their jumpers.  And there was a hole in the policeman’s sleeve.  ‘I thought policemen had to look their absolute smartest at all times.’  He then looked down at the policeman’s shoes.  ‘Dirty shoes?  They look like they haven’t been cleaned for weeks!  But I thought they had to polish them every day?’

Something was not adding up here.

‘Well come on then lad, let’s get to it.’

‘Erm… okay then’ Thomas said reluctantly.  Thomas then followed the policeman to his car.

[Chapter 4]