‘Why would you want an egg sandwich?’ asked Tiger, pretending to push his fingers down his throat at the thought.
‘You know what I mean. Mum had strong views about stuff, but they were her views. I was always free to have my own.’
Tiger nodded. ‘Yeah, she was good like that, your mum. And how’s this guardian thing working out for you? No complaints about yours truly, of course . . .’ He huffed on his fingernails and polished them on his fleece.
‘Well, now that I think I’ve got my head round what she was trying to do, it’s not so bad,’ she said. ‘I am a bit young to be living on my own, I suppose, and there wasn’t anyone else to take me in. Maggie’s been great with this UCAS stuff and I’m sure she’ll be able to help with other things. And Leon’s sweet. I’ve bullied him into playing at this open mic thing in a couple of weeks. He didn’t look best pleased, but he can always back out if he wants.’
‘Is he playing his sax?’ asked Tiger.
Romany nodded and Tiger whistled through his teeth.
‘You’re in for a treat then,’ he said. ‘I might even come with you.’
‘Is he good?’ asked Romany.
‘Just you wait,’ replied Tiger, knowingly. ‘And what about that Hope woman? Have you heard from her?’
Romany shook her head. ‘I’m not sure why Mum chose her,’ she said. ‘Maggie doesn’t know either. She said that she’d only met her once before. You don’t know her, do you?’
‘No,’ Tiger said. ‘Seemed like an odd choice to me too, but I’m sure your mum knew what she was doing. She never did stuff by accident.’
Usually it annoyed Romany when people tried to tell her what her mum had been like, but somehow when Tiger did it she didn’t mind. It was probably because whatever he said about her was generally spot on.
The train pulled into Durham and they got out, jostling along the platform with the other travellers. It was a cold grey day with rain clouds hanging threateningly overhead, but it didn’t matter to them. They were on a mission. Tiger had planned a route for them through the city which he said would take in all the main elements, together with the university itself, plus a few corners to give her a feel for the ‘real’ city.
‘Do you know all the places you’ve visited as well as you do this one?’ Romany asked him as he marched confidently up North Bailey with her in tow.
‘Pretty much,’ he replied. ‘I mean, there are one or two places where I wasn’t exactly compos mentis, if you know what I mean . . .’ He grinned at her. ‘But I remember most of them.’
‘I can barely find my way around York,’ confessed Romany.
‘I find that if something is important to you, it has a way of staying in your memory,’ he said. ‘I love travelling, seeing new places, meeting new people, so when I do it, it would be pretty stupid of me to just forget everything I’d seen as soon as I left.’
There was a pause in the conversation as they negotiated a group of tourists.
‘So is it really bad,’ Romany asked, ‘being stuck with me?’ She hadn’t really thought about that before. She had been so busy resenting what had happened to her that she hadn’t looked at the situation from anyone else’s point of view.
Tiger didn’t say anything for a moment. He’s going to lie, she thought. He’s going to tell me that it’s all totally fine and that he doesn’t mind in the least.
‘Yes, it’s bloody awful,’ he said. ‘Don’t get me wrong,’ he added. ‘You’re a nice kid and I’d have done just about anything for your mum. But this? Being stuck in one place for a whole year? I reckon it might actually kill me.’
Romany was horrified. ‘I’m so sorry . . .’ she began.
And then she saw his face. He was grinning at her and she thumped him gently in the ribs.
‘You bastard!’ she said, laughing. ‘I thought you meant it then.’
Tiger’s grin slipped a little. ‘Well, I’m not entirely joking,’ he said. ‘It is hard, not being able to just take off whenever I want. But it’s not forever and to be honest, I’m quite getting into the routine of it all. And there are advantages to being in one place. It’s safe, for a start – I don’t have to keep looking over my shoulder to see who’s watching. And there’s always food – well, if I’ve been to the shops, that is – and it’s warm and dry. And you don’t snore – or not that I can hear through the wall. So, no. It’s not all bad. Right, less of this philosophical bollocks. Let’s go and look at the cathedral. Oldest surviving vaulted ceiling of its size. Did you know that? Actually, I reckon that kind of thing is as much Leon’s area as mine, but I bet he couldn’t give you the guided tour.’