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Alfie scowled stubbornly at Grace. He wasn’t moving from his place. She’d just have to come and sit next to him. He saw her wrinkle her nose thoughtfully, and perhaps decide it wasn’t worth a fight in front of Mrs Cartwright. She grabbed her pencil case and sat down next to him – but she moved the chair further away first, as though he smelled.

Mrs Cartwright handed out a worksheet about Roman gladiators and beast fights, and Alfie enjoyed himself filling in the answers from that bit of the film, imagining Grace as a criminal thrown to the wild beasts. Penguin would enjoy being a ferocious panther, he thought.

The second side of the sheet had to be done with a partner. Alfie sighed and glanced up to see if Grace was ready, and found she was staring at him, looking equally unkeen.

“We have to write a play,” he muttered.

“Mmm.”

“You any good at writing?”

She shrugged.“We can have two characters. Then I’ll write one and you do one.”

Alfie nodded. It seemed the easiest way.“I’m going to be one of those ones with a net and the thing like a garden fork,” he added quickly.

Grace shrugged.“OK, but you’ll lose. I’ll be the one with the helmet and all the armour.”

Alfie nibbled his pencil, wondering if she was right.“All that armour’s heavy,” he pointed out. “You won’t be able to catch me. It’s weird that they knew each other, isn’t it? They probably had breakfast and talked about who was going to win.”

Grace nodded, looking interested.“Maybe that’s what we should do – our gladiators could be friends having breakfast at the gladiator training camp, and then they find out they have to fight each other.”

“What did Romans eat for breakfast?” Alfie asked.

“Just bread, Alfie,” Mrs Cartwright said over his shoulder. “Sounds like you two are doing really well. Keep going!”

Alfie blinked, surprised to find that he was actually enjoying himself.“We could finish it off after school if you want,” he suggested hesitantly to Grace, when Mrs Cartwright told them it was time to stop.

Grace smiled, a real smile, not the sort of horrible smirk he thought of her making.“Can I come to yours? Penguin would come and sit with us, wouldn’t he?”

Alfie stared at her.“Isn’t he at your house?”

Grace shook her head.“Not for ages. Days and days.”

Alfie frowned. He didn’t understand. Penguin was at Grace’s house, Alfie knew he was. Because he certainly wasn’t at Alfie’s. “I haven’t seen him since Saturday afternoon.” He dropped his voice to a whisper – it felt like some terrible secret. “I thought he’d gone back to yours! He has to be there…”

Grace looked worried.“He only ever stayed that one night. Then he popped in every so often. And then he had the last of the bag of cat treats, and I don’t think toast crusts were good enough. He gave me a sort of look when I offered him one.”

“He only likes them with Marmite on,” Alfie murmured. “But if he’s not at yours, where’s he gone?”

Grace was frowning.“He couldn’t haveanother house, could he?”

“I don’t think so.” Alfie looked doubtful. “Not unless he was only there when I was at school. He never went anywhere else until you turned up,” he added. All those thoughts about run-over cats he’d had when Penguin disappeared the previous weekend were flooding back. “What if he’s been hit by a car?” he muttered shakily, quite forgetting to blame Grace.

“Someone would have told you. He’s got a tag on his collar, hasn’t he?” Grace pointed out.

“I suppose.” Alfie nodded, suddenly grateful for the collar. “But – where is he then?”

“Maybe he’s got shut in somewhere. Look, I’ll ask my mum, she’s picking me up. We can go and look for him together.”

But when they dashed across the playground together, leaving Oliver standing gaping at the classroom door, only Alfie’s mum was there waving at them.

Grace slowed up, frowning and peering through the fence for her mum.

“Grace, your mum asked me to fetch you,” Alfie’s mum called quietly, and Grace slouched over to her, looking reluctant.

“Is something wrong?” she asked. She looked grumpy, but Alfie realized it was because she was frightened.

Alfie’s mum nibbled her bottom lip and nodded. “She was really sorry, Grace. She didn’t want you to be upset, but it was all a bit of a rush. Your gran’s not very well, you see.”

Grace glared at her.“I know that! She hasn’t been well for ages. That’s why we came.”

“Ye-es, but she’s had to go into hospital. It happened at lunch time,” Mum explained. “Your mum’s with her; that’s why she asked me to pick you up.”

“When will they be back?” Grace asked. Her water bottle rolled out of her fingers, and Alfie picked it up for her.

Alfie’s mum shook her head. “Your mum really wasn’t sure. She didn’t know exactly what was wrong with your gran, and she wants to stay at the hospital while they find out, you see.” She smiled at Grace. “We arranged that you can stay with us if she’s got to be there overnight.”