Noel woke up to silence.
Not the silence of the Hartwell house — which was never fully silent. There was always the sound of someone carrying something heavy and the voices of staff moving through corridors, doors opening and closing, his father's voice somewhere below.
He lay still for a moment, looking at the ceiling.
Then he remembered where he was.
He sat up as he touched his head.
The room was dim as the curtain over the single window had been pulled almost fully closed and the light coming through the gap was the thin, grey light of early morning. He had fallen asleep without meaning to, still half dressed, and on top of the covers.
He remembered the first step he had written in the paper.
'First step — Try hard to get Rowan out of jail.'
"I should put my plan into motion already if I don't want to fail."
.
.
