Without Looking Back by Tabitha Suzuma

shoes out of the back door, and Max tried to engage Louis in a discussion over which film they should watch. In the living room they sat around the coffee table with their plates and drinks, Max putting on the DVD and Millie arguing that Max had more chips than she did. Then Dad came in with his plate, sat down on the couch next to Louis and reached out and ruffled Louis’ hair. ‘The perfect end to the perfect day,’ he said with a smile. And that’s when Louis dropped his entire meal on the living-room floor.
    All of a sudden, the room seemed drained of oxygen, and Dad, Max and Millie appeared to be nothing more than characters in a television programme. Louis had the terrible feeling that none of this was really happening, it was all an illusion, and really he was somewhere else – back at home in Paris perhaps – while someonewas playing with his mind. He wanted to shout to himself,
Wake up! Wake up!
and find himself blinking at the dark ceiling, his heart still thudding, wondering why he’d had such a vivid dream. But instead of that, Max was swearing at him; Dad was saying, ‘It doesn’t matter, you can share mine,’ scooping handfuls of soggy fish and chips up off the carpet, until Millie’s voice, shrill with alarm, cut through the rest of the noise: ‘Louis, what’s the matter?’
    He put his hands over his mouth to try and muffle the gasping sound that was escaping him, and Dad looked up and dropped the handful of food and grabbed him by the wrists and said, ‘Louis, what’s wrong? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?’
    At the touch of Dad’s hands, an electric current shot through him and he jumped up, breaking free from his father’s grasp and crashing backwards into the TV, shouting, ‘Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! You lied to us! Don’t come near me! Maman has no idea where we are!’
    Dad’s expression suddenly crumbled and the colour drained from his face. His mouth hung open and he sank heavily back down onto the couch. Max froze, staring at them both, one hand still on the light switch. And Millie looked from one face to the other, finallyrunning over to Max with a whimper and clutching his arm.
    â€˜Louis, how did you find out . . .? I never meant for you to – I was going to tell you, I promise, I just needed some more time to plan exactly how . . .’ Dad’s voice was shaking, his eyes fixed on Louis’.
    Max was breathing heavily, his eyes wild. ‘Would somebody please tell me what the hell’s going on?’
    â€˜Louis, please,’ Dad tried. ‘Let’s just sit down and talk about it. I’ll explain everything. I never wanted to lie to you—’
    â€˜Why?’ Louis shouted at the top of his voice. ‘
Why?
’
    Millie gave another strangled whimper, hands pressed over her mouth.
    â€˜Because I love you,’ Dad said. ‘Because I can’t live without my children—’
    â€˜You had no right!’ Louis yelled, feeling tears spring to his eyes. ‘You had no right just to take us, without telling us, as if we were nothing but pieces of furniture—!’ A sob escaped him and he slapped the back of his fist to his mouth, biting his knuckles.
    â€˜If someone doesn’t tell me what’s going on,
right now
. . .’ Max warned.
    Dad said, his voice still shaking, ‘I can explain
everything
—’
    â€˜He kidnapped us!’ Louis shouted, whirling round to Max. ‘This whole holiday thing is a sham! The trip to Amsterdam was just to cover his tracks! Maman hasn’t let us stay an extra week! Maman doesn’t even know where we are!’
    â€˜Louis, please listen . . .’ Dad tried again.
    A look of horror was slowly spreading across Max’s face. ‘What do you mean,
kidnapped
?’ he said slowly. ‘You mean like a custody-battle thing?’ He stared at Louis. ‘How do you