The Runaway

Denney has lost his parents in an accident and lives with Gran, under somewhat neglected circumstances, in a council flat. When Gran is taken ill and has to go into hospital, the immediate prospects for Denny aren't appearing. When the suited 'lady from the Council' arrives, obviously to place Denny in the local children's home, the time for action has arrived. Armed with Gran's £5 rent money and haunted by the apparition of Bouncer Bradley, the area's resident bully, Denny goes 'on the run. Nachtar Singh, from a totally different environment, proves to be an unlikely ally and friend in his adventures. Contrived and unbelievable in any social realism sense, but taken purely as one-level fiction, it makes a very readable and enjoyable story.