‘About my sister?’
‘Not exactly.’ She shakes her head. ‘I could lose my job, everything. It’s not my place to say.’
‘Please. I swear I won’t bring your name up at all.’
She bites her lip and takes a deep breath. ‘If you do, I’ll deny everything.’ Letting out a huge sigh, she continues, ‘I don’t mean to pry but sometimes I hear Archie’s son talking to him. Normally, it’s when I want to check to see if they’re okay and I’m waiting for a gap in their conversation, that’s all.’
My heart bangs that hard, it feels as though it’s about to burst through my ribcage. ‘Please, I won’t tell anyone that you said anything. Not knowing the truth is eating me up.’
‘I heard Cody having quite a go at his old man, telling him to stop mentioning the baby. Of course, Archie still keeps shouting about the baby in the sea. It’s normally when the seagulls are sounding away. He seems to think they’re crying like babies. I heard him say that he wanted to keep the hat but he threw it into the sea. Cody was quite mean to him. Just as he looked up at the door, I ducked out of the way. That was one incident, they’ve had this conversation a few times. I’ve no doubt that Archie knows what happened that day but I also know without a doubt that all you’ll get is red hat and a baby crying in the sea.’
By now, my face is sodden with tears. For the first time since coming here someone has told me the truth. Everyone else has made me feel like I’m going crazy with their denial. Cody knows everything and he won’t tell me. I only hope that the ice-cream seller will be more open. At least I can tell her what Archie said to me today. I won’t mention Sylvie. The last thing I want is for this wonderful human being to lose her job and looking at Cody and the way he is, he’d insist that she went.
‘Thank you. I was beginning to think I was losing my mind.’ I’m going to call it murder now. I believe that Archie killed her, reason unknown, and Cody either helped him or covered it up. All I need to do is prove it.
Reason unknown. What could those reasons be? Did they try to smuggle her away and it all went wrong? I still can’t forget the pirate clue that Will was dangling my way before he went offline. Was it something to do with the man who took us out that day? Mr Pritchard. Were they all into something bad together? Is that why no one is talking? If I’m on the cusp of unravelling everything, my life is seriously in danger. I can’t ask Mr Pritchard now as he’s dead.
‘Come here.’ The woman places an arm around my shoulder.
‘Thank you for everything.’ I splutter and blow my nose. ‘Can I just ask another question?’
‘’Course, lovely.’
‘What colour car does his son drive?’
‘It’s a silvery grey saloon.’
That’s not the car that has been following me but then again, he could have used his daughter’s car or maybe his wife has a car. ‘Thank you again for everything.’
‘That’s okay. You take care of yourself, do you hear me?’
I nod and smile as she buzzes me out. Blue sky pierces through the clouds. Running to the car, I open the door and throw my bag onto the passenger seat. My phone rings and I answer immediately. ‘Dad, is everything okay? The girls.’ My heart revs up as I imagine allsorts. ‘Are they hurt?’
‘No, they’re fine. We’ve been playing Buckaroo. They’re hungry and they mentioned that you went out for a pub lunch. They want to go to the mermaid pub for food.’
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’ He lost Jess. I remind myself that he can’t be trusted with a responsibility so huge.
‘I promise you, Katie. I will guard them with my life. I know you hate me—’
‘I don’t hate you.’
He pauses and clears his throat. ‘I always thought you hated me.’
A tear slips from my eye. ‘I did, I thought I did and I want to believe that you’ve changed.’
‘I have. I’m not the same person. Please give me a chance to make it up to you.’
I sigh. It’s less than a five-minute walk. ‘We went to the Old Smuggler. Go straight there and hold both of their hands. If a hair on their head is damaged, I will never forgive you. Don’t let go of them. Promise me.’ I feel like I might throw up. The thought of them all going out. People will look at my dad and they’ll point but we can’t hide away.
‘I promise.’
‘Okay,’ I croak. I feel so sickly yet I’m starving. The lack of food in me is probably making things worse. I need to eat before I faint. That churning is there again and it reminds me of a feeling I’m familiar with. I reach in through my coat and cup one of my breasts, searching for the sensitivity I’m all too familiar with in this potential situation. ‘I’ll be with you in about half an hour. Order me something with chips, curry maybe.’
‘Will do. See you there.’ With that he hangs up.
My mind casts back over the past few weeks. I was late with some of my pills and I forgot one or two. The stress of everything, of leaving the girls to go to start my new job kept my mind on other things. It’s not concussion, I’m pregnant. This nausea has been going on for days, maybe even a couple of weeks. It just so happens to have got worse since yesterday.
I gaze at the sea and several steps forward would see me plunging down the cliff to my death. I creep closer and gaze down, the swells and swirls making me giddy. Taking a step back, I almost gasp with relief. That’s when I hear the seagulls. I close my eyes, one hand on my tummy, the other in my pocket as I think of Jess. The gulls really do sound like crying babies and I don’t want to open my eyes. I fear I might see the ghost of her being taken by a wave.
