‘But—’
‘Mum, it’ll only make things worse. You don’t understand.’ Lara stood up abruptly.
‘Hey,’ soothed Nancy. ‘She can’t get away with this.’
‘You can’t tell the teacher,’ insisted Lara.
Nancy took a breath. She could see Lara was gettingworked up, didn’t want it to escalate. ‘OK. I won’t speak to Miss Young.’
Lara looked visibly relieved.When did my daughter get put into such an awful position?thought Nancy.
‘You promise?’ asked Lara.
‘I promise,’ said Nancy. And she wouldn’t. But she was going to speak to Imogen.
THIRTY-SEVEN
Monday 9 November
As they arrived at the playground, Nancy could feel Lara holding back, nervously scouting around for Rosie. There was the usual chaotic atmosphere: kids running around playing Tag, parents dodging them while still engrossed in energetic post-half-term-break conversation. She looked for Imogen among the parents, trying to spot her luminous blonde hair.
‘How was your holiday?’ asked Lorna, as she bounded up to them, a couple of school bags hanging off her arms.
‘Fine,’ said Nancy, burying her irritation. She wanted to be left alone to find Imogen so she could get rid of the weight from her shoulders that had been building all the previous week. Lorna was looking at her expectantly.
‘How was yours?’ Nancy parroted back.
‘Oh, we had such a lovely time. It’s so nice to spend time with the kids, you know? They grow up so fast – can’t believe our two will be in secondary next year. Hopefully together – that is, if we’re lucky enough to get a scholarship...’
Oh God, she couldn’t deal with this today. Not today. Nancy felt her eyes glaze over. Why was Lorna so numb to everyone else’s needs? Why was she so self-absorbed, so obsessed with her own desperate attempts to fit in, to reassure herself of her place in this little village world? Then Nancy saw a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of her eye.
She glanced over, saw Imogen was walking in with Erin. Both Rosie and Tilly were following behind, chatting non-stop. She looked down at Lara and saw Lara had clocked them. Lara moved slightly, placing herself behind Nancy so she couldn’t be seen, and Nancy’s heart twisted.
‘...don’t suppose your friend Beth has mentioned when they’re sending out the letters, has she?’
Nancy turned back to Lorna.What did she just say?Lorna was looking at her in a way that made Nancy feel as if she’d pissed her off. She hadn’t been listening. She hadn’t behaved as if Lorna was important and that had offended her.
‘Sorry, Lorna, I must...’ Nancy stopped. Actually, she needed to talk to Imogenafterthe bell had gone. Once Lara was safely inside. She needed to keep her in her peripheral vision for the next few minutes and grab her before she left the playground.
‘I didn’t quite catch what you said.’ Nancy smiled at Lorna wearily; the woman was still looking as if she’d been mortally injured.Come on, where’s this bell?thought Nancy. Her heart was racing. A horse in a starting gate, skittish but raring to go at the sound of the gun crack.
Lara had spotted Mia and the two girls had gravitated towards each other a short distance away. Nancy was, cautiously relieved her daughter had someone, that Mia seemed to have seen Rosie in her true colours.
Rosie was drinking out of her water bottle, the plastic kind with the sports cap. She and Tilly were talking, their faces close to one another, their eyes glancing over to where Lara and Mia were walking. Then they headed in the same direction and Nancy frowned, sensing something was not right. She tried to look past the group of mums standing across her viewpoint, vaguely aware Lorna was awaiting a response on something she’d said about Beth. Nancy moved away from her to get a better view, ignoring Lorna’s indignation, and then she saw Rosie walk past Lara and Mia, her water bottle held down low, so no one would notice and as she passed Lara she squeezed, striking Lara with a blast of water. She quickly went to drink again as if that was all she’d been doing in the first place and she and Tilly giggled, heads together as they turned the other way and hurried off.
A red mist came down in Nancy. She barrelled across the playground, her eyes fixed on Rosie like a heat-seeking missile. She came up to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her around to face her.
Rosie jumped in fright, looked down at the fierce grip Nancy had of her. Tilly stood by, dumbstruck.
‘I saw what you just did,’ hissed Nancy, ‘and I know what you did at Halloween. You are a vicious little cow and if you ever touch Lara again, I swear to God, I’ll make your life so miserable.’
‘You’re hurting me,’ wailed Rosie and Nancy got a buzz of satisfaction. She could see her fingers were pressing deeply into Rosie’s skin, but she wasn’t going to relax them, not yet. She wanted to inflict something more on this child.
She squeezed harder.
Rosie cried out.
Good, thought Nancy. She was aware one or two of the other kids had clocked the altercation and were looking on, jaws dropped. It was only a matter of time before the ripples of interest reached the parents.
