‘I know it might be hard to think of it like this, honey,’ I say after a moment’s thought, ‘but it doesn’t sound like Ruby and Farah are very happy in themselves. Happy people don’t need to put other people down. It sounds like they’re going through some stuff – that maybe they don’t feel all that confident at the moment and are taking it out on you. Which isn’t fair of course, but what I mean is that the way they’re acting says everything aboutthemand nothing aboutyou.’
Ella frowns, considering this.
‘I guess …’ She trails off, looking again across the beach.
‘I mean, I do like clothes,’ she continues, her face softening again. ‘And if there were any actually cool guys at our school I wouldn’t mind having a boyfriend. But I’m interested in so many other things too, you know? But they think it’s not cool to like hiking or sailing or going on adventures anymore. That’s why I so loved it when Molly and I started chatting on Facebook. She just got me and made me feel it was OK to be different.’
From the moment we’ve set foot on the island the girls have been inseparable. They’ve been apart their entire lives. They deserve at least a few more days.
I stand up, brushing the sand from my jeans and hands.
‘Come on, I think it’s time to get back – and for you to give your cousin a hand with all that cleaning!’
Ella stands up quickly.
‘So we’re not leaving?’
‘Not today, no. And tomorrow is the funeral. We might as well stay for that and for a bit after too if you like.’ Ella wraps her arms around me, just like she did when she was younger. We walk back to the house side-by-side, her arm through mine, my arm through hers. ‘We’ve come all this way, after all.’
Because we have. It’s felt like such a long journey. But I’m realising that maybe it’s not over just yet.
Chapter 30
Alice
I watch Lorna and Ella walk along the beach, from a distance their silhouettes barely distinguishable from one another. It’s turning into a beautiful island morning, the sun crisp as a coin in the sky. It makes me smile to look at them and I turn to Molly, who is currently standing on a stool dusting the top of the kitchen cupboards, and smile up at her too.
‘Time for a break I think, shall we have a piece of cake? Don’t tell Dad.’
She hops down from the stool and hugs me.
‘I love you, Mum.’
I kiss the top of her head.
‘I love you too, sweetheart. And your dad does too, so much. He was just worried about you, we both were.’
‘I know,’ nods Molly. ‘And I’m really, really sorry.’
‘I know you are.’
‘Do you think Dad will ever forgive me?’
‘Of course he will, darling. I think he already has. Now, how about that cake?’
It still feels such a happy relief to have my daughter here, safe and well after that awful, terrifying search for her. And with Lorna feeling better now too it feels like at least some sort of calm has returned to the house. When Lorna and Ella return inside from the walk I’ll make a pot of tea and ask them to join us for cake. Perhaps I can persuade Jack in from the fields for a break too.
Molly fetches plates as I carry the cake tin and a knife to the table. My phone suddenly buzzes in my pocket and I place the tin down, the knife still held in one hand as I reach into my pocket with the other.
It’s a message from Sarah.
Are you busy? Jean’s husband just called in a state. I’m about to head over there – the others are already on their way.
The knife drops to the table with a clatter. Oh god. What’s happened? Is Jean OK? My heart races, my skin growing hot.
‘Mum? Are you OK?’
I grab the car keys from the end of the table.
