‘It won’t feel so big when guests start arriving.’
‘I hope Evie sleeps through tonight.’ She woke up at two this morning, screaming because of a nightmare.
‘She’ll get used to being here.’
‘She said the room was “creepy”. She doesn’t like having a churchyard next door. She’s worried the house is haunted.’
‘We’ll decorate her room soon and then she’ll feel more at home. It’s only been one night.’
I bite the nail of my little finger and tear a piece off.
Adrian reaches over and takes my wrist. ‘Are you okay? You seem tense?’
I sigh and get to my feet. ‘It’s nothing. I need to go and check on the girls.’
Adrian stands up too. ‘They’re fine.’ He pulls me close to him. ‘Look, I know it’s a bit overwhelming. I get it, Kirst. I feel the same.’ He kisses me softly. His beard tickles my chin. ‘But we’ll get through it. We’ve got through worse.’
The sound of Evie screaming makes us spring apart and Amelia runs into the room. ‘Evie’s bleeding!’ she cries.
I dart past her to find Evie standing in the middle of their bedroom, cradling her hand. At her feet is a doll I don’t recognize, its china head at an odd angle, its one glassy eye staring up at me. The hair is long and black, in two messy plaits, and it’s wearing a filthy Victorian-style dress. One leg is missing, amputated at the knee, a jutting edge of porcelain where the calf should be.
‘Let me see,’ I say, taking Evie’s hand gently. Blood is oozing from a cut across her palm. Evie is crying silently, her little body juddering with each sob. ‘It’s okay,’ I say soothingly, trying not to panic. I lead her to the bathroom across the landing. Amelia and Adrian follow and we all crowd around the sink. I wash the cut under the tap, then wrap her hand in a towel. If it’s still bleeding we’ll have to take her to A and E.
‘I … need … a … plaster,’ she stutters, between sobs.
Adrian disappears to get one. It makes me smile that Evie thinks a plaster will fix any ailment. Amelia used to be the same.
I sit on the loo lid with Evie on my lap. ‘Look, the bleeding’s stopping,’ I say, after a while. Adrian reappears with aBen and Hollyplaster and I cover the cut with it. Evie examines it and promptly stops crying.
‘What happened?’ I ask Amelia, as we lead Evie back into their bedroom.
‘She found that,’ says Amelia, pointing to the china doll, ‘under the floorboards.’
‘Under the floorboards?’
‘Yeah. We saw that one was a bit loose so we looked under it and Evie saw the doll, but when she picked it up it cut her hand.’ Amelia shudders. She hates dolls. Especially the china variety. She’s always thought them sinister.
‘You’re okay now?’ Adrian asks, kissing Evie’s forehead.
She nods, chewing her lip and laying her hand gingerly on her lap.
‘Then we can get rid of this,’ I say, bending down to pick up the doll by the arm.
‘No!’ she cries. ‘We can’t get rid of her! She’s special.’
‘It’s hideous,’ interjects Amelia.
Evie sits up and stretches out her hands, her injury forgotten. ‘No, I want to keep her. She’s magic.’
‘It’s dangerous,’ I say, examining the jagged edge. ‘Look, it’s broken and it might cut you again.’
‘Let me have a look,’ says Adrian, taking it from me. ‘I’ll try to mend the leg.’ He flashes a smile at his younger daughter and she beams back at him. ‘Come on.’ He takes her uninjured hand. ‘Let’s see what we can find downstairs.’
I watch them go, smiling to myself, pleased to see them connecting again.
Amelia sighs heavily and I spin around. ‘What’s up, Moo?’
‘This house is jinxed.’
