Polly sits on the bench and presses her nose to the glass. ‘I can’t see many birds out there.’
Elis sits next to her. ‘We might need to be patient.’
‘That’s not my strong suit.’
He points at a hole in the ground, a little like a badger sett. ‘You see where the earth is dug out, just there?’
‘I think so.’
‘That might be a burrow. Keep an eye on it.’
They wait in silence. There’s the occasional twitch of movement in the trees, but the sources aren’t up to much – a silvereye and a robin.
After five minutes or so, Polly gives up watching the burrow and turns her face to his. ‘Do you know what, Elis, I was thinking earlier – I hardly know a thing about you.’
Elis shrugs. ‘I hardly know a thing about you, either.’
She places a hand on his bare forearm. ‘Go on, then. Ask me anything.’
Elis is quiet, his lips bunched up in thought.
She grins. ‘Anything at all.’
He scratches his head.
‘Oh, come on,’ Polly says. ‘There must besomethingyou want to ask me.’
Elis racks his mind for the sorts of questions heshouldask in this situation, but none form. Meanwhile, the questions thatareon his mind burn with a fire so fierce that it engulfs anything else. He frowns. ‘What do you think happened to Caira Kennedy?’
Polly’s smile vanishes. She removes her hand from his arm and her face stiffens. ‘I try not to think about it.’
‘Same here.’
Polly stuffs her hands in her pockets and stares out at the birdless scene in front of them.
The atmosphere between them has gone cold. Elis needs to explain himself, or at least fill the silence. ‘It’s just that, now Miles has been found not guilty, do you not wonder whatactuallyhappened?’
Polly shifts on the bench. ‘Like I said, I try not to think about it.’
‘Well, I think about it a lot.’
She continues to stare dead ahead. ‘Do you?’
‘Yes. And the more I think about it, the less sense it makes.’
Polly shakes her head irritably and flashes a scowl at him. ‘What are you talking about?’
Elis pauses to think. Continuing down this road would be a bad idea. But, on the other hand, being consumed by thoughts about this, and not being able to discuss them with anyone, is a torment the like of which he’s never experienced until this year. If there’s anyone who is safe to talk to about this, it would be Miles’s own sister. ‘Look, I know Miles didn’t do it. Obviously. But I was there listening to the trial, and a lot of what he was saying, it didn’t ... add up.’
‘This isn’t much fun, is it, birdwatching?’ Polly quickly replies. ‘I think I’m going to head back.’
With that, she stands and leaves the bench. Elis is startled by the sudden speed and purpose of her movement, her long legs marching towards the exit.
He opens his mouth to call her back, but no sound escapes his throat.
And he’s glad of it.
There’s no doubt it’s for the best. Because, just then, for a sickening second, it crossed his mind to tell her the truth.
