Page 61 of The Two of Us at the End of the World

Both babies started crying.

Hey! Cat said, already halfway out of her chair.

Do it again if you like. It’s OK, said Storm, still looking at her sister. If it makes anything better, if it makes you feel better do it again.

There was a pause, as if Freya was weighing up a dare.

Do it all night, said Storm. Go on. Keep doing it until you’re better…

Freya slapped her again. I could see a tear fly sideways in the candlelight. Storm barely blinked. Cat lunged for Freya’s hand but Storm was faster, catching Cat’s in mid-air and holding it there.

You can hit me as much as you like, and as long as you like, said Storm. You can do it until whatever mean thing gripping you has gone, and the real you comes back.

Freya slapped at her again but this time I was fast like Cat and stopped the hand a finger’s width from Storm’s face.

Stop it, I said. Just stop it.

Or what? Freya spat.

I could feel her arm wriggling like a river eel, trying to get free.

Or nothing, I said. I’m not threatening you. I’m too soft for that, remember? I’m just telling you. It’s time to stop this.

Her elbow wrenched back and forth as her dark eyes burned into mine. I didn’t feel frightened. I didn’t feel threatened. I just felt sad in a way that made me feel very very tired. I nodded towards Storm.

You don’t hit her. She’s your only-one, right?

Something clouded across her eyes. She shook her head. Trying to clear it away.

You only get one-only one, I said. You look after them. You don’t hit them.

She just stared at me, like her willpower was trying to bore its way through that cloud that surrounded her.

Only-one? she said in a sneery way that made it sound weak and childish.The babies wailed louder and louder. She shook her head in disgust.

You are soft, she said quietly.

But her arm went limp and I let it go. We all watched her as she slowly looked around, glaring at each one of us in turn, doing some kind of calculation in her head and deciding the answer wasn’t nearly enough. Then she just shrugged and got up and walked off into the place in the shadows where her bed was.

Storm just sat there, slumped defiantly into herself. I mean, I don’t know if you can slump defiantly. Maybe you can’t. But she still got very close to it.

I pulled the knife out of the table and stood up.

What are you going to do? said Cat.

Put the dogs in the far bunker, I said. Beyond the library.

Because it’ll keep them out of her hair? she said.

Because it has a lock, I said, tossing her the knife.

Cat caught it without seeming to take her eyes off mine. The edge of her mouth twitched in that way she had, always trying to swallow a smile rather than let it out into the world.

You’re not soft, she said quietly.

I know, I said.

And you’re not stupid, she said.