Where the Memories Lie

 

 

‘He hasn’t been getting any of the unusual texts on his phone.’

 

‘Well, I hope that’s the end of it, then.’

 

‘It is. I’m positive it is. You’re staying for dinner, OK?’ Nadia insisted.

 

‘Are you sure that’s not extra work?’

 

‘When has my family ever been extra work? Besides, it’ll give me something to do.’

 

‘OK, but I’ll help while Anna keeps Charlotte occupied.’

 

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Where the Memories Lie I drove with Anna chatting on about how she was going to take Charlotte’s mind off things by playing Conspiracy Clubs, whatever that was. I wasn’t really listening. All I could think of was what I was going to say to DI Spencer about the necklace when I got a minute alone, rehearsing the lines silently in my head. Nothing sounded right. It all sounded wrong. Completely and utterly wrong.

 

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Chapter Thirty-One

 

 

Mum, you have to go into the garage for me,’ Anna said the next morning after we’d taken Poppy out for a long walk through the woods. She’d rolled in fox’s poo and absolutely reeked ? Poppy, not Anna. I had no option but to give her a bath, which she hated, and usually ended up with me wearing more water than her. I really was not in the mood for it. In fact, the only thing I was in the mood for was repeatedly banging my head against a wall, or screaming at the top of my lungs in the garden, or curling up into a ball and crying for weeks, but I was desperately trying to hold it all together for Anna’s sake.

 

‘Why?’ I said, struggling to lift a heavy Poppy into the bath.

 

Seeing that gaping hole in the ground again, Katie’s grave, was more than I could handle today. I had barely enough courage to call DI Spencer as soon as my little Klingon gave me some privacy, let alone see that again.

 

She sat on the edge of the bath, waving a hand under her nose.

 

‘She stinks. Gross.’

 

Poppy struggled to get out of the bath but her legs just slipped on the enamel and the water splashed up, soaking my arms and chest.

 

‘Ew!’ Anna jumped back and stood in the doorway.

 

Where the Memories Lie

 

‘If you want to roll in crap, then take the consequences,’

 

I said firmly to Poppy, who wouldn’t take a blind bit of notice.

 

She’d do it again as soon as she could. ‘What do you want in the garage?’ I sighed. ‘I really don’t want to go in there at the moment.’

 

‘I’ve decided I’m definitely going to do the car boot sale, after all. If I don’t do what I can to raise money then I’ll feel like I’m being selfish and childish about the whole thing.’

 

‘Well, having principles and sticking to them is a mark of grow-ing up, so I’m very proud of you.’ I gave her an encouraging smile as I lathered Poppy up with some doggy shampoo that smelled of . . .

 

well, the label said honey, but it was really more like mouldy sprouts and something synthetic.

 

‘So I want to go through the stuff I’ve already collected. You know, you told me to put the box in the garage, so I did.’

 

I rolled my eyes at her. Typical. The one time I wished she hadn’t taken any notice of me and she bloody well had. I sighed again. ‘Where did you put it in there?’

 

‘On one of the shelves.’

 

‘All right,’ I said reluctantly.

 

Half an hour later, with a pissed-off wet dog, a pissed-off wet me and a tension headache boring behind my right eye, I con-fronted my own fears and went back into the garage. If I was going to talk the talk to my daughter about being brave, then I had to live by my own rules. Otherwise I was a hypocrite, and that idea didn’t sit well with me. I might be a lot of things, but I didn’t ever want to be one of those.

 

I spied the box on the first shelf and heaved it down. God, it was heavy. How had Anna managed to lift it up there by herself ?

 

After closing the door again firmly, I prayed this was the last time I’d ever have to go back in there. When we sold the barn, I’d just employ a moving company to come in and pack everything up.

 

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