Jenny looked up at Grace as though she had only just realised that someone was there. She frowned. ‘He married you.’
‘Yes.’ Grace’s voice shook. She had a flash of Adam’s joyous face on their wedding day, and felt a tear slide down her cheek. ‘And then he vanished, Jenny. I lost him too – so did Millie. I understand exactly how you feel. And now I need your help. We have to get Millie out of the snow.’
Grace moved within range of them and held her arms out. Give her to me, she implored silently.
Millie suddenly seemed to realise that her mother was there. She screamed and pushed away from Jenny violently, trying to get to Grace. For a moment Jenny lost her hold on the child, caught unawares by Millie’s unexpected movement, and Grace’s terrified heart passed over a beat as she saw Millie rock backwards. She lunged forward to grab her daughter, feeling herself lose her own balance as she did so. She plucked Millie from Jenny’s hands and willed herself upright, but it was too late, her momentum was forwards, they were going together. To right herself she needed to let go of Millie, so there was no hope, and they were tipping towards the edge. While panic ripped through her body, her mind began to accept the inevitable. This is it, then.
Strong hands grabbed her and pulled. She staggered backwards, regaining her balance. She looked to see that Ben was behind her, his face deathly white. ‘Thank you,’ she said, but he was staring beyond her.
Jenny had twisted to watch them, her expression unfathomable, but then she turned away and peered over the edge, as though thinking. Ben rushed across and gripped her under the arms, dragging her away from the drop. ‘Don’t you dare,’ he shouted.
Silence enveloped them. Then Jenny began to cry.
Grace stroked Millie’s face, and found it was icy. Millie’s wails were weakening now, to intermittent exhausted sobs. Something screeched overhead, but Grace didn’t care what ghouls might emerge from the shadows tonight to chase her. Nothing was more frightening than how close she had come to losing Millie.
‘Grace,’ Jenny gasped, ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I only wanted to hold her for a little while …’
There was an ominous edge to Grace’s next words. ‘What happened to Adam last year?’
Jenny froze, as though she’d been struck. ‘I have no idea – I didn’t even realise he’d been living here until after he’d disappeared. Why would you ask me that?’
‘Because someone in your family knows the truth.’
Now Jenny’s expression was one of utter confusion.
‘Why do you say that, Grace?’ Ben cut in.
Grace had a very brief moment of hesitation. But the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced she was right. To hell with secrets and silence, she decided.
‘Because I think Adam was your half-brother.’
Ben and Jenny stared at Grace.
‘What the hell are you talking about?’ Ben said eventually.
Grace felt with her free hand and pulled the newspaper article out of her pocket, brandishing it at them. ‘I was looking at this in the car while I was waiting for you, and I said to myself that Adam doesn’t resemble this man at all – he looks more like your dad. It was only a casual thought, but something made me re-examine it. And the more I considered it, the more I felt it had the potential to explain a lot of things …’
Jenny was watching Grace intently, her eyes wide and wary, as though Grace were insane.
Ben got up, and held his hand out to his sister. ‘Look, let’s go back to the house, get warm, then we can talk.’
They stumbled along in silence, Ben supporting Jenny and using his free hand to shine the torch ahead. Grace followed, hugging Millie close as she concentrated on the path. Millie was quiet now, her face nestled into her mother’s neck.
Finally, they saw the lights in the distance. As they got closer to the schoolhouse, Claire was waiting on the doorstep. She ran a hand over her face in relief as soon as she spotted them.
Grace didn’t want to go inside. Instead, she headed towards Ben’s car. Her fingers were closing on the handle when a voice hissed from the darkness behind her, ‘Why couldn’t you just leave?’
The distant light from the schoolhouse cast a low glow on Meredith’s face, and her eyes were furious, the hollows beneath them sunken furrows.
Grace was too livid to know where to start. ‘How dare you,’ she replied, as Millie began snuffling against her shoulder.
Jenny caught up and grasped her mother’s arm, spinning her around, flinging words in her face. ‘Is it true? Was Adam our brother?’
When Meredith didn’t say anything, Jenny began to shake her. Ben pulled her away.
‘You made me think he didn’t care rather than tell me the truth,’ Jenny shouted, tears streaming down her face. ‘How could you?’
‘Jenny, you were a young girl, we didn’t think –’
‘I LOVED him, Mum,’ Jenny cut in. ‘It’s been fourteen years, and nobody has ever made me feel like that since. And now I’m barren as well as alone …’