‘Shut up! I do not!’ Beth hissed.
She screwed up a piece of paper and threw it at her friend. It bounced off Chloe’s head and landed on the floor. The teacher turned and frowned in their direction, clearly knowing something was going on but unsure what. When he went back to the whiteboard and started talking, Chloe and Beth began to giggle uncontrollably.
Then Chloe mouthed something to Beth.
‘So what’s the big secret?’
Beth felt like replying, ‘Which one?’
Forty-Five
Before I went home following my chat with Chloe, I had another teenager to apologise to: Aleksy Jachowski. I nipped round to his home, feeling foolish. His father answered my rap on the blue door, and held it open just enough to be seen. Clearly he wasn’t in a hospitable mood; no surprise there.
His son had inherited Mr Jachowski’s sharp cheekbones and upward-slanting eyes. His high forehead, currently crinkled with a suspicious frown, gave a glimpse of the future for Aleksy – the handsome boy wouldn’t be able to hide behind a fringe forever.
‘I wanted to apologise for last night. That mob was—’ I gave a helpless gesture. No words could describe how awful it must have been for his family, cowering in their home, terrified, while villagers screamed obscenities at them. ‘I know it sounds hollow, but… Anyway, the police have arrested someone for Beth’s attack, so everyone will know soon that Aleksy had nothing to do with it.’
Mr Jachowski said nothing, simply grunted. Nodded his head.
‘But I did wonder if I could have a quick word with your son about—’
The door closed.
Well, that was as much as I could have expected, really, given what his family had been put through.
‘All right, all right,’ shouted Jacob, running to the front door. Wiggins barked enthusiastically, presumably running at his master’s feet, as eager as Jacob to discover who was hammering to get in. From the bedroom I heard muffled conversation, voices rising.
‘Who is it?’ I called, making my way down the stairs. ‘We need to set off for the hospital in a minute…’
I saw Ursula’s platinum hair a second before she spotted me. Her scarlet mouth became a sneer of fury.
‘You!’ She jabbed her finger in my direction. ‘If you come near my daughter again, I’m getting an injunction against you!’
‘Hold on a second. Will someone tell me what’s going on?’ demanded Jacob.
‘I’m sorry, Ursula. But you know how protective you are about your daughter right now? Imagine how I feel with Beth in hospital. I don’t even know if she’ll ever wake up.’ The words came out at machine-gun speed. I’d felt good making peace with Chloe, but Ursula throwing her weight around reignited the fury that seemed to burn in me permanently these days.
‘What have you done, Mel?’ Jacob asked again.
‘I’ll tell you what she’s done. She’s upset my daughter. And I’m not having it!’
‘Ursula, Chloe and I sorted it out. Chloe kept a secret about Beth and James Harvey, so I had every right to ask her about it. But we’re fine now.’
‘No. No way. I’m not having you going near her again. What’s happened to Beth is dreadful, but it’s my duty to protect Chloe.’ Ursula was white as she spoke. A fleck of spittle flew with the force of her words. Wiggins gave a small growl. ‘You come near her again and I’ll get Steve to get an injunction against you.’
‘I thought you and he had split up,’ I said, confused.
‘We’ve decided we’re stronger together. You made us realise that, just now. I mean it, Melanie, Jacob: stay away from Chloe or you’ll regret it.’
Jacob stepped towards her, placating, arms wide in a gesture of openness. ‘I’ve no idea what Mel’s done, but I’m so sorry if it’s upset Chloe. I’m sure that was the last thing she wanted. Wasn’t it, Mel?’
‘Yes, yes, of course,’ I spluttered. ‘And she’s not upset!’
But Ursula wasn’t listening to me, Beth. She flounced away, wiggling inappropriately in her cobalt-blue skinny jeans and high-heeled boots. Climbed into her white BMW and gunned it.
*
Tears stung the raw skin beneath my eyes. I was all cried out, stretched thin and hung out to dry after everything that had happened. After Ursula left, I had expected your dad to hold me tight and comfort me. Despite what he’d been up to, I still wanted that. Instead…
‘Christ, Mel, I’m sick of you having a go at people all the time. You’re upsetting our friends! We need all the support we can get right now, and you’re stirring stuff up.’
Gobsmacked, I watched him pace back and forth. ‘But Jacob—’
‘No. That’s the end of this. Now that James Harvey has been arrested, just concentrate on getting Beth better.’
‘But that’s the point!’ I exploded. ‘Nothing we can do will make any difference to Beth’s health. Now, though, we can rest easy knowing that I’ve done something useful in all of this. I’ve found the person who put Beth in hospital. She doesn’t have to be scared any more; she can wake up!’
He stopped pacing so he could rub his face in despair. ‘It’s great news that James is being questioned – and you’re right, that is thanks to you. But you know catching Beth’s attacker isn’t going to make any difference to her prognosis, don’t you?’
‘I know—’
‘Good. Because God knows, I wish it did, but it doesn’t. And I’m worried that you’ve linked the two in your head.’
‘I think I preferred it when you were having a go at me for upsetting friends,’ I muttered.
He’d been reaching towards me. But his hand dropped to his sides. ‘You know what? Whatever. We need to get going. We’re already late.’
I’ve always said that the family stubbornness skipped a generation and passed direct from my dad to you. But I’m ashamed to admit, Beth, that at that moment I’d have been willing to cut my nose off to spite my face – in fact, I did something even worse.
‘Well, if you’re going to be so sanctimonious, you can go to the hospital alone,’ I said.
I thought he would back down, especially after what he had done, the secret I knew. Give me a hug. Tell me I was being a tit but that he still loved me. Instead he picked up his keys without a word, threw me a remorseful look, waiting for me to say something conciliatory. I almost did. This was ridiculous. More than anything in the world, I needed to see you, Beth. But somehow it was easier to hurt myself than face time in the car while your dad judged me.
As soon as he drove away, I regretted it. Snatched up my phone and unlocked it, ready to dial.
But it wasn’t your dad I called.
Instead of being with my family, I sat in Glenn’s van in the dark car park of the marsh. Listened to crap music on a local radio station. He pulled out a big flask filled with whisky. I had a slug, grateful, then passed it back. He shook his head.