My Sister's Bones(90)

‘You didn’t give me any choice,’ he says. ‘Sticking your nose in where it wasn’t wanted. I tried to stop you but you must have the constitution of an ox. Still, you’d have to be a tough bitch to do what you did.’

‘What are you talking about?’

He nods his head and smiles.

‘Sally told me,’ he says, pressing his mouth against my cheek. The pressure on my throat releases a bit. ‘What happened when you were a kid. The big family secret.’

‘Paul, no,’ groans Sally from the corner of the room. ‘Please, no.’

‘Shut up, bitch,’ he hisses. ‘You were the one who told me. You were the one who f*cking hated her for what she’d done.’

‘What did I do?’ I say, holding his gaze. I want him to know I’m not scared of him. ‘Tell me, eh? What did I do?’

He tightens his grip round my throat again then pushes his face in mine.

‘You killed your little brother,’ he hisses. ‘Your dad told Sally all about it when she was a kid. It wasn’t an accident. It was you. You held him under the water until he drowned. Evil bitch.’

No. It’s not true. He’s making it up. I yank one of my hands away from him.

‘You’re lying, you sick f*ck,’ I scream, raising my free arm to his face.

But he’s quicker than me and he grabs my head and smashes it into the floor. My entire body goes limp.

‘You bitch, you f*cking murdering bitch,’ he yells.

I can taste blood in my mouth as my head hits the concrete again and I close my eyes, waiting for the next blow. But it doesn’t come. Instead, a heavy weight crashes down on top of me and I feel his grip loosen.

I open my eyes as Paul rolls to the floor and see her standing there, the wooden chair raised above her head.

‘Hannah,’ I cry.

‘I’m sorry,’ she says, her lip trembling. ‘I’m so sorry.’

Paul isn’t moving.

‘It’s okay,’ I say, getting to my feet. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for, darling. It’s over now. It’s all over.’

I feel dazed as I look at his slumped body. He’s not moving but when I lean over him I can hear the faint sound of breath. Good. I want him to pay for what he’s done. I grab the rope that was tying Hannah, and bind his hands.

‘Kate.’

Sally. I stumble over to her and as I take her hand I hear footsteps overhead and relief floods through my body.

‘It’s okay,’ I say. ‘The ambulance is here now. You’re going to get seen to and then you’ll be all better.’

‘No,’ she gasps, taking my hand and squeezing it. ‘Can’t breathe.’

Her eyelids are drooping and her skin feels so cold.

‘Yes you can,’ I say, stroking her hands to warm them. ‘He’s gone, Sally. You’re safe now. I promise.’

She stares up at me. Her eyes are clouding over. I know that look. I saw it on Nidal’s face when I picked him up off the pavement.

‘No, Sally,’ I shout, rubbing frantically at her hands. ‘Don’t do this. The ambulance is here now. Hannah’s here and you’ve got the most beautiful grandson. You have so much to live for.’

‘I’m . . . sorry,’ she says, smiling up at me. ‘I’m so . . . sorry.’

‘Sorry for what?’ I say gently. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for.’

‘I should have let you in,’ she says, her voice rattling in her chest. ‘That time in the garden . . . should have let you in . . . He said . . . I’m sorry.’

‘It’s okay,’ I tell her. ‘It doesn’t matter any more.’

And I mean it. Suddenly all the hurt and resentment I have felt towards Sally over the years is meaningless. We were both victims of my father in different ways. How did I not see this until now?

‘Is there anyone down there?’

A voice. Female. Coming from above.

‘Yes,’ I call. ‘Down the steps. Quick.’

‘The ambulance is here, Sally,’ I say, turning back to her. ‘Sally?’

She is still. So very still.

I grab her body and shake it.

‘Sally, wake up!’ I yell. ‘Please wake up. The ambulance is here.’

I hear footsteps coming down the wooden steps.

‘No,’ I cry. ‘You can’t do this. You have to wake up.’

‘Miss, you’ll have to stand back,’ says a female voice behind me. ‘You’ll have to let her go.’

I do as she says and watch as the paramedics surround her body. But the resuscitation kit they have brought with them lies redundant on the floor. They look at one another and then at me. And with that look comes confirmation and I start to scream and the sound of my grief fills the room, the garden, the whole wretched town.





46


I’m sitting in a hospital corridor waiting for the doctors to finish examining Hannah and David. When the police arrived David started shaking and didn’t stop, all the way to the hospital. He and Hannah were taken into a private room and a stream of doctors and social workers have been in and out of there throughout the night. The nurses have brought me tea and asked if I would like to get my forehead looked at but I have refused. This pain is my penance. I should have protected her but I failed and the guilt will live with me for ever.