McGraw picked up a piece of the shredded contract and smiled.

10
OPENING UP

Brewing a cup of the latest herbal infusion that Elise had blended for her, Daisy sat on her bed, a plate of Zoise cookies next to her, and dialed Granny’s number.

“Daisy!” Joy came flooding down the phone, and Daisy felt an itch of guilt, as if her heart were wearing a slightly scratchy shirt. She should have called sooner.

“Hey, Granny, how’s things?”

“Oh, you don’t want to hear about things this end—well, I mean, apart from the fact that you know the Tailor brothers who own the village shop? Well, they’ve fallen out again, and now no one knows when the damn thing’s supposed to be open or closed. Everyone’s started getting their things delivered from Avocado or whatever it’s called. All a bit la-di-da.” Granny was in the kitchen—Daisy could tell by the slight echo around her voice and the rattle of the drawers as she opened and closed them. Granny had never been one for sitting still during a phone call. “But as I said, nothing interesting. You know Crickleton. The most exciting thing that happens here is a duck wandering into the pub. Sounds like the start of a joke, doesn’t it?”

“Uh-huh,” Daisy “mmphed” around a mouthful of cookie.

“Speaking of birds, how’s that little pigeon of yours doing?”

Daisy leaned over to peer into the box in which Baby Gordon was residing. As if sensing Daisy’s presence, the chick opened its mouth, and not wanting to disappoint, Daisy dropped a cookie crumb inside.

The second the crumb was gone, the little bird went straight back to sleep.

“He or she seems to be doing fine. I think.” Time seemed gluey these days, splodged unevenly between Zoise sessions, not quite making the same sense it once did. So many of her memories these days seemed like things that had happened to someone else entirely. Trying to dredge them up to pass on to Granny was like reporting back a film she’d watched of someone else’s life.

“And how’s the yoga coming along?”

Yoga—the word triggered something in Daisy, a switch flicking on in a dimly lit cellar. “What do you mean?”

“You said you were doing yoga with those Zeus—”

“Zoise.”

“Whatever. Those other students. Last time we talked about it, you were very excited about progressing through their belt system.”

Had Daisy been talking to Granny about the Brethren? Fragments of warnings fluttered through her mind. Share only with those you trust . . . The branches of one family should not cross with the other . . . They don’t understand you like Zoise does . . .

She needed to be careful. “Oh. Yes. Well, I’m on yellow belt now. Fourth level.”

“That’s fast.”