I don’t trust myself to speak, so I just nod at her to keep talking. It’s like she knew I was thinking about the twins.

“I want you to know I would never have told Tony anything about my life, about Mum, would never have replied to his first message if I’d known who he really was. I know you met Robbie, that he frightened you, but Tony’s worse. If I’d known what he would do to her, what he was capable of . . .” Her voice trails off, as though lost for a moment in how things should have been. “When you read the diary, you’ll know. She was only supposed to go to sleep, and when she woke up I’d be gone. He promised me he wouldn’t hurt her. Even after everything she did to me, all the agony, I still didn’t want to hurt her.”

Her eyes are swollen with tears when she looks at me.

“I need you to believe me, Cara. Please, tell me you believe me.” And suddenly she’s Grace again, the little bird in her wheelchair asking whether an armful of balloons will carry her far, far away, begging me to help. She’s the Grace who is goodness without end, the Grace who is incapable of lying, the Grace I miss. Looking at her, listening to how she wanted to protect Meg even after everything, I think that maybe Grace hasn’t gone completely.

“I believe you.”

She smiles a brief flash of relief and gratitude before she asks again, “So, will you help me?”

“How?”

“It’s simple, Cara. The twins will be coming back to the caravan soon. They wouldn’t risk leaving me alone for too long. If I don’t get away they’ll kill me. I’m dangerous to them now because I know what Tony did to her and they won’t trust me now I’ve tried to get away. You can help me by letting me go. Right now. Let me have a chance at a normal life.”

“Gr—Zoe, please don’t ask me that. Let me call the police. They’ll protect you, I promise. You haven’t done anything wrong, they’ll see that. You can’t get away from the twins on your own. Everyone will know what she did to you, what Tony did to her. No one will blame you, everyone will want to help you.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, Grace shakes her head.

“I’ve spent my whole life being pitied and feeling different. I don’t want that again. I just want a normal life, Cara. If I stay here I’ll always be the girl this happened to. I’ll never escape my past, I’ll never escape her.”

Suddenly I realize how little she knows of the world. She thinks she can just escape, after everything that’s happened, leave everything behind and start a new life.

“I just want a chance to live my life the way I choose. That’s all. That’s all I want.” She makes it sound so simple, so reasonable.