After the call Melissa walks upstairs to Izzy’s room but she has fallen asleep; her homework is in a tidy pile on her desk. Melissa strokes her hair lightly. She hasn’t told her about Lina coming to live with them yet or about the pregnancy. There will be plenty of time. She watches her daughter breathing gently, relishing the peaceful moments that she never used to have with her, thankful Izzy is managing so well without the father she adores.

Poppy wants to laugh and cry at the same time. She wants to laugh because Sorrel’s okay, and then she wants to cry because she doesn’t look like Sorrel except for her eyes. The nurses cut her hair because it was all tangled. She’s looks yellow; she’s got tubes going into her skin and she’s covered with bruises. She looks tiny in the hospital bed. Was she that small before? Whoever took her must’ve just lifted her up and—no. She’s not going to think about that. It’s like Ash, she can only bear to think about him for little bits at a time. Izzy’s being nice. She asks about Sorrel all the time, about how she is and her memory and everything. She’s nicer than she used to be and Poppy gets that, because she is too. Mum says when you think you are going to lose something important it changes you; you concentrate on the things that really matter. Izzy hasn’t said anything much about her dad. She probably feels embarrassed and guilty, but it’s not Izzy’s fault. If people at school say it’s odd that Poppy’s best friends with the girl whose father kidnapped her sister, then that’s their problem. They don’t know what Izzy’s like – especially now. Izzy does her homework and she lends her clothes and everything. She actually feels sorry for Izzy, which she never thought she would. She feels sorry for Mum too. Dad never talks to her and you can tell she minds. It’s her fault for having sex with Martin – if that’s true – which is gross, but she’s not thinking about that either.

Charley can’t wait to see Sorrel. She turns out to be really important – much more than say, Izzy. She hasn’t seen Izzy for ages and it’s been fine, but she’s hated not seeing Sorrel. Perhaps she should feel sorry for Izzy like Poppy does, but she doesn’t. It’s not Izzy’s fault about her dad but that doesn’t make her nice. Actually, Poppy says Izzy’s trying to be nicer, but people are what they are; you can change but not that much. You can pretend to be nice like Paul did, but it’s hard to keep that up. Paul couldn’t, obviously. Poppy is sure Izzy’s really changed. Well, maybe she has.

15. March

Melissa