‘No, not yet. Don’t be so ridiculous. It’s only your period, which means …’ she trailed off, waving her hand at me. ‘Never mind. Go on, get out of my sight. I can’t bear to look at you like this. I knew your time would come, but I hadn’t imagined it would be so soon.’

‘But, Mother, please! What are you saying? Am I going to die?’

She buried her face in her hands. Her whole body shook. ‘Get out! Get out! GET OUT!’

I stumbled backwards out of the room. I ran upstairs and shut myself in the bathroom, chest heaving, heart pounding, confused and frightened. A period. What did that mean? A period was another word for a full stop. Did that mean my life was coming to an end, like a sentence? Was it another sign that I was dying?

Sniffing back tears, I recoiled as Deadly scurried across the room, heading for the crack in the wall. Once he’d disappeared, I did as Mother had told me as quickly as I could and then went into my bedroom and changed into one of my prettiest dresses, hoping Mother would approve, that seeing me looking like her little doll again would calm her down.

Before I left the room, I checked my reflection. The dress was a bit tight. I chewed my lip, scared the seams might split. I tried to smile at mirror-me and told myself the dress would be fine as long as I didn’t breathe too heavily or make any big movements.

‘Mother?’ I said, hurrying downstairs. ‘Mother? I did as you asked. Mother?’

Mother ignored me. She moved away from the record player as the Eagles’ music blasted into the room, the volume so loud it hurt my ears. A song about a witchy woman pounded against the walls. I noticed the red purse on the floor in the middle of the room, its contents spilled over the carpet.

‘Mother? Mother, please,’ I said.

She closed her eyes and swayed to the music. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She held the photograph I’d found behind the grandfather clock against her chest. Without looking at me she pushed me backwards out of the room and shut the door in my face.

Chapter 8