When it happened again, another time when she’d been unable to sleep and had crept out onto the landing, Willow knew instinctively that what she’d just witnessed was something she should never mention, not even to Martha; it was a secret that grown-ups kept to themselves. But had Mum ever told anyone about it? Auntie Geraldine perhaps? Or had she kept quiet because she was too ashamed to tell anyone, just in the same way that Willow felt too embarrassed to admit this terrible thing Rick had done to her?

Not that guilty shame was anything new to Willow. She was well acquainted with it.

‘Here we are then,’ said the taxi driver, turning into the driveway of Anchor House.

Home, thought Willow with relief. She paid the man and was about to carry her case the short distance to the front door when he insisted on doing it for her. It was a kindly gesture on his part, but it reminded her of Rick, of him always rushing to help her, of him suffocating her with his overly protective care.

They had only taken a few steps when the front opened and there was Mum. All the way here Willow had been determined to keep it together, but the sight of her mother and the obvious concern on her face stripped away that resolve, and suddenly overcome with fear and helplessness, she began to cry.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Naomi’s relief at seeing her youngest daughter instantly vanished when she saw her distress and the shocking state of her face.

‘Willow, whatever has happened to you?’ she cried in alarm as the taxi driver acknowledged her and returned to his car.

Willow’s reply was all but drowned out by her gulping sobs. The only words Naomi caught were ‘It’s my fault … I shouldn’t have … I’m so sorry.’

Shutting the door, Naomi guided her daughter through the house to the kitchen. Her loud sobs attracted the attention of everybody else and they all appeared at once, with Martha leading the way.

‘Bloody hell, Willow!’ she exclaimed, ‘what have you done to your face?’

‘It’s … it’s nothing,’ Willow mumbled, a hand raised to cover her mouth.

‘It doesn’t look nothing to me. How did you do it? Oh my God, don’t tell me Rick did this to you!’

With sickening dread seeping through her, Naomi said, ‘Don’t hound the poor girl, Martha, at least give her a chance to take off her coat before subjecting her to a cross-examination. Come on, Willow, let me help you out of your coat and get you comfortable. How about a cup of tea? And have you eaten? Martha, put the kettle on, and Geraldine, don’t just stand there gaping like a fish, make yourself useful and find the cake tin in the pantry.’

‘What shall I do?’ asked Ellis.

Naomi caught her breath and scratched her head distractedly. She’d run out of things with which to divert attention away from Willow, who had now shrugged off her coat and was sitting at the table, in the place where she had always sat ever since she was a toddler and old enough to sit in a proper chair. ‘Tissues,’ she said to Ellis as Willow sniffed and let out another sob. ‘There’s a box over on the dresser.’