The rest of the journey was spent in relative silence, both women trapped inside their own heads, contemplating the action that had taken place over the last week.

Marion, who had hoped the book club would survive, had now resigned herself to the fact it was truly over. The relationships within the group were fractured beyond repair and it had stopped being fun. She worried about what would become of Barbara, and decided that she would arrange to meet her once a week, as they always had done, and the two of them could visit gardens together since they shared a passion for flowers. They could still discuss books, if they wanted, but she doubted it would ever be the focus of their conversations again. The realisation came as a mixture of sadness and relief.

‘It’s sad that the book club is over.’

‘Yes, it is. But it stopped being fun some time ago.’

‘I suppose it did.’ Marion thought back to the last few meetings. ‘What do you think happened?’

‘I dunno. It just changed, didn’t it? The atmosphere wasn’t right.’

Marion considered this and wondered when things had changed. Was it one thing that had happened, or a sequence of events? She wasn’t sure.

‘I hope we will still see each other.’

‘I’m sure we will,’ Maggie said buoyantly. ‘I’ll always have cake waiting.’

‘You know I’m a glutton for your flapjacks.’

‘I’ll make some especially for you. To say thanks for driving me to the hospital and all.’

‘I’m very fond of Amy. You needn’t thank me.’ Marion took the car off the motorway and followed the signs for the hospital. ‘We’ll be there soon. I’ll drop you out the front and go and find somewhere to park. No point in us messing about and wasting time. That girl needs us.’

Maggie smiled at Marion calling Amy a girl, as she was far from it, but appreciated the intention.

‘Let’s hope Johnny is going to be OK.’ For a moment, Maggie had an awful fear that she’d turn up at the hospital to discover he’d died. That wasn’t something she’d bargained for when leaving Cambridge.

Whatever the situation, she had come to support her friend, and that was exactly what she was going to do. If the worst had happened, Amy would need Maggie more than ever.

21

9am 28 June

Amy had been sitting in the relatives’ room in the intensive care unit since arriving at the hospital; she was now sandwiched between Marion and Maggie, while DS Elly Hale sat on the other side of the room flicking through a battered magazine.