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Back The Cliff House Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. Booklist
  3. Title Page
  4. Praise
  5. Dedication
  6. Prologue
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  62. Epilogue
  63. Acknowledgements
  64. About the Publisher

I don’t want to go back indoors so I lie down on the unkempt grass, pull my knees in tight. I know I won’t sleep. I don’t want to. I’m scared.

When dawn breaks I sit up. I’m cold and stiff and wince as I unfurl my spine. I stretch backwards and hear the crack of joints. The sky is lit with a hazy blue light and the grass is sprinkled with dew. There’s no wind and the waves are silent. The first seagull mournfully greets another day.

It is now I realise she is beside me. Sitting on the grass. There’s a heavy smell, like turned milk, and I know her skin will be sallow, her hair unwashed, lank, eyes dull. I don’t look at her. I hate seeing her like this. It fills me with guilt and I can’t face that. Not today.

I stare straight ahead, wishing she’d take the hint and leave me alone.

‘What are you doing out here?’ Her voice is thin and strangled.

‘I’m allowed, aren’t I?’

She doesn’t reply.

‘I needed some air,’ I say reluctantly.

‘But you’ve been out all night. You could have caught your death.’

‘I couldn’t sleep, that’s all.’

‘Not because of me I hope.’

Tears form and spill down my cheeks. I blot them away but she notices.

‘Aren’t you happy?’

I don’t answer.

‘You should be. Your life is perfect, isn’t it?’

‘Can’t you leave me alone?’ I whisper. ‘Isn’t there anywhere else you can go?’

She doesn’t acknowledge my question and I wonder if I even spoke the words aloud.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Tamsyn

July 1986

Edie was lying on the lawn on a brightly coloured beach towel. She wore her mum’s bikini and her mirrored sunglasses. Her skin gleamed with suntan oil and the smell of coconut hung heavily in the air. She had her Walkman on and didn’t notice I was there until I stood right over her, blocking the sun so a shadow fell across her.

She lifted her sunglasses up and pushed herself up on her elbows to see who I was.

‘Hi,’ I said.

‘Hey,’ she replied and lay back down, repositioning the sunglasses over her eyes.

I sat on the grass beside her. It had grown longer and the lush green was dotted with daisies. I thought of the daisy drying between the heavy books in my box room and made a mental note to check it when I got back.