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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 read the letter again, concentrating on each word, on each letter, each punctuation mark.

All my love, Edie.

I stared at those words. Read them over and over and over. It was going to be fine. I’d see her. Talk to her. Explain. Then she’d tell Eleanor it was all a horrible mistake and they’d laugh at the silly misunderstanding and invite me over for a barbecue and a manicure and a swim.

I still had Edie.

It was going to be fine.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Tamsyn

August 1986

At a quarter to three I got out of bed and drew my curtains closed to make the room dimmer. The Dispirin had done the trick and eased both my nausea and my pounding head. I put my pillows under my duvet and arranged the bedcovers to make it look like I was still there, sleeping peacefully. Mum was in Granfer’s room, busying about, making his bed and picking up his clothes. The door was a little ajar. I waited until I was sure she wouldn’t spot me then I crept downstairs and out of the house.

Edie was waiting for me on the wall. She wore a white T-shirt and black trousers with a pair of men’s braces, and held a cigarette burning in her fingers, but she didn’t seem to be smoking it. She was like a statue, her eyes fixed on the waves crashing in and out over the grey boulders below her.

I walked up to her without calling out and was almost upon her before she realised I was there. She smiled at me but I could tell she was sad. Her eyes were red from crying, with a smudge of black mascara where she’d tried, but failed, to wipe away the run.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I’ve had enough. I hate it there. It’s like hell.’

I reached out to touch her, dropping my arm when the pain shot down it from my shoulder. ‘Don’t be sorry. It’s a misunderstanding, honest. We’ll tell her it’s okay. We can explain.’ I smiled to reassure her. ‘Don’t worry.’

Edie swung her legs around and jumped down from the wall. ‘Are you feeling okay? You look like a ghost.’

‘Tired, that’s all.’

‘Shall we walk to the mine?’

I’d taken two more painkillers before I left, but even so, the going was harder than usual. I was short of breath and my legs were like jelly. I felt so poorly. I just wanted to lie down and sleep. But there was no way I was leaving her. Edie was my only connection to the house and I’d have died rather than let her out of my sights.

When we rounded the bend in the path, the ruins at Botallack came into view.

‘They look like they might fall down any moment, don’t they?’