“You fucking bitch.” Frank is on top of me. I hit out at him, at his angry, red-cheeked face, at his small, beady eyes and his wet, open mouth, but this time he grabs my wrists and pins them either side of my head, first with his hands, then with his knees. He uses his full body weight to pin me down as he lunges towards me and tries to press his lips to mine. I whip my head from left to right, but he grabs my chin and holds it still. He lowers his face towards mine and then I feel his wet lips and his slimy tongue parting my teeth. He twists his tongue around mine then plunges it deep into my throat, making me gag.

My mind goes into hibernation. It crawls into a dark place and waits. Then Frank’s hand is between my thighs, cupping me over my cotton shorts, and my body jolts back into action. I bounce my heels against the bare earth and arch my back, pressing up and down with my hips, and I wriggle and twist and try to build up the momentum to throw him off me, but he growls into my mouth and claws at the waistband of my shorts, yanking them over my hips, ripping them down over my thighs. My knickers go with them.

Frank is breathing quickly, his forehead dripping with sweat, his jaw hanging open, a pool of saliva gathered beneath his bottom teeth.

I can’t move.

I can see him. I can feel him. I can smell him.

And I can’t move.

I’m not even sure I’m breathing any more. I try to turn my head to the left, to the right, to close my eyes, to block out what’s about to happen, but I can’t. I can’t do anything but stare up at Frank as he leans over me, holding my arms above my head as he puts a knee between my thighs to force my legs apart. He is going to rape me and there’s nothing I can do to stop him. The crickets continue to chirp, the river continues to roar and the women at the waterfall continue to laugh, and something inside me dies.

And then there is a roar and the sound of branches breaking and a thump-thump-thump sound that seems to go on forever. And then there is silence.

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Present Day

It’s been two days since Chloe’s school fair. Shortly after Chloe told us what “the lady in the blue hat” had said, Will took her to find her mum, then he drove me back to Green Fields to pick up my bike. Neither of us said a word the whole way. I could sense his anger bubbling inside him like lava, but whenever I attempted to say something to diffuse the situation, the words dried on my tongue.