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Back The Lie Save as PDF
Chapters (60)
  1. Cover
  2. Copyright
  3. Praise for The Lie
  4. Dedication
  5. Chapter 1
  6. Chapter 2
  7. Chapter 3
  8. Chapter 4
  9. Chapter 5
  10. Chapter 6
  11. Chapter 7
  12. Chapter 8
  13. Chapter 9
  14. Chapter 10
  15. Chapter 11
  16. Chapter 12
  17. Chapter 13
  18. Chapter 14
  19. Chapter 15
  20. Chapter 16
  21. Chapter 17
  22. Chapter 18
  23. Chapter 19
  24. Chapter 20
  25. Chapter 21
  26. Chapter 22
  27. Chapter 23
  28. Chapter 24
  29. Chapter 25
  30. Chapter 26
  31. Chapter 27
  32. Chapter 28
  33. Chapter 29
  34. Chapter 30
  35. Chapter 31
  36. Chapter 32
  37. Chapter 33
  38. Chapter 34
  39. Chapter 35
  40. Chapter 36
  41. Chapter 37
  42. Chapter 38
  43. Chapter 39
  44. Chapter 40
  45. Chapter 41
  46. Chapter 42
  47. Chapter 43
  48. Chapter 44
  49. Chapter 45
  50. Chapter 46
  51. Chapter 47
  52. Chapter 48
  53. Chapter 49
  54. Keep Reading
  55. Acknowledgements
  56. Book Club Questions for The Lie by C.L. Taylor
  57. A Conversation With C.L. Taylor
  58. About the Author
  59. Also by C.L. Taylor
  60. About the Publisher

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Normally, I’d find Daisy amusing as she tries and fails to smoothly transition between cobra and downward dog and ends up in a crumpled, red-faced heap on the patio, but I’m too fixated on Leanne to laugh. Her brow is knitted in concentration as her thin limbs twist and contort while she moves lithely between positions. Daisy and I have barely said a word to each other since our little “chat” yesterday morning, which has made things horribly awkward, particularly as we’ve been confined to the house for the last twenty-four hours because of the rain and Al’s strapped ankle.

I didn’t join in with Leanne’s generous offer to play Hunt the Bitch, a bastardised version of Chase the Ace. Instead, I read my book while she, Al and Daisy traded insults and threw cards at each other for the best part of half an hour. I drifted around the retreat for the rest of the day. With the rain falling heavily outside, some people spent their time gathered in the meditation room to chat and play musical instruments, while others slept or read in the dorms or hung out in the kitchen helping prepare the meals. A few hardier types donned their waterproofs and went into the garden to tend to the animals and vegetables, but most people stayed inside. I sat with Al, Leanne and Daisy in the meditation room for a while, but with Daisy ignoring me, and Leanne acting like nothing was wrong, it was more than I could bear and I took myself off to the kitchen to peel potatoes for Raj. He made idle chat with me but the hollow feeling in my chest that I’d been carrying around all day didn’t disappear. If anything, it grew stronger. I’d never felt more lonely, or more isolated, in my life.

The sense of relief when we woke up to a blue sky this morning was palpable. The ground is still wet, too wet to attempt another trip down the mountain, but the patio quickly dried and Isis announced that yoga was on again.

“So now if you’ll all lie down on your mats and assume the corpse position, I’ll talk you through a little guided meditation,” Isis says.