Contents ( 57)
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Sharon Gosling
Gilly bit at her already ragged fingernails, studiously looking anywhere but at Rachel.
‘Where are you sleeping at the moment, Gilly?’ Rachel asked.
The girl’s face immediately took on a hard cast. ‘No offence,’ she said, in a tone that suggested she really didn’t care if she caused any, ‘but how’s that any of your business?’
‘I want to help, that’s all. I don’t know where you’re sleeping, but—’
‘Look,’ Gilly said. ‘Everything you’ve done – it’s great. The job, letting me use your shower, all that stuff – I appreciate it, I really do, and I don’t want to be rude, but just because I work for you doesn’t mean I owe you any information about my life. Okay? If that’s how you think it works, I’d rather not do the job at all.’
Rachel was quiet for a minute, during which the bus drew up before them in a plume of acrid blue smoke. They got on and sat beside each other. ‘You’re right,’ Rachel said eventually. ‘I’m sorry.’
Gilly sighed heavily. ‘I just… You don’t know anything about me, and I don’t want to tell you anything about me, so stop assuming you know what I need.’
‘All right,’ Rachel said. ‘I can understand why you’d feel that way.’
Gilly made a dismissive sound in her throat, crossing her arms and staring out of the window.
‘I was in foster care when I was a child,’ Rachel said. ‘That’s not something many people know because I don’t want them to. Because I don’t like to talk about it.’
‘So?’ Gilly said, a little too quickly. ‘What’s that got to do with me?’
Rachel shook her head. ‘Nothing. But I did something really stupid to get out of a bad situation, and then ended up in an even worse one.’
‘Living in the van?’ Gilly asked, still staring out of the window. ‘Doesn’t sound so bad to me.’
‘No,’ Rachel said quietly. ‘No, the van was the light at the end of the tunnel. And I only had that because someone saw I needed help before I did.’
Gilly glanced up at her then, and Rachel realized how rare it was that she looked anyone in the eye.
‘I’m not going to tell you anything more about that,’ Rachel said, as Gilly opened her mouth to ask a question, ‘because I don’t want to talk about it and it’s none of your business.’
Gilly shut her mouth again. ‘Fair play,’ she said. ‘I get it.’
‘But please promise me,’ Rachel said, ‘that, if you need it, you’ll come to me for help. Because I might not have been exactly where you are, but I’m pretty sure we were in a similar hole, and I’ve got out of it once before. And you don’t have to tell me anything, you really don’t. I’ll always help you, regardless. All right?’
‘All right,’ Gilly said eventually. ‘But how are you planning to be my saviour, exactly? You might be homeless yourself any day now. You might be right back in that hole.’