Taisie drew in a sharp breath. ‘What are you talking about?’ Did her mum know where she had been?

Her mother smiled, giving her that look; the one that told Taisie she thought her eldest child was being deliberately obtuse. She probably did that with clients too, and colleagues. Bet she was popular at work.

‘You’ve been flirting with Tim and it’s beginning to embarrass us all. He’s behaving very well in the circumstances, but it’s obvious that it’s awkward for him. And think about how poor Nick must be feeling. He must be mortified.’

‘Oh my God.’ Taisie curled her lip. ‘Get off my case, Mum. Number one, I don’t care what Nick thinks, and number two, that’s gross. I’ve known Tim all my life.’

‘Taisie.’

‘I suppose I should be grateful,’ she hissed. ‘It makes a change from being totally ignored.’

‘Now you’re being ridiculous.’

‘Right. Yeah. Silly me.’

Her mother hesitated, as if weighing up whether there was any point in continuing the argument, then said, in her best this-is-over voice, ‘I’m glad we had this talk. So that’s all clear then.’

‘It’s clear that you’re jealous of me,’ Taisie muttered.

‘What did you say?’

‘Nothing. Is that it?’

Her mother paused for a heartbeat, then raised her hand and flicked her fingers at Taisie. ‘Yes. Off you go.’

God knows how many minutes had been wasted by her mother’s lecture. She started to run, splashing through puddles, slipping on wet grass, throwing herself through the gate into the woods and down the churned-up footpath. She ran until it felt as though her lungs would burst, until she developed a stitch like a burning knife in her side. She doubled over, gasping for air. When she had her breath back she yelled Izzy’s name and set off again, clutching her waist. Half a minute later, scratched and wet and muddy, she burst into the clearing and ran down to the river’s edge.

‘Iz? Izzy? Where are you?’

Taisie stood there, stumped. Izzy must be playing a trick on her, paying her back. There was no other explanation, no acceptable one anyway. She hadn’t gone into the river, she had doubled back and was warm and dry and safe in the house. She walked down to the river’s edge and stopped short.

Her sister’s shoes were placed neatly side by side. But there was no sign of Izzy. No sign at all.

GRACE

Monday, 23 April 2018