No, Allison had forgotten. It came to her now, in full colour. Two giggling girls, mouths painted a garish red, eyes like pandas. Such fun… Allison could almost hear their laughter pealing through the years. It had ended suddenly when their mother appeared. The memory of what came next caused her eyes to widen and the hand holding the bowl to shake so badly a piece of pasta fell from the side of it to land on the sofa beside her, sauce spattering in a circle around it. ‘You said it was you.’ She met Jo’s eyes. ‘You took the blame. I remember Mum caught you by the arm and smacked you with the flat of her hand until she grew tired. You had tears pouring down your face, but you still didn’t tell her it had been me.’

Jo shrugged. ‘You were my big sister. You used to include me in everything, remember. I adored you.’

Allison remembered. Putting her plate down, she got to her feet abruptly. ‘I’m sorry, it tastes like the cheese is off.’ She held her hand out for Jo’s plate. ‘I can make some more; one thing we always have plenty of is jars of sauce and packets of pasta. It’ll only take a few minutes. Maybe we can open a bottle of wine too, celebrate a new start for both of us; what d’you think?’

Jo handed over her plate without argument. Doing as Allison had told her all those years before.

In the kitchen, Allison used the toe of her shoe to open the pedal bin and scraped both meals inside. Despite what she’d done, as a child, as an adult, couldn’t she even now change? Was it ever too late to make amends?

‘I was thinking…’ She stood in the living room doorway and smiled at her sister. ‘Bugger cooking. If we’re going to celebrate, let’s do it in style. One of my favourite restaurants does delivery; I can order us a gourmet meal. What d’you think?’

Jo nodded emphatically, her wig slipping further askew.

Allison crossed to her side, bent down and straightened it. ‘And maybe afterwards, we can start making plans for our future.’

‘Our future…’ Jo’s voice wavered.

‘No point in you paying London rent when this place is big enough for both of us, is there?’ Allison tugged a strand of the wig gently. All these years of searching, she’d never found the life she’d wanted, the happy one she’d longed for as a child. Perhaps with this scarred woman, her sister, she could finally put the past behind her and put the monster to bed forever.

Maybe.

It was worth giving it a try.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Book twenty-two – writing those words gives me an unbelievable thrill.

So many people deserve thanks for getting me this far.