‘I . . . I can’t, Ruby.’ This was true. She was a mess at the thought of going back, enough to feel the rise of nausea at the idea. ‘I want to.’ This, too, was fact, she did, but even now a cold film of sweat covered her skin and her limbs shook.

‘Well, you’d never know it; you haven’t set foot back here since you left.’ Her sister’s reply was sharp and unexpected.

Merrin felt a flash of anger towards her. ‘Are you being serious? You think I don’t want to come home?’

‘A whole year, Merrin!’

‘I have a job, I work long—’

‘Yeah, yeah, we all have jobs. We all work long shifts and we all have to squeeze in what’s important around those jobs, and I would have thought what was important was getting back here to check on Mum and Dad, as Gran has just died! You’re in Thornbury, not Guatemala.’ The air crackled with the beginnings of a fight. Merrin hated the accusation, which was as unfair as it was hurtful.

‘Check on them? What are you talking about? I call them all the time, chat to them and—’

‘Right! Because that’s the same as sitting at the table and having a cup of tea with them, giving them a hug. The odd phone call . . .’ Ruby raised her voice.

‘It’s not the odd phone call! I call most days! Jesus, Ruby, the way you’re having a go at me, and you wonder why I stay away?’

‘So you do stay away? At least you admit it,’ Ruby yelled.

‘God, you are twisting what I said! Don’t you think that things are hard enough for us today as it is?’

‘Actually, Merrin, I do understand things are hard!’

‘Why are you so mad at me? Because I escaped and you’re still stuck there in Mum and Dad’s back bedroom? You’ve always been jealous.’ The words were hurtful and came from an ugly root of envy at the fact that Merrin did not get to wake up each day in the place she loved. No amount of peacocks on the lawn could make up for that, especially not today.

‘Shut the fuck up.’

‘You shut the fuck up, Ruby!’ Merrin’s heart beat a little too quickly and her hands shook as a lump of raw emotion stoppered her throat. The words would have been hurtful enough if shared with a stranger, but the fact that this was her sister, who she loved . . .

‘Fucking hell, Merrin, you are clueless! You created a bloody tsunami with that Mortimer prick that swamped us all. Mum and Dad saved for months! Week after week of going without just to give you the perfect day – and all for nothing, and then you just sod off to your fancy castle and leave us to pick up the pieces!’