Page 20 of The Rising Tide
The bow tie, hanging by its clip, falls off completely.
‘Dagummit,’ Fin mutters.
Old Lucy howls with laughter. New Lucy closes her eyes in pain.
‘Can you think of any reason Daniel might have taken Fin from school and sailed him so far out, knowing what’s coming?’
She shivers. ‘I can only think he was trying to protect Fin from something.’
‘Like what?’
‘That’s what I keep asking myself.’ Lucy’s face crumples. ‘But I just don’t know.’
Cooper slows the car, turning off the coastal road towards Skentel.
‘Fin’s an only child?’
‘I have a daughter, too. Billie.’
‘Older or younger?’
‘She’s eighteen.’
‘You must have had her young.’
‘A year older than she is now.’
Reallyyoung, Abraham thinks. ‘Is she working? College? In between?’
‘Billie’s doing A levels over in Redlecker. Hopes to study marine biology.’
Abraham nods. For a while, he thinks about what he just heard. The longer he thinks, the colder he feels. He glances out of the window again, working out how to phrase his next question. But when he turns back to Lucy, her phone is already clamped to her ear.
‘Billie, it’s coming up to four. Can you call me, please, the minute your lecture ends.’ She hangs up, dials another number. ‘Holly, hi, it’s Lucy, Billie’s mum. Please can you call me back – soon as you get this message.’ She scrolls through the phone for another contact. She’s trembling now; her jaw, her fingers.
‘Which college?’ Abraham asks.
‘Arthur Radley in Redlecker. She has a biology lesson. Due to finish any moment.’
‘Keep trying her friends,’ he says. ‘I’ll call the sixth form.’
Lucy makes a sound like a wounded thing.
SIX
Lucy’s in her kitchen, throwing chopped onions into a pan. It’s Billie’s eighteenth birthday and the party starts in a few hours.
Propped on the counter is Fin’s iPad. Onscreen is the recipe Lucy’s been following – but what she’s really concentrating on is the conversation in the next room.
‘But what if theycan’t?’ Fin moans. ‘What if someone put aspellon me?’
‘Scout,’ Billie says gently. ‘No one can do magic. Which means no one can put a spell on you.’
Fin pauses, sniffs. ‘Santacan do magic.’
‘I’m not talking about Santa. I’m talking about the kids in your school.’
Fin starts crying again. ‘But they can’tseeme, Billo.Anyof them. Whatever I try, nothinghelps.’
