‘But surely you noticed the level in the bottle going down?’
‘She smashed one once. Pretended it was full so I would buy another. Another time she stole some. From the chemist on the corner – you remember?’
It was on a parade of shops on the way to school; Ellie could picture it now, with its windows crammed with beauty products and the queues of people waiting in line to get their prescriptions, keeping the staff busy. Perhaps distracting them so much that they wouldn’t notice child shoplifters.
‘But how did she give it to me?’
‘You remember your sister’s job was to set the table? I always used to insist you drank milk with your meals. You were ill so often I worried you weren’t getting enough nutrients. Abby would put out the drinks. One day, when you were about eight years old, I caught her spooning liquid paracetamol into your milk.’ Susanna’s voice was catching with emotion. ‘I stopped her immediately. I’m so sorry I didn’t notice anything earlier. She’d been doing it for years.’
Ellie shook her head, her mind whirring. ‘Seriously?’
‘Yes. I promise you, I’m not lying.’
‘But Mum, she has no reason to hate me. She’s got everything! She’s a multi-millionaire, for God’s sake.’
‘Is she?’ gasped Susanna in wonder. ‘I knew she was wealthy, but I didn’t reali—’
‘Mum, you’re missing the point,’ said Ellie, frustrated. ‘I don’t see how Abby would want to harm me.’ Uncomfortable, she paused. ‘Which means...’
‘It was me?’ retorted Susanna sharply. ‘It would do you well to remember that she wasn’t a multi-millionaire when she was nine years old. She disliked you from the moment you were born. You took me away from her. You have to try and imagine what it’s like for an only child to suddenly get a sibling. She used to constantly ask me when your mother was coming to take you home. I had to explain that youwerehome, and she would go off into these awful tantrums. She’d stop breathing, turn blue. Even when she got older, she could never accept you.’
Ellie was suddenly hit with an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. She leaned against the wall, tried to breathe evenly.
‘Are you OK?’ Susanna had suddenly realized Ellie hadn’t been responding.
‘Just feeling a bit dizzy.’
‘You’re unwell?’
The beeps suddenly sounded in Ellie’s ear. She fumbled for her purse, slotted in her last coins.
‘I’ve been a bit off-colour.’
‘Oh...’ It was a small word, spoken with dread.
‘Mum...’
‘Has she given you anything?’
There it was again. The fear that blew a cold wind right through her.
‘Ellie?’ Susanna’s tone was sharp.
‘Mum, stop. Please.’
Her mother’s voice hardened. ‘Look, there’s something you need to know. She has a gun.’
Ellie stopped still. ‘A what?’
‘Go and look in her things if you don’t believe me.’
‘Sorry, did you just say she has a gun?’
‘Yes, a gun! A bloody gun!’
‘But what would she have that for?’
‘I keep telling you, Ellie, she hates you.’
