you like.’
Anne Mulvey was a tall, thin woman with a spray-tan and a blonde hairstyle that was a bit too long for her age. Her hands were showing the first signs of wrinkles, but her forehead was impeccably smooth, suggesting she got something pumped into it. Her clothes were perfectly fitted and her shoes were the kind any self-respecting fashionista would kill for with her bare hands.
‘Well, it will just be until our house is finished.’
‘It’s terrible what you have to put up with. That man should have been locked up years ago. Honestly, it’s beyond belief.’
‘Where’s Dad gone?’ said Carla from across the table. She was wearing the same outfit she’d worn to Emily’s: a black hoodie with a red cross on the front, a short black tutu-style skirt and black Converse trainers.
‘He’s in the office, darling. He’s closing off a very important deal tomorrow, so he’ll be working late.’
‘Well, could you remind him to leave my allowance here? I’m going to watch TV in my room.’
David sat at the breakfast bar in the middle of the kitchen, watching videos on his laptop. He beckoned me over. I sat on the stool beside him, my toast in my hand.
‘Check this out,’ he said, pointing to the video of a skateboarding dog.
‘Aww, that’s so cute,’ I said.
‘Wait till I tell the guys you’re staying here,’ said David. ‘They’re going to be ragin’. Here, pose for a picture with me.’
David put his arm round me and the computer’s camera clicked.
‘Somebody has a new profile picture!’ he said with a grin.
‘Did you see the picture of Nick kissing that skanky girl?’ I said.
‘What girl?’
I logged into my account and found the picture.
David looked at it closely. ‘That’s not Nick.’
‘Yes, it is,’ I said. ‘That’s his hoodie.’
‘That is definitely not Nick. That guy is drinking cider. Nick never drinks cider. And I don’t think he was wearing that hoodie at the gig. That’s not him, Jacki.’
I couldn’t believe it. This changed everything. So this wasn’t a photo from the night he went to Sligo. I had jumped to the wrong conclusion and now I had no reason to hate Nick. Not that I’d ever really let myself hate him…
‘You’re sure?’ I said.
‘I’m positive,’ said David, closing the window. ‘Ooh, my album is downloaded. Wait… what the hell…’
‘What?’
‘Look at this…’
‘Oh my God…’
‘Mum!’
‘Yes, David?’
‘Look what Carla has been looking up.’
Anne walked over to David, put her hand on his shoulder and peered at the screen. She jumped with shock when she saw the picture.
‘Oh my God…’
‘
Peter came into the room. ‘Time for a coffee break,’ he announced.
‘Dad come here and see what Carla has been looking at,’ said David, turning the computer towards his father. He maximized the picture of the hand, blood dripping from the slit cut into the wrist and staining the fingers.
Peter took one look at the stomach-turning image and then shouted ‘Carla!’ so loudly that it hurt my ears.
‘What!’ she said, coming back into the kitchen. ‘Do you have to
‘Explain to me what this is,’ fumed Peter, pointing at the computer screen.
Mum and I looked at each other. Both of us felt uncomfortable about being here for such a personal conversation, but felt kind of trapped.
‘Gross. Why are you showing me this?’
‘Your brother found it on the computer,’ Anne interjected sharply. ‘And it’s nothing to do with either of us.’
‘Well, that goes for me too. You know I hate the sight of blood.’
‘Carla,’ said Peter, clearly calming down. ‘If there’s something wrong -’
‘Dad, I swear it wasn’t me. I swear!’ shouted Carla.
‘Well, it wasn’t David, and it certainly wasn’t your mother!’
‘It wasn’t me!’ she said, and stormed off, slamming the kitchen door behind her.
‘Sorry you had to see that,’ said Anne. ‘We’ve been having some problems with Carla lately. Perhaps we should make an appointment for her to see someone, Peter?’
‘Yes,’ said Peter. ‘Maybe we should.’
I lay on the very comfy bed in the spare bedroom at the end of the hall, trying my best to get the image of the slit wrist out of my head. I couldn’t believe that Carla was contemplating doing that. Maybe she was just curious to see what it looked like. I had presumed the grungy clothing and heavy eye make-up were just a fashion statement, not an expression of her inner feelings. I really hoped she wasn’t planning on doing herself any harm.
A beautiful lamp stood on the bedside table to my right. It had a cream base with a blue butterfly design. Everything in the Mulveys’ house seemed glitzy and expensive. I began to imagine that if I was as rich as the Mulveys I’d build my own recording studio in the house. It was fun just to lie there and fantasize about something silly for a change. I turned off the light and tried to sleep, but I kept thinking about Carla. I considered asking her if she was OK, but I didn’t want to upset her. I didn’t want to upset any of the Mulveys. They were the one reason I was still in Avarna and not on my gran’s couch in Dublin. I needed to be in Avarna. I needed to help Jane. And I needed to fix things with Nick. I knew my chances were slim, but that didn’t stop me formulating a plan to get him back. How would I explain what had happened to me at the party? How would I convince him I wasn’t crazy?
I took my notebook out from my patchwork bag and put it inside the white bedside locker. I wanted to keep it safe. Safe like Mum and I were now, under the solid roof of a house with an electric gate, CCTV and an alarm system.
Chapter 21
The next morning I put on my Joy Division T-shirt, denim cut-offs and pink Converse, and unpacked the rest of the stuff from my suitcase. I figured we were going to be here for at least a week, so I might as well unpack everything. The house was supposed to be finished in a week, but it had been delayed before, so I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I put my clothes in the wardrobe and the rest of my things in the bedside locker. Then I saw that Mum had put a note under my door – she had gone to the big hardware store in Carrick. David’s door was closed. Downstairs, Anne was reading the paper in the kitchen.
‘Help yourself to some cereal,’ she said with a smile.
I ate quickly and told her I was going to meet a friend. I unwound my earphones and headed straight for the village. The air was sticky with heat, but a huge grey cloud threatened rain. As I passed Nick’s house I turned up the volume on my iPod to distract myself from the pain in my chest that came whenever I thought about him. I wondered if he was in there, but I couldn’t bear to face him. Not yet, not until I’d figured out a way to fix things. I dreaded having to see him at Mary’s party, but at least I wouldn’t have to stay for long. I’d just go, sing my song and leave.
I went to the Cupcake Cafe to use a computer. Colin and Emily and the others were busy with work and family stuff, but I didn’t mind. I wanted some time to myself. I treated myself to a strawberry smoothie and enjoyed a quiet hour chatting online to some of my Dublin friends, then I decided to go for a walk. I needed to think about Jane. I knew the clues had to be connected somehow. Mum had made me promise not to go anywhere near the forest or the mines, so I was confined to the village. I went down to the communal garden, but there were lots of
