Gwen did as she was told and Iris was surprised to realise that she was disappointed the child was leaving.
Gloria lifted her chin. ‘Thanks for having them.’
‘It was a pleasure,’ Iris said. She wanted to ask Gloria if she was still with that man, the one who had the forehead of a Neanderthal, and whether she’d gone ahead and started charging cash for telling lies instead of fortunes, but she didn’t want to spoil the peace. Didn’t want to scare her away for good. She only wanted to ask because she cared, but caring was like nutmeg. Too much of it could kill you.
Chapter Five
Bex was finding it difficult to keep busy. She’d tidied up the kitchen and even thought about cooking, but her dad was away for the night and she couldn’t quite summon the energy. At this time of the day, she would usually be feeding Carly and Tarquin their tea, making fruit faces to entice Carly into eating. Banana slices for the eyes, half a grape for a nose and an apple-slice mouth.
Bex decided she would pay Iris Harper a quick visit. Just to check on the old girl.
She wasn’t doing it because Jon had suggested it, Bex decided. She was doing it to be a good citizen. Iris had been in pain earlier and she was an old woman alone. She would do a good deed and it would take her mind off things at the same time. And, a small voice added, perhaps Iris would be so impressed by her kindness, she’d agree to help her after all.
The garden at End House, which had looked overgrown but lush with exotic produce earlier, was drooping and forlorn. There were thick brambles where Bex could’ve sworn she’d seen a bed of bright marigolds in amongst the pea plants. Doubting her own sanity, Bex looked closer and, sure enough, there were the pea canes buried within the thicket. Leaves choked and dying and the occasional green pod. There was no way all of that could’ve grown overnight. It wasn’t possible. Perhaps she’d been mistaken and was thinking of a different part of the garden. She turned around, scanning the garden and the path and the position of the house. No, she was definitely in the same place.
To the left of the peas, there had been peppers and aubergines. Bex had clocked that they ought not to be growing outside in spring, in England, and sure enough they were no longer thriving. Bex felt a stab of guilt, as if she’d caused them to fail by thinking that way, and she stepped forward, parting the overgrown foliage to get a closer look. The plants weren’t just drooping, though, they were black and swollen, flies buzzing around the burst fruit in a way that looked almost obscene. Bex felt sick and, with this feeling, came the total certainty that something was very wrong.
Bex knocked loudly, but didn’t wait for an answer, pushing open the door and calling out. ‘Hello. It’s me, Bex.’
The first thing she saw was Iris’s chair, tipped over. Halfway through the open door of the kitchen, there was a shape on the floor. It was Iris and she wasn’t moving. The room was freezing, far colder than outside, but the part of Bex’s brain that was registering her breath fogging in the air was buried under the more pressing demands of running through her first-aid training. She checked for breathing and for a pulse, surprised when she found both. The woman was frozen to the touch and her skin waxy and yellow.
‘Iris, can you hear me?’ Bex’s voice echoed strangely in the room, far louder and harsher than she expected.
The panic was there, too, but Bex shoved it away. She put Iris into the recovery position, horrified at how light she felt. She couldn’t stop thinking about brittle bones, and was terrified of hurting Iris further.
‘Gwen?’ Iris’s voice was quiet but clear.
‘It’s Bex,’ Bex said. ‘I’m going to call for an ambulance.’
Iris’s eyes snapped open. ‘No!’ She began to push herself up to a sitting position.
‘Stay still,’ Bex said, relieved and alarmed all at once. ‘You might have broken something.’
‘I think I’d know if I had,’ Iris said. ‘Ouch.’ She rubbed her arm. The colour was coming back into her face. She was looking less dead with every moment.
‘Look, I need to call someone. Get you checked out properly. You’re not in your right mind.’
‘Don’t be cheeky,’ Iris said. ‘I just had a little fall. I’m fine.’
Bex gave her a long, steady look. The one that she used on Carly when she was having a meltdown over putting her shoes on.
Iris looked away. ‘I’ll be fine in a bit, anyway. Just need a drink.’
‘I don’t know if you should –’
‘Please,’ Iris said. ‘I’m very thirsty.’
Bex filled a glass with water and gave it to Iris on the floor, then she went to the hallway, ignoring Iris’s calls of protest.
The phone in the hallway was the old-fashioned kind with a clunky, heavy handset and dial.
‘Call my doctor, not the ambulance,’ Iris yelled, her voice surprisingly strong.
Bex hesitated. It no longer felt like a blue-light emergency, but Iris was so stubborn Bex wouldn’t have been surprised if she had broken something and was just keeping quiet. On the other hand, Bex’s own grandmother had gone into hospital, caught an infection and never come home.
Doctor Hathaway’s number was on the note block next to the phone. She rang it and hoped she wasn’t doing the wrong thing.
‘Iris Harper?’ the doctor said, when Bex had hastily and breathily explained. ‘I’ll be right there.’
‘Should I call nine-nine-nine? She was unconscious when I arrived. I don’t know how long she’s been lying on the floor.’
‘Not if Iris doesn’t want you to. I’ll be five minutes.’
The doctor was as good as her word, but even in that short time, Iris continued to recover. Bex
