After the Party by Cassie Hamer

Author:Cassie Hamer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Missy tightened her grip on the suitcase and took a seat on the bench where a few others had settled in to wait for the train. At two o’clock in the morning, Central Station was all but deserted, except for the homeless who took refuge under its various eaves and porticos. There seemed to be more of them than there were actual passengers. Who would bother with a long-haul train journey in this day and age of cheap domestic airline fares? Only the truly desperate, people like her, who either didn’t have a car or couldn’t afford the rigmarole of airports and their incessant need for identity checks and all-seeing cameras.

She looked up and took in the small collection of people around her—all hunched shoulders, eyes to the ground, hands clutching at plastic bags and fast-food containers. There was one exception. A little girl, slightly smaller than Ellie, sitting on the bench near Missy. In the dim light, her pupils were the size of blackcurrants and she kept a tight grip on her Dora the Explorer wheelie bag.

Missy winked at her. ‘Going on a holiday?’

‘We’re going to Coffs Harbour to see dolphins,’ the girl said solemnly.

‘Are you? Well, that’s exciting.’ Missy remembered the dolphin aquarium. Her mum had taken her for her tenth birthday. There was a photo, somewhere, of the dolphin kissing her cheek. The Pet-Porpoise Pool, it was known as back then. But it had changed to something else now. Dolphin Marine Magic rang a bell.

‘And we’re going to the Big Banana, too. Aren’t we?’ She tugged on her mum’s hand and the woman turned to her wearily.

‘I don’t know, Layla. We’ll see when we get there.’ The woman didn’t meet Missy’s gaze. The little girl lolled against her, a stained and too-small T-shirt riding up over her bellybutton.

‘I think a dolphin’s skin would feel slimy. My friend Alice touched one when she went to Queensland.’

‘Did she?’

‘Layla, be quiet,’ said her mother sharply. ‘We don’t all need to hear you yabbering on.’

‘Sorry, Mummy.’ The little girl kissed her hand. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too,’ she sighed.

‘To the moon and back?’

‘Further.’

This time, the mother gave a weak smile and Missy noted the bruise, blooming in the socket of her left eye. The woman turned away quickly.

With a hiss, the doors of the train slid open. It was ready for them. Layla jumped up and her mother followed, her steps laboured.

But Missy’s feet wouldn’t move.

This was wrong. This was all wrong. She needed to be with Ellie. It was madness, leaving her with the Wheeldons. What was she thinking? She should turn around right now, go back, tell them it had all been a mistake and she’d changed her mind. Of course she wasn’t leaving her daughter, the sunshine of her life. How could any mother do that?

Her phone bleeped with a text message.

He’s definitely out. He came by today.

Missy flinched. Her stomach contracted. The confirmation of it was like an electric shock. She’d known this was coming—but that didn’t protect her from the hurt of it, or the fear.

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