Blackthorn Wood by Paula Hillman

Author:Paula Hillman [Hillman, Paula]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloodhound Books

Chapter Seventeen

JULY 2016

Cassie stood in front of the long wardrobe mirror and checked her outfit was appropriate: her best yellow dress, unapologetically cheerful. Today, Judy Barker was finally leaving. There would be a lunch and gifts and tears. A celebration for the woman who had caused her so much angst. And she would have to smile along and wish her well.

Early sunlight slanted through the bedroom window. There was a softness to the morning, and the lawn was layered in dew. A perfect day for pottering and planting and reading in the shade of her favourite horse chestnut tree. Instead, she was having to fix a smile on her face and bite down until her teeth hurt.

Judy wasn’t giving up without a fight. She refused any kind of communication with Cassie, and everything had to be organised via Kevin. Which had its problems. Then there were the huddles, usually with Judy or Tina at their heart, and never open to visitors. But today, Joe was coming back. That had to be an improvement.

Driving away from Blackthorn was becoming difficult. From the moment Cassie climbed into her car each morning, she would be overwhelmed by a kind of panic, a crowding of thoughts from which she couldn’t get free. And now, those feelings were transferring to many other daily trips. An invisible hand would grip her stomach as she stood in a supermarket queue, or sat in the hairdresser’s salon chair, speeding up her heart rate and making her breath catch in her chest. She would try to swallow down the feelings, only for them to fight back, even harder.

Today was no different. By the time Cassie reached the school, she was struggling to focus. Alison’s car was already in the car park. That represented a moment of relief. An escape. There would be conversation and distraction, human contact that didn’t require expert navigation.

In the reception area, Alison was wrestling with an armful of helium balloons while trying to type in the door code.

‘Morning. Let me do it.’ Cassie leaned past her and let them both through. ‘Those are for Judy, I take it.’

‘Don’t be like that, Cass. We can’t just let the woman leave without any kind of send-off. I thought you were okay with it.’

With what? With accepting the damage Judy had caused, now she was clearing off? She didn’t trust herself to say anything. Instead, she gave Alison a grim smile and walked away. Locking herself in her classroom with only excited children for company was going to be the way to get through this day. That, and a hug from Joe.

Lunchtime loomed. Cassie had spent the morning watching Tina storming back and forth, a flash of red floral dress, and arms full of flowers. Then with the caterers in tow. And finally with invited guests: a handful of governors, Dot, then Joe. His fingers waved her a greeting through the glass panel in her classroom door.

With her class gone, led away by Jax for their final school meal of the year, Cassie could find no further excuse to avoid the staffroom.

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