Long Lost Girl: A heartbreaking page-turner full of secrets by Jill Childs

Author:Jill Childs [Childs, Jill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781803143798
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2022-05-16T16:00:00+00:00

34

Coming home from art, Hannah skipped along beside me, singing to herself under her breath.

I was grateful. She seemed suddenly lighter, happier again. Some days, she seemed so carefree, acting the fool and playing make-believe and cuddling her toys.

She’d really made me laugh the other day. She’d begged to be allowed to dry her hair all by herself after we’d washed it and I’d handed her with the hairdryer while I went to spread the damp towel over the heated rail.

When I walked back into the bedroom, a few minutes later, she was standing with her mouth wide open and the hairdryer trained on it, seeing what happened if she blew warm air at her face.

As soon as she saw me, she collapsed in giggles. ‘Look, Mummy!’ She’d turned the jet of air back into her mouth, ballooning her cheeks and making them wobble and distort.

At other times, she seemed to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. I’d suddenly find her hunched in a corner, knees drawn up, her face clouded with anxieties too complicated to put into words.

Now, we got home to find the package I’d ordered online had been delivered, tucked out of sight behind the dustbin. No sign of Will. I sidestepped Hannah’s questions about what was inside the parcel by chatting about what she’d like for dinner. She always hoped a delivery might be something for her. It so often was. But this was an order I didn’t want anyone to know about, not yet. I took it upstairs when she was distracted and hid it inside my wardrobe.

As she ate, she prattled about the project she was working on in art class. It was some sort of medieval stained-glass window involving black card and intricate pieces of tissue paper. I smiled and nodded along. My mind was still busy with Sara and her transaction with the strange, rough-looking man.

After dinner, Hannah begged for some screen time before bed and headed upstairs with the iPad. I stood at the sink, washing up, looking out at the darkening garden and thinking. Sara had looked so tense and uncomfortable in the café. What did she buy from that man? Drugs? It was possible. I had no idea how drugs were sold. In films, they were in packets, weren’t they, or screws of paper? Maybe they could be hidden inside a large, thick envelope.

Forged papers, perhaps, to bolster a fake identity? I grimaced.

I wondered where Will was. I sent him a text, pretending I was just wondering what time to do dinner, rather than checking up on him. I paced around the kitchen, wiping over surfaces that were already pristine, checking through the fridge and planning meals in my head for the next day or two, too unsettled to relax.

Footsteps and the rattle of a key in the lock of the front door. I hurried into the hall. Will came in, his face drawn, his briefcase in hand.

‘Everything okay?’

He didn’t answer for a moment. He kept

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.