Snow Sisters by Carol Lovekin

Author:Carol Lovekin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-909983-43-4
Publisher: Honno Press
Published: 2017-08-17T04:00:00+00:00

Thirty-two

The only room in the house no longer affected by the heat was Meredith’s.

She woke up night after night, shivering, knowing she had been dreaming, still with only fragments of the ghost’s voice in her head. Any thoughts of a story-writing competition had been abandoned and she no longer wrote anything down.

Instead, she willed herself to memorise as many of Angharad’s words as she could.

My mother let me know I could not say it…

She burrowed under the bedclothes, goose-bumped with cold and into another dark dream.

Do not trust the mothers … mothers are deceitful and treacherous…

Verity’s dream was visited by a tall dark man in a black coat. He had her by the arm and no matter how she fought, refused to let her go.

She woke before the birds, faint with the heat. Her hair stuck to her scalp and her skin itched. The air was thick and oppressive and made everything smell of cinders and smoke.

Meredith crashed through the door, her morning hair a riot of red. She had two books under her arm: Emlyn Trahaearn’s and another one Verity didn’t recognise.

‘It was him. It was her brother.’

Verity groaned and rubbed her eyes. ‘What are you on about now?’

‘I told you it was a terrible thing. Her own mother didn’t believe her. Except I think she did.’

‘Meri, slow down.’ Verity threw open the bedclothes to make space. ‘Did Angharad tell you this?’

‘Yes. He did it – her brother.’

The skin under Meredith’s eyes was contused; she looked as if she’d been punched.

‘Her brother?’

‘Yes. Stop repeating everything I say.’ Meredith was almost hyperventilating. ‘He took her against her will.’ As she said the words, her face flushed. ‘Don’t look so mortified, Verity, I’m not a baby. I’m fifteen, I know what rape is. I know as much as you do about the facts of life, even if they do sound disgusting.’

‘Yes, of course you do. But, her brother?’

‘Oh, Verity, it’s worse than we thought.’ Meredith’s hand shook as she opened one of the books. ‘See? It’s about the Victorians. I found out some more about why they sent girls to those places; the asylums. It would explain why Angharad’s parents got rid of her.’

‘Where did you get it?’

‘Verity, there’s loads of books in Rapunzel’s room.’ She flipped through the pages. ‘Taid was a very well-read man.’

Verity shifted to get a better look.

‘It says here,’ Meredith said, ‘one of the reasons a girl might be diagnosed as mad, was if she had a baby out of wedlock.’ She paused. ‘That means, not married. Now, listen to this. “Young women were often diagnosed with melancholy and hysteria and those unfortunate enough to find themselves with child were accused of moral depravity.”’

Meredith pushed the book across her sister’s lap. ‘There you go – there it is again.’

The hairs on Verity’s arms stood on end.

Melancholia and hysteria … moral depravity…

‘If it’s true…’

‘Oh, it’s true,’ Meredith said. ‘I know it is.’

‘Okay, let’s say you’re right. We still don’t know what actually happened. If she did get sent to an asylum, it could have been for all sorts of reasons.

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