Stranger Child by Abbott Rachel

Author:Abbott, Rachel [Abbott, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Black Dot Publishing Ltd
Published: 2015-02-23T18:30:00+00:00

35

The table was covered with the remains of three uneaten breakfasts, and the room smelled temptingly of the bacon that remained untouched on plates. Cooking was something that Emma felt she could do to keep her body occupied while her mind spun in circles. Just sitting had never been something she had managed easily, and any problems in her past had always resulted in bursts of energy. It wasn’t only that, though. Unlike David, she was aware that the conversation in the kitchen was being listened to, and much as she was determined to work on Natasha, the girl wasn’t going to weaken when she knew she would be heard. And she could hardly drag her off into the bathroom.

She pushed her chair back and started to grab plates.

‘I’ll do that, Em,’ David said. ‘I’m sorry we haven’t done justice to your breakfast. I think if I try to swallow anything solid it will choke me.’

‘I wonder what they’ve given Ollie for breakfast,’ was all she said. ‘I hope they understand what babies of his age like to eat. Do you think they do, Natasha? Or will they be feeding him salted peanuts, or whole grapes with pips in?’ She looked pointedly at her stepdaughter, who looked pale this morning. The girl had spirit, though, she had to admit, as Natasha gave Emma a defiant stare.

Emma slammed the plates down on the worktop with such force that she was surprised they didn’t shatter. She spun round and leaned back against the counter, folding her arms.

‘Right,’ she said with as much bravado as she could manage. ‘We’re going for a walk. All of us. Get your coats.’

‘What?’ A response from Natasha at last. ‘I’m not going nowhere. You’re not my mother. You can’t tell me what to do.’ Bravely said, Natasha, Emma thought.

‘Wrong, Natasha. I’m the grown-up, you’re the child. You may be capable of doing some terrible things that even in my wildest dreams I wouldn’t stoop to …’ Emma ignored David’s look of horror, ‘… but you are not going to stop me from going for a walk, and your father is coming with me. If you want to spy on us you’d better come too, or we might escape into town and call the police.’

‘Em, what happens if somebody calls?’ David asked, clearly wondering what she was playing at.

‘Nobody’s going to call, are they? They’ll phone Natasha on that mobile that never leaves her right hand. The one I presume she smuggled into the house in the pocket of my fleece.’

Without waiting for a reply, Emma stomped off into the hall, returning with three jackets of various sizes. She saw Natasha look askance at the red one that was thrown at her.

‘Put it on. It’s cold out there, and it was good enough when you needed deep pockets, wasn’t it? We need to move – to get some energy back. Come on, both of you.’

Emma opened the door to the back porch, stuffed her feet in a pair of green wellingtons and set off down the path, knowing that David would follow her.

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