The Housewife's Secret by Anna-Lou Weatherley

The Housewife's Secret by Anna-Lou Weatherley

Author:Anna-Lou Weatherley [Weatherley, Anna-Lou]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-12T00:00:00+00:00


TWENTY-FOUR

DARCIE – AGED FIFTEEN

This morning – or perhaps it’s afternoon; I can never tell – he brings me my usual plastic bowl of porridge that’s been mixed with water, made only barely edible by the bruised banana that sometimes accompanies it. He locks the door behind him after he enters, as he always does, places the tray down on the small chair in the corner of the room and put the keys back into the inside pocket of his corduroy jacket.

‘Breakfast is served,’ he says with a majestic flourish.

I glance over at the bowl of unappetising grey slop and turn away from him on the bed. Having long since given up on begging and pleading, on trying to reason with him, I can’t bear to look at him.

‘I’m not hungry,’ I lie, trying not to think about the warm, flaky pain au chocolat pastries that Fabienne and I often used to enjoy of a morning with a foamy coffee, or the soft, sweet pancakes with crispy bacon topped with a drizzle of maple syrup, the sensual mouthfuls of oily, crunchy French toast… My mouth begins to water at the thought of them, and I wonder, miserably, if I’ll ever get to taste such things again.

‘Come on now, Darcie, don’t be like that,’ he says. ‘You’ve got to eat something.’

I don’t answer. I’ve run out of things to say to him. I’ve tried every tactic I could think of to convince him to let me go. I’d been nice, attempted to sweet-talk him. I’d been confrontational, cursing at him angrily, calling him a string of less-than-flattering names – which I soon learned resulted in the punishment of having my banana taken away and therefore quickly gave up on.

I’d made promise after promise, given him my word that I’d never so much as think of running away ever again if he’d just unlock the door to my prison cell. I needed to stretch my legs so badly that I felt like I was turning to wood.

‘I promise I’ll never try and leave again; I swear it to you, Alastor – you have my word. Never.’

‘Ah, but you will, Darcie,’ he replied with a sigh. ‘They all do. They all try and leave in the end.’

I had no idea who ‘they’ were, but it strongly suggested there had been others before me. I wondered what might’ve happened to them? Had they somehow managed to escape? I thought of asking him, but in truth, I was too scared of what the answer might be.

‘So now it’s just thee and me!’ he said triumphantly. ‘Just the two of us – or three if you include Tabitha!’

Over those next few days, Alastor’s resolve to keep me prisoner, locked up like a caged animal, remained unwaveringly strong.

‘Your mother has taken a trip to Paris,’ he announces this morning, making conversation, like this is all perfectly normal. ‘She’s visiting with your grandmother. I suppose she’ll be expecting to see you when she gets there.’

I feel my empty stomach lurch.



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