The Summer and the May by Lucinda Hart

Author:Lucinda Hart [Hart, Lucinda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-22T16:00:00+00:00

“You’ve got blood on your shirt,” Jack says. “What you done to your back?”

“I haven’t done it.” Tim yanks the cheesecloth shirt out of his jeans and throws it down. “Look.”

Jack gasps aloud, nausea rising. Tim’s shoulder blades are red and raw from his scratching. Knobbly swellings disfigure his back. Embryo wings.

~

Darkness falls over the cliff, pouring down the sky like a stain. The last light glows on the horizon. Wolf Rock swells and fades, swells and fades, as imperceptibly the sky darkens. Verity’s reflection blurs on the window pane. She thinks she sees a movement on the lawn, jumps, and pulls the curtains round herself to blacken the glass. There is nothing. The tamarisk shivers at the edge of the garden. Carrag Luz glows silver.

She has to find out about Frank. She heard Jonny in the garden earlier, and there are lights on in the house. Her heart races as she walks the few yards to the neighbouring house.

“How’s Frank?” she asks when Caroline opens the door.

“Not great.”

“Is he home?”

“No, and not likely to be for a while.”

“Oh Caroline.”

“He’s got to have surgery on the ankle. He’s broken bones. I don’t know how long they’ll keep him in.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“What happened? At your house? How did he fall?”

Verity closes her eyes. She can feel a migraine pulsing at the edge of her consciousness.

“We were just saying goodbye. He was walking backwards. He misjudged it.”

“And you came round straight away?”

“Yes.” After I had gone in to the house and changed my clothes. “He will be OK, won’t he? In the end?”

“We won’t know until after the surgery.”

“Is there anything I can do to help? With the boys or anything?”

“I don’t think so,” Caroline says. “I don’t want you near my boys or my husband, or me. You’ve done quite enough. Goodnight.”

Verity trails back to her house. The garden is bleached of colour. There are tiny bumps all over the lower lawn: snails. Wind exhales through the tamarisk fronds. Across the bay, the street lamps of Penzance shimmer and Wolf Rock punches its white pulse.

She scuffs her toe along the edge of the step where Frank fell. Guilt flares inside her. Frank is awaiting surgery on his ankle. He won't be home for days. Tim and Jack are coming at the weekend. She won't see Frank again. She wonders whether she could call him at the hospital, or get a message to him. A message of what? Apology? Understanding? Anger? All three and more, so much more, and she will never have the chance to speak to him again.

Caroline won't talk to her. Caroline knows, knows about Frank, and knows about the angel. She won't let Verity near the boys either. Andy is the only person who understands. Verity knows where the boys' bedroom window is. Should she – could she – creep into Caroline's garden and tap on their window? A snail clings to the edge of the step, its antennae unfurling. Its shell sways as it heaves onto the stone.

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