Astrid’s phone buzzed inside her jacket as she drove. She ignored it while Evie peered at her.
‘How come my brother picked you to help him? Has he been making trips to England while I’ve been convalescing?’
Astrid turned the car right and towards the Church home. ‘I don’t know where he’s been, but I’m friends with your uncle.’
Evie pursed her lips. ‘Uncle George?’
‘That’s the bloke.’
‘Neither of us has met Uncle George. Our mother would never speak about her brother. I think he might have had his own obsession, which bothered her.’
‘Was she English?’
‘No, not really. Her father, my grandfather, worked on military bases around the world. She was the older, but when George was born in England, my grandparents’ marriage was already crumbling. I’m not sure what happened, but my grandmother stayed there with George, while my grandfather came back to America with my mother.’ Evie’s eyes appeared full of what might have been. ‘Adam and I only managed to pick up bits of the family history over the years because our mother would rarely talk about it. I wasn’t even aware Adam had been in contact with Uncle George.’
‘It was a surprise to me as well.’ She parked outside the house and turned to Evie. ‘I can tell you all about George later, but I think it’s time for you to explain you and your brother’s obsessions.’
Evie scratched at her head where her eyebrows should have been. ‘Have you read that terrible novel Fifty Shades of Grey?’
The question was so unexpected, Astrid burst out laughing. ‘Unfortunately, I have. Is your brother also a secret writer?’
‘No, not that I know. But his tastes run along the same lines as Mr Grey.’
A mischievous look scampered across Astrid’s face. ‘Is he interested in sadomasochistic sex?’
‘He’s more than interested, Ms Snow. It was, or is, an obsession that drove every part of his life. Unsurprisingly, my parents were somewhat unaccepting of this lifestyle choice of his. I do believe if he weren’t earning so much money, they would have done the same with him as they did with me and convinced him to enter a similar facility.’ Evie placed one hand on her cheek and appeared to contemplate what she’d said. ‘It wouldn’t have looked right for both the Church siblings to be in the same place for wayward and wanton souls.’
‘What’s your brother’s job?’
Evie shrugged. ‘I’m not a hundred per cent sure, but it’s something to do with Wall Street, only he does all his work from home.’
Astrid considered her next question carefully. ‘Is it important for me to understand why your parents were so upset with you and why you voluntarily entered that care facility?’
‘There should be no secrets amongst friends, Astrid.’
Evie placed her fingers to her forehead and pushed the hair from the right side of her face. Part of the skin on her skull appeared to have been burnt. She lifted the other part of her hair to show a similar mark on the opposite side of her head. Astrid recognised what they were.
‘You’ve had electroconvulsive therapy?’
The hair covered the evidence as Evie let go of it. ‘More than once, but not for a while. I convinced the doctors it wasn’t working.’
Astrid grimaced at the thought of what Evie had gone through. She’d seen the procedure used to extract information from prisoners, but they must have used it as a medical process for Evie.
‘Treatment for what?’
‘My mother said the Devil possessed me while my father told me I was an abomination.’
Evie took one hand and placed her fingers in the palm of the other, pushing a nail into the centre until a small spot of blood trickled out. Astrid kept an eye on the young woman as she drove.
‘I went to the website of the organisation they ran, the Church of the Old Testament. I saw enough there to scare adults, never mind children.’
Evie let out a nervous laugh. ‘Yes, it was never cold in our house, even during the worst winters. Do you know why?’
‘No?’
Her snort of laughter made her cheeks wobble. ‘Because it was always full of fire and brimstone.’
She shook so hard, her hair fell to the side in one place, and Astrid saw again the scars where the electricity had burnt through the skin and into her skull in search of her brain.
‘Do you want to talk about this, Evie?’
Evie pushed her hands together and rubbed the blood across both palms. Her breathing was slow, and it felt to Astrid as if she was recanting some mantra inside her head.
‘Most of my time at the Tranquil Waters Rest Home has been beneficial to me, but the majority of the medical professionals there lack the empathy needed to understand what their patients are going through here.’ She tapped the side of her head. ‘Electroconvulsive therapy was my mother’s suggestion. It’s strange really that you’re here because of Uncle George because I think my mother always wished he would have undergone that treatment to prevent, as she told Adam and me, the family shame of her deviant brother. Still, when the burning electricity couldn’t cure me, another doctor came up with the bright idea that some unknown childhood trauma likely caused my problem.’ Evie paused to smile at Astrid. ‘She stated that without treatment, adverse childhood experiences could cause long-term health issues for the brain and body, shortening lives and reducing their quality. She claimed one of the most effective remedies was talking to somebody kind, who would listen to you, such as a therapist or someone who loves you and can remain stable and dependable, regardless of what you need to say.’
‘And that’s what you got in the home?’
Evie laughed again, more quietly this time and in a way that made her look a lot younger than she was.
‘No. The management there transferred that lady doctor the following day, and I’ve been waiting to speak to someone ever since, and that was three years ago.’
Astrid parked outside their destination and turned off the engine. ‘Then you can talk to me.’
A single tear slid on to Evie’s cheek. ‘That’s far too kind of you. You’ve barely known me for a few hours, and I don’t want to burden you with my problems.’
Astrid reached across and took her hand, relieved to see the bleeding had stopped. ‘Your uncle George is the only friend I have in the world, and he’s helped me more times than I’ll ever repay. If I can do something for his nephew and his niece, then I will.’
Evie’s smile grew wider and she squeezed Astrid’s fingers in hers. ‘Because of our parents’ strict religious beliefs, Adam and I had to behave how they wanted us to, following the teachings of the Old Testament as they and their followers did. It wasn’t easy for either of us; we toed the family line for most of the time, but once we hit puberty, it became more challenging, especially when we both realised we weren’t like the other kids at school. Because Adam’s older, they discovered his so-called deviant behaviour first, but I think it was me who really upset them.’
Astrid let go of Evie’s hand, noticing some of her blood on her fingers. ‘Your parents discovered you prefer girls to boys.’
Evie puffed out her cheeks as if she was playing a big trombone. ‘It’s not that I don’t like boys – well, men now – because I do; it’s just that women are much more fun, you know. And deep down, that’s where my heart lies. I’d known from an early age, maybe eight or nine, but when my father caught me kissing a girl on my sixteenth birthday, all hell broke loose. The family priest described me as evil. Various school counsellors and psychiatrists seemed convinced I suffered from severe depression. But, after the last seven years, do you know what I believe, Astrid?’
‘No.’
Evie pushed open the door and stepped out of the car. ‘I think I’m just a little bit different than most people and we should all celebrate our differences. Don’t you?’
Astrid got out, gazing straight into Evie’s wide eyes. ‘Amen to that.’
Evie grinned like a schoolkid and removed the key from her pocket.
‘Then let’s go and prove my brother’s innocence.’