Diana
Tara met them at Heathrow, looking ready to detonate. It wasn’t a Kodak moment.
‘Welcome home, Cass.’
‘Thank you,’ said Cassy. She was twitching, glancing over her shoulder. ‘But I’ve left my home behind.’
Boom!
‘You’ve blown our family into smithereens,’ snarled Tara. ‘Do you even fucking care? You don’t want to be here? Fine! Why don’t you just turn around and sod right off again?’
‘Okay, okay,’ said Diana, laying a hand on her younger daughter’s arm. ‘We’re both dead on our feet. Cassy, we’re going to drive you home. It’s safe there.’
‘It’s not safe,’ said Cassy.
‘It’s safe. You’re going to have a long, long sleep.’
As they walked to the car park Diana gave Tara a warning shake of the head, mouthing shush. Tara scowled.
The car seemed to have a calming effect on Cassy. She and Diana both dozed. All seemed well until they were almost home, when Cassy suddenly sat up with a series of piercing shrieks. Tara swerved halfway across the road, and a bus flashed its lights.
‘Bloody hell!’ she shouted. ‘Cassy, what the fuck? D’you want to kill us all?’
Cassy was gasping for breath, her eyes rolling in her head. ‘Where am I?’
‘Banshee impersonation,’ said Tara. ‘Right in my sodding ear!’
‘My children were drowning. It was real. I saw them drowning. I heard them. Am I going crazy, Mum?’
‘No,’ said Diana, who’d been dragged out of sleep. ‘Not crazy. But maybe you should talk to Dr Jacobs. You remember him? My GP.’
‘So you do think I’m going mad.’
‘No! But maybe you need something for your anxiety, just so you feel up to seeing Dad. You can’t go to the hospital in this state.’
‘This is what Justin predicted,’ said Cassy. Her voice was flat again. ‘This is exactly what he predicted. He said you’d mess with my mind. He said you’d have me locked up. If you try to make me see a doctor, I’ll leave.’
Diana was floored. Cameron Allsop had advised her to get help, but if Cassy refused, what could she do?
‘Here we are.’ Tara was pulling into their drive. ‘Home.’
Diana tried to be all energy and bustle—unlocking the door, ushering Cassy inside, turning on the lights—but she was in despair. This wasn’t how she’d imagined Cassy’s homecoming. Not at all.
‘She’s a basket case,’ whispered Tara.
‘She’ll come right.’
‘You think?’ Tara blew out her cheeks. ‘I dunno, Mum. I’m not sure she’s even in there any more.’
Cassy seemed not to notice or care that she was back in her old home. She refused food, but accepted a cup of hot milk and one of Diana’s sleeping pills. When she sipped the milk, she looked puzzled. ‘This isn’t … oh. I’d forgotten about cow’s milk.’
‘Bedtime,’ said Diana firmly. ‘Tara’s staying the night.’
‘Wouldn’t miss this much fun for all the world,’ muttered Tara.
Cassy followed her mother and sister upstairs like a sleepwalker; but when she arrived at her bedroom door, she came to a sudden halt.
‘It’s exactly the same,’ she said, looking around in vague surprise. ‘Nothing’s changed. Hello, Pesky.’
The cat remembered his rescuer. When she bent to kiss him, he purred and fussed and rubbed his forehead against her face, which seemed to comfort her. Meanwhile Diana was patting the pillows, trying to be jolly.
‘You said you’d be home in September,’ she chirped. ‘And it’s September!’
‘Yes.’ Cassy’s voice was a croak. ‘I’m …’ She sat down on the bed, still stroking the cat. ‘Sorry. I’m just … sorry. I don’t know who I am.’ She picked up Babar, touching the toy to her nose.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Diana. ‘Just sleep. Everything will look better in the morning.’
‘When I was in Gethsemane, I felt as though this world didn’t really exist. But now I’m here, and this world does exist. It’s just the same as I left it. I’ve been gone a lifetime, but time hasn’t passed. I feel … I’m sorry, I can’t explain.’
‘You’ve been to Narnia and back?’ suggested Tara, who was leaning in the doorway.
‘Narnia and back.’ Cassy almost managed a smile. ‘Maybe.’
‘Well, you’ve come out of the wardrobe,’ said Tara. ‘You’re back in dear old Croydon. If you want, I’ll grab my duvet and the spare mattress and kip down on your floor.’
‘Would you do that for me?’
‘’Course, sis. We used to do it all the time, remember? But for Christ’s sake, no more banshee wails. Okay?’
‘For Christ’s sake.’
‘That’s right.’
The sleeping pill was doing its job, and extreme exhaustion was taking over. Cassy lay down, stretching out her legs. She was wearing her blue Gethsemane dress.
You’ve brought Cassy home, Diana told herself, as she covered her daughter with the duvet. She’s safe in her own bed. It was a wonderful feeling, despite everything. It was a dream come true.
‘Justin is Jesus Christ,’ mumbled Cassy.
‘Sorry?’ Diana hoped she’d misheard.
‘He remembers being crucified. I wish you guys knew him.’
Tara shook her head pityingly, mouthing, What … the … fuck?
After that bombshell, the sleeping pill knocked Cassy out with almost comical speed. One moment she was talking about Jesus; the next, she was dead to the world.
‘Did she say what I think she said?’ hissed Diana.
Tara made her eyes cross. ‘’Fraid so. Fucking hell, it’s like The Exorcist around here.’
Diana knelt to kiss Cassy’s forehead. ‘Goodnight, darling. Welcome home.’
The girl in the bed wasn’t recognisable as their Cassy. She’d refused to eat since leaving Gethsemane; she’d hardly slept. Her face looked skeletal, more so because of the cropped hair. There were bruised half-moons under her eyes.
‘She’s lost the plot,’ whispered Tara. ‘Those bastards have totally screwed her up.’
‘The journey’s been a nightmare.’ Diana reached to switch off the bedside lamp. ‘She’s been in a state ever since she turned up at my motel—I thought I’d never get her on the plane! I hate to admit it, but she looked fine when I saw her in Gethsemane. She looked well. She’s got children. I told you that, didn’t I? Three children.’
‘Mm. And a hunky blond husband with massive biceps.’
‘Who seems to care about her,’ said Diana. She laid a hand on Cassy’s shorn head. ‘She was happy. Maybe I should have left her in peace.’
‘With that bunch of moon-howling crazies? A guy who thinks he’s Jesus Christ? Seriously?’
‘But they were happy moon-howling crazies.’
‘Go to bed,’ ordered Tara, pushing her mother out of the room. ‘You look about five thousand years old, and I’m not bloody surprised. You can rest now, Mum. You’ve done it. You’ve brought her home.’