Lizzie and Nick were in the kitchen, pulling plastic wrappers off pizzas and chopping salad. He was telling her about school, and Hannah stopped outside and rested her head against the door frame, listening to their conversation.
‘It took a long time to sort out,’ Nick was saying. ‘Her parents didn’t believe a word of it, naturally.’
Bella Carmichael. That girl had been a regular fixture in their lives for months. Hannah always knew when there had been another incident: Nick would wander in from school and collapse on a chair in the kitchen, kicking off his shoes and loosening his tie, running his hands through his hair.
‘What’s for tea?’ he’d ask. ‘God what a bloody awful day.’
‘Bella again?’
‘We had a bit of trouble before break…’
Hannah would stand at the worktop, preparing whatever they were having to eat, listening as Nick explained the latest crisis: how Bella had lashed out and yet another child had been sent home with an injury; how it hadn’t taken the parents long to return to school and demand something be done.
‘The governors thought we were wasting our time trying to help her,’ Nick was saying to Lizzie, now. ‘The head said she’d never come across such a difficult child in thirty-five years of teaching.’
‘It’s fantastic you’ve been so supportive,’ said Lizzie. ‘I know it’s hard for the rest of the class, but you’ve done the right thing for that little girl.’
‘I hope so,’ said Nick.
Hannah could hear the gratification in his voice; the relief at talking to someone who understood the intricacies of a problem that kept him awake at night.
‘What would you have done?’ Nick was asking. ‘You must have had to deal with some difficult kids?’
‘It’s often not the children who cause the problems,’ said Lizzie. ‘It’s their parents!’ They laughed and Lizzie carried on talking.
Hannah was pleased to hear Nick asking her sister’s advice. She had suggested he do so in the past, but he’d been reluctant. ‘She’s got her own issues to deal with,’ he’d said. ‘She doesn’t need to hear about mine as well.’
‘But she might give you another perspective on it,’ Hannah had said. ‘It can’t do any harm?’
He had never followed it up, and part of her wasn’t surprised. There was professional pride at stake; an admission of failure inherent in the fact that he needed to ask advice. But here, hundreds of miles away from the respective schools where they worked, it was a subject that could be easily slipped into the conversation over pizza preparation and the chopping of salad.
‘She went on to leave a trail of destruction in her wake at secondary school,’ Lizzie was saying. ‘But then did well in her A-levels and went to university. I think she’s studying economics – or is it politics? It goes to show you must never give up on them – even the ones you think won’t achieve much with their lives.’
Hannah left her listening post and wandered into the kitchen. ‘Can I do anything to help?’
Lizzie turned and smiled at her. ‘I think we’re fine. We’ve decided to have pizzas tonight, we’re all too tired to bother with a barbecue.’
Hannah nodded and sat down at the table. ‘Good idea.’
Through the open French doors, she could see Marcus sitting on the patio; he’d produced an iPad and was tapping something into it – probably checking his bank balances, she thought, or seeing if he had any new followers on social media. Suzy was also lost to technology: wandering around the garden holding a can of Diet Coke and staring at her phone.
‘She’s been texting her boyfriend all the time,’ Alice had said earlier. ‘He’s seventeen and can drive. He even has a proper job.’
When the food was ready, they carried everything out onto the patio and dragged more chairs to the table. Nick started slicing pizzas and Lizzie dribbled dressing over a bowl of salad. Hannah ripped a baguette into chunks and handed them out, watching Alice wince as she sat down. ‘Oh, sweetheart, you’re so burnt! Why didn’t you put on more suntan stuff?’
Alice glared, her cheeks flaming with a combination of anger and sunburn.
‘Wonder what they’ve done with him?’ said Suzy, through a mouthful of pizza.
‘Who?’
‘The dead guy. They won’t keep him in the back of that van.’
‘They’ve probably taken it to a refrigerated unit somewhere,’ said Marcus. ‘Local morgue in the nearest large town.’
‘Do we have to discuss this now?’ asked Lizzie.
‘Will it be frozen?’ asked Jimmy.
‘Yes, it goes into its own little cold store.’
‘Frozen like fish fingers?’
‘Jimmy, you’re so stupid!’ said Alice. ‘Of course not like fish fingers.’
‘Not really that cold,’ said Marcus. ‘Just kept at a very low temperature.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it’s hot here, and if the body isn’t kept cold it might decompose.’
‘Marcus, that’s enough!’ exclaimed Lizzie.
‘What does decompose mean?’ Jimmy asked.
‘It means it will start to rot,’ said Suzy gleefully. ‘All the skin will fall off and the hair will drop out and…’
‘Right, that’s it, no more talk about bodies until we’ve finished eating,’ said Lizzie. ‘What shall we do tomorrow?’
‘We can’t swim,’ said Alice sulkily. ‘What else is there to do?’
‘We could visit the local town?’ suggested Lizzie. ‘We drove through it on the way here. It’s called St Julien de Vigny. There’s bound to be a market; the French love their Sunday markets.’
‘Sounds like a good idea.’ Marcus nodded, reaching for another slice of pizza. ‘But it’s several miles away and we won’t all be able to drive there, I can only get two extra people in the car.’
There was silence for a few seconds while they ate.
‘Well if there’s a way across the fields then maybe a couple of us could walk?’ suggested Nick. ‘I don’t mind doing that, if we leave early and it’s not too hot. It would be great – it’s so beautiful round here.’
‘I’m not walking anywhere,’ said Suzy.
‘Nor me,’ said Alice.
‘Why don’t we take it in turns to go out in the car?’ said Lizzie. ‘I don’t mind staying at home tomorrow, and maybe Nick and Hannah could go to the market with you and the girls, Marcus? I don’t suppose Jimmy cares about going shopping, do you, Jimmy?’
Stop being so nice about it all, thought Hannah. Stop trying to keep everyone happy, being the one to make sacrifices. ‘I’ll stay here with Jimmy,’ she said. ‘I’ll read my book and lie in the sun.’
‘Such a shame we can’t all go out together though,’ Marcus blundered on. ‘Maybe we can hire another car, and if you don’t want to drive, Hannah, Lizzie could do it? Then at least we can go on day trips – especially if the pool is going to be out of action for a few days.’
‘I don’t mind doing that,’ said Lizzie.
Nick smiled at her. ‘That’s kind of you, but it wouldn’t be fair. We can take a taxi every now and then.’
‘Don’t worry about it, Lizzie,’ said Hannah. ‘Don’t put yourself out.’ They were all staring at her: she knew she’d spoken too sharply again. ‘I mean there’s no need for this to affect your holiday,’ she said, keeping her voice level and trying to smile. ‘This is our problem, so we have to deal with it.’
Silence again.
‘You mean this is my problem,’ said Nick quietly.
‘Well, if we’re being honest, yes, it is your problem. But not having a second car here affects all of us.’ She wanted to stop; to end this conversation before it went in a direction she would regret. She wasn’t sure why she was being like this. Why couldn’t she just be loyal and let it go?
‘It’s not that far,’ said Marcus. ‘If I do two trips, we can all go out together.’
‘Good idea,’ said Lizzie quickly. ‘There’s no need for anyone to miss out.’
Nick was staring down at his plate, pulling bits of cheese off the top of a slice of pizza. He clearly wasn’t going to say anything, so Hannah nodded. ‘Thanks, that would be good.’
‘Excellent, that’s settled then. More pizza, anyone?’