Ruby had seen Hafiz’s burnt body on the stairs but it meant little to her now. They would all die at some time. The difference is that Ruby would choose when and how.
Humming to herself, she picked Peter Thorne’s head out of the sink. She held it tightly to stop it slipping and slid it into a plastic bag, then another and two more. Then she tied them tightly and placed the head in her handbag, ready. She had a lot of things to do today. She went around the room and gave each of her dolls a kiss.
‘Mummy has to go out now so be good, babies. If anybody knocks on the door, don’t answer it. Mummy is taking Daddy somewhere special today.’
She stopped by a doll with a shock of curly blond hair. ‘This was your daddy.’ She placed the photo she had taken from Peter Thorne’s wallet into the doll’s lap, resting it on the stiff edge of her frilly skirt. ‘I know, I know.’ She looked around at her dolls. ‘Everyone needs a daddy.’ She scanned the room and her eyes stopped on a baby doll sucking its thumb, it had a blue cap on its head. On its tummy was a photo of a man, his family had been cut out, only his head remained. ‘Do you love your daddy, Steven Littlewood? Or you, little Louis?’ She picked up a ruddy-faced chuckling doll with painted plastic hair coming down its forehead in a kiss curl. ‘Of course you do.’
Ruby began dancing. She twirled around the room spinning and laughing. She clapped her hands in the air. From the cupboard came the noise of a baby crying. Ruby stopped, walked slowly to the cupboard and opened the doors. She stood at eye level with the baby on the shelf. Its mummified remains wrapped in muslin. Next to it the crying doll was smiling again. ‘Look after your sister. Don’t let her be lonely.’ Ruby talked to the blue-eyed doll. ‘Mummy has a special treat coming for you. For all of you.’ She turned and held her arms open addressing all of her dolls. ‘We are going to have the one daddy I have been searching for all this time. He is going to be the one and we will keep him. We will keep him forever.’
Ruby felt a pang of sadness. Her eyes became blurred. A tear fell. She hid it from her dolls and wiped her face, annoyed. For the first time she realized she was afraid of dying. Her world spun at that thought and she let out a small cry from deep in her chest. Maybe it wasn’t too late for her to run away, start again? She looked around at her dolls and shook her head. They needed her. They relied on her. She was their mummy. They belonged together in this room. Every day she heard the news that the police were searching the Mansions, coming nearer to her. They were closing in. One day they would find her. But…Ruby took a deep breath and stood tall, she was the mistress of her own destiny. She would let them find her but, by then, it would be too late and she would not die alone.