SHE CAME UP TO THE ATTIC, NOT TO HIDE, BUT BECAUSE she didn’t want to play out of principle. She was too old for stupid games. The window was open, the curtains billowing and the rain coming in, the windowsill pooled with water. Taisie ran to close it, banging it shut, and jumped, her hand flying to her chest. Izzy was hiding between the bed and the wall, tear-stained and pale.
‘Bloody hell, you gave me a fright! What’s the matter?’
Izzy rubbed her face, leaving a smut below her left eye. ‘Nothing.’
‘Bollocks. Tell me what’s happened. Has someone said something to you?’ The boys could be mean to her. Rory told her she was ugly once.
‘No.’
Taisie tried to pull her out, but Izzy shrank back, so she sank to the floor and put her arm around her sister’s thin shoulders. The bare boards tickled her sunburnt thighs. ‘So what is it?’
Izzy curled her body over her knees. She smelled of attic dust and BO. She was growing up. Taisie would have to have a chat with her about personal hygiene, since their mother evidently wasn’t going to.
‘What is it, Izzy?’
‘Leave me alone. I’m not telling you, OK?’
‘Yes you are. I’m your big sister. I care about you and I can help.’
After a second, Izzy spoke, but so quietly Taisie had to strain to hear. ‘He kissed me.’
Her chest tightened. ‘Who kissed you?’
‘Nick. And he put his hand here.’ She touched her right breast.
Taisie went still. ‘What? That wanker. I’m going to tell Mum.’
‘No, don’t. Please, Taisie. Don’t say anything. It’s embarrassing.’
‘You have to tell her yourself, then.’
‘No! I won’t, and you mustn’t. Promise me, or I’m not going to help you. And I won’t speak to you ever again.’
Taisie held up her hands. ‘All right. Don’t be so melodramatic.’
‘I’m not melodramatic.’ She folded her arms across her chest and stuck her bottom lip out. ‘Can we do your plan now?’
‘Don’t be silly. It’s belting out there. We can do it tomorrow.’
But Izzy was adamant, fists tightly curled, her body shaking, an explosion building inside her, like a toddler about to throw a tantrum. ‘It’s not cold. And I want to do it now.’
Above them the rain battered the skylight, but Izzy was right, it was warm and muggy. Taisie had played the scene out in her mind many times since last night, imagining her mother’s face, her relief and gratitude, her pride in her eldest daughter. It would go down in family lore. The idea of not doing it, of letting the opportunity slip away, was too tragic to entertain. And Izzy being so upset helped; she could blame it on Nick. It would serve him right.
‘Let’s go through it one more time, then,’ she said. ‘You go to the river. I’ll be right behind you. I’ll shout from the woods so that you hear me coming and have time to go in. You swim out a couple of yards and then you scream – don’t go any further and make sure you can still touch the bottom with your toes. Then I’ll save you. You’ve got to act it properly though, Iz, in case anyone sees, or there’s no point doing it at all. So no laughing, especially when I carry you back. Mum’s got to believe you were really in trouble.’
Izzy was practically jumping with impatience. ‘I won’t. I promise. I’ll tell Mum that I thought I was going to drown and that you were amazing.’
Taisie hugged her. ‘I will be amazing. Don’t you worry.’
A scream, followed by a burst of laughter, startled them. A door slammed. Taisie and Izzy crept out on to the landing, then took the back stairs into the snug and to the old scullery door.
‘Go,’ Taisie said. ‘I’ll count to sixty and then I’ll come after you.’
Izzy scooted off, pulling her cardigan over her head to protect her from the rain, and Taisie counted, eyes closed. As she stood there, two cool hands covered her eyes, making her cry out in irritation, thinking it was Alex or Rory. But as soon as she tried to pull them off, she knew who it was. The hands were far too big and clean-smelling to belong to either of her brothers.