‘TAISIE.’
She stops in her tracks, her heart slamming.
‘What were you doing in Angus’s study? You know you’re not allowed in there.’
Her mother was at the bottom of the stairs.
‘I was hiding.’
She hoped to God Tim was listening and wouldn’t come strolling out. Her lips felt bruised and swollen, and if the light hadn’t been so bad in the hall she was certain her mother would have seen.
‘It’s out of bounds. You should know better.’
‘OK, fine. Can I go now?’
She had to get to Izzy. The poor thing would be drenched, waiting for Taisie to appear. As long as she hadn’t gone in already. Taisie was sure she had told her to wait until she heard her coming. She distinctly remembered saying that.
‘Actually, no. While you’re here. I need a quick word with you. In private.’
‘Oh, not now, Mum.’
‘Now,’ her mother said sharply. ‘Do as you’re told.’
She rolled her eyes, but she followed her mother into the library. She wondered what was up. Mostly, her mother had no idea what was going on in Taisie’s head and tended to assume she was fine because she was the oldest. Taisie’s job was basically to set an example to her younger siblings and generally keep out of her mum’s hair. She was all lovey-dovey when it suited her, but it was so unnatural it was embarrassing.
‘Now don’t fly at me, Taisie.’ Her mother sat down on the sofa and patted the seat beside her. ‘But I need to talk to you about your behaviour.’
Taisie remained standing. She was tense and twitching to go. ‘My behaviour?’ She stressed the second word, putting a question mark at the end. Nick must have moaned about her. She never had him down as a snitch.
‘Your behaviour around Tim.’
Her stomach flipped. ‘I don’t …’
‘Taisie, please. You’re old enough to know precisely what you’re doing. Listen, darling, I remember what it’s like to be a teenage girl, to discover that you have sexual power, but you should tone it down. Considerably.’
Taisie drew in a sharp breath. ‘What are you talking about?’ Did her mum know where she had been?
Her mother smiled, giving her that look; the one that told Taisie she thought her eldest child was being deliberately obtuse. She probably did that with clients too, and colleagues. Bet she was popular at work.
‘You’ve been flirting with Tim and it’s beginning to embarrass us all. He’s behaving very well in the circumstances, but it’s obvious that it’s awkward for him. And think about how poor Nick must be feeling. He must be mortified.’
‘Oh my God.’ Taisie curled her lip. ‘Get off my case, Mum. Number one, I don’t care what Nick thinks, and number two, that’s gross. I’ve known Tim all my life.’
‘Taisie.’
‘I suppose I should be grateful,’ she hissed. ‘It makes a change from being totally ignored.’
‘Now you’re being ridiculous.’
‘Right. Yeah. Silly me.’
Her mother hesitated, as if weighing up whether there was any point in continuing the argument, then said, in her best this-is-over voice, ‘I’m glad we had this talk. So that’s all clear then.’
‘It’s clear that you’re jealous of me,’ Taisie muttered.
‘What did you say?’
‘Nothing. Is that it?’
Her mother paused for a heartbeat, then raised her hand and flicked her fingers at Taisie. ‘Yes. Off you go.’
God knows how many minutes had been wasted by her mother’s lecture. She started to run, splashing through puddles, slipping on wet grass, throwing herself through the gate into the woods and down the churned-up footpath. She ran until it felt as though her lungs would burst, until she developed a stitch like a burning knife in her side. She doubled over, gasping for air. When she had her breath back she yelled Izzy’s name and set off again, clutching her waist. Half a minute later, scratched and wet and muddy, she burst into the clearing and ran down to the river’s edge.
‘Iz? Izzy? Where are you?’
Taisie stood there, stumped. Izzy must be playing a trick on her, paying her back. There was no other explanation, no acceptable one anyway. She hadn’t gone into the river, she had doubled back and was warm and dry and safe in the house. She walked down to the river’s edge and stopped short.
Her sister’s shoes were placed neatly side by side. But there was no sign of Izzy. No sign at all.