27.

There are days when Gabriel cannot remember how long they have been at the old man’s house. How many cold nights he has spent huddled on his bed waiting to hear the scuffle-scuffle-tap of the old man’s progress down the passage and the click that says his door has closed for the night and it’s unlikely they will see him or hear him again until the following morning.

Then the grey light of morning comes and Gabriel’s hopping up and down to keep warm and Mum’s in the kitchen making breakfast, and Gabriel sees her face and how empty it is. She picks Harry up and hushes her quiet, she brushes back Gabriel’s hair and says, Have a lovely day at school, but she doesn’t ever call him Gaby Baby and she hardly says anything to Harry but Hush hush hush, as if all she wants is a silent child, a no-noise baby who won’t disturb the house.

Can’t you keep that child quiet? Gabriel hears the old man say, and his voice is like heavy stones crushing Mum flat and Mum doesn’t have a voice big and strong enough to answer him back.

Sometimes Gabriel goes to his little sister and picks her up and rocks her gently until her face breaks into smiles and she laughs and reaches up to pull his hair. Then the old man says, That’s just the job for a sissy-boy, looking after babies.

Gabriel doesn’t say a word, or even lift his head to look at him, he just lets Harry grab his finger and take it to her mouth and gnaw and gnaw and he feels her hard gums, the small nubs of her teeth pressing down on his finger as she drools and grins.