The aftermath was quiet, mostly, apart from ragged breathing. Particles of dust swirled in lazy circles in the torchlight as Jill probed her mouth with her tongue. The flesh felt swollen and tender and a tooth on the bottom right wobbled a fraction. It was a strange sensation, one she hadn’t felt since childhood. She was suddenly reminded of the kids when they were small. Tooth fairies and dollar coins. Her eyes felt hot and her throat went tight. She should call her children. As soon as she got out of here, she would.
Jill moved and felt something by her foot. A torch. She bent to pick it up, wincing, and fumbled with the switch. Nothing happened.
‘This torch is broken.’ Her words came out muffled through thick lips.
‘So is this one,’ someone said. One of the sisters.
‘How many have we got still working?’ Jill said.
‘Only one over here.’ The yellow beam flashed as Lauren passed over the torch she’d been holding. Jill felt the industrial weight in her hand. Beth’s, she realised. Maybe it had been the best choice to bring camping after all.
‘Any others?’ No answer. She sighed. ‘Shit.’
Across the room, Jill saw Alice wipe a hand over her eyes. The woman’s hair was tangled and she had dirty track marks on her cheeks. She was not crying now.
Jill waited for her to say something. Demand an apology, probably. Threaten to press charges, possibly. But instead, Alice simply sat down and brought her knees up to her chest. She stayed there, near the door, hunched and very still. Somehow, Jill found that more unsettling.
‘Alice?’ Bree’s voice came from a dark corner.
There was no answer.
‘Alice,’ Bree tried again. ‘Listen, Beth is still on probation.’
Still no response.
‘The thing is, she’ll have to go back to court if you –’ Bree trailed off. Waited. No response. ‘Alice? Are you listening? Look, I know she hit you but she’ll get in a lot of trouble if any of this is taken any further.’
‘So?’ Alice spoke finally. Her lips barely moved. She still didn’t look up.
‘So don’t take it further, okay? Please.’ Bree’s voice had an undertone that Jill hadn’t heard before. ‘Our mum’s not well. She took it really hard last time.’
No reply.
‘Please, Alice.’
‘Bree.’ Alice’s voice had a strange quality to it. ‘There is no point asking me for a favour. You will be lucky to be employed this time next month.’
‘Hey!’ Beth’s voice rang out, hard and angry. ‘Don’t you threaten her. She’s done nothing but work her arse off for you.’
Alice looked up at that. Her words slid out, slow and deliberate, cutting through the dark like glass. ‘Shut up, you fat bitch.’
‘Alice, enough!’ Jill barked. ‘Beth isn’t the only one here on thin ice, so watch yourself or there’ll be trouble when –’
‘When what?’ Alice sounded genuinely curious. ‘When your magical rescue party appears?’
Jill had opened her mouth to respond, when, with a spike of panic, she suddenly remembered the phone. She had slipped it into her jacket pocket before the scuffle and she groped for it now. Where was it? She felt light-headed with relief when her hand closed around the sleek rectangle. She took it out and examined the screen, reassuring herself it was intact.
Alice was watching her. ‘You know that belongs to me.’
Jill didn’t reply, and slipped the phone back into her jacket.
‘So what happens now?’ Bree said.
Jill sighed silently. She felt wholly exhausted. She was damp and hungry and in pain and repulsed by her moist and grimy body. She felt invaded by the other women.
‘All right. First,’ she said, in as measured a voice as she could muster. ‘We are all going to calm down. Then, I want everyone to get out their sleeping bags, and we’re going to agree to draw a line under this. For now, at least. We are going to get some sleep and we are going to work out a plan in the morning when we’re all feeling a little more clear-headed.’
No-one moved.
‘Everyone do that now. Please.’
Jill bent down and opened her backpack. She pulled out her sleeping bag, breathing out in relief when she heard the others follow her lead.
‘Put your sleeping bag next to mine, Alice,’ Jill said.
Alice frowned but didn’t argue for once. She unrolled her bag on the ground where Jill pointed and got in. Bree was the only one who bothered going outside to brush her teeth with rainwater. Jill was glad Alice didn’t try to do the same. She hadn’t decided if she would have to accompany her.
Jill climbed into her sleeping bag, grimacing as it clung to her like a wet plastic sack. She felt the phone in her jacket pocket and hesitated. She didn’t want to take her coat off, but she knew she wouldn’t sleep well in it either. The hood and zips had tangled and pinched when she’d tried the night before and it was going to be hard enough to get any rest as it was. After a moment, she slipped it off as quietly as she could, tucking it in next to her in the neck of her sleeping bag. She thought she could feel Alice watching her, but when she glanced over, the other woman was lying on her back, staring at the tin roof.
They were all overtired, Jill knew. They needed to rest, but the atmosphere in the room felt toxic. Her head throbbed against the hard floor and she could hear the creak of bodies shifting uncomfortably. There was a movement from the sleeping bag next to hers.
‘Go to sleep, everyone,’ she snapped. ‘Alice, if you need to get up in the night, wake me.’
There was no reply.
Jill turned her head. She could see almost nothing in the dark. ‘Okay?’
‘It’s like you don’t trust me, Jill.’
Jill did not bother to reply. Instead, she put her hand on her jacket, making sure she could feel the hard edges of the phone beneath the fabric folds before she closed her eyes.