The following evening, Lockie arrived late for dinner. Everyone looked up when he walked in.
‘Aw, Locks,’ said Amber, ‘I’m so sorry about Clare.’
He sat down. Amber squeezed his hand. ‘Her dad will calm down.’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Lockie.
‘Well, maybe it wasn’t meant to be, then,’ said Kelly. ‘What? Am I not allowed an opinion here?’
‘Her father is a fool!’ said Rupert. ‘But next time, would you please tell me, so you are not suffering in silence?’
‘There is no silence, Rupe, sharing a room with you,’ said Lockie.
Rupert gasped. Everyone laughed.
‘And that’s why I love it,’ said Lockie.
Kelly sat back and clapped her hands. ‘So, what are we doing tonight?’
They all looked at her.
‘What?’ said Kelly.
‘Homework?’ said LB.
‘Are you serious?’ said Kelly.
‘Have you seen what we got?’ said LB. ‘That’s like two hours’ work. Minimum.’
Kelly shook her head. ‘Unreal. Can I copy yours?’
‘Of course,’ said LB.
‘Is it going to be like this every night?’ said Kelly.
‘Amber’s offered to do oracle card readings tomorrow night,’ said LB.
‘Oh, well then,’ Kelly mouthed to LB, with an eye roll. She turned to the others. ‘So, card readings after our one phone call home from prison in Johnny’s office, with Réiltín earwigging.’
‘Is anyone going to check what number we actually call?’ said Lockie.
‘Don’t do it,’ said Rupert.
Lockie sighed.
‘Do you have the Rock Paper Scissors deck I got you?’ said Kelly to Amber. ‘Where were we again, when I gave it to you? It’s such a cool deck. Oh my God – camping! Do you remember? Nightmare. Mom got me all the stuff and literally all of it is stuffed into a rucksack in the attic.’
‘Aw, I don’t have that one with me,’ said Amber.
Kelly lowered her head onto the table. ‘Homework in summer.’
‘My advice,’ said Rupert, standing up, ‘is you’ll enjoy these three weeks—’
Kelly’s head snapped back up. ‘Literally, no.’
‘I’m just saying,’ said Rupert, ‘if you come to terms with the reality now—’
‘No!’ said Kelly.
‘Then you wouldn’t have to fight against it so hard,’ Rupert finished.
‘I’m not fighting against it,’ said Kelly, pushing herself up from the table. ‘I just think you’re all boring bitches.’
She paused, then walked away, leaving a layer of mood behind her that settled over the group.
That night, Réiltín stood at the sink in her bathroom, rubbing moisturiser into her face. She paused. She heard what she thought was a knock on the door, but it was so gentle she didn’t rush to open it. It came again. She walked out into the bedroom and this time, when she heard it again, she went to the door. She opened it a crack. It was Marcus Loughnane, eyes red-rimmed and puffy.
‘Is everything OK?’ said Réiltín, completely forgetting to use Irish.
Lockie nodded. ‘Just… I need to ask you something and… just… will you promise not to tell anyone?’
Réiltín nodded. ‘Sure.’ Then: ‘I mean, obviously, that depends on what it is.’
‘OK.’ He paused. ‘Can I come in?’
Réiltín hesitated, then opened the door wide. Lockie ducked in.
‘Um… do you want to sit down?’ She gestured around the room randomly, but really there was only the bed and the dressing-table stool to sit on. The chair at her desk was stacked with books. Her desk was stacked with more.
Lockie was momentarily distracted. ‘Wow. The books. Will you read all of them?’
Réiltín blushed. ‘Probably.’
‘In three weeks?’ said Lockie.
‘Probably. Plus, I’ve got…’ She trailed off, suddenly doubting that Marcus Loughnane would care about anything personal.
‘If I ask you something,’ said Lockie, ‘like, as the boss here—’
‘Uber boss,’ said Réiltín.
Lockie gave a surprised laugh.
Silence descended. Lockie stared at the ground.
‘Is there something you need?’ said Réiltín.
Lockie looked up at her, eyes nervous. He took a deep breath. ‘Look, I know we’re not supposed to have phones. That’s fine, I get it. And no Wi-Fi. But…’ He glanced over at her laptop. ‘Do you have internet?’
‘Yes,’ said Réiltín. ‘Sorry.’
‘Yeah, but you’re working,’ said Lockie.
Réiltín looked at him. ‘I can’t give you the code if that’s what you’re about to ask. Johnny would kill me.’
‘What if I just used it once?’ said Lockie. ‘And you can change it afterwards, and I won’t tell anyone you gave it to me—’
Réiltín shook her head. ‘I can’t.’
Lockie paused, then looked her directly in the eye. ‘OK. Look – if I tell you why… I hope you can help.’
He walked over to the bed, sat down, and broke down in tears.
Amber sat on her bed, doing a reading for herself from the La Luna oracle deck. One card flew out and landed on the floor in front of the window.
She picked it up. It said HOWL and underneath was an illustration of a wolf howling at the moon. At the bottom was the line Set your Pain Free. Amber felt a shift in her stomach. She’d set her pain free before. It was the colour of blood. And she’d set it free with scissors. But it didn’t howl. It was the quietest pain she had ever felt.