The Mistress - Jill Childs Page 0,62

outside world, of petrol and work.

‘Everything okay?’ She paused in the kitchen to peer through the connecting door to the sitting room, taking in the sight of Anna and her daughter. They lay motionless, totally absorbed in their cartoon.

‘All good.’ I put the kettle on and bustled round the kitchen.

Bea sank into a chair. She looked exhausted.

‘How was work?’

She pulled a face and didn’t catch my eye.

‘One of those days, eh?’

She nodded. ‘’Fraid so.’

I put a mug of tea in front of her and slid into a chair with my own. I waited. From the sitting room, the strains of cartoon music drifted through, punctuated now and then by the girls giggling together. Their laughter was high-pitched and uninhibited.

‘What’s on your mind?’

‘I don’t know.’ Bea shook her head. Her face was weary. ‘Last time, it was Clara, wasn’t it? Not coping with her maths. Now it’s Megan I’m worried about. Always one or the other. Welcome to motherhood!’ She tried to laugh but it wasn’t convincing.

‘What’s up with Megan? I thought she was all fired up about Edinburgh.’

‘She was.’ Bea hesitated. ‘But she’s started on about taking a year off first. I just really don’t think it’s a good idea. She already knows that – we’d talked it all through before she applied. Then she brought it up again last night. There’s some girl at school who’s planning to go travelling round South-East Asia. So, of course, now she wants to go too.’

I sipped my tea. ‘She might enjoy university more if she’s had some fun first.’

‘What if she does something stupid, though?’ She looked up, her eyes full of anxiety.

‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know – like gets herself killed. There was that girl in the papers last week. Raped and murdered when she was hitchhiking. And that boy who fell off a cliff and died.’

‘That can happen anywhere.’

‘I know. But they take more risks when they’re overseas. They do stupid things. Things they wouldn’t do in their own country.’

I tried to imagine Anna at that age, striking off on her own. I supposed I’d be worried.

‘Megan is nearly seventeen…’

‘Exactly. A whole year younger than most of her friends.’ Bea rolled her eyes. ‘She’s always been brainy, that’s why they put her up a year. But she’s not as worldly-wise as she likes to think.’

‘I know I can’t stop you worrying,’ I said at last. ‘But she’s going to leave home anyway, one way or the other. A year abroad might help her mature.’

Bea blew out her cheeks. ‘I don’t know what she’s planning to use for money. She hasn’t saved enough for the airfare, let alone all the rest. And I haven’t got it.’

I nodded. ‘She’ll manage, somehow. They all do.’

‘Maybe.’

We sat in silence for a while, drinking our tea, listening to the musical bleed from the cartoons.

Suddenly, Bea said, ‘It’s not just that. She’s been very odd, recently. Short-tempered. Bursting into tears for no reason. I know she’s a teenager – I get it. And exams and everything. But even so… I think she’s got something on her mind. Something she’s not telling me.’

I considered. ‘You’ve tried talking to her?’

‘Of course. She just fobs me off.’ Bea stretched a hand along the top of the table towards me. ‘You wouldn’t have a chat to her, would you? You’re so good with her. And, I don’t know, it might be better coming from you. She’s very fond of you.’

I was fond of her. Ralph had been, too – impressed by her writing. Bea never talked about Megan’s father, or Clara’s. We were good friends – mum friends – but some things were still off-limits. All I knew was that the girls were half-sisters, spawned by two fathers who’d both been very absent from the scene.

I shrugged and reached out, gave Bea’s hand a squeeze. ‘I can try. No promises.’

‘Thank you. Let’s find an excuse to get her over here one evening, when Anna’s asleep. I’ll think of something.’

‘I’d be glad to see her. She’s always welcome, you know that.’

Bea pushed back her chair as if she were getting ready to head home with Clara to start the bedtime routine.

‘Bea? Don’t go yet.’

She let her weight settle again and looked at me sharply. ‘That sounds ominous.’

‘Well, it’s sort of good news. For me, anyway.’ I hesitated, watching her face. ‘But maybe not what you want to hear.’

She frowned. ‘Go on. Get it over with.’

I took a deep breath. ‘You know how, since, you know… Ralph went missing, I’ve been talking about