was emerging from the boathouse with another armful of reeds.
‘What are you doing here, Isobel?’ he asked.
She was used to his smiles but, today, his expression was stern.
‘Saying goodbye to my past,’ she replied.
‘Well, young lady, I suggest you find somewhere safer than this dangerous place to do so.’
‘What are you doing here?’
‘I’m collecting reeds. The best ones grow by the lake shore and make ideal coffins.’ He said ‘coffins’ as casually as he would say ‘basket’ or ‘cradle’ and added that the reeds were perfect for weaving eco-friendly ones.
The meaning of the words she had read in The Recluse’s journal came back to Isobel with shocking clarity. When the time comes, Charlie will weave my final resting place from the reeds he gathers by the lake. I no longer fear death now that I know my essence will live on in another form. What form would that take? A flapping cloak and fangs? Knowing she was being ridiculous did nothing to banish this appalling image. Unsuspectingly, she had performed her ‘breaking away from her past’ ritual while standing in a place of death.
Charlie’s granddaughter, who had joined them, seemed amused by her horrified expression. When Charlie introduced then, she just nodded dismissively at Isobel and continued loading the hearse.
‘Off you go now and stay away from here,’ said Charlie.
Isobel didn’t need a second warning. The wind shook the long grass and flurried the lake as she fled across the Gallops to the protection of the trees.
‘It all starts here, girls.’ Sophy parked beside the Hyland Estate signpost, where they would be picked up by the school bus. ‘New school, new friends, new adventures.’ Thankfully, the bus came into view and Isobel could escape her mother’s dreaded platitudes.
‘Morning, cubs,’ the driver shouted when the doors slid open. ‘First timers, eh?’ His stomach strained against the buttons on his shirt and his flushed face split into a welcoming grin. ‘Right then, no dilly-dallying. My name’s Arthur and the sooner you come on board, the sooner you’ll make friends with this gang of ruffians behind me.’
The ‘gang of ruffians’ were silent as she and Julie walked down the aisle of the bus. They had planned to sit together but only two single seats were free. Julie took the first one and sat beside her friend from the pony club. Isobel stopped midway down the aisle when she realised that the only available empty seat was beside Kelly Bracken.
‘No standing allowed,’ Arthur bellowed into his microphone when Isobel hesitated, her eyes darting right and left in the hope of finding another seat. ‘You, Newbie! Sit down immediately.’
Kelly was dressed like everyone else in the Queen of Angels school uniform but that was where the resemblance ended. She had changed her hair from purple to tangerine and she was wearing a lip ring, black lipstick and eyeliner. Long, dangling earrings with skulls hung from her ears and an angel carrying a sword was tattooed on her cheek. Has she noticed Isobel’s hesitation? Hopefully not. She was reading a book and paid no attention to Isobel when she eased in beside her. Isobel sneaked a look at the title. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. She remembered her father reading it and recommending it to her mother. That was in the ‘before’ time when she believed all stories had happy endings. She opened her own book, A Coffin Opens at Midnight, and pretended to read.
‘I read that when I was nine,’ said Kelly. ‘Even then, I knew it was unadulterated rubbish.’ Her contemptuous tone made Isobel blush.
‘I don’t remember asking for your opinion,’ she retorted.
‘I’m just saying…’ Kelly shrugged and returned to her own book.
She was right. A Coffin Opens at Midnight was rubbish but Isobel kept turning the pages in case Kelly was watching. They never spoke for the rest of the journey.
‘Two minutes left!’ Arthur announced into his microphone when he reached the outskirt of Clonmoore. ‘Remove all chewing gum from your mouths but don’t you dare, under pain of death, leave it stuck anywhere on my bus. Put away your comics, switch off your mobiles, ipads and Nintendos. And you, Kelly Bracken, get your act together if you don’t want to start the new term with detention.’
Kelly removed her earrings. The lip ring also disappeared into her schoolbag and she peeled the tattoo from her cheek. A transfer, that’s all it was. When the bus pulled up outside the two schools, the only sign left of Kelly’s former image was her