Sisters - Michelle Frances Page 0,49

going to be a mermaid with a purple tail,’ said Ellie excitedly. ‘What about you?’

‘I’m just going to have one go on the slide first,’ said Abby and Ellie was immediately alarmed.

‘But—’

‘Don’t worry, you don’t have to. You can stay here and watch. Can you touch the bottom?’

‘Only just,’ said Ellie, her feet on tiptoes, the water up to her chin.

Abby knew she’d only be a few minutes, that’s all it would take to have one go. She pointed to an area of water a bit further out. ‘That can be our mermaid cave. We’ll play when I get back. In two minutes.’ She didn’t wait for a response, but ran off towards the slide and started to climb the steps. At the top, she looked down at her sister, saw her playing where she’d left her. Then the green light in front of her flashed on and it was her turn. She pushed off, hurtling through the tubes, tipping at the corners in an adrenaline rush that finished with a bubble immersion as she fell deep into the pool.

She kicked herself upwards, utterly delighted. It was the best, most exhilarating thing she’d done in a very long time. She looked over to where she’d left Ellie, contemplating whether she could sneak in another go.

Ellie wasn’t there.

A commotion was going on a little further into the pool, where it was deeper, where their make-believe mermaid cave was. Abby saw a lifeguard dive into the water. She kept watching and saw him pull her sister from under the surface. She swam towards them, saw him haul Ellie’s small body out onto the tiles. She looked on in fear as the lifeguard shook her sister, then turned her over on her side where suddenly she vomited.

Again, thought Abby.

Her mother was furious, so much so that she could barely speak to her. Abby hung back a short distance from the sunbed, ostracized from the group, her sister wrapped in a fluffy towel with a large ice cream, their mother fussing over her, and Miriam too. Neither adult would meet her eye.

Ellie meekly held up the ice cream. ‘Would you like a lick, Abby?’

Abby shook her head, mumbled a ‘no thank you’ for appearances’ sake, hiding her fury and upset.

Miriam was murmuring something to her mother. Abby’s ears pricked up. ‘I’d gone for a walk, that’s when I saw her. Yes . . . well, I don’t know . . . It was just a little bit odd. She seemed to know it was too deep but still . . . I’m sure she only meant to be away for a few minutes. It was just an awful accident.’

Abby pretended not to hear. She walked away to the edge of the water where she sat on her haunches and contemplated how much simpler life would be without a little sister.

The rest of the holiday passed by in some agony for Abby. She knew she was being punished by being mostly ignored and she tried not to cry about it. Her mother never challenged her over the trip to the slide pool and Abby sometimes wondered what she really thought. On the last day, Abby and Ellie had to stay in the room for a couple of hours while Susanna packed. Ellie was colouring on the floor by the window, and Abby lay on her bed and watched as Susanna took the things from the bathroom and placed them in the case. She held up a bottle of children’s paracetamol and shook it with a frown.

‘Oh.’ It was a small sound, escaping from her lips.

‘What’s wrong?’ asked Abby.

‘I thought we had more, that’s all. I’ll have to get some when we get home.’

She placed it in the case and continued to pack. Halfway through the flight home, Ellie began to get sick again.

THIRTY-FIVE

Matteo woke to the sound of a loud banging. He started, taking a moment to realize he was still in the chair on the terrace. He looked at his watch and was astounded to see that several hours had passed since he’d come outside this morning. So he’d managed to sleep after all. He quickly rubbed his eyes and went to see who was knocking on his front door loudly, with purpose.

Susanna had got there first. Walking into his hallway was Lieutenant Baroni, pulling off her sunglasses. Behind her, Captain Santini followed.

‘Can we come in?’ asked Baroni.

Matteo shrugged. They already were.

‘We wanted to let you know that the car Abby and Ellie are