Sisters - Michelle Frances Page 0,55

be broke but I would never, ever stoop so low as to steal from you.’

‘Not even a first edition book,’ mumbled Abby under her breath.

‘What?’ demanded Ellie furiously, unsure if she’d heard right.

‘Nothing.’ A sign loomed up above for a bed and breakfast. Abby suddenly turned sharply off the road into the gravel driveway and she stopped the car outside a tired stone building with a large peeling wooden door. Rusty railings of julienne balconies clung to the exterior walls and two cracked pots filled with half-dead plants flanked the entrance.

‘Yes, this looks perfect,’ said Abby decisively. She got out of the car and retrieved her bag from the back seat, and Ellie watched as she checked her phone. ‘It’s from the phone company,’ said Abby, the hope in her eyes fading. ‘A special offer on an upgrade.’

Ellie gave a tight nod, then wordlessly walked into the B & B.

They hurriedly ate before the dining room closed, then Abby decided to return to the room to shower.

Ellie saw her opportunity. ‘I’ll be up in a few minutes,’ she said, ‘after I’ve finished my coffee.’

She watched as Abby left the dining room and mentally counted to fifty. Then she placed the coffee cup back on the saucer and headed out of the room. As she approached the reception area she glanced towards the stairs but they were empty; Abby had long gone.

‘Excusez-moi?’ she asked the woman on the desk, a fierce madame with her grey hair in a chignon. ‘Is there a payphone I can use?’

‘Over there,’ replied the woman, indicating what looked like a dusty cupboard.

‘Merci,’ said Ellie, but she stayed at the desk. ‘Um, I need the call to be private.’

‘I do not listen,’ said Madame, affronted.

‘No . . . I mean, is there a way to hide the number when you dial?’

Madame was looking at her. Then, just when Ellie felt she couldn’t bear the scrutiny a second longer, Madame ripped a piece of paper off a block pad on the desk and wrote some numbers on it. ‘You dial this first,’ she said.

Ellie went over to the payphone and inserted some coins. Carefully, she dialled. As the phone rang, she glanced in her purse. There were only a few euros left. Maybe, after she’d called her mother, she’d ring Fredrik. It would be nice to hear his voice.

‘Hello?’

‘Mum, it’s Ellie.’

‘Ellie! Where are you?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘Of course it does. We need to get you safe.’

‘Have you told the police we’ve spoken?’

‘Is that a problem?’

‘No . . . I don’t know. Look, I just don’t get it. How did Abby poison me? She was a child! How on earth would she even get the stuff?’

‘She took it out of the medicine cupboard.’

‘But surely you noticed the level in the bottle going down?’

‘She smashed one once. Pretended it was full so I would buy another. Another time she stole some. From the chemist on the corner – you remember?’

It was on a parade of shops on the way to school; Ellie could picture it now, with its windows crammed with beauty products and the queues of people waiting in line to get their prescriptions, keeping the staff busy. Perhaps distracting them so much that they wouldn’t notice child shoplifters.

‘But how did she give it to me?’

‘You remember your sister’s job was to set the table? I always used to insist you drank milk with your meals. You were ill so often I worried you weren’t getting enough nutrients. Abby would put out the drinks. One day, when you were about eight years old, I caught her spooning liquid paracetamol into your milk.’ Susanna’s voice was catching with emotion. ‘I stopped her immediately. I’m so sorry I didn’t notice anything earlier. She’d been doing it for years.’

Ellie shook her head, her mind whirring. ‘Seriously?’

‘Yes. I promise you, I’m not lying.’

‘But Mum, she has no reason to hate me. She’s got everything! She’s a multi-millionaire, for God’s sake.’

‘Is she?’ gasped Susanna in wonder. ‘I knew she was wealthy, but I didn’t reali—’

‘Mum, you’re missing the point,’ said Ellie, frustrated. ‘I don’t see how Abby would want to harm me.’ Uncomfortable, she paused. ‘Which means . . .’

‘It was me?’ retorted Susanna sharply. ‘It would do you well to remember that she wasn’t a multi-millionaire when she was nine years old. She disliked you from the moment you were born. You took me away from her. You have to try and imagine what it’s like for an only child to suddenly get a